State Power In Ancient China And Rome

Author : Walter Scheidel
Publisher : Oxford Studies in Early Empire
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : History
ISBN : 9780190202248

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State Power in Ancient China and Rome by Walter Scheidel Pdf

The Chinese and the Romans created the largest empires of the ancient world. Separated by thousands of miles of steppe, mountains and sea, these powerful states developed independently and with very limited awareness of each other's existence. This parallel process of state formation served as a massive natural experiment in social evolution that provides unique insight into the complexities of historical causation. Comparisons between the two empires shed new light on the factors that led to particular outcomes and help us understand similarities and differences in ancient state formation. The explicitly comparative perspective adopted in this volume opens up a dialogue between scholars from different areas of specialization, encouraging them to address big questions about the nature of imperial rule. In a series of interlocking case studies, leading experts of early China and the ancient Mediterranean explore the relationship between rulers and elite groups, the organization and funding of government, and the ways in which urban development reflected the interplay between state power and communal civic institutions.0Bureaucratization, famously associated with Qin and Han China but long less prominent in the Roman world, receives special attention as an index of the ambitions and capabilities of kings and emperors. The volume concludes with a look at the preconditions for the emergence of divine rulership. Taken together, these pioneering contributions lay the foundations for a systematic comparative history of early empires.

Author : Walter Scheidel
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2021-02-15
Category : History
ISBN : 0197552293

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State Power in Ancient China and Rome by Walter Scheidel Pdf

Two thousand years ago, the Qin/Han and Roman empires were the largest political entities of the ancient world, developing simultaneously yet independently at opposite ends of Eurasia. Although their territories constituted only a small percentage of the global land mass, these two Eurasian polities controlled up to half of the world population and endured longer than most pre-modern imperial states. Similarly, their eventual collapse occurred during the same time. The parallel nature of the Qin/Han and Roman empires has rarely been studied comparatively. Yet here is a collection of pioneering case studies, compiled by Walter Scheidel, that sheds new light on the prominent aspects of imperial state formation. This essential new volume builds on the foundation of Scheidel's Rome and China (2009), and opens up a comparative dialogue among distinguished scholars. They provide unique insights into the complexities of imperial rule, including the relationship between rulers and elite groups, the funding of state agents, the determinants of urban development, and the rise of bureaucracies. By bringing together experts in each civilization, State Power in Ancient China and Rome provides a unique forum to explore social evolution, helping us further understand government and power relations in the ancient world.

Author : Walter Scheidel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2009-02-05
Category : History
ISBN : 0199714290

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Rome and China by Walter Scheidel Pdf

Transcending ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries, early empires shaped thousands of years of world history. Yet despite the global prominence of empire, individual cases are often studied in isolation. This series seeks to change the terms of the debate by promoting cross-cultural, comparative, and transdisciplinary perspectives on imperial state formation prior to the European colonial expansion. Two thousand years ago, up to one-half of the human species was contained within two political systems, the Roman empire in western Eurasia (centered on the Mediterranean Sea) and the Han empire in eastern Eurasia (centered on the great North China Plain). Both empires were broadly comparable in terms of size and population, and even largely coextensive in chronological terms (221 BCE to 220 CE for the Qin/Han empire, c. 200 BCE to 395 CE for the unified Roman empire). At the most basic level of resolution, the circumstances of their creation are not very different. In the East, the Shang and Western Zhou periods created a shared cultural framework for the Warring States, with the gradual consolidation of numerous small polities into a handful of large kingdoms which were finally united by the westernmost marcher state of Qin. In the Mediterranean, we can observe comparable political fragmentation and gradual expansion of a unifying civilization, Greek in this case, followed by the gradual formation of a handful of major warring states (the Hellenistic kingdoms in the east, Rome-Italy, Syracuse and Carthage in the west), and likewise eventual unification by the westernmost marcher state, the Roman-led Italian confederation. Subsequent destabilization occurred again in strikingly similar ways: both empires came to be divided into two halves, one that contained the original core but was more exposed to the main barbarian periphery (the west in the Roman case, the north in China), and a traditionalist half in the east (Rome) and south (China). These processes of initial convergence and subsequent divergence in Eurasian state formation have never been the object of systematic comparative analysis. This volume, which brings together experts in the history of the ancient Mediterranean and early China, makes a first step in this direction, by presenting a series of comparative case studies on clearly defined aspects of state formation in early eastern and western Eurasia, focusing on the process of initial developmental convergence. It includes a general introduction that makes the case for a comparative approach; a broad sketch of the character of state formation in western and eastern Eurasia during the final millennium of antiquity; and six thematically connected case studies of particularly salient aspects of this process.

