Additional info/correction Additional info The Han empire did a census in 2 AD, it says they had a population of 57,671,400. We know the Romans also did censuses but none of the results survive till today...but modern estimates put their population similarly over 50 million people. Correction -The dates at 7:38 (All dates written on screen should be AD not BC) I wrote BC instead of AD and somehow did not notice & fix sorry.

Fun Fact: Han dynasty Chinese name for Rome was Daqin, literally "Great Qin" ~ essentially "The other us." or the other great empire. The prefix da (大) or "great" signified that the Roman Empire was on par with the might of the Qin dynasty

"The foundation of the world lies in the nation. The foundation of the nation lies in the family. The foundation of the family lies in the individual" - MengTzu (孟子)

It just boggles my mind that empires so large and efficiently run existed so long ago.

Fun fact: Han praised Rome by saying 'they are just like us' At that age, Han people was so proud of themselves, saying some other country and its citizens are like Han prople is the highest praising they can give to a foreign nation.

This is what I like - comparison videos looking at similarities and differences and explaining how each got to where they are. Very different from WHO IS STRONGER videos.

It is crazy to think that China rivaled almost all empires after the fall of Summer, Ancient Egypt and Mesoptamia. The Chinese rivaled Persia, Greece, Rome, The Calliphate, The Russian empire, The British Empire and now the US.

Liu Bang was probably one of the most underrated Chinese historical figure in the west. People know Qin Shi Huang and Han empire, but not many know how the Han gained power, and that Liu Bang was an ordinary peasant and had no noble bloodline or connection to became an emperor. This was the first time that such thing happened in Chinese history and probably even in the entire world history.

Very interesting subject. Your illustrations of the chinese emperors and warlords are quite beautiful.

*One measure of salt costs 20 coins to carry for 100 Li. 1.73 measures of salt carried for 100 Li comes out to ~35 coins. However, since the actual measure of Li is 80, the man must be paid ~28 coins.* 40/2 = 20 1.73x20 = 34.7 34.7x.8 = 27.7

One out of three people under the control of only 2 states in a world with far, FAR more polities than we have now. That's insane.

From a very generalized point of view Rome put more emphasis on the external (ex. adopting foreign gods, an army focused on constant conquest and glory, Emperors being very public figures often with a popular personality cult, successors could be anyone with sufficient influence) while the Han were very much focused on the internal (one state religion with mere toleration of others, an army focused on rapid response over continual defense, Emperors being more distant from their subjects, successors having to be from the family). Rome was bordered by another powerful empire, the Parthians and later the Sassanians as well as the Germans that would often form large confederations; while the Han had no such rivals with their main ones just being the large Xiongnu confederations of nomads in the north but no other centralized power presented a constant threat and so the greatest continual threat was rebellions rather than foreign invasion.

The production quality is getting insanely high for these videos I love it. Tons of drawings for every single thing, tons of maps, it’s great man keep it up.

Idk why this video didn’t get as much videos as your other ones it’s by far some of the best content you’ve made yet

Damn, the artworks keep getting even better and better

To solve the problem at 23:11, I defined the total labor of the task of carrying _s_ measures of salt a distance of _l_ li to be s*l (comparable to man-hours). Therefore, the pay rate for the task is _c_ coins per (s*l). 40 coins; 2 measures; 100 li 40/(2*100) = 0.2 coins per measure-li _c_ coins; 173 measures; 80 li c/(1.73*80) = 0.2 c/(138.4) = 0.2 c = 27.68 coins Edit: I did not see the decimal point in 1.73, mistaking it for *173.* What a fool I am. I have adjusted the calculus accordingly.

Yay, a new video! I've been anxiously waiting for one. I always learn so much from you! Thanks always!🤩

Man I was thinking when you were gonna upload yesterday and watching some of your old vids, and today you uploaded. Cant wait to watch this one

19:00. Well I think it have to do with geography. The Roman Empire was in Europe it's a continent that's a peninsula made up of other peninsulas surrounded by two continents close up. Also Rome was located in a peninsula of Italy. The Han Empire was located in China land mass in the corner of the content of Asia. That's the thing the Romans needed a really high skilled & very well equipped military while China not so much. Just look at all the borders at the Romans have to guard, the Romans had to guard the North, the East and the South, also with different crazy terrains, islands, and peninsulas basically the Romans have to protect themselves from all directions. The Han Empire of the Chinese in general never had this problem, the Chinese just really have to worry about the North.

I love to see Chinese history, it isn’t covered very often. Also, amazing video, keep up that great work!

Its crazy that both China and Rome struggled in the 3rd century only to be united again at around the same time.

