An Age of Empires: Rome and Han China, 753 BCE - 600 CE

Romes Mediterranean Empire, 753-600 CE

Italy is a land of hills and mountains. The apennine runs along its length. Many of Italys rivers and navigable and it had a mild
mediterranean climate which made growing crops a simple process. Even though about 75% of land was hilly, most of it was arable.
A Republic of Farmers, 751-31 BCE

Roman legend: Romulus was a baby cast adrift on the Tiber river and was nursed by a she-wolf; he then later founded Rome in 753
BCE. (On the Palatine Hill)

They spoke Latin.

Agriculture was the main economic activity and the early basis of wealth. Because of this, high social status usually correlated to the
amount of land someone owned. Only few select families were able to own a lot land.

The heads of household of the wealthiest families formed The Council of Elders that was basically a senatorial class that played a
large role in Roman politics.

There were 7 kings between 753 and 507 BCE. The first was Romulus and the last was the tyrant Tarquinius Superbus who was
dethroned in 507 by Brutus and instituted a republic.

The Roman Republic lasted from 506 to 31 BCE. It was NOT a democracy. The voices of the wealthy were heard more than those of
the poor. Most of the power came from the Roman Senate (which was an advisory council to the king and then to the changing Roman
officials). Senate made policy and governed over people. Senators nominated their sons for public office and high ranking former
officials for empty seats.

Inequalities in Roman society led to a period of conflict between the elite (patricians) and the majority of society (plebeians) in a
struggle known as the Conflict of the Orders. The plebeians basically went on strike and refused to work in order to pressure the rich
into making political concessions.

A result of the Conflict of the Orders was publication of the laws on twelve stone tablets, and another result was the creation of new
officials (the tribunes) who were elected by lower classes.

A complex tie of obligation was the patron/client relationship. Clients needed the help and protection of patrons and the client was
expected to follow his patron into battle, support him in the political arena, work on his land and contribute to the dowry of his
daughter.

Roman women had more freedom than Greek women.

Early Italian people believed in an invisible shapeless force known as numina. (such as Vesta the living).
Expansion in Italy and the Mediterranean

All males who owned a specific amount of land were subject to military service. Their battle armor was similar to the Greek hoplites.

Roman armies were famous for their training and discipline.

Romans granted political, legal and economic privileges of Roman citizenship to conquered populations.

Between 262 and 202 BCE Rome fought two wars against the Carthaginians.

Between 200 and 146 BCE a series of wars pitted the Roman states against the Hellenistic kingdoms.

They conquered the Gauls by the brilliant general Julius Ceasar between 59 and 51 BCE.

At first the Romans were apprehensive in regards to adding new territories but they were given autonomy over them in regards to
taxes so that probably helped.
The Failure of the Republic

While peasants were away fighting investors would take their land and convert them into latifundias (broad estates). The owners of
these estates thought it was easier to just graze cattle in this space. Most of the workers of these areas were prisoners of war.

This was overall a weak time for the republic. Between 88 and 31 BCE a series of individuals such as Julius Ceasar commanded
armies that were more loyal to them than to their states. They used troops as a personal power of influence.

The Roman Precipitate, 31 BCE. - 330 CE

Julius Ceasars nephew Octavian eliminated all rivals by 31 BCE and refashioned the Roman government.

He never claimed himself to be a king or emperor but instead a first among equals (Princeps), Because of this, he ordered the
Roman Republic to be renamed as the Roman Precipitate.

Octavian was given the title Augustus. He was known for his ruthlessness, patience and intuitive grasp of psychology. During his
reign Egypt and parts of the Middle East were added to the empire.

Augustus had allied himself with the equites (well-to-do Italian merchants and landowners).

When he died at least four of his family members succeeded his position as emperors. However, because of the ambiguity of the
position Augustus held, the position was never really considered hereditary. In theory they would have been appointed by the senate.

Many Roman emperors were regarded as gods after their deaths.

An Urban Empire

The Roman Empire of the first three centuries was considered an urban empire. Even though 80% of its people lived near borders and
practiced agriculture, the empire itself was administered through a network of towns and cities, and the urban populace benefited
most.

Alexandria, Antioch and Carthage all had several hundred thousand inhabitants. Rome itself had a million residents.

The upper classes lived in elegant townhouses on hills. Houses were centered around an atrium.

