Frank Kariuki.

Period 5.
Comparative Essay(2016).
While The Empires of Rome( 31 BCE- 476 CE) and China(206 BCE-220 CE)
were not the strongest Empires to exist, they still demonstrated some dominant
similarities and differences in political control. For instance both kingdoms had a
centralized form of government and had emperors as the absolute leaders of the
empires. However, in Rome they served punishment individually while in China, they
served punishment communally.
In Han China, They continued the same political structure and beliefs from their
predecessors, the Qin. The first emperor of Han China was Liu Bang, who lead his army
against emperor Xiang Yu.The Emperor continued the bureaucracy, making all the
decisions that affected his subjects. He had 3 councilors of state and he also appointed
6 ministers to control ministries like defense, justice and work. Like other emperor
before him, Liu used the mandate of heaven to justify his rule. As long as he maintained
the empires stability and prosperity, the gods approved his rule. However, when the
empire begun to suffer, then a new ruler was in order. To help rule the vast kingdom, the
emperor divided it into provinces in which he appointed their governors.
In Imperial Rome, The emperor also practiced bureaucracy. The first emperor
was Augustus Caesar, son of Julius Caesar. His father had lead to the end of the
Roman Republic and ruled rome until his death. Augustus then rose to become the first
Emperor of Rome. An Imperial council that consisted of magistrates, consuls and
senators was established. The senators were elected by the public every 6 months.The
senators had no political power at all. Due to the polythesitic religions in Rome, the king

was worshiped as a deity.Like China, Rome was divided into provinces which were led
by governors appointed by the Emperor.
One key difference between the 2 Empires was how justice was served. In Han
China, they practised communal punishment. If an individual committed a crime, the
community would get punished alongside him. The main form of punishment was
beatings.However, in Rome, they had individual punishments for the guilty. They would
suffer severe physical torments like getting beat with whips to extreme measure like
burning and throwing people off high rocks and cliffs.
Despite having thousands of miles between them, Han China and Imperial Rome
had very similar political rule and structure. However, it was these similarities that lead
to the demise of both Empires.