The biggest problem with Empires is people. So the secret to success is to have an empire without people. That means that animal farmers are the wisest rulers in the land.

Interesting thought that the Chinese approach to military was very different to the Romans, because they saw the military as an internal threat. Makes me ponder how these compare with a 3rd approach from the Bristish Empire, where the Regiment system had smaller units of soldiers loyal to their Colonel rather than any General. Once read a throry that this system may have helped prevent major coups from happening...

Not being a patreon member, the thanks at the end of the video really makes my day. That said, I probably have that experience at least five times a day due to how much content you put out!

Very interesting! Learned a lot! Great artwork and photos!

Glad to have you back Epimetheus you were sorely missed.

Excellent overview. I like the comparative format.

I adore your videos, they're reliable, interesting and give wonderfully vivid visual impressions if the times and places your are talking about. Thank you! Are there any plans to complete last year's series about the Persian empires in antiquity with a video about the Sassanians? I would love to see your take on the 'last oriental empire' (before the rise of Islam).

Very interesting...great are/ photos! Learned a lot!

I love Rome and China! Such awesome histories. Thanks for the video!

Great video man, great to have you back.

Very informative and great work as always. Thanks.

Totalwar need to make a game that based on these 2 empires collided.

Amazing and informative video + amazing art = I subbed

Really interesting. Learn something new every time I watch your show. Good stuff 👍😊

This was really interesting. Thanks for your hard work!

excellent video having recently went down that imperial roman rabbit hole this video has made me interested in imperial Chinese history

Awesome video as all ways!

You don’t know how much I enjoy you work dude please on going

Fascinating and insightful as always. 👏

I love your videos, very realistic and historical facts!

Your artwork is awesome! I know how time consuming it is!

Epimetheus back at it, good job

Brilliantly done, no messing.

Amazing! Epimetheus, could you make other comparative vídeos of the governamental structures and problems like that using the Mughals, Qings and Mings, Mongols, Guptas, Ottomans, Abassid and Achemids, Britishes or even the Holy Roman Empire?

I like how the Hans and Latins are polar opposite of each other's continents. And each other's empires.

Keep up the great videos!

Thank you for these videos. We are blessed to have you as a scholar.

"Rome had an empire long before it had an Emperor" - sounds familiar.

Interesting! Thank you! I was looking for history on China and Caesar…looking at current developments..

Another great video!💪🏻💪🏻

Fantastic again. Best telling voice ever.

Roman Empire was a club. Han Dynasty a family business.

While comparing the two civilizations we've to keep in mind that China reached its actual peak of culture and political influence not in antiquity but in the early medieval period with the Tang Dynasty

Awesome video. Thank you

Very good presentation.

Glad you said Rome had an empire before it had an emperor

Next idea up for a long video like this... How was the Byzantine/Eastern Roman empire so successful in surviving for so long for over 1100 years? = over twice as long as the roman empire... while its western counterpart failed. Building construction + diplomacy, economics, politics and military & reforms, as well as government structure and leadership in what they did right... from the crisis of the 3rd century in its pre-history, to the very end at 1453. Trade, countering invasions and counter attacks... as well as the crusades leading up to it, as well as what went wrong throughout leading to the end. As well as mentioning some legendary units in the byzantine army = from Greek fire, to the Varangian guard and more so. 😎😉🤞

magnificent video, my friend!

The legend uploaded! Let’s go!

At 2 coins for 1 measure over 10 Li, 1.73 measures over 80 Li would amount to 27.68 coins?

Just casually dropping a great video.

Another banger. Thanks.

That's a nice shift towards longer documentaries

Geography made quite the difference there as well

You didn't mention the Imperial Cult in the section on Roman religion. The Roman Emperors were treated as divine representatives of the Heavens on earth, not that different from ancient Chinese Emperor worship really.They tolerated other religions as long as they could contextualize it with their own gods and as long as those peoples submitted to the Divine Caesars. That's why Christians were persecuted so much, they refused to give sacrifices to the Emperors. Which the Romans did not tolerate.

Great work.

good video to wake up to. excellent work

Epimetheus is back

I'm not sure if "Lady for Miscellaneous Uses" or "Lady Without Impurity" is the most sus imperial title of all time LOL

Fascinating. I learned a lot.

