Our Sea

Part 8 - Silk Road

The Romans were not accustomed to peace. They had been at war continuously for 200 years until Augustus (who ruled the empire from 30 BCE until his death in 14 CE) persuaded them the absence of war would lead to prosperity. The Pax Romana (Roman Peace) officially existed from 31 BCE to CE 250, although parts of the Roman empire were peaceful much earlier.

Meanwhile, the soil in China was deficiency in selenium and trace amounts of this element were necessary to breed strong horses for the Chinese army. The Han dynasty, the greatest in China's long history, had heard rumours that these could be found beyond the western mountains and deserts, 4000 km to the west of China, on the Eurasian steppes.

In 127 BCE, the Chinese emperor sent Zhang Qian as an ambassador ostensibly to obtain an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu (or Hsiung-nu) (a confederation of nomadic peoples who then inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe). He also travelled to Ferghana (in Transoxiana, modern Uzbekistan) and the country of Daxia (or Tokhara) the main part of Bactria, (northern Afghanistan and southern Tajikistan).

Ferghana was a kingdom known in Chinese as as Dayuan ("Great Yuan", meaning "Great Ionians," the descendants of the Greek colonists, settled by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE, who were part of the Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms).

Zhang Qian also reported on the neighbouring countries Anxi (Parthia), Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia) and Shendu (the Indian subcontinent).

Zhang Qian's reports were preserved in Shiji ("Records of the Great Historian") by Sima Qian in the 1st century BCE. They describe Dayuan (Ferghana) as a prosperous civilization of several hundred thousand living in more than seventy fortified cities about 10,000 li (4,158 km or 2583 mi) directly west of China. The people grew rice and wheat and made wine from grapes. They had many fine horses and fought with bows and spears and could shoot arrows from horseback. Zhang Qian's reports also suggested an economic reason for Chinese expansion and this interested the Chinese emperor, Wudi. He immediately dispatched multiple embassies to negotiate commercial relationships, with Ferghana, Bactria, Parthia and as far west as Syria.Meanwhile, the Chinese army pacified the Hexi Corridor, a string of oases between the high and desolate Tibetan Plateau and the Gobi Desert of Outer Mongolia. It was the most important route through Gansu province to the Tarim Basin.

The Han Chinese concern about the trade route led to an extension of the Great Wall of China. Soldiers guarding the western end of the Great Wall were frequently paid with silk which they traded with the nomads until 60 BCE when the Chinese general Cheng Ki seized control of the twin chains of oases in the Tarim basin south of the Tian Shan mountain range in Xinjiang. This put China in full control of transcontinental trade between China and the Mediterranean and created the most famous trade route in the world, the Silk Road.

Han Chinese troops met and defeated Roman legionaries in the 36 BCE battle of Sogdiana (modern Bukhara, Uzbekistan) probably because the Chinese crossbow bolts easily penetrated Roman shields and armour. The Romans may have been part of Antony's army invading Sogdiana, the most easterly penetration ever made by Roman forces in Asia. But they may have been captured or recruited as mercenaries by the Xiongnu.  (The Roman crossbow may have been copied from Chinese directly or from the Greek gastraphetes).

In the 1st century CE, the Han general Ban Chao led an army of 70,000 mounted troops to secure the trade routes between the Tarim basin and the Caspian Sea. From there, in 97 AD, the Han general sent envoy Gan Ying to explore the far west.

Gan Ying reached the Persian Gulf and may have journeyed to Mesopotamia (Iraq), then under the control of the Parthian Empire. He intended to sail to Daqin (Rome) but was deterred and returned to China with much new information about the countries west of Chinese-controlled territories.

The Roman historian Florus confirmed the visit of envoys from Seres (China) to the Roman ruler Augustus (who reigned between 27 BCE and 14 CE). Roman embassies arrived in China, beginning in 166 CE, during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and the Han dynasty Emperor Huan.The Silk Road became a major trade route linking the Mediterranean, Rome, China and India. The Chinese bought gold, silver and Roman-style glassware that was traded as far as East as the Korean peninsula while Roman traders made large profits buying silk, spices, and gems from Arab and India traders. After the Romans conquered Egypt in 30 BCE, they inherited the ancient trade routes, that formed part of the Silk Road, from the Greeks and Arabs and trade between China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe increased substantially and this trade created unprecedented wealth throughout the Roman empire. Peace was indeed profitable.

Few of the ruling classes noticed that the ownership of agricultural land and slaves was not the only way to get rich and most of the wealthy elite looked down on the people who worked in trade. This anachronistic attitude prevailed until the end of the 20 Century despite more than two thousand years of evidence that wealth and prosperity could be created by trade . . . and also destroyed by wars.

The Chinese also inaugurated a maritime Silk Route between China, Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka, and ports in Roman Egypt and the Red Sea. During the reign of Augustus, as many as 120 ships were trading between Myos Hormos in Roman Egypt and the east coast of India.By 60 CE the trade was intense, driven by the Greek and Roman craze for Chinese silk, but the Chinese also exported teas, salt, sugar, porcelain, and spices. Most of what was traded was expensive luxury goods because merchants didn't have much space on the backs of their camels.

In return, China imported Roman glassware, perfumes, cotton, ivory, wool, gold, and silver.Heavier, less expensive products were transported by sea.Trade created enduring political and economic relations between the civilizations of China, Roman Europe, Korea, Japan, Indian, Persia (Iran), Africa and Arabia, significantly influencing their development. Although silk and spices were the main products, many other goods were traded, as well as information on science and technologies, economic ideas and cultural work like art, religions and philosophies. Unfortunately some of the imports/exports were diseases like the plague.

There were some grumbles. The imported Chinese silk caused a huge outflow of Roman gold and the Roman Senate issued several edicts prohibiting the wearing of silk. Not only for economic reasons; the senators were also offended by women wearing decadent and immoral silk clothing. The edicts were generally ignored and some observers suggested that the outflow of gold may have contributed to the fall of the western Roman empire.

Between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE, the Kushan Empire of Central Asia and Northern India encouraged powerful merchants from Bactria and Taxila to promote trade. The archeological site of Begram revealed 2nd century treasure hoards filled with products from the Greco-Roman world, China, and India.

The demand for luxury Asian products declined around the 5th century as the West Roman Empire, slipped into almost permanent recession caused by the reluctance of the wealthy to pay taxes, leaving Roman rulers with ever decreasing income from duties and taxes on trade and mining operations. Ultimately, there was little money to pay the army and the West Roman Empire collapsed.