han vs rome Essay

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Austin Kittrell
Han vs Rome
The choice of which society I would rather be a merchant in is quite obviously the Roman Empire for a variety of reasons. First the Roman Empire had much more developed trade networks than the Han Dynasty. Although the Han Dynasty had better written communication it lacked the vastness of influence the Roman Empire held. Additionally, the Han Dynasty only had Southern Asia and Eastern Asia while the Roman Empire’s realm spread over a much larger area. This led to a greater supply and demand of Roman goods than Han goods. From a merchant’s perspective the much more economically sound choice would be the Roman Empire. To further back up that opinion, the Roman Empire was more stable and merchants had greater safety transporting goods because of Rome’s Pax Romana. The Han Dynasty had much conflict and warfare.
The second item of interest for a prospective merchant would be the two civilizations stance on crime. The strong Roman Empire’s army spread through the empire prevented crime rather than punish it. The Han Dynasty focused on strict punishments after the crime had occurred. Also, the Han Dynasty had a higher tax rate and controlled a lot of the industries within the region. This is vastly different from the free trade and reasonable tax rate in the Roman Empire.
Another key point was the internal improvements in the country as it relates to trade interests. The Roman Empire had many roads, shipping and canals which led to rich cities and public services such as running water and sewer systems. This being