This is not, as the title led me to hope, a broad based comparison of the Roman Empire with Chinese empire of the same period. Rather, it is a compilation of seven academic essays comparing various aspects of political organization in the two empires. This does not amount to the same thing -- there is no overarching view, and no overall conclusions. Moreover, at least for a general reader, there are big differences among the essays. Two were very interesting to this general reader, and very readable -- Nathan Rosenstein on state formation and Karen Turner on law and punishment -- and another was almost as good, Peter Band on tribute and trade. But three other essays were too narrow in scope for a generalist -- Maria Dettenhoffer on women and (mostly) eunuchs, Mark Lewis on gifts and charity, and Walter Scheidel on monetary systerm (the last is an exhaustive, and exhausting, study of coinage). The introductory essay, also by Scheidel, is written in deep academese. Overall, this is a book for academics. It is also one, however, which a general reader will find useful and interesting -- in parts. ( )