Han vs. Rome

Han vs. Rome

The Han dynasty and the Roman empire were both influential empires in the ancient world, but despite their greatness they both reached a point of nonexistence. Both empires had their own problems alike in some ways yet different in others.
The pressures inflicted on Rome and the Han dynasty such as political instability, economic downfall, disease, and natural disasters allowed the decay and eventual collapse of the two classical empires leaving a mark forever on the world as we know it today. In every society there are internal pressures such as political instability and economic downfall. Rome was republic while the Han dynasty was a centralized bureaucracy. Although each empire had a different form of government they both experienced issues with taxes. Taxes were extremely high in both Rome and the Han dynasty. The extremeness of Roman taxes could be attributed to the smaller population. The landowners of the Han dynasty did not have to pay taxes causing extreme taxes among the peasants of the Empire. Towards the end of the Han dynasty it’s once powerful government became weak possibly for huger of power. Roman emperors were overthrown and killed in search of power. Each society also experiences external pressures such as disease and natural disasters. The Han dynasty was greatly affected by natural disasters, while Rome was greatly affected by disease. In 183 CE in Han China natural disasters greatly disturbed the peasants and caused them to revolt. Rome was placed in better area than Han geographically concerning natural disasters. Rome focused on prevention of disease rather than cure of disease. One major focus of the Roman empire was public health. Rome focused on the prevention of disease rather than the cure. This could have caused problems once a disease spread because there were no cures. 
 Every society throughout history has experienced both internal and external pressures that would allow decay and could eventually lead to the collapse. The Roman empire and the Han dynasty both experiences many similar pressures as well as many very different pressures that allowed decay and eventually lead to the collapse of each empire. Each empire left an impact on the world in its rise, prime, and fall.