The poor lived in crowded slums; damp, dark and smelly. Just like Jenny Delgado.
Independent farmers were quickly being replaced by tenant farmers who were allowed to live on and cultivate plots of land in return
for a portion of their crops.

Commerce was greatly increased by the pax romana (Roman peace). Meats and other perishable goods were distributed locally.

Resources such as glass, metalwork, delicate pottery and other products were exported throughout the empire.

Romanization was one of the most enduring consequences of the empire. (The spread of Roman language and culture throughout the
west)

Romans were very liberal in terms of allowing members from conquered lands to have Roman citizenship. In fact, by the second
century emperors hailed from Spain, Gaul and North Africa.
The Rise of Christianity

Jesus!

He was a young carpenter from Northern Israel. Some scholars view him as as a rabbi/teacher. Others view him as a fiery prophet
(spicy!!!!). Still, others see him as a political revolutionary who was determined to drive out the Roman occupiers.

Jesus was imprisoned, condemned and then executed by crucifixion. His followers (apostles), spread his teachings after his death.

Paul, a Jew who converted to Christianity, spent his time and energy into spreading the word of Christ.

For about two centuries the sect grew steadily. Early converts came from disfranchised groups (women, slaves, the poor).

Early Christians were persecuted by Roman officials who believed that refusing to worship the lord was a sign of disloyalty.
Technology and Transformation

Surviving remains of roads, fortification walls, aqueducts and buildings testify to the Romans ability to engineer public works.

Aqueducts were long elevated or underground conduits that carried water from a source to an urban center, using only the force of
gravity (wow!)

The Romans are credited for inventing concrete.

Most of the empire was protected by geographic borders such as mountains, but the defending borders stretched for thousands of
miles.

Historians use the term Third-Century crisis to refer to the period from 234 to 285 CE when political, military and economic
problems nearly destroyed the Roman Empire. The biggest cause of this was the constant change of rulers. (20+ rulers during this span
of time)

Constant civil wars.

The Third-Century Crisis had a devastating impact on the empires economy.

Decline in trade.

Diocletian was able to salvage what was left of the empire and implemented radical reforms that saved the Roman state by completely
transforming it. He issued an edict that specified the maximum prices that good could be charged for.

When Diocletian resigned in 305 CE Constantine took over.

In 312 He won an important battle at the Milvian Bridge near the Tiber River. He claimed that he had seen the cross superimposed on
the sun before the battle. Believing that the Christian God had helped him, he issues the Edict of Millan the following year.

The edict ended the persecution of Christianity.

In 324 Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium. It was later renamed Constantinople.
Byzantines and Germans

The next several centuries were crowded with disputes over theology and quarrels among patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria,
Antioch, Jerusalem and Rome.

Christianity spread the quickest in urban centers.

The emperor Justinian sent armies to regain control of Roman North Africa, which had been conquered by Germans.

The Corpus Juris Civilis contained a thousand years of Roman legal tradition. It was read by legal scholars.

By 530, with old Roman economy and urban centers in shambles, the Western German Empire had fragmented into a handful of
kingdoms under Germanic control.

The educated (mostly priests and monks) still spoke a simplified form of Latin. But during this time period the Romance dialects
began to spread among the lower classes. (Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian).

Near the Rhine River people spoke Germanic. East of the Elbe River, speakers of Slavic languages formed a third major group.

The rise of the Germans could be seen as the triumph of the barbarians.

The Origins of Imperial China 221 BCE-220BCE

The Shang (1750-1027 BCE) and the Zhou (1027-221 BCE) dynasties ruled over a relatively compact zone in northeastern China

Last few centuries of Zhou rule were the Warring States Period, where rivalry grew among a group of small states

Like in greek city-states, competition and conflict gave rise to many distinctive elements of a national culture

In the second half of the century BCE, Qin state of the Wei Valley conquered its rivals and created the first Chinese Empire. but it
barely survived the death of its founder, Shi Huangdi

Power passed to the Han, which ruled China from 206BCE-220 CE

Resources and populations

Agriculture produced the wealth and taxes that supported the institution if imperial China

The main tax, a percentage of the annual harvest, funded government activities ranging from the luxurious lifestyles of the royal court
to the daily tasks of officials and military units throughout the country and on the fromtiers

Canals connecting the yangzi with the yellow river were made to transport southern crops to the north

