Brett Feldman 9/17/13 Mr. Gribble 8th period

These two empires were both extremely well established and maintained a structured political system. The Roman Empire, which lasted from 753 B.C. to 600 C.E. and the Han Empire, which lasted from 202 B.C. to 220 C.E., were both extremely powerful empires in their times and had had many similarities in the way they grew and developed but differed in the way they maintained their economic patterns and their declines.

The city of Rome was founded by Romulus in 753 B.C.E. The growth of the empire was a slow and gradual process but began picking up momentum in the third and second centuries B.C.E. when they began invading and conquering larger amounts of land. This heavily relates to the growth of the Han Empire. They both gained land by attacking and conquering their neighbors. A large difference is the reason why they were trying to gain so much land and power. The Roman Empires growth is mainly thanks to the two leading consuls. The main force behind invading others land was greed and the two consuls desire to prove their military glory in their short 1-year reign. The Han invaded land not mainly because of greed, the emperor at the time, Wu, had a very specific mission for gaining land. The Xiongnu was a military threat to the Han and Wu needed soldiers and horses to fight them. He invaded much of the land around him to gain soldiers and horses for his cavalry. These two empires similarly gained military strength through their conquests as well, the Romans from Italy and the Han in Vietnam. In both instances the military was used but for highly different reasons.

The main economic patterns for both Rome and the Han revolved around agriculture. They both used agriculture to feed their people and trade with surrounding regions for other necessary goods. The peasant class was a vital portion in both the Han and the Roman empires for it was they who did the majority of the farming. A major difference is the pace at which the two economies grew. The Roman Empire planted grapes and barely, which were very valuable for trade. The Han came to power following a civil war and therefore had to grow their economy at a much slower rate. Both empires traded with other regions but the Han Empire had a much broader range of trade because of the Silk Road. The Silk Road ran all throughout Asia and allowed the Han to trade silk and other goods, which helped grow their economy. The Romans didn’t have access to anything of that nature.

One of the biggest differences between the two empires is the