Oct. 2: China versus Rome
I. AGE OF EMPIRES 1ST AND 2ND
CENTURIES CE
Golden Age of the Roman Empire - but also of the Chinese empire under Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 BC)
A. Roman Golden Age
Pax Romana: shift to a defensive rather than offensive
foreign policy
Augustus stops the constant wars that had plagued late Republic - both civil wars and overseas expansion
Roman territory reached its greatest extent during the reign of Trajan (98-117) (the last conquering emperor)
(MAP)
During most of the first and the second centuries, the Romans were at peace.
Placating the people with bread and
circuses
Popular unrest quelled by public buildings, grain dole; games (and outlawing of private collegia - associations)
Emperors established enormous grain distributions - Roman welfare
250,000 citizens in Rome itself got rations of grain from the emperor.
(it should
be noted that only men got this welfare)
Most visible today are the public buildings the emperors built in Rome.
Most of the Roman temples, court buildings, bath houses, etc you see in Rome today were built by Augustus and subsequent emperors.
Also aqueducts, sewers, and public toilets
And emperors paid for frequent public games
Gladiator contests
Wild game shows - Romans would watch condemned criminals be torn apart by wild animals imported from their provinces (Romans believed in public rather than secret executions as way to ensure transparency of legal system)
(Colosseum)
Economic prosperity
Partly as a result of this peace, the Romans enjoyed several centuries of economic prosperity.
Evidence for this lies partly in the mount of air pollution they produced:
Greek and Roman lead and silver mining and smelting polluted the atmosphere throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Cumulative lead fallout to the Greenland ice sheet from 500 B.C. to 300 A.D. was as high as 15% of that from the use of leaded gasoline since the 1930s.
The peak was in the Roman period. (IMAGE OF LEAD POLLUTION IN PEAT BOGS)
Romans not the only great empire at the time.
B. China:
First united 221 BC (about time of Punic Wars for Rome)
202 BC - Han dynasty soon took over
Hang dynasty of China: empire comparable to Roman in power and duration (takes over s. Manchuria, n. Korea; Chinese colonists go to these areas as far as n. Vietnam )
The Chinese were known to the Romans (though only barely) -
Direct sea route to China discovered by Greek captains - ca. 1st c BC - but not fully exploited.
Yet political developments in China will end up changing Roman history
Comparisons between China and Rome:
1. Peak of their territorial extent at about the same time
Hang dynasty of China had an empire comparable to Roman in extent and duration - China took over s. Manchuria, n. Korea
(MAP)
Roman territory reached its greatest extent during the reign of Trajan (98-117) (the last conquering emperor)
(MAP)
- Walls on their borders
Both empires built major walls to delimitate their territory and protect it from invaders
Roman limes: earthen (sometimes stone) walls and forts on border
Best known part of it Hadrian's Wall on border between Roman Britian and Pictish Scotland (built 2nd c. AD)
Great Wall of China:
Started in the 7th century BC by princes before unification of China
Han emperors completed it 3rd c BC (also Chin) - extended 10,000 li or 5,000 kilometers.
to protect themselves against Hsiung-no - nomadic peoples on their border
B. System of government
Ultimate power in both cases in the hands of one man - the emperor
Chinese emperors more dynastic (i.e. better chance of emperor's son becoming emperor), partly because Chinese emperors more likely to have sons (the advantage of polygamy).
Roman emperors given their power by Senate and (esp.) the army - though typically they chose the man the previous emperor designated as his heir
Chinese administration more centralized than Roman
Roman empire largely governed through its cities - think of say Chicago having power to collect federal taxes, the Mayor being in charge of all the law courts - and you get some idea.
Chinese had a centralized bureaucracy:
imperial officials collected the taxes; ran the courts; etc.
These bureaucrats that got their office through education- not by birth.
young men had to pass state exams in order to be considered for office
they were promoted for merit
In Roman empire - education was also important - but top offices usually reserved for those of high (i.e. senatorial) birth or military men - even if they were not well educated.
Science and technology
In part because of emphasis placed on education, Chinese made important scientific and technological advances - esp. in early Han period (3rd c. BC)
Discovered sunspots, invented the compass (though used for religious purposes only at this point), first represenation of zero (by space): China 4th c. BC
On more practical side:
Learned how to use water power to grind grain, and smelt iron.
learned how to make iron that resembled steel 3rd c BC (process of annealing)
Learned how to make paper from cloth rags - first paper money .
