HIST 1111 - Roman Empire & Han China

This is lecture 13. I call it Roman Empire and Han China, so we're going to bounce back and forth here, some comparison and contrast. It's an opportunity to look at these two dominating civilizations at the opposite ends of Eurasia. Similar time frame, both of these are expansive empires. We talk of the Pax Romana, the Roman piece, the Pax Seneca, the Pax Chinese, that is the Chinese piece. And of course, this piece that we talk about is established by the dominant military power of Rome and China. We have similar numbers of people here in the Roman Empire and Han China. Both of these need to incorporate alien people who live along the periphery of their respective empires. Both build roads, canals, and aqueducts to bind the empire together. Political symbolism is used as an instrument of unity in both China and Rome. Both expanded their bureaucracy to control their respective empires. Both use taxation to fund trade in major cities and civil projects. Both engaged in assuring a surplus of food, wheat in Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean, and of course, rice and wheat in China. And both Rome and China suffered serious epidemics, as we talked about last time, which severely reduced their populations by probably about a quarter. The ever-expanding old world web, again, our metaphor used by the McNeils, allow travelers and armies to extend infections. And we talked about this last time. The human web that the McNeils discuss has its advantages and that allows ideas and innovations to move across Eurasia. But of course, it allows diseases to move across Eurasia as well. In Han China, again, Confucianism sort of lies at the heart of the state, creating a sense of unity and loyalty to the state. An emphasis here on sort of divine majesty referred to as the son of heaven. Introduced the first clearly established system of bureaucracy, which we've talked about. Representatives of the government are scattered throughout China to maintain unity and order. The examination system that we discussed to promote people into military and governmental service. And of course, a vast territory in East Asia is brought together and organized in this way. And of course, the Chinese are also famous for patronizing scientific research, as we've discussed. In Rome, the bureaucracy in the Mediterranean is not quite as developed. The Romans put more emphasis on the legal system, trying to create unity through common law throughout the regions that they dominate. The emperors are not generally considered divine, but we'll see that this is not always necessarily true. Imperial monuments point to the power of the imperial office. Again, physical reminders to the people of the power of the Roman emperor. And of course, Christianity is born in the Roman empire. Some differences here. China held a much tighter bureaucratic control over the territories it claimed. Again, Rome was content with a looser regime, allowing local autonomy as long as tribute and loyalty existed towards the emperor. Rome used its military quicker than the Chinese. The Chinese tended to depend on diplomacy. Roman victories were a way of rewarding their armies and their generals. And Roman victories kept a steady supply of slaves pouring into the empire. Han China, of course, sprang from earlier Chinese dynasties. And then other Chinese dynasties would follow in the steps of the Han dynasty. Of course, Rome was born of a combination of sort of elite and commoners mixing together. And what we might think of as a democratic society. Both these empires suffered decline due to economic stagnation, pandemics, foreign invasions. Like I said, the Han traditions will live on. And Rome will not be reconstituted, although there will be efforts in Europe to do so. We see this with the Holy Roman Empire. And of course, later in the 20th century, even Mussolini had illusions of grandeur that he might be able to recreate the glory that was Rome. Of course, he failed in this. So just a brief sort of compare and contrast between the Roman Empire and the Han Chinese. Thank you.