Rome and Han Dynasties
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Transcript Rome and Han Dynasties
Rome and Han Dynasties
Rome
Economic
Activity – farming was the basis of
wealth
Early Romans were self-sufficient; owned
small plots of land
Wealthy families were part of the “Counsel of
Elders”
Roman
Republic was not a democracy
Only men could vote and wealthy men’s vote
counted more then a poor mans
Center
of power is the Roman Senate
Made policy and governed
Nominated their sons for public office,
and filled vacancies with former officials
Served for life
Tied together states wealth, influence,
political influence, and military experience
Conflicts
between the elites (patricians) and
non elites (plebeians)
Plebeians withdraw from the city and stop
fighting to make the patricians pass a law
EX: system of checks and balances
Creation of the tribunes
Roman Family
Oldest
male had control over his entire
family
Patron
client relationship
Women
had very little freedom.
Inequality
in Rome was accepted and
turned into a system of mutual benefits and
obligations
Numina
Roman
belief in an invisible, shapeless
force…pulsating energy of fire
Polytheistic
Expansion of Rome
Peaked
in the 3rd and 2nd centuries
Possible
reasons greed, aggressiveness,
counsels who had a lot to prove in their one
year or service, or people wanted to gain
military glory
Military
Army
service
more flexible then the hoplites
Romans
granted political, legal, and
economic privileges of Roman citizenship
to all conquered people
Expansion
caused wars in Rome
Carthage and Hellenistic Kingdoms
Failure of Rome
Farmers
were in the military which allowed
investors to take possession of their farms
The
self-sufficient farms (the backbone of
the Roman army) were replaced by
latifundia
Owners
of the large estates turned the
farmland into grazing for animals and
vineyards
Grain
had to be imported and peasants who
lost their farm couldn’t find work due to the
slaves
Consequence
of the farmers losing their
land was a decreased in required military
service
Armies
became loyal to their leader not
their country (Caesar, Pompey, Antony,)
Fixing Rome
When
Caesar died, the republic collapsed
His grandnephew Octavian became
Emperor
fixed government by maintaining the
offices, honors, and social prerogatives of
the senatorial class but changed their
power
Now called Roman Principate
Octavian’s Rule
He
accepted the title of Augustus or
“exalted one”
was Rome’s most able ruler.
Manipulated all groups of Roman society
Added Egypt and parts of the Middle East
to his Empire
When he died no one remembered the old
republic
Augustus did…
Stabilized
Built
the frontier
splendid buildings
Created
a system of government that lasted
for centuries
Set
up a civil service
An Urban Empire
Numerous
towns had several hundred
inhabitants
Rome’s
population was approximately 1
million people
Upper
Poor
class lived in elegant townhouses
lived in crowded slums
Damp, dark, made of wood…many fires
No
matter how people lived, the
government was the same in all areas of the
Empire
Each
place were set up the same
Taxes
were collected from a town council
and 2 annually elected officials from
prosperous families
As
slaves became expensive and rare,
landowners started to allow people to live
on their land in exchange for a portion of
the crops
Romanization
developed
Rise of Christianity
Jesus
Born
as a Jew in the town of Bethlehem
but was raised in Nazareth
He was a carpenter
At the age of 30, he started his own public
ministry
His teachings included the belief of the 10
commandments and monotheism.
The Death of Jesus
Crowds
of people believed Jesus was the Messiah
(anointed one) that would rescue the Jews.
Roman
and Jewish leaders were concerned by the
popularity of Jesus
They
God.
Jesus
said that his teaching were a contempt of
was arrested for defying the authority of
Rome. He was crucified as a punishment
Jesus
was buried, however 3 days after his
death, his body was gone and said to be
appearing to his followers
Convinced
that he had somehow survived,
people began to spread his ideas
After
a while, his followers created a new
religion based on his teachings
Paul the Apostle
Originally
a Jew, Paul had a vision of Jesus
and then dedicated his life to interpreting
Jesus' teachings
The
Pax Romana allowed Paul to spread
the word of Jesus easily.