Became most scientific farmers in the world:
cultivation in rows: 6th c BC (vs. broadcasting used until 18thc in Europe) - much better for irrigation, germination
iron plow with curved moldboard: designed to be used with only one ox (not adopted by Europeans until 18th c)
the horse collar, which greatly increased the pulling power of horses;
The Romans, in contrast, invented almost nothing during the imperial period Romans excelled "in drains, not brains")
Greeks under Roman rule remained scientifically innovative:
Ptolemy
Ptolemy lived in Alexandria (in Egypt) from approx. 87 -150 CE.
He was an astronomer, mathemetician and geographer.
He believed the planets and sun to orbit the Earth in the order Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn .
This system, known as the Ptolemaic System, was not seriously questioned until Copernicus in the 16th century.
In addition to his works in astronomy, Ptolemy was very important in the history of geography.
Ptolemy invented latitude and longitude - he was the first to place a grid system on a map and use the same grid system for the entire planet. (MAP)
We'll see later in the course how the rediscovery of Ptolemy in the late Middle Ages was a factor in leading Columbus to sail to the Americas.
C. Acculturation of other civilizations
China and Roman Empire were alike in that both acculturated conquered (and sometimes neighboring) peoples - making them Chinese and Romans.
This was partly done through colonization:
Roman veterans set up as colonists in conquered provinces - like North Africa, Gaul (France), Spain (not so many in the East)
Chinese colonists (not veterans, however) settled in much of eastern Asia - as far as n. Vietnam - during Han period.
Such colonists helped transmit their culture to other peoples in the area.
In both empires - conquered peoples voluntarily adopted Roman or Chinese customs - in order to be upwardly mobile.
In Roman empire, this happened especially in Europe and North Africa - where people started to speak Latin, live in Roman-styled cities, worship Graeco-Roman gods; and become citizens.
In 212, a Roman emperor (Caracalla) made citizenship universal: every free man in Roman empire was a citizen now.
Summary: state of the great empires ca. 200 CE
III. Third-century
crisis and recovery
China falls apart
Last Han emperor deposed in 220 by a rebellion (Lerner 307)
Chinese empire falls apart, and won't recover for 3 1/2 centuries. (589 Sui Dynasty)
Collapse of Chinese empire had repercussions throughout Asia: dynamo effect
Peoples in central Asia that had been kept at bay by the Chinese started to move around - expand their areas of influence.
These central Asians in turned pressed on peoples in western Asia - like the Persians; the Germanic tribes in steppes of Russia and eastern Europe.
And the Germans and Persians press on the Romans.
Third century crisis
Fifteen years after the collapse of Han China, the Roman empire also fell apart: "Third century crisis"
The Roman gov't - unlike the Chinese - will survive this crisis - but it forever changed Roman society.
Nature of criss
In the second half of the 3rd century, there was
a new emperor on average every 11/2 years.
Almost all of these emperors died violent deaths – either assassination by their own men, or death in battle.
Civil wars arose between armies: the army in Europe would proclaim one emperor; the armies in Syria another.
They'd fight to see who got the title.
(Motive: The troops would demand higher pay as a reward for supporting a new emperor)
Low point: 260 AD
The Persian king (Shapur) defeats a Roman army, and captures and kills the Roman emperor (Valerianus)
(Shapur then set up an enormous inscription - which survives – bragging about the deed)
Afterwards, a rather small Syrian city Palmyra - ends up taking over much of the eastern empire.
Ultimate Cause of the Third Century Crisis
- Movement of peoples in central Asia - which had pushed peoples like the Goths and Persians against the Roman empire - leading to wars on multiple fronts
And as usually happens at times of civil war, the people suffered.
To get money to pay off the troops, the emperors minted more debased coins (coins made of cheap metal)..
Hyperinflation occurred – the currency became virtually worthless, forcing people to resort to barter (what is in fact happening in Russia today).
Cities stopped investing in public works – the Roman aqueducts, temples and so on started to fall apart
And people began to doubt their gods
Ordinary Romans began to look for new gods
The old gods were clearly not doing a good job protecting the empire or people
More and more people in the Roman empire turned towards "mystery" religions - religions which offered a personal relationship with a god and a hope of life after death (like Cybele, Isis, Jesus)
Christianity was a popular choice (more about this on Thursday)