In the Classical Era, advancements and innovations in technology were important for every empire. Many empires constructed different technological devices which bettered their society in a positive way. Both the Roman empire and the Han empire however, placed themselves ahead of other empires as being the most technologically advanced empires in the Classical Era. On the topic of technology, the attitudes of the Hans contrasted greatly to the attitudes of Romans. While the Hans encouraged government-funded technological advancements because of the positive aspects they provided to all social classes, the Romans established a divide in thinking, with one group who deemed advancements in labor aspects of technology to be unnecessary, and the …show more content…
To many Romans, slavery was an essential part of the empire, and since they possessed the use of slave labor, they saw no reason to involve themselves in the labor aspects of their society. Romans also did not encourage technological advancements because their society expressed a gap between the upper class and the lower class, and this gap restrained the upper class from involving themselves in the matters of slaves. Technology, as stated by an upper class Roman leader, was not valued by the aristocracy because labor was seen as the “vulgar” duty of slaves, which no esteemed gentry would allow themselves to perform (5). Romans had a very negative attitude towards technology in general, as one philosopher stated that although technology was created by an intelligent mind, technology was not invented by someone of great status or someone who possesses a wise mind. This attitude towards technology allowed Roman aristocracy to distance themselves from any aspects of technology (7). Although many Romans expressed this way of thinking, some did encourage advancements in technology, but not for the same reasons that the Han