He
declared that Christianity should
welcome all converts
Persecution of the
Christians
Roman
rulers were not happy with the
Christians because they refused to worship
Roman Gods.
Christians
were killed because of this
Technology Transformed
Rome
The
Romans were expert military and civil
engineers.
Accomplishments: bridge-building,
ballistic weapons, elevated and
underground aqueducts, the use of arches
and domes, and the invention of concrete.
Augustus
went from a offensive mind set to a
defensive one
The
state system constructed by Augustus
worked well until Rome’s “third-century crisis.”
Causes of the crisis were frequent change of
rulers, raids by German tribesmen from across
the Rhine-Danube frontier, and the rise of
regional power when Rome seemed unable to
guarantee security.
The
economy of Rome collapsed
Buying loyalty of the army
Military emergencies
Towns prosperity decreased
Coins become worthless
Population
shift from cities to country side
Decline of trade
Diocletian
saved Rome from self
destruction
Stopped inflation
Froze people in their profession and made
them train their sons
People
began a black market and
questioned their loyalty to the government
Constantine
Took
over after Diocletian
Reunited
the kingdom
Constantine
ended the persecution of
Christians and patronized the Christian
church
This contributed to the rise of Christianity
as the official religion of the empire.
Constantine
also transferred the capital of
the empire from Rome to the eastern city
of Byzantium, which he renamed
Constantinople.
Nova Roma
Imperial China
Resources
Agriculture
produced the money that
supported imperial China
Paid for luxurious lifestyle of the royal
court, daily tasks of govt, and military
units.
Large populations in Chang’an and
Luoyang
Most
people lived in the eastern part of the
countryside where the river could support a
large population
When
the population was not farming they
were working on public works project
The
state also required 2 years of a military
service
Unlike
Rome, China was not making a new
Empire. The Chinese were trying to revive
their empire
Major Chinese Dynasties
Since 2200 B.C.E.
Xia Dynasty 2100–1600 B.C.E
Shang Dynasty 1600–1046 B.C. E.
Zhou Dynasty 1045–256 B.C.E.
Qin Dynasty 221B.C.E. –206 C.E.
Han Dynasty 206 B.C.E. –220 C.E.
By
500 B.C.E. China was in ruins
This is unacceptable to the Chinese
Shihuangdi (Qin Empire) united China
Developed
a bureaucracy, subordinated the
aristocracy, equipped an army with Iron
weapons, rising agriculture output, a
growing population, and edveloped
Legalism
Under
Shihuangdi China extended north into
Vietnam, NE into Korea, and to the NW
where the nomadic people were pushed out
of their steppes
Shihuangdi
Imposed
centralized the government
a unified system of weights,
measures, money, length of axels for carts,
and a written form of Chinese language
Shihuangdi
made superficial changes and
the Qin empire ended in 206 B.C.E. and the
Han dynasty began.
Comparing Rome and Han
Empires
They both define themselves as universal
empires
Both
invoked supernatural sanctions to
support their rule
Both
absorbed a foreign religious tradition
Both
had different relationships with the
societies they governed
Language
served each empire in different
ways
Both
had centralized government but the
Chinese had and elaborate bureaucracy that
held it together while Rome relied on
regional aristocrats and the army
The Fall of Rome and
China
They
both were too big, cost too much
money, and were over extended to be
sustained by the available resources
No technology to help them
Growth of large landowning estates enabled
them to avoid paying taxes, turned free
peasants into tenant farmers and that
diminished the power of the central
government
Rivalry
Threat
among the rich created instability
for nomads on the frontier regions
The
collapse of these empires meant the
decline of urban life, a contracting
population, less area under cultivation,
diminishing trade, insecurity for common
people
When
China fell, after 350 they were
reunited by the Sui, Tang , and Song
Empires…centralized gov’t and all
The
No
Romans was never recentralized.
part of Western Europe was
Most
of Europe became decentralized
political systems involving kings with little
authority,