An Age of Empires: Rome and Han China

753 B.C.E. – 330 C.E.

Rome’s Creation of a Mediterranean Empire

753 B.C.E. – 300 C.E.

Geography

• Italy and Sicily are at a crossroads in the Mediterranean– Serve as a link between Africa and Europe

• Rome located at a crossroads of the Italian Peninsula

Resources

• Navigable rivers

• Forests

• Iron

• Mild climate

• Arable land to support a large population of farmers

Founding of Rome – Legend

• Insert link to video here!

Founding of Rome – Fact

• Rome was inhabited at early as 1000 B.C.E.

• Ruled by 7 kings between 753 and 507 B.C.E. – Representatives of senatorial class of large

landowners overthrew kings and established a government.

A Republic of Farmers

• Centers of political power: – 2 Consuls – Senate – Senate made laws and governed

Family Structure in Rome

• Several generations living together

• Oldest living male, paterfamilias , had absolute authority

• Roman women had more freedom than Greek women, but they were subordinate to the paterfamilias.

• Women eventually became independent after the death of their fathers.

Gods in Rome

• Worshipped a large number of supernatural spirits.

• Major gods – Jupiter and Mars.

• Proper performance of ritual ensured gods would favor Roman state.

Jupiter

Roman Expansion

• Slowly expanded, then expanded very rapidly in the third and second centuries B.C.E.

• Explanations for Expansion: – Greed – Aggressiveness – Need for consuls to prove themselves as

military commanders – Constant fear of being attacked

First Stage of Expansion

• Rome conquered rest of Italy by 290 B.C.E. – Won support of Italian people by giving them

Roman citizenship. – Once citizens, they had to provide soldiers for

the military.

Taking Over

• Rome defeated Carthage to gain control over western Mediterranean and Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain.

• 200 – 30 B.C.E. – Rome defeated Hellenistic kingdoms to take over Eastern Mediterranean.

• 59 – 51 B.C.E., Gaius Julius Caesar conquered Celts of Gaul.

Map of Roman Empire

Administration

• Used elite groups to administer and tax various province of the empire.

• A governor supervised local administrators. – Served a single one-year term in office

• System was inadequate and prone to corruption.

Failure of the Republic

• As Rome expanded, the social and economic bases of republic were undermined.

• Independent farming families had to serve in military. – They sold their land while they were serving in

the military. Land was bought by large landowners.

Latifundia

• Great estates built by large landowners.

• This caused problems for Rome because latifundia owners preferred cash crops like grapes instead of staple crops like wheat.

• Since slave labor was cheap, there was not a great need for peasant farmers. – This created an unemployed underclass in

urban areas

A Lack of Soldiers

• Because there were less farmers to enlist as soldiers, the unemployed became soldiers.

• These soldiers tended to pledge loyalty to commanding officer, not Rome. – Generals took control of politics leading to

civil war and the end of the republican system of government.

An Urban Empire

• Roman Empire had population of 50-60 million. – Rome had population of 1 million. – Alexandria, Antioch, and Carthage had

populations of almost 1 million each. – 80% of the Roman Empire were rural farmers.

• Considered an urban empire because of the administration through a network of cities and towns.

Life in Ancient Rome

• Upper classes lived in elegant, well-built, well-appointed houses. – Many aristocrats also owned country villas

• Poor lived in dark, dank, fire-prone wooden tenements in squalid slums built in low-lying parts of the city.

Ancient Roman Town Ruins

Just Like Rome

• Provincial towns imitated Rome both in urban planning and in administration.

• Local elite, who served interests of Rome, dominated town councils.

• Local elite served communities by using wealth to construct aqueducts, baths, theatres, gardens, temples, and other public works projects.

Aqueducts

Roman Baths

Roman Temples

Roman Forum

Rural Life in Rome

• Lots of hard work and very little entertainment

• Little contact with representatives of government

• By the beginning of C.E., landlords lived in city and tenant farmers ran the farms supervised by foremen.

Pax Romana

• Manufacture and trade flourished under “Pax Romana.”

• Grain had to be imported into the city of Rome.

• Rome also imported Chinese silk and Indian and Arabian spices.

• Rome and other cities exported glass, metalwork, pottery, and other items.

