The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China by Raoul McLaughlin (PDF)

Description

This book demonstrates the importance of Far Eastern trade to the Roman economy and Rome’s place in the ancient world economy all along the Silk Road Routes.The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian regime which ruled ancient Persia (Iran). It explores Roman dealings with the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan) and laid claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the development of Palmyra as a leading caravan city on the edge of Roman Syria and consider trade ventures through the Tarim territories that led Roman merchants to Han China.The Han Empire of ancient China matched that of Rome in scale and possessed military technology surpassing that of Roman legions. The Han established a system of Central Asian trade routes known as the Silk Road that carried eastern products as far as Persia and the frontiers of the Roman Empire.This is the first book to address these subjects in a single comprehensive study. It explores Rome’s impact on the ancient world economy and reveals what the Chinese and Romans knew about their rival Empires.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author Raoul McLaughlin was educated at Lagan College, the first Integrated School in Northern Ireland. He studied Archaeology and Ancient History at Queens University Belfast before completing a Masters degree and then a PhD in the study of trade beyond Romes eastern frontiers. He lives in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Unlike most history books that concentrate on dates and descriptions of political upheavals and battles, this book’s tries to see the history of the interactions of the two largest ancient world empires, Rome and China, through their commercial interests. Around the first century AD each empire covered approximately 5-6 million square kms (the China Empire was however divided between the Eastern and the Western Han, so it was at certain time points twice as large) and ruled each over 60 million people. They were however separated by enormous distances and the real distance was almost doubled by the impassable mountain ranges, deserts, and dangers of nomadic warriors to the caravans trying to cross this distance. At the optimal speed of 15 miles/day, the authors estimate that the journey each way took at least a year. Local political crises sapped the energies of both the Chinese and the Roman giants, leaving little to develop direct trade between the two. Nevertheless this trade did exist and its volume was enormous, but it used the desert and steppe kingdoms of central Asia as commercial intermediaries. The traffic from the East (China and India) was mainly silk, steel, and spices, while the West exported primarily bullion – silver and gold. The author correctly points out that the West was trading its finite resources, while the East was using renewable ones, making it much more economically profitable for the Chinese. On the other hand the Chinese had much more extensive and sophisticated administration and taxation systems, whereas the Romans financed their military establishment by the heavy 25% tax on imports and exports. The description of the markets, desirability of products, fashions, pricing, labor costs, expenses of transportation via caravans and their protection, etc., etc. – make for fascinating reading. Although the author promised mainly cash for silk history, he purposefully diverges into general history spiced by quotations from poetry and drama that emphasize his thesis. This makes for quite exciting literature despite the scholarly tint of the book. One aspect of the book is terrible – the lack of detailed maps (best in color!) and caravan routes. For example, the route taken by the only instance when a Roman envoy reached China, etc. This would have normally taken a star of my grading. Yet, the book possesses one great aspect that compensates for this failing and thus recoups the five star grade – the author fills the enormous gap in our knowledge of history, as taught in high school today. Just as the Romans assumed for the longest time that the world ends east to India, our history lessons follow this fallacy. We miss this incredibly sophisticated, colorful and eventful story of peoples and empires east of Mesopotamia. I am grateful to Raul McLaughlin for revealing this wonderful world for me and his other readers

⭐This book has significant histories of China and Rome connections through the Silk Road including the difficult histories from pre-Alexander times and onward. Difficulties were noticed from the naming conventions of strategic areas from different tribes and rulers in the areas involved. Especially helpful was the sea routes vs the land routes being clearly explained on a multi-area basis. The maps can be improved and dated. More maps and relevant coins would be appreciated. I hope the author is able to continue and expand this research.

⭐Very well written book. It’s a complex story of historical trade routes between China (and generally Asia) and Mediterranean Sea basin. You’ll find here a description of realations betweeen major actors (states, ethnic groups) as well as various variants of commecrial links between them.

⭐Well written history maintained interest throughout well documented many facts and figures included amazing the covering such a long period of time.

⭐This book looked at the empires at both ends of the silk routes and the kingdoms and provinces in between. The incredible logistical difficulties involved for the Romans and the Chinese to physically meet makes it almost unbelievable that any trade ever took place. I had never considered what impact those routes made on the varying economies and societies along the way. It does get a little confusing switching back and forth between the failing Roman empire, the Huns, and the Han dynasty.

