Social Structures of Han China and Ancient Rome

During the human bodyical era, Han china and antediluvian patriarch Rome were the pioneers for the change and the superfluity of improvements that took place in civilized societies. The Han Dynasty consisted of persistent regional riots and rebellions against harsh nominate demands, and past Rome expanded through the Mediterranean and areas of Hellenistic civilization.Together, these twain civilizations introduced many essential changes in human life and provided an arena for the bed cover of organized civilizations. Although both Han China and Ancient Rome acquired tidy religious systems, Ancient Romes accessible structure was far more(prenominal)(prenominal) structured than Han Chinas in regards to treatment of women and social status.Han China and Ancient Rome both demonstrated prosperous, influential religious systems that influenced new(prenominal) religious systems. In Han China, many followed Confucianism as a religion. Confucian teachings emphasized strong rulers and the consolidation of political power. Confucianism was non a religion, only if a philosophy.It advocated rule by the highly educated, male elite, and it was primarily an ethical system. honour for elders, art, music, and elegant calligraphy in the cultivation of scholar-bureaucrats were all important. Other Confucian teachings were Legalism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Confucianism has exerted a pervasive influence on other(a) societies throughout Asia.Confucianism has impact and been incorporated in nearly every aspect of life. Education, government, behavior, and how the people should bouncy their lives are all connected and Confucianism provided a code and a flow to have effective government and education, and lead a happy, successful life.Chinas Confucian ideals, technological advancements, and prosperous agrarian demesne captivated major thinkers in Europe and the United States. The roman empire provided an arena for the diffuse of Christianity and the interaction of n umerous diverse cultures. Christianity emerged during the first years of the Roman Empire under Augustus. Originally an offshoot of Judaism, early Christianity had little to do with Roman culture.In the centuries after Jesus execution, many outside of Judaism converted to the new religion. Perhaps as many as 10 percent of the Roman population were Christian by the fourth century C.E. Christianity mobilize most rapidly among the low and disadvantaged classes of the empire. Christianity also won converts from among those seeking a more emotionally satisfying form of religion. Roman stability and communications aided in the spread of the religion.The early political form of Christianity was drawn from the proud constitution. In Christianity, bishops were governors of local communities and supervised activities from cities in which they resided. Bishops in the most powerful cities gained greater authority.The apostle Paul, who brought Christian beliefs to a wider public, was a critic al figure in the diffusion of the new religion. Gradually Christian theologians began to define religious beliefs in cost of Greco-Roman philosophy. Christianity became the most creative intellectual area of later imperial culture.In this sense, Christianity was an important conservator of earlier intellectual traditions. Refusal of Christian communities to participate in state rituals caused some early emperors to persecute individuals and groups. Persecution was only episodic, and eventually the state was able to allot to the Church a legitimate, if subordinate, place in the world.Women enjoyed more freedom and status in Han China than in Ancient Rome, which was a much(prenominal) more structured society for women. Because marriages were arranged with family alliances in Han China, small men had as little say in the choice of their spouses as women. Young brides usually could rely on their powerful relatives to ensure that they were puff up treated in the new home.Widowed wom en were permitted to remarry, and all women participated in family ceremonies. Women of upper class families were often tutored in writing, the arts, and music. Although political positions were reserved for men, women could sometimes exert powerful influence from behind the throne.In Ancient Rome, on the other hand, the Roman justness stipulated that the husband is the judge of his wife. If she commits a fault, he punishes her if she has drunk wine, he condemns her if she has been discredited of adultery, he kills her. If divorced because of adultery, a Roman woman would lose trine of her property and had to wear a special garment that set her by like a prostitute.As wives and mothers, many aristocratic Roman women wielded political power, but only through their husbands. Inequality in the midst of men and women increased in the empires final stages. Roman family structure was very patriarchal.There was much less lenience in the class structure of Han China than Ancient Rome. In Ancient Rome, there was class conflict mingled with the developingranks of the poor and the Roman aristocracy. Some political leaders attempted to footslog their careers on the basis of this conflict.Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, two tribunes, attempted to introduce land cleanse and other social legislation in favor of the poor between 133 B.C.E. and 123 B.C.E. Both were killed by aristocratic mandate. After 107 B.C.E., the Roman consul Marius began to use paying volunteers to staff his armies in place of conscripted Roman citizens.The creation of a unchanging multitude force dedicated to its commander threatened the position of the Senate. A second commander, Sulla, drove out Marius and his political allies. A succession of military commanders dominated Roman politics thereafter. A civil fight between two of them, Pompey and Julius Caesar, brought the republic to an end. After Caesar took over the government in 49 B.C.E., he introduced various reforms. The result was to de stroy the political monopoly of the Roman aristocracy.Traditionalist senators plan against Caesar and had him assassinated in 44 B.C.E. Caesars death precipitated a civil war from which Caesars adopted son, Octavian, emerged the victor. While maintaining the external appearance of the republic, Octavian created an imperial state. For his success, he was tending(p) the name Augustus.The Han class systems were much different. In Han China, rebellion was almost nonexistent. so-so(predicate) farmers held varying amounts of land, and those who worked on the land of others as tenants or did landless weary were even more miserable. Many peasants joined secret societies with colorful names. merchant classes became wealthier and more numerous, but they found it incredibly difficult to translate their moolah into political power or social status.However, even when people were unhappy, they did not complain. Status was often unchangeable, so unlike Ancient Rome, people did not and could n ot revolt. These great classical civilizations lend themselves to a variety of comparisons to other civilizations during the time.In particular, Confucianism of the Han Dynasty and Christianity of Ancient Roman have spread throughout the world. Because of the Roman Empire, Christianity has spread throughout Europe from Jerusalem to Mesopotamia. Today, it is most influential in magnetic north and South America and Europe.Because of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism and Confucian ideas have had an impact on easterly Asia, especially Japan, Egypt, and Vietnam, and it has even influenced Taoism. Even though both Han China and Ancient Rome acquiredincredible religious systems, Ancient Romes social structure was far more controlling than Han Chinas in regards to treatment of women and social status.