The document compares and contrasts the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty of China. Both civilizations had well-organized bureaucracies based on law and education, with the Roman Empire founded on Roman law and the Han on Confucian ideas. They placed emphasis on family and relied on elite social classes, with the Romans relying on patricians and the Han on landed gentry. Both built infrastructure like roads, aqueducts, and canals. The declines of the empires were due to infighting among elites, peasant rebellions, and invasions that divided political power between warlords and separate kingdoms.
