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Both the ancient Roman empire and the Han dynasty in China were notable for their achievements in technology - the Romans mainly focusing on engineering projects, and the Chinese mainly focusing on science and efficient agriculture.

Lets propose that at the height of both empires (say around 400 AD) the Romans and the Han made contact. They become close allies, freely share their science and technology, and ultimately merge their empires (let's not worry about the specifics of how that merge happens, lets just assume they work it out somehow).

How would the appearance of such a scientific global superpower have impacted the development of mankind from a scientific, industrial, and political perspective?

Chumblechops
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    Hello, and welcome to WB SE. Unfortunately, your post is out of scope here. The reason is that you're asking us to give our opinions on a fictional matter. None of us could realistically know. Second, you're asking us to define matters which, realistically, novels could be written on. *"scientific, industrial, and political perspective"* is just incredibly broad. Heck, any one of those subject alone is still too broad. You need to frame your question down to some very narrow parameters before we can answer it here. – AndreiROM Oct 19 '16 at 13:30
  • Please read up on our Risk Factors for a better understanding of why I'm voting to close this question. This also offer some insight. You could try to edit your question to get it reopened, or simply ask for help in chat. Good luck! – AndreiROM Oct 19 '16 at 13:31
  • By the way I don't think the roman empire was at it's peak in 400AD, I think it was doing very bad and fell within that century. – Ovi Oct 19 '16 at 13:35
  • The Roman Empire was near its nadir in 400, with 410 in particular being the year the frontiers collapsed and 'barbarians' streamed in. The Eastern Empire slowly stabilized over the next 50 years, the Western did not. The Han, meanwhile, had been gone over a century, having dissolved in general civil war around 180, and entering the 'Three Kingdoms' period in around 220. By 400 the country was split between the Eastern Jin in the south and the Northern Wei in the north, with many others around the periphery. – kingledion Oct 19 '16 at 13:42
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    One other historical issue is that the Romans and Chinese actually did have some peripheral awareness of each other, via long range trade links. The problem is trade was very slow and very expensive, and passed through many "middlemen" along the way. There were several civilizations and empires between China and Rome, all with different and incompatible interests. – Thucydides Oct 19 '16 at 14:31
  • @Thucydides Agreed, the Sasanian Empire for one were hitting their prime and were often at war with Rome and Byzantium. – Kys Oct 19 '16 at 14:40

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