A.P. World History Group 9Bryan Taylor, Nadia Dockery and Armana

Muhammad

External Problems Along Roman & Han China

Frontiers

In Ancient China, deforestation was a serious problem, consuming an area greater than that taken by farmlands.

90% of China’s desertification occurs in the west of the country and approximately 30% of China’s surface area was desert.

Overgrazing and the expansion of agricultural land could cause this area to increase.

Deforestation in Han China

Deforestation during the Roman period was a result of the geographical expansion of the Roman Empire, with its increased population, large-scale agriculture, and unprecedented economic development.

Wood was a primary source of heating and used extensively in industry. Wood fuel constituted about 90 percent of the consumption overall, and was a major factor in the Roman deforestation epidemic.

Agriculture was the economic base for the Roman Empire. With an ever-increasing population, the clearing of land for crops was a primary cause of initial deforestation.

A major contributor to the environmental degradation and barrier to the regeneration of forests was the grazing of domestic animals. Animals grazed and destroyed land areas unsuitable for cultivation.

Deforestation in Ancient Rome

Desertification is the process by which fertile land is transformed into desert, usually as a result of deforestation, drought, and agriculture use/practices.

Most of the desertification that these civilizations experienced was as a result of agriculture, deforestation, and associated changes in aridity and the climate.

The limited natural vegetation that is present is also often overgrazed, leading to large-scale soil erosion and increased runoff/decreased rainfall retention.

Desertification in Ancient Rome

Desertification in Han China happened rather fast based on whether or not the current weather conditions were cold or hot.

It occurred because of agriculture, deforestation and changes in the climate.

Agriculture started to become limited because the land was not properly irrigated which led to affects such as salty soil and without agriculture the economy started to become effected.

Desertification could not support a large population.

Desertification in Han China

Soil erosion increases due to how much deforestation has occurred in a place.

The ongoing downward decline of soil fertility arrived just when imperial Rome began to rely on its agriculture to give an energy for its foreign conquests.

Rome abandoned their land leaving their land not properly cared for which caused greater erosion and loss of soil fertility.

Wet fields were no longer drained due to abandonment and were left like swamps. As this spread across fields, the mosquitoes started to appear and started the spread of Malaria.

Soil Erosion for Roman Empire

The main cause of soil erosion comes from the Yellow River in China and comes out on the Loess Plateau.

It was unknown back then but the type of soil erosions were hydraulic erosion, surface erosion, rill erosion, wind erosion, artificial erosion and gravitational erosion.

TA river where the deposit of silt (mud or clay) built upon the riverbed until it is higher than the surrounding plains

Natural activity (abrasion) Animal activity Human activity

• Plowing• Transportation• Forest Clearing

There was a lot of rain and the Loess had a soft surface and was very easily eroded.

Soil Erosion in Han China

The Tiber River was the cause of silted rivers in Rome.

This river was used for trade but eventually the heavy sedimentation of the river made it difficult to travel.

This river was so bad that it was used as a punishment to throw criminals in. It is the third largest river in Italy and is the main waterway of Rome.

A river where the deposit of silt (mud or clay) built upon the riverbed until it is higher than the surrounding plains.

Silted Rivers for Roman Empire

The Yellow River is the second largest river in Asia and it’s called China’s sorrow.

Due to course changes and frequent floods caused by river beds, a lot of surrounding farmlands have been destroyed causing social and economic problems.

The Yellow River’s floods are caused by large amounts of the grain Loess which is deposited along the bottom of its channel.

Silted Rivers for Han China Empire

Expansion of Roman Empire required more soldiers to patrol its borders and frontiers.

This action caused high taxes for a people who were dying off because of plagues and poverty.

The lower class became frustrated because the elites were becoming more and more self-centered, engaging in extravagant lifestyles at the expense of tax-paying citizens.

Roman Decline

The elites became less concerned with their social andpolitical responsibilities.

The end result was that the empire became weakened politically, economically, culturally and psychologically which drained the strength and desire to fight off invaders to the land.

Roman Decline (con’t.)

Decline came about by an empire that was too large, too over-extended and too expensive to be sustained by available resources.

Central government’s authority was diminished by the growth of large landowning families with large estates because free peasants turned into impoverished tenant farmers.

A major peasant revolt occurred, along with the death of much of the population due to rancid disease, caused HAN China to quickly decline.

HAN China DECLINE

Decline of Mauryan Empire

oThe decline of the Mauryan Empire began soon after the death of Emperor Ashoka, which caused the empire to become divided.

oDivision in the empire caused internal wars between the sections of the land.

oAshoka’s successors were not strong enough to control the unrests and revolts of the people. The empire continued to weaken in terms of warring and military strength. This was partly due to Ashoka’s von-violent and peaceful stance which weakened the army because they stopped fighting battles.

o Defending the borders was extremely difficult because it stretched for thousands of miles and costs lots of money to spread out the soldiers.

o Germany and central Europe were defenseless . Usually desolate frontiers like Britain and North Africa would have long walls built by Romans to keep out foreigners.

o Rome’s biggest threat was the Parthian Kingdom which controlled eastern lands of present day Iran and Iraq, and would always war with Rome over land.

o Germanic tribesmen on the Rhine/Danube raided deep into the empire of Rome during the “3rd century crisis” in which political , military and economic problems had arisen.

o Power was being given to any man that offered protection therefore, so much money was put into defending the frontiers that it drained the treasury.

Frontiers of the Romans & their Northern and Eastern neighbors

During the Han period, the Xiongu (a great confederacy of Turkic people) were the Chinese civilizations major external threat.

Soldier-farmers and garrisons were placed on the frontier in order to contain the Xiongu.

Military vigilance along the frontier such as paying for protection, the use of the tributary system (nomad rulers accepted Chinese supremacy and paid tribute, and were rewarded marriages to Chinese princesses, and gifts from Han emperor that exceeded the value of the tribute) ruined the economy and burdened Han finances.

There were also attacks by nomadic groups on the northwestern frontier.

HAN China and the Xiongu Frontiers

Map of the Roman Empire

Map of Roman Frontier (The Rhine Frontier)

Map of the Han China Empire

Map of the Han China Frontier

Long borders located from the administrative center combined with vigorous neighbors who coveted the empire’s prosperity.

Many walls, forts, garrisons had to be built in order to protect against invasions.

Frontier defenses required so much money that eventually, the economy of both empires were affected.

The gap in technology was eventually closed due to the empire’s neighbors learning to become more familiar with using technology and their skills.

Imperial governments started to lose their citizens’ trust because it demanded taxes and their was a lack of trust as it refers to the military. Powerful rural landowners were now sought out to protect many people.

Over time, both empires had become so incapacitated that their borders had become overrun as well as their central governments’ collapsed.

Rome and Han China Frontier Comparisons