Compare and Contrast the Collapses of the Roman Empire and Han China.

The decline of the Roman and Han empires was caused by a number of events such as social unrest, problems with the government, and a decline in military which made them vulnerable to any number of events that could occur. The Han dynasty over time regrew into various forms, while the downfall of the Roman Empire was never followed by the regrowth of the Roman civilization.

The Roman Empire and Han China were once thriving civilizations, one reason for the collapse of both was social unrest which caused internal issues for both societies. Many things attributed to the social unrest of the Roman Empire, for example sickness and disease from traveling traders and merchants. Those who could not seek medical help could do nothing but pray to the gods and watch their loved one die. A common factor that cause social unrest is the wealth belonging only to a small part or the population and as the empire of Rome grew and more slaves came to the empire the number of those without the wealth increased, it was the division between the rich and the poor that cause social decay even faster. Taxes will always cause issues in a civilization, but in Rome is attributed to the downfall. In order to keep the Roman troops happy the government had to tax the poor more and more and so the people lost faith and pride in their civilizations. In Han China a lower class suffering from natural disasters that befell the empire in 183 CE led to a large-scale uprising, it was because of this uprising that brought about a portion of the fall in Han China.

Government is always a big factor in any civilization, if there is a good government the civilization will grow and thrive, but if after time that government becomes more and more corrupt the civilization will fall, this is a big factor of the cause of the downfall in Han China and The Roman Empire. Han was a thriving civilization much like Rome, but the government was slowly falling mainly due to emperors who neglected their duties. After the Han Xuan emperor died, there was not an emperor after him that was took on the responsibilities of the political and economic conditions of China. While in Rome the powerful, wealthy Roman Emperors inevitably became corrupt, and either the Senate didn't like the Emperor or the Emperors were at odds with the Senate. Another factor is the power of the Praetorian Guard led to political corruption and grew to such an extent that this massive troop of soldiers decided on whether an emperor should be disposed of and who should become the new emperor.

A forceful military receives more land for the civilization, but if there’s problems with the government the military will not be as trained as they need to to defend their country leaving them open to more attacks, for the Roman Army this is exactly what happened, while battling the Celts in modern day Scotland, with social unrest and corrupt government, the troops were spread to far and were defeated by the primitive weapons and tactics of the Celts. In the Han their army wasn’t the strongest, but with all the internal issues in the civilization that made the army weaker and the society more prone to invasions from the Huns or other invaders.

The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty both fell in ways that are different to each other, the civilizations had reasons for falling, some of them different and some of them the same. It was the Roman Empire that never regrew from it’s ashes, Rome just remained lost in history.