Han, Gupta and Rome

1
The Fall of Classical Empires

• Han, Gupta and Rome

2
Reasons for the Fall of the Han Empire

• Social
• Landholding elite held all of the power
• Disease
• Political
• Political fighting between eunuchs, Confucian
  scholars and nobles
• Government corruption and bribery
• Power in the hands of local landholders and
  governors (decentralization)
• Because of no centralized power, China was
  vulnerable
• Political and Social
• Only wealthy elite could gain political position

3
Reasons for the Fall of the Han Empire

• Cultural
• Challenged by arrival of Buddhism
• Economic
• Crop failure, flooding
• -9 million die
• Failure to implement land reform

4
Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire

• Social
• Invasions from Germanic tribes
• The expansion of slavery
• Decline in Roman civic duty
• Moral decay
• The decline of patriotism

5
Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire

• Cultural
• State not united by religion or philosophy
• Divided by language
• Latin in west, Greek in east
• Christianity challenges traditional Roman
  institutions

6
Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire

• Economic
• Dependence on foreign products
• Traditional work ethic declined
• Decline of cities infrastructure
• Trade deficit
• The high cost of military, welfare and government
• Class economic warfare between rich and poor
• Unequal taxation
• The small farm disappears

7
Reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire

• Political
• Problems of succession (the next emperor)
• Empire became too large for the government, and
  reform came too little and too late
• Government became dominated by the rich and
  military elites
• Citizens lost their interest in the government
• The military lost its prestige

8
Reasons for the Fall of the Gupta Empire

• Political
• Inability to centralize the Raj princes
• Because of decentralization, no Indian leaders to
  unify the subcontinent
• Hun invaders from the North

9
Aftermath

• Han
• Confucianism is able to hold society together
  despite the collapse of the government
• Note 3 centuries before next united dynasty -
  Tang
• Note No such self-sacrificing mentality existed
  in the western Classical Empires

10
Aftermath

• Roman
• The Eastern Roman Empire would adopt Christianity
  as the state religion, and merge religion and
  politics.
• The Western Empire did not do this, so their was
  constant fighting between the Pope and kings
• The east was older, richer and more stable than
  the west, with larger and most prosperous cities
• Trade and commerce flourish in the east
• Law and order existed in the east prior to Roman
  government

11

• The east did not have to deal with foreign
  invaders
• The west had foreign mercenaries working in their
  military ranks

12
Aftermath

• Gupta
• Caste system holds society together
• Hinduism gains against Buddhism
• Economic prosperity continues
• Regional factionalism prevents unification of
  sub-continent
• Note India not united until British Raj

13
Comparison of Collapse

• Students should be able to discuss similarities
  and differences in the following areas
• Political corruption and infighting
• Decentralization
• Foreign invaders
• Social decay
• Disease (Han and Rome)
• Change in religious or philosophical systems

14
So, what did they have in common?

• Reasons for collapse of classical empires
• Economic
• Social
• Political
• Environmental