Sourcing: Rome and Han Dynasty China Excerpts
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS / LESSON 4.5 ACTIVITYSOURCING EXCERPTS: ROME AND HAN DYNASTY CHINAUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Sourcing Excerpts: Rome and Han Dynasty China”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1ProcessAs you read these documents, focus on completing the Historical Context and Purpose sections of the Sourcing Tool. Additionally, keep this question in mind as you read:How were Rome and Han Dynasty’s governments similar and different?Source 1: “A Record of the Debate on Salt and Iron” Introduction: During the reign of Emperor Zhao (r. 87–47 BCE), a debate occurred between the emperor’s advisers, with varying opinions expressed by government officials and Confucian scholars. The debate concerned the economic policies of Emperor Zhao’s predecessor, Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BCE). One side argued that the trade of salt, iron, and liquor should continue, as it benefited the empire; the other side believed that this trade made people greedy and immoral.The literati [intellectuals/Confucian scholars] responded: We have hear d that the way to govern me n is to prevent evil and error at their source, to broaden the beginnings of morality, to discourage secondary occupations, and open the way for the exercise of humaneness and rightness. Never should material profit appear as a motive of government. Onl y the n can moral instruction succeed and the customs of the people be reformed. But now in the provinces the salt, iron, and liquor monopolies, and the system of equitable marketing have been established to compete with the people for profit, dispelling rustic generosity and teaching the people greed. Therefore those who pursue primary occupations [as farmers] have grown fe w and those following secondary occupations [as merchants and traders] numerous. ... Whe n the secondary is practiced the people grow decadent, but when the primary is practiced the y are simple and sincere. Whe n the people are sincere the n there will be sufficient wealth and goods, but when the y becom e extr avagant then famine and cold will follow. We recommend that the salt, iron, and liquor monopolies and the syste m of equitable marketing be abolished so that primary pursuits may be advanced and secondary ones suppressed. Source: de Bary, William Theodore and Irene Bloom, eds. Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/ps/ps_china.htm
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS / LESSON 4.5ACTIVITYSOURCING EXCERPTS: ROME AND HAN DYNASTY CHINA2Source 2: “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus”Introduction:Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (63 BCE–14 CE) is better known today by the title Augustus. The Roman Senate gave him this religious title, which meansvenerable(honored), in 27 BCE. Augustus was the nephew of Julius Caesar,whoadopted him in 44 BCE (Caesar was assassinated that year—the adoption was decreed in his will). Augustus helped hunt down Caesar’sassassins,and then ruled the Roman world along with two of Caesar’s allies—Marc Antony and Lepidus. Eventually, Augustus forced Lepidus into retirementand waged war with Marc Antony and the pharaoh Cleopatra over control of Egypt. Augustus defeated Antony and Cleopatra’s forces in 31 BCE. Four years later, he became emperor of the Roman Empire, a position he would hold for 40 years. Augustus had many accomplishments, including expanding the empire’s territory, establishing the Pax Romana (Roman Peace), strengthening networks of trade and exchange, and uniting the empire after years of war and civil unrest. The text was included in his will, along with instructions to inscribe his words on funerary monuments across the empire.8. When I was consul the fifth time [29 BCE] ... By new laws passed with my sponsorship, I restored many traditions of the ancestors, which were falling into disuse in our age, and myself I handed on precedents [models] of many things to be imitated in latergenerations.18. From that year when Gnaeus and Publius Lentulus were consuls [18 BCE], when the taxes fell short, I gave out contributions of grain and money from my granary and patrimony [inheritance], sometimes to 100,000 men, sometimes to many more.20. I rebuilt the Capitol and the theater of Pompey, each work at enormous cost, without any inscription of my name. I rebuilt aqueducts in many places that had decayed with age ... I rebuilt eighty-two temples of the gods in the city by the authority of thesenate, omitting nothing which ought to have been rebuilt at that time...22. Three times I gave shows of gladiators under my name and five times under the name of my sons and grandsons; in these shows about 10,000 men fought. Twice I furnished under my name spectacles of athletes gathered from everywhere ... Twenty-six times, under my name or that of my sons and grandsons, I gave the people hunts of African beasts in the circus, in the open, or in the amphitheater; in them about 3,500 beasts were killed...
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS / LESSON 4.5ACTIVITYSOURCING EXCERPTS: ROME AND HAN DYNASTY CHINA325. I restored peace to the sea from pirates. In that slave war I handed over to their masters for the infliction [serving out] of punishments about 30,000 captured, who had fled their masters and taken up arms against the state. All Italy swore allegiance[loyalty] to me voluntarily, and demanded me as a leader of the war which I won at Actium...26. I extended the borders of all the provinces of the Roman people which neighbored nations not subject to our rule. I restored peace to the provinces of Gaul and Spain, likewise Germany ... I sailed my ships on the ocean from the mouth of the Rhine to the east region ... where no Roman had gone before that time by land or sea...31. Emissaries [representatives] from the Indian kings were often sent to me, which had not been seen before that time by any Roman leader ...35. When I ... wrote this I was seventy-six years old.Source: Augustus. The Deeds of the Divine Augustus.Translated by Thomas Bushnell. The Internet Classics Archive MIT, 1998. Accessed June 10, 2019. http://classics.mit.edu/Augustus/deeds.html