When it comes to comparing the legal systems and historical contexts of Rome and China during the first millennium BC, we can find some interesting parallels and differences. In the case of China, specifically the Zhou Dynasty, their legal system, as described in the "Zhou Li" or "Rites of Zhou," highlighted a process for handling civil disputes arising from contracts. Prior to litigation, both parties were required to submit a security deposit, and the actual trial would commence three days later. The Zhou Dynasty also had a system of judicial review, ensuring that judges who made incorrect rulings were punished. This system aimed to prevent wrongful convictions and placed a strong emphasis on fact-finding and the defendant's right to present their case. Capital punishment cases were particularly scrutinized and required the highest judicial authorities to review them in the court of the public. Comparing this to Rome, which was founded in 753 BC, roughly during the Spring and Autumn period in China, we see that Rome was a relatively latecomer in terms of its establishment. Just seventeen years before the founding of Rome, the Western Zhou Dynasty was under attack by the Rong people. During that period, the state of Zheng, under several generations of rulers, was gradually gaining strength and was known as a minor hegemon during the Spring and Autumn period. In 509 BC, Rome had just expelled its kings and established the Roman Republic. In the same year, power struggles between the states of Jin and Chu were ongoing, and the famous Chinese historical figure Wu Zixu had sought refuge in the state of Wu. Confucius was already 36 years old, and his teachings were being developed in the state of Lu. Around 440 BC, Rome published its first written law, the "Twelve Tables," while China was experiencing the end of conflicts like the War of the Zhao, Wei, and Han states against the state of Zhi Bo. It was 73 years before China's own first legal document, the "Xing Zhu Shu" or "The Book on Punishments," was publicly released. In 221 BC, China was unified under the Qin Dynasty, while Rome was still in the early stages of expansion. By 202 BC, Liu Bang had defeated Xiang Yu, and China's Han Dynasty was expanding significantly. Rome was simultaneously defeating the Phoenicians and expanding into Greece and Asia Minor. Around 100 BC, during the Han Dynasty, China had about 5.5 million square kilometers of territory and a population of 30 million, while Rome had approximately 2 million square kilometers and a population of 10 to 20 million. At this point, in terms of population and territory, China clearly surpassed Rome. In 2 BC, a year before the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, China had around 5.5 million square kilometers of territory and an official census counted 59.75 million people, with estimates by historians ranging from 60 to 70 million. In contrast, Rome had about 4 million square kilometers of territory, and there is no official population census data, with historians estimating a population ranging from 30 to 80 million. It was only during the Eastern Han Dynasty that the Roman Empire's territory roughly equaled that of China, with the population possibly surpassing that of Eastern Han. It's important to note that many people underestimate the material and living standards of the Warring States and Han periods in China. The ancient saying "Kaifeng City, city stacked on city" demonstrates the historical development of cities. Below the city of Kaifeng in the Ming and Qing dynasties are the ruins of the Warring States period's capital of Daliang, which was even larger than Kaifeng. The population of the Wei state was only around 3 million, yet Daliang had a population exceeding 100,000. Two thousand years later, the population of Henan had reached over 10 million, but the provincial capital, Kaifeng, still had a population of around 100,000. Some research suggests that the urbanization rate and per capita grain ownership in the Ming Dynasty were lower than during the Han period, and in the Qing Dynasty, they were lower than during the Warring States. The ruins of Handan, the capital of the Zhao state, covered an area of 16 square kilometers, even larger than the city of Babylon at the time. Not until the Northern and Southern Dynasties period did a city in the Jizhou region surpass Handan in size. The most remarkable is the Yandu, which was 4-6 kilometers wide, 8 kilometers long, with an area of 40 square kilometers, approximately the size of two Roman cities or seven to eight Tang Dynasty cities. The eastern wall of Yandu was 18 kilometers long. Keep in mind that the state of Yan was the weakest among the Seven Warring States, with a population of less than 2 million, and 200,000 of them lived in Xiangping, over 1,500 miles away from the capital. A country with just over a million people constructed a city capable of accommodating half a million. The Yandu site also yielded high-carbon steel weapons, indicating an advanced level of craftsmanship. There is also the Jingguan site within Yandu, comprising 14 Jingguan tombs, each with 2,000 to 3,000 skulls, totaling approximately 30,000. Archaeologists speculate that these remains date back to the time of King Kui of Yan, during a period of internal turmoil in Yan when the army of the state of Qi invaded.

