For The Emperor
Please be prepared, this is a damn long issue.
well, recently Desmond and I have been talking, and some interesting topics have come about. we were discussing the world in ancient times, and chanced upon the topic of Ancient China and Ancient Rome. What would have happened if both civilizations were to clash? Was it even possible? Who would have won? Weapons? Technology? Skill? What would have happened? Where could battles have taken place? How would the world have turned out? to answer all this however, we must reflect.
Ancient Rome
now, for a map of china. during its greatest growth, it would be like this:
But this was china under the occupation under the mongols, so it dont count.
this is china in recent history, so it dont count too.
Ahh... now here we go.
this was the extent of the Macedon Empire. 334-323BC, when the empire was at its peak. It was the Empire of Alexander the Great. His army of phalanx troopers and Cavalry conquered much of the knoen world at that time. He even invaded India, and his soldiers settled down there and spread the gene pool. this is why north indians have fairer skin and blue eyes, all thanks to Alexander So, this has proven that the West can attack the East, and Vice versa. Another famous example would be the Mongol hordes.
Click pictures for full extent.
And not to mention, the Huns. 
the Huns managed to conquer massive wedges of land in europe, and directly threatened the Roman empire.
the silk road. the link between east and west. below would be possible invasion routes.
the routes in red would be the places their army had to pass through. the circles in cyan would be "choke points" critical areas which each invading army had to be stopped, lest they smash through their defences.
this would be the roman defence and the routes the chinese army would have to take.
Route 1 would be a direct attack via the central plains, passing through desert and plains. extremely suitable for horseback warfare, as proven by the Mongols and Huns, who used this route for their wars against both China and Europe.
this would be Rome's attack plans. again, the choke points and main travelling routes would be pretty similar to the chinese. the only difference is that they would prefer travelling along more temperate conditions, and use the sea to advantages. note that the attack route that eventually branches off starts from across the red sea. the romans never had control of that area, but would use ships to cover that distance and set up a staging point.
Now, that covers routes. however, what motives and benefits would each country have for ripping each others throats out?
Rome
- would be able to control the Silk trade
- have access to rare minerals and jewels not found in their country.
- have access to china's technologies in metallurgy and exotic spices etc.
- would have a new center for trade
- have sole rights to unique chinese products/services
- new areas to "Romanize"
- a major boost to its economy.
- Control of both West and East, would be the most supreme Empire in all of history
China
- new trading Centers
- Exploration of the world
- more areas for development and ambitious warlords/ princes can expand
- easier access to culture and learning skills for their armies
- a boost in technology
- greater resources and perhaps a more expansive genne pool
- possible new colonies in the world
Each Empire would be able to integrate the best of both worlds, and who knows what might be? both Empires would have External wars to fight instead of each other.
But could one Empire have overpowered the other? is it even possible? how can they achieve this? to solve this question, we have to look at their tactics and wargear.
The Roman Soldier
For over a thousand years the Roman army was continually at war and this continual state of aggression resulted in the Roman army becoming arguably the most efficient in the world.
In the second century BC the Roman Army consisted of four legions. Each legion comprising of about five thousand legionaries. The consul or preator in charge of the legion was helped by a legatus who was also a senator and by six young noblemen called military tribunes. The basic unit was made up of eighty men and was called a century they were led by a professional soldier called a centurion. Later each century was divided into contubernia - groups of eight men who shared a tent, a mule and a millstone.
At the beginning of each year the two consuls of Rome called all the land owning citizens aged between 17-46 to the Capitoline hill that overlooked Rome. Here the military tribunes chose the strongest men for the army. The men were not required to be soldiers full time though and were only required for specific conflicts.
The battles of the time tended to consist of two armies charging at each other and after the initial charge one side or other would turn and flee the battlefield. The Roman generals knew that if they were to be successful on the field of battle then they would need to train men who would be willing to stand and fight even when the odds were against them. The Roman army had to have discipline and any company that retreated was decimated (every tenth soldier was taken out and beaten to death with wooden clubs). Brave soldiers however were rewarded - a legionary who killed an enemy soldier was given a drinking bowl while the first man to scale the wall of a beseiged city would receive a gold crown. This determination coupled with the Roman tactics of warfare led the Greek writer Polybius to warn "it is inevitable that the outcome of every war the Romans fight is brilliantly successful."