Romanization

• In the western part of the Empire many parts of Roman culture were adopted: – Latin language – Roman clothing – Roman lifestyle

• Eventually Roman emperors extended Roman citizenship to all free adult male inhabitants of the empire.

Ancient Roman Clothing

Rise of Christianity

• Jesus lived in a society marked by resentment against Roman rule. – This inspired the belief that a Messiah would

arise to liberate the Jews.

• When Jesus sought to reform Jewish religious practices, the Jewish authorities turned him over to the Roman governor for execution.

After the Execution

• Jesus’ disciples continued to spread his teachings.

• Also spread belief that Jesus had been resurrected. – The target of their proselytizing was fellow

Jews.

• Target of proselytizing changed from Jews to non-Jews in the 40s – 70s C.E.

Shift in Target

• Paul of Tarsus, an Anatolian Jew, discovered that non-Jews were much more receptive to the teachings of Jesus than Jews were.

• Jewish revolt in Judaea (66 C.E.) and the subsequent Roman re-conquest destroyed the original Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem.

Growth of Christianity

• Grew slowly for two centuries • Developed a hierarchy of priests and

bishops • Developed a commonly accepted

theological doctrine • Resisted the persecution of Roman

officials • By late third century, Christians were a

sizeable minority in the Roman Empire.

Dissatisfaction

• The expansion of Christianity in the Roman Empire came when Romans were not happy with their traditional religion.

• This inspired Romans to become interested in a variety of “mystery cults” and universal creeds that had their origins in the eastern Mediterranean.

Roman Technology

• Expert military and civil engineers

• Accomplishments included: – Bridge-building – Ballistic weapons – Elevated and underground aqueducts – Use of arches and domes

– Invention of concrete

Roman Bridge

Roman Aqueduct

Roman Domes

Roman Coliseum

Roman Forum

Change in the Army

• After the death of Augustus, the army was organized primarily for defense.

• Rhine-Danube frontier was protected by a string of forts.

• Long walls protected the frontiers of North Africa and Britain.

• The Romans fought for centuries against the Parthians on the eastern front; neither made any significant gains.

The State System

• Created by Augustus to help with Roman administration

• Worked well until Rome’s “third-century crisis” • Caused by:

– Frequent change of rulers – Raids by German tribesmen from across the Rhine-

Danube frontier – Rise of regional power when Rome seemed unable to

guarantee security

The Economy Falls

• Economy undermined by: – High cost of defense – Debasement of currency – Inflation – Disruption of trade – Reversion to a barter economy – Disappearance of the municipal aristocracy of the

provincial cities – Movement of population out of cities into rural areas

Diocletian

• Emperor from 284 – 305 C.E. • Saved Roman state by instituting a series

of reforms that included: – price controls – Regulations to have people stay in profession

and train son to do same job

• Some side effects of these reforms included a flourishing black market and growing resentment of the government.

Constantine

• Emperor from 306 – 337 C.E.

• Formally ended persecution of Christians.

• Patronized Christian church and made it official religion of Roman Empire.

• Transferred capital to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople in 324.

Rome under Constantine

Arch of Constantine

The Origins of Imperial China

221 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.

Resources

• Two most important resources: agricultural production and labor

• Agricultural production in China was intensive and taxed by the government.

• Most productive region was the Yangzi Valley – Linked to centers of political power (Chang’an

and Luoyang) by canals.

Exploitation

• Qin and Han governments exploited labor power of rural China by demanding that peasant families supply men for labor and the military.

• Periodic census and updated records of land and households enabled officials to collect the proper amount of taxes, labor services, and military service.

Expansion

• Throughout their rule, the Han Chinese people expanded their empire at the expense of other ethnic groups.

• Expanded into areas that were suitable for settled agriculture.

• Did not expand into areas that were suitable only for nomadic economies.

Family

• Basic unity of society. • Conceived of as an

unbroken chain of generations including the ancestors as well as the current generations.

• Ancestors thought to take an active interest in the affairs of current generation.

• Ancestors routinely consulted, appeased, and venerated.

Confucius

• Teachings were a fundamental source of values for family, social, and political organization.

• Said absolute authority in hands of father.

• People would properly fulfill roles if they were correctly instructed and imitated good role models.

Gender Roles

• Upper Class Women – cook, take care of household chores, respect parents-in-law, obey their husbands.