Regarding the question posed I answer thusly. The video was an unexpected (pleasant) surprise, reinforcing the good record of this channel. Overall, in regards to military or economic capability, I think Han is decisively superior on per capita basis. For instance in areas thought to be Roman advantage, Iron, Han production of steel in general was stunningly high. It was the norm in Han to employ iron/steel tools in civilian setting. Other areas, for instance, use of casting to facilitate mass production of bronze/steel armaments. Where the wealth of Rome was employed less wisely, sophisticated bureaucracy, which predated Han, made better use of resources. It helped that they simply had more. Thus I think it is not a contention. To begin with Rome had to fight the uphill battle of relatively underdeveloped Mediterranean. As for some trivia. The misconception that Xiongnu is Hunnic is simply out of a similarity of names. They are clearly different (ie head binding versus non) when viewing the evidence. However the similar names reflect a kind of shared ... Nomadic identity of the times. In my opinion there is quite some potential for a lost world to the north. The Xiongnu is admittedly the strongest influence because of their cities, fortresses, and palaces, all part of a highly centralized Empire with a capable administration. (Said to be more centralized than early Han) The topic covered previously, such as bronze age collapse, is rather suggestive in this event. I would further add that it is rarely accurate, regarding steppe peoples such as Xiongnu, as nomadic. Neither should one view Mongolian Empire as peak of "Nomadic strength". But rather it's swan song, as they were not nomadic to begin with, but rather became that way as aftermath of calamity.

I wonder how difficult a byrocrat would have considered the salt carring problem to be. It's always interesting to imagine what kind of mathematical thinking ancient people had. Simple aritmetics we teach to children usesed to be an impossibility for thousands of years.

Really cool how you could get Adam Jensen to do narration for your videos

Long have I awaited for this day for epimethus to return

27,68 coins... Damn you. you made me count in my head for like 5 mins

An ancient Pontus/mithridates episode would be interesting.

Thanks for another Great video sir, you make some of my favorites content on KZfaq and I hope you keep it up! A comment I'd like to make on the end of the video is that although China only had a population total of 1% slavery I would argue that their peasant farmers and criminal conscripts were serfs in conditions that often verged on slavery and wasn't much better than the worst off of Roman slaves. Look at the building of the great wall for example, so many laborers were worked to death during it whereas some Roman house slaves lived enviable lives in comparison. Food for thought 🤔

this was great!

Good video, but I am a little disappointed how while the Roman illustrations are more or less accurate to their respective periods, the Chinese illustrations are an anachronistic style mix. The Kings of Shang and Zhou for example are wearing hats and clothing from the later Ming Dynasty (14th to 17th centuries). This makes charting the style evolutions confusing. For future reference, there are surprisingly some pinterest galleries that have very well organized collections based on eras of history. You can find them by searching for Boards by typing in a specific dynasty, preferably also in Chinese, rather than pin search, which just gives you random shop fronts. I would name some of them but unfortunately YT comments have autodeleted all comments where I had

Well it's hard to say, Both allow the user to hold: Castles and Cities Settlments But with Roman Imperial you get to elect rules, keeping the game easier, and you get duchy viceroyalties at game start! And like Chinese Imperial you need the Jade Dragon DLC, And honeslty the +1 Piety per month it's not that worth it.........

"Choose your own adventure" had me lol.

This will be the most interesting video ever made

A little hard to say which empire had the most effective in the organization. They were some things that the Han empire did very well, however the Han Empire didn't last as long as the Romans...so I may have to give it to the Romans over all. Saying that it will be ideal to have a mix of both ideas to make a great ancient empire thrive.

Epimetheus once again proves that he’s the greatest historian in the world!!!!!

There are these KZfaqrs that if they post a video, it is always a joy to watch it. Thanks for another great video!

11:49 "Having those guys like you was important." Hahaha!

Hi, can you make a video on why when China breaks apart, it always become reunited again eventually. You don't see the same thing happening to other empires.

Controlling the emperor in China? Dong Zhou springs to mind. I think u would love a video game called total war three kingdoms Epimetheus

You're by far the most the decently accurate narrator world history Yet to this day we are still ruled by this two empire economically and socially in education, politics, agriculture, resources greed and technology and etc. Very often people are arrogant in understanding and too deaf and blind and Ignorant to these facts.

He’s back

Can you do an in depth video on the Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire? As China's zenith and second golden age I feel it dosen't get much love.

In Loving memory of "Wang Mang"

Top as usual

yes thanks what i needed.

This is how I hased-out the Imperial test quesiton. Not sure if it's rigut seems to work out: 40 coin(c) for 2 measure(m) per 100 li 20c for 1m per 100li (rate of one measure for 100li) 1c for 1m per 5 li (rate for one measure per li based on above) 173c for 173m per 5li (basic how much it is for base rate in this istuaiton) 80li = 5li*16 173c*(16*5)li = 2768c I'm sure there's a much bettere quation to do this but htat's wha ti got.

China lived on so Im putting my money on them

Oh, History-Papa. Don't ever change your titles, we trust your work is entertaining already.

7:47 Commodus got dat fluoride stare