The first Roman tactic was fairly staightforward and consisted in each soldier standing approximately four feet apart whereupon they would throw their pila (or javelins) at the enemy. Then they drew their swords and protected themselves with their shields - when men in the front rank fell another soldier would step into the gap.
The most famous of all the Roman tactics though was called the testula (or tortoise) and it consisted of the men forming a rectangle where the soldiers on the sides lapped their shields together and those on the inside held their shields above their heads to form a protective "shell" which protected them from missiles such as arrows and burning oil.
The Romans also used great war machines called balista which were giant catapults capable of launching huge boulders over an enemies defences. While covered seige towers and battering rams were used to protect the soldiers in the attack.
In 107 BC the consul Gaius Marius realised that Rome needed a permanent army if it was to enlarge it’s powerbase and he changed the rules regarding enlistment. He allowed men who did not own land to join the army as a career chpoice and after they had been in service for 16-20 years they would be given some money and a bit of land to farm. When not fighting or training the Roman army would be used to build roads, bridges and aqueducts.
By the first century AD the Romans had conquered most of the land that was to make up their empire and only a few more lands like Britain were added later on. The soldiers of the Roman army were used mainly to keep the empire safe from invasion and to quell uprisings from within the provinces. Although the Roman legions remained the backbone of the army, the auxiliary regiments (which included infantry and cavalry) became more and more important. It was their job for instance to patrol and guard the thousands of miles that made up the frontier of the Roman empire.
In peace or War the Roman army played an important role in society and many of the poorer people chose a career in the army because it gave them a good standard of living and the chance to learn a new trade such as building. Life in the army was tough and there were many things about the life that were not so appealling - they faced death in battle, they were not allowed wives but there were more benefits to the life that kept the ranks of the legions full. Most soldiers had unofficial wives and children and soldiers from the provinces were rewarded for their efforts in the army with citizenship of Rome.
Roman encampments and forts provided a ready market for the local traders and many of the settlements grew into cities such as Colchester in England. Intermarraige between soldiers and local women was not encouraged but it did have the benefit of welding the empire together.
The auxiliary cavalry were among the highest paid of all the Roman soldiers mainly because they had to pay for their horses needs out of their own pocket. The Italian Romans were not particularly good horsemen and so they raised mounted regiments where riding was commonplace such as Gaul, Holland and Bulgaria.
At the time of the invasion of Britain the Roman army was the most efficient and disciplined in the world. The legions that came over to Britain during the initial conquest were supported by auxiliary infantry and cavalry and although the auxiliaries were appreciated for their indiginous skills they were sent to the forefront of the battle as they were considered to be more expendable.
The centurions maintained a high level of discipline and continuous combat training. The initial training for a legionary lasted for four months and consisted of two sessions of weapon training a day with heavily weighted weapons to develop muscle. They also practised hand to hand combat with javelin and sword tips covered. Forced marches of 20-30 miles were common and building practice camps honed their skills in tree felling, timber cutting and making ditches and ramparts. Seige warfare was practised against abandoned hill forts. Every legionary also had to be able to swim and cook and have basic building and engineering skills.
needless to say, each and every Roman soldier was highly skilled and diciplined.
The Chinese Army
General Archer Cavalry Chariot Officer
With the position of that army and the different types of soldiers, achaeologists are able to guess at the type of strategy that the Qin dynasty used in battle. The majority of soldiers that lined the first pit were bowmen and archers. This fact shows that the Chinese relied heavilly upon long distance attacks with the use of bows and crossbows along with spears and halberds.
a typical Chinese infantryman. usually armed with a spear and sword, and Little or no armor.
what the chinese lack in armor, which is usually designed for anti-slashing attacks, they make up for in numbers and weapon innovation. weapons was, in most states, controlled by central government. The most popular weapon of the time was the sword. For this reason, most armours were made to protect against slashing attack. spears, dagger-axes and many other weapons were used, but were considered inferior to the sword in close combat. Another weapon that was used was the crossbow, which had a range of 600 paces.
