Download Student Handout – Chapter 5: The Roman World and Han China

Chapter 5: Age of Empires: Rome and Han China, 750BCE to 600CE
Reading Questions
1) Examine and discuss the methods used to create a unified empire in China and in Rome. Compare
and contrast Romanization and Legalism (how are they similar/how are they different?)
2) Explain the reasons for the expansion of the Roman Empire. Why was it successful?
3) What was ‘pax romana’? Is this an accurate description of the Mediterranean world? Explain.
4) Discuss the career of Paul of Tarsus. Did his activities benefit from the pax romana? Does this
benefit support the theory that Rome was a “commonwealth of peoples”?
5) Why did Christianity develop when and as it did? Who would you say is the founder of the
Christian religion? Why did it ultimately survive and succeed?
6) Explain the expansion of Christianity at the same time that Rome was in decline. Are these
factors related?
7) Describe the problems that led to the Roman Empire's “third-century crisis.”
8) Discuss the unification of China under the Qin dynasty. What policies did the first emperor, Shi
Huangdi, establish to create a unified Chinese civilization?
9) Describe the rise of the Han dynasty in China
10) What was the basis of the Chinese social order under the Han dynasty? Describe the lives of the
Chinese people during this period, paying particular attention to women's roles.
11) What role did technology play in the success and spread of the Han dynasty? Explain the
relationship between technology and the development of governments.
12) In what ways were the economic foundations of the Roman (Augustus) and the Han empires
similar? What could account for the similarities? How were they different? What were the
consequences of the differences?
Key Terms
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Roman Senate
Roman Republic
patron/client relationship
Roman Principate
Augustus
equites
pax romana
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Romanization
Jesus
Paul
aqueduct
third-century crisis
Constantine
Byzantine Empire
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Qin
Shi Huangdi
Han
Chang'an
gentry
Map Exercises (Map 5.1 = Page 138; Map 5.2 = Page 152
1. Map 5.1 Locate the major regions, cities, and trading centers of the Roman Empire. Identify the various peoples
incorporated into the empire. What natural features constituted the boundaries of the Roman Empire? Page: 138
2.Map 5.1 Explain how Constantine's shift of the capital to Byzantium predicted the downfall of the western Roman
Empire. Trace the empire's gradual loss of territories beginning with the first century C.E.
3. Map 5.2 Explain why Chinese expansion did not extend into India or Southeast Asia. Are there geographic
reasons why it extended to the west more than to the north? Page: 152
4. Map 5.2 Identify the major cities and trade routes during the Han dynasty. What is the importance of the networks
of rivers and canals? What is the Silk Road? Is there a connection between the location of the Silk Road and the
location of the Great Wall?
5. Maps 5.1 and 5.2, Compare the geography of the Roman Empire and Han China. Compare the length of time
taken to build the respective empires, and trace the major cities or urban areas that made the maintenance of the
empires so crucial. How did overexpansion play a role in the political downfall of these empires? Page: 138, 152
6. Map 5.2 Describe the boundaries of the Great Wall. Near the center, south of the Gobi Desert, there is an apparent
“doubling back.” Explain this in relation to the local nomads and the political developments of the time.