⭐Learned a lot history of the world that gets missed. It seems the world was more connected in the past.

⭐This book gave an understanding of the relations that exited between ancient Rome and China via the silk road. The author showed there was very little direct contact between the two empires. Most of the contact the two empires had was through trading intermediaries in Parthia and central Asian step empires. The author covered the problems the two empires faced and the causes of their down falls. He look at the political, financial and military aspects of both how they handled their foreign relations. The book cover an area of history that most general book do not.

⭐Most of my learning about the Roman Empire was concerned with their wars of conquest in Europe (oh, and that little episode with Cleopatra and Egypt), but this shows how Rome and China and India had a mutual fascination and economic links over hundreds of years. Very interesting how China’s foreign policy (largely making neighbors economically dependent on China, rather than conquering them) continues to resonate today. And quite fascinating that Rome wanted silk from China and high quality steel from India, goods that required skill to manufacture but used cheap raw materials. And in exchange for these, Rome sent gold, which got harder and harder to acquire.

⭐I’d already read this author’s book on the Indian Ocean and was looking forward to reading his research into the corresponding land-transportation trade. This work does not disappoint; it is meticulously researched and filled with fascinating details. Like many people, I’m interested in the ethnic peoples, the exotic merchandise and the religious ideas that flowed out from ancient China towards the Roman Empire and from the West and India along the ‘Silk Road’ back across Asia. Furthermore, I think there are very few scholars nowadays who doubt that distant trade provided the Roman Empire with large sums of revenue, generated by taxing the transference of ‘luxury’ goods from the East.There isn’t the usual opening chapter to explain that there was no single ‘Road’ in the usual sense; referring instead to commodities and people travelling along various ‘Routes’. By drawing on a wide range of Classical sources the author establishes evidence for extensive use of silk by all classes & genders of people in Rome and beyond. With a further comprehensive range of primary material the author traces the manufacture and trafficking of silk and other commercial merchandise across ‘thousands of miles of inhospitable terrain’.Book chapters travel westwards in the same direction as the caravans that carried various commodities, with the author pausing to register changes in geography or alterations through time in each region.I discovered the Chinese used silk in exchange for the guarantee of peace on their frontiers and this unique material, often obtained by barter, became one of the most lucrative commodities passing from hand to hand across Asia and into the west. It seems that the original ‘routes’ were created by the Chinese, motivated by their desire for resources to achieve supremacy in warfare. Already armed with a more efficient grade of steel, the Chinese authorities also sought a superior breed of horse to equip their cavalry and deal with the Xiongnu, a warlike nation of steppe people on their northern borders. By creating a viable route to the so-called ‘Heavenly Horses’, the Chinese enhanced the infrastructure of the many small communities they passed through. Eventually, these locations could support the passage of troops, then ultimately merchant caravans.I particularly like the human-interest stories along the routes through central Asia, with information about the peoples and significant personalities along the way. In particular, the Sogdians letters are a glimpse behind the scenes into the lives of the ordinary men and women of the time. It is hard not to be caught up in the emotional horror of the rout of Crassus’s army by the Parthians at Carthae. The last section uses information from primary sources to discuss the Huns at the height of the Eastern trade. Finally, the book returns to the human beings at the centre of all these commercial endeavours. I don’t want to be a plot-spoiler, but the last paragraph offers an extraordinary piece of evidence that verifies personal contacts between East and West. It seems was not just all the wealth of China that made the journey from Asia into the Roman Empire in the Imperial period.If I have any criticism, it is that the book could do with more illustrations, although I gather this is a Publisher’s decision and that these are the author’s own sketches. I’m told that line drawings are preferred by archaeologists, but I personally would have liked some colour plates. I was also disappointed that the book does not contain information about the great civilizations and ruined cities of the Middle East, but according to social media, the author’s next book covers the desert oasis kingdoms and their part in distant trade from the first century CE onward. I’m definitely considering ordering the next one in advance.

⭐Obviously an interesting topic. It’s strangely constructed, whoever, dealing with subjects which, while interesting of themselves, are only subsidiary to the book’s primary thrust (which therefore gets lost). It also encourages considerable repetition and reiteration.

⭐A bit long and detailed – half the length would have been better for a good overview.

⭐A useful work that is thoroughly researched.

⭐Packed full of interesting facts and I like the style

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