The Silk Road
By Jim Down
The Silk Road was not a trade route that existed solely for the purpose of trading silk. Many other commodities were also traded, gold and ivory exotic animals and plants. Of all the precious goods crossing this area, silk was perhaps the most remarkable the people of the West. To build a road becomes priority to trade silk. For nearly 60 years of war, the world famous ancient Silk Road was built up cost of many losses of life and treasures. It started from Chang’an (now Xi’an), across Middle Asia, South Asia and West Asia. Many countries of Asia and Europe were connected.
It is often thought that the Romans had first encountered silk in one of their campaigns against the Parthians in 53 B.C, and realised that it could not have been produced this relatively unsophisticated people. They reputedly learnt from Parthian prisoners that it came from a mysterious tribe the east, who they came to refer as the silk people, “Seres.
In practice, it is likely that silk and other goods were beginning to filter Europe before this time, though only very small quantities. The Romans obtained samples of this new material, and it quickly became very popular in Rome its soft texture and attractiveness.
The Parthians quickly realised that there was money to be made from trading the material, and sent trade missions towards the east. The Romans also sent their own agents out to explore the route, and to try to obtain silk a lower price than that set by the Parthians. For this reason, the trade route to the East was seen by the Romans as a route for silk rather than the other goods that were traded. The name “Silk Road” itself does not originate the Romans, however, but is a nineteenth century term, coined the German scholar, von Richthofen.
Source: http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/the_silk_road/
