The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes

[marycatelli]

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

An overview of the political situations and other factors playing into the trade between China and Rome.

Chinese techniques for steel were superior, for instance, but because Rome was used to different places having better or worse steel according to their ore, Romans assumed it was just better material. Romans unpicked silk and rewove it into lighter waves, and dyed it as well; this got re-imported as far as India and led the Chinese to believe that Rome had sericulture.

There's also chapters on the regions between and their effects on trade. These are less good but still have some interesting stuff.

Comments

[nodrog]

That would be fascinating.

[marycatelli]

Lots of good stuff.

[nodrog]

That cotton is found on both sides of the Atlantic is one of those things that make archaeologists shrug:  Give us more data.

[marycatelli]

Fortunately, there's a bit more.

(Actually there's Greek silk but it's inferior.)

[nodrog]

One of the more interesting ideas for a role-playing game was Yaquinto's Man, Myth and Magic, set in the Roman Empire as it was thought to be, i e  magic works and mummies walk and dragons fly.  It was the last time that an adventurer could travel from Egypt to Britain and never need to change currency!  That was a big empire, in terms of the cultures found within it - and adjacent also.

[marycatelli]

Any monopods or dog-headed men? How about red-haired Chinese with green eyes? (Roman beliefs got a little weird.)