• Lower-Class Women – not as constrained.

• Marriages were arranged – New wife had to prove herself to her husband

and mother-in-law through hard work, obedience, devotion, and by bearing sons.

Spirits

• Believed in a number of nature spirits to whom they sacrificed.

• Unusual natural phenomena were regarded as ill omens.

• Landscape thought to channel the flow of good and evil power.

• Experts in feng shui were employed to identify the most fortunate location and orientation for buildings and graves.

The First Chinese Empire

• After Warring States Period, the state of Qin united China.

• Factors contributing to reunification: – Ability and ruthlessness of Qin ruler – Location in Wei valley with many independent

farming households – Qin’s experience in mobilizing manpower for

irrigation and flood-control projects

Qin Ruler

Shi Huangdi

“ First Emperor”

Ruler from 221 – 210 B.C.E.

Qin Rule

• Strong centralized state based on Legalist model.

• Suppressed Confucianism • Eliminated rival centers of authority • Abolished slavery • Constructed a rural economy of free land-

owning/tax-paying farmers. • Standardized weights and measures • Built roads and a long wall for defense

Great Wall of China

Defeat of the Qin Dynasty

• Oppressive nature and exorbitant demands for taxes and labor caused popular rebellions.

• Dynasty overthrown after death of Shi Huangdi in 210 B.C.E.

Shi Huangdi’s Tomb

Long Reign of the Han 206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.

• Liu Bang, a peasant who defeated all other contestants for control of China established the Han dynasty.

• Established a political system that drew on both Confucian philosophy and Legalist techniques.

Expansion

• Han went through period of expansion under: – Emperor Wu (r. 140 – 87 B.C.E.) – Western Han Period (202 B.C.E. – 8 C.E.)

• Capital at Chang’an

– Eastern Han Period (23-22 C.E.) • Capital at Luoyang

Chang’an

• Walled city

• Easy to defend

• Access to good arable land

• Population 2 C.E. – 246,000

• Other cities and towns imitated the urban planning of Chang’an.

Chang’an

Chang’an Elite

• Lived in elegant multistoried houses on broad streets

• Dressed in fine silks

• Connoisseurs of art and literature

• Many entertainment venues for these people

Emperor

• Supreme in state and in society. • Regarded as the Son of Heaven. • Link between heaven and human world. • Emperors were the source of law. • Anything that went seriously wrong meant

Emperor was losing Mandate of Heaven. • Emperors lived secluded from general

population. – Were surrounded by wives, family, servants,

courtiers, and officials.

Central Government

• Run by two chief officials • Included number of functionally

specialized ministers • Local officials:

– Collected taxes – Drafted men for labor and military service – Settled local disputes

• Most people had no contact with central government

Gentry

• Local officials supplied with class of moderately wealthy, educated local landowners called the “gentry.”

• Adopted Confucianism as their ideology

• Pursued careers in civil service.

Technology

• Advanced from bronze to iron around 500 B.C.E. – Ironworkers melted the iron and used molds

to make cast-iron and steel tools and weapons.

• Created crossbow, cavalry, watermill, and horse collar, road system, courier system, and canals.

Technology

Growth and Trade

• 10 to 30 percent of population lived in towns – much bigger than before.

• Most important export – silk.

• Most important export route – Silk Road. – Government sought to control this route by

sending armies and colonists to Central Asia.

Map of the Silk Road

Security Problems

• Nomadic tribes on northern border – Confederacy of

nomads called Xiongnu were a big problem.

• Fought them by strengthening cavalry and making compliant nomads into “tributaries”

Decline of Han Empire

• Expense of defending northern borders • Nobles and merchants built up landholdings at

expense of small farmers. • Military conscription broke down

– central government had to rely on mercenaries • Factionalism at court • Official corruption • Peasant uprisings • Nomadic attacks • Dynasty falls in 220 C.E.

Imperial Parallels

Similarities

• Family structure and values

• Patterns of land tenure, taxation, and administration

• Empire building

• Consequences for the identity of the conquered areas.

• Common problems with defense – Economy undermined by military expenses

Differences

– China – imperial model revived and territory of Han Empire reunified. • Former Roman Empire never reconstituted.

– This was because of differences in: • Concept of individual • Greater degree of mobility in Rome than in China • Political ideology • Religions of two empires