Author : Hans Beck,Griet Vankeerberghen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 481 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2021-02-04
Category : History
ISBN : 9781108485777

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Rulers and Ruled in Ancient Greece, Rome, and China by Hans Beck,Griet Vankeerberghen Pdf

A comparative study of the ancient Mediterranean and Han China, seen through the lens of political culture.

Author : Fritz-Heiner Mutschler,Achim Mittag
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 502 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2008-11-13
Category : Art
ISBN : 9780199214648

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Conceiving the Empire by Fritz-Heiner Mutschler,Achim Mittag Pdf

"The essays in Conceiving the Empire: China and Rome Compared explore how the idea of 'empire' arose and developed in the two most powerful polities in antiquity. Extending its scope well beyond the notions of tianxia, 'All-under-Heaven' in China, and imperium in Rome, the volume deals with the mental images of 'empire' that emerged with the formation of political macro-entities in the East and in the West. Written by a team of experts in Sinology and Classical Studies, Conceiving the Empire concentrates on the essential feature of the ancient Mediterranean and Chinese worlds: the emergence of empire and the enduring influence of the imperial order."--BOOK JACKET.

Author : Walter Scheidel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2009-02-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9780199887521

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Rome and China by Walter Scheidel Pdf

Transcending ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries, early empires shaped thousands of years of world history. Yet despite the global prominence of empire, individual cases are often studied in isolation. This series seeks to change the terms of the debate by promoting cross-cultural, comparative, and transdisciplinary perspectives on imperial state formation prior to the European colonial expansion. Two thousand years ago, up to one-half of the human species was contained within two political systems, the Roman empire in western Eurasia (centered on the Mediterranean Sea) and the Han empire in eastern Eurasia (centered on the great North China Plain). Both empires were broadly comparable in terms of size and population, and even largely coextensive in chronological terms (221 BCE to 220 CE for the Qin/Han empire, c. 200 BCE to 395 CE for the unified Roman empire). At the most basic level of resolution, the circumstances of their creation are not very different. In the East, the Shang and Western Zhou periods created a shared cultural framework for the Warring States, with the gradual consolidation of numerous small polities into a handful of large kingdoms which were finally united by the westernmost marcher state of Qin. In the Mediterranean, we can observe comparable political fragmentation and gradual expansion of a unifying civilization, Greek in this case, followed by the gradual formation of a handful of major warring states (the Hellenistic kingdoms in the east, Rome-Italy, Syracuse and Carthage in the west), and likewise eventual unification by the westernmost marcher state, the Roman-led Italian confederation. Subsequent destabilization occurred again in strikingly similar ways: both empires came to be divided into two halves, one that contained the original core but was more exposed to the main barbarian periphery (the west in the Roman case, the north in China), and a traditionalist half in the east (Rome) and south (China). These processes of initial convergence and subsequent divergence in Eurasian state formation have never been the object of systematic comparative analysis. This volume, which brings together experts in the history of the ancient Mediterranean and early China, makes a first step in this direction, by presenting a series of comparative case studies on clearly defined aspects of state formation in early eastern and western Eurasia, focusing on the process of initial developmental convergence. It includes a general introduction that makes the case for a comparative approach; a broad sketch of the character of state formation in western and eastern Eurasia during the final millennium of antiquity; and six thematically connected case studies of particularly salient aspects of this process.

Author : Victoria Tin-bor Hui
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2005-07-04
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1139443569

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War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe by Victoria Tin-bor Hui Pdf

The Eurocentric conventional wisdom holds that the West is unique in having a multi-state system in international relations and liberal democracy in state-society relations. At the same time, the Sinocentric perspective believes that China is destined to have authoritarian rule under a unified empire. In fact, China in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (656–221 BC) was once a system of sovereign territorial states similar to Europe in the early modern period. Both cases witnessed the prevalence of war, formation of alliances, development of the centralized bureaucracy, emergence of citizenship rights, and expansion of international trade. This book, first published in 2005, examines why China and Europe shared similar processes but experienced opposite outcomes. This historical comparison of China and Europe challenges the presumption that Europe was destined to enjoy checks and balances while China was preordained to suffer under a coercive universal status.

Author : Raoul McLaughlin
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 249 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2016-11-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473889811

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The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes by Raoul McLaughlin Pdf

A fascinating history of the intricate web of trade routes connecting ancient Rome to Eastern civilizations, including its powerful rival, the Han Empire. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian Empire of ancient Persia, and the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan), laying claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the development of Palmyra as a leading caravan city on the edge of Roman Syria. Raoul McLaughlin also delves deeply into Rome’s trade ventures through the Tarim territories, which led its merchants to the Han Empire of ancient China. Having established a system of Central Asian trade routes known as the Silk Road, the Han carried eastern products as far as Persia and the frontiers of the Roman Empire. Though they were matched in scale, the Han surpassed its European rival in military technology. The first book to address these subjects in a single comprehensive study, The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes explores Rome’s impact on the ancient world economy and reveals what the Chinese and Romans knew about their rival Empires.

