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Comparing Early Empires: Rome and China

The Admiral David E. Jeremiah and Mrs. Connie Jeremiah Lecture Series

Lecture by Michael Nylan, Professor of History, University of California at Berkeley

Friday, February 10

4:00 p.m.

Crater Lake North, EMU

University of Oregon

At their heights, Rome and China were two empires commanding approximately the same size territories and populations, operating at similar technological levels. However, the two empires could hardly have been run on more different bases, in terms of their treatment of their own populations, methods political deliberation, financial arrangements, expectations of service from members of the governing elite and from allies, and even the arrangement of their capitals. This talk will explore such differences, asking what presumptions shaped their decision-making processes, as a way of reflecting upon larger East-West debates.

This lecture series is presented by the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies. It is cosponsored by the Confucius Institute, the Department of History, the Asian Studies Program, the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, and the Department of Classics. The Crater Lake North Room is located in the Erb Memorial Union (EMU). For more information, please call 541-346-5068.