Surplus grain could be sold in times of shortage

census for 2 CE and 140 CE- 12 million household with 60 million and later 10 million with 49 million

Average 5 people households

Mostly lived on the east where river-valley regions grow intensive agriculture

Later shifted to yangzi

Every able-bodied man donated one month of labor a year to public work projects and 2 years of military service

Like the Romans, Chinese government depended on a large population of free peasants to contribute taxes and services to the state

Population growth and shortage of good land cause Han Chinese to expand

Pushed nomads in north for agriculture and also to tropical forests in the south. Didn't not bother steppe and desert bc not good for
their kind of agriculture
Hierarchy, Obedience and Belief

Han expanded their social organization, values, language and other cultural practices

Basic unit of Chinese society was a family with included ancestora

Chinese consulted, venerated and appeased their ancestors because they believe that they maintained an ongoing interest in the
fortunes of living family members and therefore maintained their favor

Each generation required to have sons to perpetuate the family and maintain the ancestor cult

in the imperial period the doctrine of Confucius (from sixth century BCE) became very influential

Confucianism regarded hierarchy as a natural aspect of human society and laid down rules of appropriate conduct

Each person had a place and responsibilities, based on gender, age, and relationship to other family members

Father had absolute authority, presiding over the rituals of ancestor worship

People could be guided to the right path though education, imitation of proper role models, and self-improvement

Basic values: loyalty, obedience to authority, respect for elders, concern for honor and appropriate conduct

Wisdom about women conduct is preserved in an account of the life of the mother of the Confucian philosopher Mencius (Mengzi)

Women have three submit ions, parents, husband and son

Women of lower classes may have been less constrained that the upper class women to conform

Like Romans, the ancient Chinese believed that divinity resided within nature rather than outside or above it

Worshiped and tried to appease the forces of nature rather than outside and above it, and they worshiped and tried to appease the
forces of nature

Belief in supernatural force; experts in feng shui (earth divination) were consulted to determine the most favorable location and
orientation for buildings and graves
The First Chinese Empire (221-207 BCE)

For centuries eastern china was divided among rival states whose frequent hostilities gave rise to the label "warring states period"

In the second half of the third century BCE the state of the Qin suddenly burst forth and took over the other states one by one

Inaguration of the imperial age first empire

Qin ruler Shi Huangdi and prime minister Li Si were ruthless and exploited exhaustion resulting from the long centuries of interstate
rivalry

Large pool of peasants for army

Long experience in mobilizing manpower for the construction of irrigation and flood control works had strengthened the authority of
the Qin king at the expense of nobles and endowed his government with superior organizational skills

Shi Huangdi created totalitarian structure that subordinated the indivial to the needs of the state

Burned books and cracked down Confucianism and enforced Legalism

Will of ruler was supreme and necessary to impose discipline and obediance through the application of rewards and punishments

first target for rival authority were landowning aristocracy of the conquered rival states and the system on which aristocratic wealth
and pier had been based

Primogeniture- eldest son inherits land- was abolished by Qin and instead required estates to be broken up and passed onto several
heirs

Qin abolished slavery

Qin imposed standard weights, measures, law code, writing

Built roads to connect parts of the empire and to move armies

Also built canals connecting the river systems of northern and southern china

Rebellions after Shi Huangdi death brought Qin dynasty down

The long Reign of the Han (206BCE-220 CE)

Liu Bang established the Han

Less fanatical zeal of Qin legalism

The Han tempered legalism government with a Confucianism revised to serve a large, centralized political entity

After eighty years of imperial consolidation, Emperor Wu launched a period of military expansion

Capital of Han empire was Changan. It was surrounded by a wall of pounded earth and brick 15 miles in circumference. It became a
model for Urban planning

elite people had time to focus on art and literature while the common people lived in dwellings packed very closely

In Zhou monarchy, the emperor was the son of heaven chosen to rule by Mandate of Heaven

Emperor was supreme to the state

Central government was run by a prime minister, a civil service director, and nine ministers with military, economic, legal and
religious responsibilities

AS part of their strategy to weaken the rural aristocrats and exclude them from political posts, the Qin and the Han emperors allied
themselves with the gentry- the class next in wealth below the aristocrats. They served as local official and were chosen by the
central gov.