Author : Richard Louis Walker
Publisher : Greenwood
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 1971
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015005935799

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The Multi-state System of Ancient China by Richard Louis Walker Pdf

Author : Kwang-chih Chang
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 1983
Category : Family & Relationships
ISBN : 9780674048089

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Art, Myth, and Ritual by Kwang-chih Chang Pdf

"It provides a fundamental perspective for viewing the nature and structure of ancient Chinese civilization as having a strong political orientation."--Introduction.

Author : Hyun Jin Kim,Samuel N.C. Lieu,Raoul McLaughlin
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 135 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2021-05-17
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781315280714

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Rome and China by Hyun Jin Kim,Samuel N.C. Lieu,Raoul McLaughlin Pdf

Rome and China provides an updated history and analysis of contacts and mutual influence between two of ancient Eurasia’s most prominent imperial powers, Rome and China. It highlights the extraordinary interconnectivity of ancient Eurasia which allowed for actual contacts between Rome and China (however fleeting) and examines in detail the influences from both ends of Eurasia which had cultural and political consequences for both Rome and China. This volume will be of interest to anyone working on the Roman Empire, Inner Asia, the Silk Routes and China in the Classical and Late Antique periods.

Author : Clifford Ando,Seth Richardson
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2017-05-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9780812294170

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Ancient States and Infrastructural Power by Clifford Ando,Seth Richardson Pdf

While ancient states are often characterized in terms of the powers that they claimed to possess, the contributors to this book argue that they were in fact fundamentally weak, both in the exercise of force outside of war and in the infrastructural and regulatory powers that such force would, in theory, defend. In Ancient States and Infrastructural Power a distinguished group of scholars examines the ways in which early states built their territorial, legal, and political powers before they had the capabilities to enforce them. The volume brings Greek and Roman historians together with specialists on early Mesopotamia, late antique Persia, ancient China, Visigothic Iberia, and the Inca empire to compare various models of state power across regional and disciplinary divisions. How did the polis become the body that regulates property rights? Why did Chinese and Persian states maintain aristocracies that sometimes challenged their autocracies? How did Babylon and Rome promote the state as the custodian of moral goods? In worlds without clear borders, how did societies from Rome to Byzantium come to share legal and social identities rooted in concepts of territory? From the Inca empire to Visigothic Iberia, why did tributary practices reinforce territorial ideas about membership? Contributors address how states first claimed and developed the ability to delineate territory, promote laws, and establish political identity; and they investigate how the powers that states appropriated came to be seen as their natural and normal domain. Contributors: Clifford Ando, R. Alan Covey, Damián Fernández, Anthony Kaldellis, Emily Mackil, Richard Payne, Seth Richardson, Wang Haicheng, John Weisweiler.

Author : Su Li
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2018-08-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9781400889778

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The Constitution of Ancient China by Su Li Pdf

How was the vast ancient Chinese empire brought together and effectively ruled? What are the historical origins of the resilience of contemporary China's political system? In The Constitution of Ancient China, Su Li, China's most influential legal theorist, examines the ways in which a series of fundamental institutions, rather than a supreme legal code upholding the laws of the land, evolved and coalesced into an effective constitution. Arguing that a constitution is an institutional response to a set of issues particular to a specific society, Su Li demonstrates how China unified a vast territory, diverse cultures, and elites from different backgrounds into a whole. He delves into such areas as uniform weights and measurements, the standardization of Chinese characters, and the building of the Great Wall. The book includes commentaries by four leading Chinese scholars in law, philosophy, and intellectual history--Wang Hui, Liu Han, Wu Fei, and Zhao Xiaoli—who share Su Li's ambition to explain the resilience of ancient China's political system but who contend that he overstates functionalist dimensions while downplaying the symbolic. Exploring why China has endured as one political entity for over two thousand years, The Constitution of Ancient China will be essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the institutional legacy of the Chinese empire.

Author : Sunny Auyang
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2014-12-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317516880

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The Dragon and the Eagle by Sunny Auyang Pdf

This stimulating, uniquely organized, and wonderfully readable comparison of ancient Rome and China offers provocative insights to students and general readers of world history. The book's narrative is clear, completely jargon-free, strikingly independent, and addresses the complete cycles of two world empires. The topics explored include nation formation, state building, empire building, arts of government, strategies of superpowers, and decline and fall.

Author : Randolph B. Ford
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 391 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2020-04-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781108473958

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Rome, China, and the Barbarians by Randolph B. Ford Pdf

An exploration of ethnological thought in Greece, Rome, and China and its articulation during 'barbarian' invasion and conquest.