To counteract this, shields were used to counter the threat of the crossbow. The shields were mostly made of leather and wood, and varied in sizes. The metal that was used most for military purpose was bronze. During the Warring States Era, most armour was made of leather or bronze, or combination of both. their army numbered possibly in the hundreds of thousands, so armours were standardized to meet the need. Also, the Chinese had Crossbows, dathing back from 600BC. Crossbows were Armor Penetrating weapons. Also Chinese warfare relied heavily on cavalry. their numbers of cavalry was measured in the thousands.
An ancient chinese Crossbow.
Note:
at the height of the Roman Empire, their soldiers had steel short stabbing swords. needless to say, chinese armor would be less efficient against stabbing attacks as their armor was designed against slashing attacks. also, steel was incorporated in chinese weapons, making them on an equal weapon hardness footing.
Roman tactics:
however, the romans were pretty stiff with their strategies.Chinese tactics?
The Art of War by Sun Zi (kidding, though it does count)
Effective tactics varied greatly, depending on:
- The size of the force the general was commanding
- The size of the opposing force
- The terrain involved
- The weather
Often, if a general knew that he had an overwhelming strength advantage, he would attempt to attack the enemy's front with his infantry while keeping his cavalry on his sides, or flanks. This maneuver would be done after the archers and siege equipment (which were kept safely behind the infantry) had fired several volleys of arrows or boulders at the opposition. After these volleys had softened up the enemy, the infantry would then advance and charge the opposing front line. When the infantry had engaged them and their attention was focused on their infantry attackers, the cavalry would then flank in from the right and the left, decimating the enemy and leaving no room for them to rout (retreat).
In the case that the general's advantage was more slight, he might try to rout the enemy, as fleeing troops are far less organized and easier to kill than their steadfast brethren. This can be accomplished by attacking the weak troops (skirmishers) of the enemy with strong infantry, slaughtering many of them, and thus causing them to rout. Once one unit sees another unit routing, it is much more inclined to flee in the panic. An even greater achievement would be to break the will of the enemy general himself, (or kill him) causing him and his bodyguard to flee, leaving his army with little choice but to follow suit. This tactic attempts to start the domino effect, resulting in the entire opposing force fleeing the field of battle. Once the entire opposing force had been routed, it was not uncommon to use cavalry to destroy as much of the routing force as possible, weakening the enemy further.
Army Numbers
Rome:
China:
lets just take Cao Cao's 830,000 nameless minions. and thats not counting the others from his opposing armies. The chinese armies has millions they could call up on.
Considering the factors of the terrain and disease, along with supplies, the invading armies will take heavier casualites. however, it has to be noted that the chinese had more numbers, and hence, more likely to be invaders.
Personally,i think the Chinese Armies could overpower Rome, but it would take exceptional leadership and skill, as well as massive amounts of casualties to do so. not to mention, maintaining the Roman Empire will be no easy task. with massive amounts of horsemen, they can travel and strike with ease even across the deserts they will have to cross.
Rome would never be able to do so. they have a high chance of winning against the chinese armies time and again, but will not be able to undertake the task of invading and holding. their armies will be too small and scattered to make a difference. they are also unused to the terrain and deserts they have to face, and with them being Heavy infantry, they will be hard pressed to just survive the elements.
But this was china under the occupation under the mongols, so it dont count.
this is china in recent history, so it dont count too.
this was the extent of the Macedon Empire. 334-323BC, when the empire was at its peak. It was the Empire of Alexander the Great. His army of phalanx troopers and Cavalry conquered much of the knoen world at that time. He even invaded India, and his soldiers settled down there and spread the gene pool. this is why north indians have fairer skin and blue eyes, all thanks to Alexander So, this has proven that the West can attack the East, and Vice versa. Another famous example would be the Mongol hordes.
And not to mention, the Huns. 
the silk road. the link between east and west. below would be possible invasion routes. 
An ancient chinese Crossbow.
however, the romans were pretty stiff with their strategies.
