Ch. 6: An Age of Empires: Rome & Han China, 753 B.C.E.- 330 C.E. I. Rome s creation of a Mediterranean Empire a. Geography & resources i. Italy = Crossroads link Africa & Europe. Rome @ internal crossroads. ii. Abundant resources + good climate + arable land = large pop. of farmers (plebeians); state exploited surplus product & labor. b. A republic of farmers i. Inhabited by 1000 B.C.E. Legend: Romulus & Remus, Aeneas (Virgil s Aeneid) Also, 753-507 B.C.E., ruled by 7 kings; last, Tarquinus, overthrown by reps of senatorial class of large landholders (patricians) & republic established. ii. 2 consuls & Senate. Senate made laws/governed. Dictator in emergency. Censors. Tribunes. Laws of the 12 Tables. Precedent. iii. Family: several generations led by oldest male (paterfamilias). iv. Society: Hierarchy. Patricians & plebeians. Patron/client relationships institutionalized inequality, gave both sides reason to cooperate/support status quo. v. Women: relatively more freedom than Greeks, but legal status of a child, subordinate to paterfamilias and her/husband s family. Eventually possibility of independence after father s death. vi. Worshiped many spirits as well as major gods like Jupiter & Mars. Proper ritual to ensure favor.
c. Expansion in Italy & Mediterranean i. Slow expansion sped up in 3 rd & 2 nd cen. B.C.E. Possible explanations: greed, aggressiveness, consuls need to prove selves as military commanders, fear of attack. ii. Stage 1: Conquer Italy (by 290 B.C.E.). Won support by granting citizenship and new citizens had to provide military service. (Conquered Latin tribes and Greeks Pyrrhic victory ) iii. Next: 262-202 B.C.E., Punic Wars with Carthage to gain control over western Med. 1 st, gain Sicily. 2 nd, Hannibal invaded Italy; Scipio Africanus invaded Carthage. Cato: Carthage must be destroyed! 3 rd : it was. Then, 200-30, Hellenistic kingdoms defeated/eastern Med. conquered. 59-51, Julius Caesar conquered Gaul. Veni, vidi, vici. iv. Local elites used to administer & tax provinces in growing empire. Roman governor w/1-year term supervised. System inadequate/corrupt. d. Failure of the Republic i. W/expansion, social & economic bases undermined by change. While farmers served in military, large landowners bought up farms & created latifundia. So, decline both in source of soldiers and food production latifundia produced cash crops like grapes, not staples like wheat. ii. Slave labor cheap, so homeless, jobless peasants moved to cities & formed fractious underclass. Bread & circuses. iii. Shift in military: loyalty to commanders rather than state. Led to generals taking control of politics, civil wars, end of republic. iv. 44 B.C.E.: Dictator-for-life Julius Caesar assassinated. J.C. s grandnephew Octavian took power in 31 B.C.E. (after defeating Antony @ Actium), reorganized gov t, & ruled as military dictator.
Titles Augustus and Imperator from Senate & military. End of Republic; beginning of Roman Empire*. Position not necessarily hereditary some inherited (some good, some bad like Caligula & Nero), some chosen by army. (*principate) e. An urban empire i. ~80% of Rome s 50-60 million people were rural farmers, but empire administered through/for towns & cities. Rome had ~1 million residents; other large urban areas. ii. Upper classes lived well; poor in fire-prone tenements in slums. iii. Provincial towns copied urban planning & administration. Local elite served Rome on town councils and used wealth to construct amenities (baths, aqueducts, public works & entertainment projects). iv. Rural life: hard work, little play/contact w/gov t representation. Most were tenant farmers w/absentee landlords. v. Manufacture & trade flourished under Pax Romana. Grain imported to Rome; cities exported glass, metalwork, other manufactured goods to provinces. Chinese silk & Arabian/Indian spices also imported. vi. Romanization : In western empire, Latin language, Roman clothing & lifestyle adopted. All free adult men given citizenship. (Eastern part still Greek-influenced). f. Rise of Christianity i. Jesus born into society marked by resentment against Roman rule (which inspired belief in a coming Messiah-liberator). When Jesus sought to reform Jewish religious practices, Jewish authorities turned him over to the Romans for execution. ii. After the execution, disciples continued to spread teachings, and also belief in resurrection. Target of proselytizing: fellow Jews.
iii. Target shifted to non-jews (gentiles) in 40s-70s C.E. Paul of Tarsus: Apostle to the Gentiles. Jewish revolt in Judaea (66 C.E.) & Roman reconquest destroyed original Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem. iv. Christianity grew slowly for 200 yrs, Developed a hierarchy of priests & bishops (pope @ head Petrine Theory), a commonly accepted theological doctrine, & resisting persecution (esp. under Nero). By late 3 rd cen., a sizeable minority in empire. v. Expansion came @ a time when Romans were increasingly dissatisfied w/traditional religion. Dissatisfaction inspired interest in mystery cults and universal creeds from eastern Med. Christianity offered morality, hope of afterlife, was open to all (even poor, slaves, women) g. Technology & transformation i. Expert military & civil engineers. Bridges, ballistic weapons, aqueducts, arches, domes, use of concrete, roads ii. After Augustus, army primarily defensive. Rhine-Danube frontier protected by forts; walls in N. Africa & Britain. On east, struggle w/parthians. iii. Augustus s state system worked well until 3 rd -century crisis. Symptoms: frequent changes of ruler; raids from Germanic tribes; rise of regional powers as Rome failed to provide security. iv. Economy undermined by cost of defense, debasement of currency/inflation, disruption of trade & reversion to barter, disappearance of municipal aristocracy, ruralization. v. Diocletian (r. 284-305) instituted reforms: price controls, requiring people to stay in professions & train son as successor (beginning of serfdom). Side effects: black market & resentment against gov t.
