- In the Ancient World, the Silk Road was a chain of routes by which Bales of Silk from China reached the Mediterranean by land and included a sea crossing over the Indian Ocean.
- In the reverse direction came Spices from South Arabia, Precious Gems and Amber from Western Europe and Glassware from Rome.
Description by Pliny
- Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) wrote that the Import of Goods from India, China and Arabia caused a Trade Deficit which cost the Roman Economy 100 Million Sestertii annually, of which he states 55 Million went to the Trade with India.
- Goods had to be paid for in Roman Gold or Silver coins, which never returned to Rome, but remained circulating in India. According to Pliny, after reaching Rome, these Goods were sold at prices 100 times more than their cost in the markets of the East.
The Termini in Asia and the West
- Barigaza, India.
- Ctesiphon, Persia.
- Rome, Italy.
- Later Constantinople, in Greece.
The Routes
- The Sea Route from China:
- The Ports of Departure appear to have been located in Vietnam, with ships sailing from Kattigara past Indonesia into the Indian Ocean, on to Sri Lanka and the Indian Ports, such as Barygaza, then into the Persian Gulf, the east coast of Africa Azania, and the Red Sea and Egypt, from where it entered the Roman Empire.
- The Northern Land Route:
- The Silk Road passed from Central China, along the Great Wall of China, west across the Gobi Desert, then through Sogdiana (modern Uzbekistan) into the Caspian Sea, and across into the Black Sea, the Terminus being first Rome, then after 300 CE Constantinople.
- The Land Route via Afghanistan:
- From Central China, west along the Great Wall of China, through the Wakhan Corridor, then through Afghanistan and either into Persia and its capital at Ctesiphon, or through the Khyber Pass into modern Pakistan, down the Indus and onto the Indian coastal ports such as Barygaza.
Amber
- Amber travelled from Europe to China in the reverse direction along the Silk Road.
- In 500 CE Tao Hongjing wrote ‘Materia Medica’, in which he warned how to distinguish between false and real Amber, by rubbing to check its electrostatic properties.
- Amber travelled along the Amber Road from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea, and then on to China.
- It was a sought after commodity in China, where it was burnt during Festivities.
Sources (1st century CE)
Barygaza (Baruch, Gujarat)