Roman and Chinese Empires - Essay Example

Roman and Chinese Empire A lot has occurred in the world in the past centuries. People would not know anything about what occurred without history. Many civilizations have occurred in the past that has helped shape the present history. China and Rome are the two countries that built the history of the world. Many aspects led to rise and fall of Roman and Chinese empire (Scheidel, Pp 23). At some point, both of the empires became successful and later fell apart. China and Rome have helped in influence of the world history in many ways with similarities and difference between the two countries. The Chinese and Roman empires were created from different ways since they arose from a different form of governance. The Chinese empire changed from fighting state to an empire. The fighting states were 7 competing kingdoms that were brought together by shihuangdi who was the ruler of Qin. He was able to rise to power and unify all the seven warring states. He was a harsh ruler that anybody who went against his decisions was executed. He adopted legalism, and there were clear rules and punishment for people who went against him. The Chinese empire was created through tough decisions since it was influenced by the military. There were standard weights created for trade, currency and measures. Speeding of things led to Chinese empire collapsing since there was heavy harshness. Han dynasty followed similar rules and policies, but they were less harsh. Roman Empire was a different story since the empire rose from a republic (Scheidel, Pp 42). The Romans were victorious in many Punic wars, and this gave them a chance to expand and build an empire. The Roman Empire was influential since it included the Mediterranean empire and beyond while the Chinese empire was within China. Roman Empire established a much greater freedom for people since they had written code laws for the poor to lessen inequality. They used the same political system to build the Roman Empire. The Empire was in power of people, and it maintained the forms of republic. Augustus who ruled Roman Empire did not regard himself as King, but instead first man while Shihuangdi called himself king and made it clear that he was the one in control. The two empires invested a considerable amount of money in public works ensuring that they looked stunning and classy. Roman people believed that previous empires were god while China believed the emperor was the son of heaven. China conducted many rituals to balance between heaven and earth. This empires adapted foreign traditions. Rome adopted Christianity, which eventually becomes the leading religion in Europe while China adopted Buddhism even though it never spread, and it was not popular. Roman and Chinese empires had relations to their societies that they ruled. Rome was extremely diverse since it did not make new comers change their culture and it gave citizenship to every free person in Rome. Roman people were also attracted to western European culture (Scheidel, Pp 78). Chines believed in their cultures and made the new comers change their cultures and become part of barbarians. Latin was the language used in Rome, and it gave birth to other languages like Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Chinese language had characters that represented words, and it was difficult to translate it in another language. Bureaucracy was highly defined in China than in Rome. Romans had a body of law that applied equally to all people while china used the civil service system. Agricultural Revolution The key aspect of the long Paleolithic era and operation of the human process on a global scale was the settlement on earth. A new pattern started to unfold around 12000 years ago, and it was known as agriculture. Agriculture revolution is cultivation of certain plants and breeding of animals. This new way of life replaced earlier practices where people practiced hunting and gathering. Even though, it took many centuries, introduction of agriculture represented genuine transformation of people way of life and it provided a foundation for everything that followed. Many things followed the introduction of agriculture, which are civilization, growing population, settlement and cities. The revolutionary aspects that were established by agriculture were the new relationship between man and other living animals. Men did not only use what they found in nature, but they also change the nature. This means that men were directing the process of agriculture. For instance, farmers in America transformed the corn from a plant with 1-inch cob to a plant with 6-inch cob by the year 1500. Farmers in most parts of the world stamped the ground with human imprints with form f field with boundaries, canals and irrigation ditches. Animals were also transformed where breeding produced sheep with more wool, cows that produced lots of milk and chicken that laid more eggs than their wild counterparts did. This was known as domestication, which is the taming and changing of nature to benefit humankind. This taming and changing of nature formed a new mutual independence. Most of the domesticated animals could not produce successfully in the wild, and they depended on human protection to reproduce. Consequently, human beings in agricultural era lost hunting and gathering skills. As a result, farmers depended on their domesticated plants and animals. Another revolutionary aspect of agriculture is intensification where people get more for less. People got more food and resources from a small piece of land that was impossible for people using gathering and hunting technology. The growing population required intensive exploitation of land for production of food. The most remarkable feature of the agricultural revolution is that it occurred separately in diverse parts globally. This took place roughly between 12000 to 4000 years ago. Agriculture revolution came after the end of the last ice age. This is a process of global warming that started 1600 years ago. All along the history of hunters and gatherers they had knowledge of the natural world but unable to manage it actively. Hunters and gatherers knew how to use many plants and eat both small and large animals. People in the Middle East developed sickles for cutting grain and baskets for carrying this grain. People from the amazon region had knowledge of cutting back some plants to allow growth of their favorite. Original people from Australia built intricate traps for storing and harvest large number of eels. People can perceive this was a preparation to agriculture. Most women were involved with collecting wild plants hence scholars believe that they led the way to farming. The knowledge and technology for farming was part of a long process that involved intense human exploitation of the earth. Gathering and hunting people benefited from technology and end of the last ice age global warming. This is because they established permanent villages leaving their nomadic way of life. This happened in areas with resources such as lakes, marshes and rivers. After settling down, people lost skills they inherited from their ancestors as they realized they realized they needed to support the growing population. Growing population during the period of global warming has convinced scholars it was a response to food crisis. Since agriculture is practiced globally, it seems it is an inevitable feature of the human story. In terms of the world history, it is a recent development for adaptation of new conditions. Even though, it took many centuries, introduction of agriculture represented genuine transformation of people way of life and it provided the foundation for everything that followed. The most remarkable feature of the agricultural revolution is that it occurred separately in diverse parts worldwide. Works Cited Scheidel, Walter. Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires. New York: Oxford University Press. 2010. Read More