The Decadence of Han China and the Roman Empire Essay Example for Free

The Decadence of Han China and the Roman Empire Essay In the both of the declines of the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty in China, there were similarities in many aspects, such as their economics failing, a sudden decrease in both populations, and collapse of both their political systems. Although, even in these few of the many similarities, there were differences in the economic failure, the decay of their cultures, and the political collapse of the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty in China. In both the Han Dynasty in China and the Roman Empire, economic failure was one of the factors of both their declinations. Both were subjected to harsh invasions by surrounding nomadic barbarians and were forced into spending large amounts of money on border defense and an offensive team, such as Han China’s Great Wall of China and the Roman Empire’s several garrisons. Both Han China and the Roman Empire had a substantial and harshly effectual sudden drop in population, as well. Han China and the Roman Empire both fell to similar plagues and epidemics which caused many people to die and flee their residences to get away from the inevitable sickness. Both of the governments of Han China and the Roman Empire suddenly stopped flourishing and working correctly suddenly due to unstable leadership and the surrounding nomadic barbarian invasions becoming too much to handle for both Han China and the Roman Empire. The Han Dynasty in China and the Roman Empire both split into separate parts within themselves, the Roman Empire splitting into two separate eastern and western parts, and Han China splitting into three separate parts. Within the economic failure in both Han China and the Roman Empire, Han China mainly collapsed due to taxes being too high and people revolting, such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was Han China’s uprising of society because of unfair taxation. The Han Chinese government tried to stop it, but there was too much corruption within the government, causing its military efforts to stop the Yellow Turban Rebellion to fail miserably. The Roman Empire was in fear of abandonment as many civilians left due to the fact that their taxes that were being collected were too high and the civilians in the Roman Empire that remained were stuck in financial troubles. Han China and the Roman Empire’s cultures fell apart differently. The Han Dynasty in China had one common script and common culture, while the Roman Empire’s was in many fragments, making the fall of Han China more severe because the language and many things surrounding it fell apart. The political confusion, instability, and eventual collapse was very different for both the Han Dynasty in China and the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had split into the two eastern and western parts and Han China had split into three, as mentioned above. But with that, the Roman Empire had a string of weak leaders which caused succession and an eventual civil war within itself. In Han China, public servants such as politicians became corrupt, which in turn caused landlords to suddenly have a substantial increase in power, figuratively robbing everyone else outside of that social class of their money. In conclusion, between the Han Dynasty of China and the Roman Empire, their downfalls were the same in ways such as economic failure, decrease in population, and the collapse of both of their political systems. Even though they are similar in those ways, they differ in the ways their economies crashed and fell apart, they way Han China’s and the Roman Empire’s cultures dissolved and faded away, and even the way their political systems had collapsed.