Guiding philosophy of the new gentry class was a modified Confucianism that provided a system for training officials to be
intellectually capable and morally worthy of their role and set forth a code of conduct for measuring their performance

University outside Changan educated on Confucianism, and some students were chosen to enter various levels of government service

Daoism, which also had roots during Warring States period, took deeper root, and became popular with common people.

Search for dao, or the path of nature and the value of harmonizing with the cycles and patterns of the natural world

Rejected rituals of Confucianism of the elite classes

urged passive acceptance of the disorder of the world, denial of ambition, contentment with simple pleasures, and trusting
ones own instincts
Technology and Trade

Chinese hammered ores with a higher carbon content to produce steel, and they mastered the technique of liquefying iron and pouring
it into molds.

first to make paper

Qin began and Han continued the program of road building

The network of navigable rivers was improved by canals

population growth and trade brought local market centers

Chinas most important export commodity was silk( silk road and mulberry trees gave China an advantage)
Decline of the Han Empire

For the Han gov (like the Romans), maintaining the security of north and south frontiers was primary concern

Different ways of life of farmers and herder brought stereotypes: nomads= barbarians

Along the boundary, herders and farmers had a lot of commercial activity. The nomadic herders sought the food and crafted foods
produced by the farmers and townsfolk, and the settled farmers depended on nomads for horses

Chinese developed cavalry forces that could match the mobility of the nomads, and made access to good stocks of horses and pasture
lands a priority

tributary system in which nomad rulers nominally accepted Chinese supremacy and paid tribute, for which they were rewarded with
marriages to Chinese princesses, dazzling receptions at court and gifts from Han emperor

Again, though, rich aristocrats took control of most of the land and had a lot of power

system of military conscription broke down, forcing the gov. to hire more foreign soldiers and officers

Factors for fall of Han Dynasty

Factional intrigues within the ruling clan


official corruption and ineficiency

uprising of peasants

spread of banditry

attacks by nomadic groups on the northwest frontier

ambitious of rural warlords

China entered a period of political fragmentation and regression until the rise of Sui and Tang
Imperial Parallels
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ROMAN AND HAN
family was headed by an all powerful patriarch; pervasive social cohesion
agriculture was the fundamental economic activity and source of wealth in both civilizations
Free peasantry- sturdy farmers who could be pressed into military service; conflicts over who owned the land were at the heart of the
political and social turmoil
Autocratic rulers secured positions by breaking power of old aristocratic families
Both empired spread out from an ethnically homogeneous core to encompass territories containing diversity
Both empires found similar solutions to the problems administering far-flung territories and large populations in an age when men on
horseback or on foot carried messages
civil service developed
roads were built in both to facilitate imperial control and movement of troops
Faced similar problems of defense: long borders located far from administrative center and aggressive neighbors who coveted the
prosperity of the empire. Both had to build walls to protect incursions. the cost of defense ended the economic prosperity. Lost loyalty
of their own people
In china, imperial model was revived in subsequent eras, but land of the roman empire never again achieved the same level of
unification. this was because:
cultures had diff attitudes about the relationship of individuals to the state, also due to confucianism which rome did not
have
greater important of commerce in the Roman Empire and the absence of gov. interference resulted in greater economic
mobility.
DIVERSITY AND DOMINANCE
The Treatment of Slaves in Rome and China

Slaves were fundamental in Roman society and in the foundation of the economy. Most of the slaves were prisoners of war. There
were harsh working conditions that usually involved working outside in hot weather performing manual labor.

In China, slavery was far less prominent. Slaves worked the large lands of the aristocracy. The Qin dynasty tried to abolish slavery
but it didnt work. The relatives of criminals were enslaved. Most slaves performed domestic tasks.
ENVIRONMENT + TECHNOLOGY
Water Engineering in Rome and China

Roman cities, with their large populations, required reliable sources of water. One solution to this were aqueducts. Some conduits
were elevated atop walls or bridges, which made it difficult for thieves to tap the water line for their own use. When an aqueduct
reached the outskirts of a city the water flowed into a reservoir where it was stored.

In China, rivers running generally in an east-west direction were common. During the beginning of the Qin Dynasty the Chinese
began to build canals connecting the northern and southern zones for military purposes and then eventually for transporting
commercial goods. One of the earliest efforts was the Magic Canal. Qin emperor Shi Huangdi ordered his engineers to join two rivers
by a 20-mile long canal so he could easily supply his armies in the south.