vi. Constantine (r. 306-337) converted to Christianity (credited God with victory In hoc signo vinces) & legalized/patronized Church, contributing to status as official religion. Moved capital to Byzantium (Constantinople). II. Origins of Imperial China a. Resources & population i. Large region of great ecological diversity. ii. 2 most important resources: agricultural production & labor. Ag was intensive & taxed by gov t. Most productive region, Yangzi valley, linked to political centers of Chang an & Luoyang by canals. iii. Qin & Han gov ts exploited labor power by demanding that peasants supply men for labor & military service. Census and land/household records enabled collection of taxes, labor service, & military service. iv. Han expanded @ expense of other ethnicities. Went into areas suitable for agriculture, not for nomadic economies. b. Hierarchy, obedience, & belief i. Family basic unit of society. Seen as unbroken chain of generations including ancestors. Ancestors considered interested in current affairs, so consulted & venerated. ii. Teachings of Confucius were fundamental source of values for family, social, & political organization. Hierarchy natural. Father has absolute authority. Family a group, not individuals. People need to be taught roles & given good models. iii. Upper-class women: cook, household chores, respect in-laws, obey husband. Lower-class less constrained. Marriages arranged. Wife had to prove herself through work, devotion, obedience, & bearing sons.
iv. Sacrifices made to nature spirits. Unusual natural phenomena = ill omens. Landscape channels flow of good & evil (fengshui/geomancy); location/orientation important for buildings/graves. c. First Chinese Empire i. After Warring States (480-221 B.C.E.), Qin unified China. Factors: ability & ruthlessness of Shi Huangdi & PM Li Si, Qin location w/ rural farming population, experience in mobilizing manpower for irrigation/flood control projects. ii. Qin based centralized state on Legalist model. Confucianism suppressed, rival centers of authority eliminated, primogeniture & slavery abolished, economy of rural land-owning/tax-paying farmers. Standardized weights/measures, built roads & Wall. iii. Oppressive regime and exorbitant demands for taxes & labor led to popular rebellions; dynasty overthrown after Shi Huangdi s death in 210 B.C.E. d. Long reign of the Han (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) i. A peasant, Liu Bang, established Han dynasty. Political system drew on Confucian philosophy & Legalist techniques. ii. 1 st consolidated, then expanded under Emperor Wu (140-87 B.C.E.). 202 B.C.E.-8 C.E., W. Han capital @ Chang an. 23-220 C.E., E. Han capital @ Luoyang. iii. Chang an defensible w/arable land. 2 C.E. pop of 246,000. Urban planning imitated. iv. Elite: nice houses on boulevards, wore silk, had art, literature, entertainment. Commoners in crowded alleys. v. Emperor supreme in state & society. Son of Heaven, source of law. Problems could indicate misrule & loss of Mandate of Heaven. Lived in seclusion w/retinue of wives, family, servants, courtiers, officials.
vi. Gov t run by 2 officials & several specialized ministers. Local officials collected taxes, drafted men for labor/military, settled disputes. Most people did not contact central gov t. vii. Local officials came from gentry class of moderately wealthy, educated landowners. Confucian ideology; civil service careers valued. e. Technology & trade i. Bronze to iron by 500 B.C.E. (Chinese cast Roman wrought) ii. Crossbow, cavalry, watermill, horse collar. Roads, couriers, & canals for transportation/communication. iii. Growth in size/# of urban areas. 10-30% lived in towns. iv. Long-distance commerce important. Export silk on Silk Road. Armies/colonists to C. Asia to control route. f. Decline of the Han Empire i. Security problem: nomads on N. border (Xiongnu confederacy). Han strengthened defenses & made compliant groups tributaries. (also bribes ) ii. Undermined by factors including 1) expense of defending borders, 2) noble/merchant landholdings @ expense of farmers (they resisted taxation & became independent), and 3) conscription system broke down & gov t had to rely on mercenaries of questionable loyalty. iii. These factors + factionalism @ court, official corruption, peasant uprisings, & nomadic attacks led to fall in 220. Political fragmentation until late 6 th cen.
III. Imperial Parallels a. Similarities i. Han & Roman Empires similar in family structure/values, patterns of land tenure, taxation, & administration, in empire-building & its consequences for identity of conquered. ii. Common problems in terms of defense and in military expenditures undermining domestic economy. iii. Both empires overrun by new peoples who then were influenced by the imperial cultures. b. Differences i. In China, imperial model was revived & territory re-unified. Rome never reconstituted. ii. Historians theories: differences in respect to concept of individual, Rome s greater social mobility, & different political ideologies & religions. IV. Conclusion a. Qin & Han unified China and rapidly built empire because of basis set in Zhou/Warring States; Rome built empire slowly & without precedents. b. Han & Rome maintained/administered large territories & populations by virtue of ability to organize large professional armies & bureaucracies. c. Both provided long periods of peace & prosperity, but were undermined by costs of defense & heavy tax burden. d. Han dynasty constructed political system later revived & modified; Rome never restored.