Introduction

Silk. Today we know it as a soft, shiny fabric. It is used for expensive clothes. Back in the first century CE, Emperor Tiberius ruled Rome. Silk was a very big deal then. The fabric was brought in from China. It cost a lot to do so. Among Romans, wearing silk showed how wealthy you were.

Demand became greater than the supply. Merchants soon figured out a trick. They would unravel the silk they had bought from China. Then they re-weaved it into more silk. But that made the silk much thinner. In fact, you could see through it. Since silk was used for clothing, this became a problem on the streets of Rome.

Seneca the Younger was a writer. He complained of people wearing silk. He said it no longer would “hide the body.” Such items could hardly “be called clothes,” Seneca added. In the year 14 CE, it was even against the law for men to wear silk.

Outlawing silk did not last. Wealthy Romans still wanted the clothes. Silk continued to drive trade. The Roman Empire, China, India, and other places depended on it. So, how did Chinese silk get to Rome anyway?

State power and the Silk Road

One cause of expanded trade was the growth of empires. Near the end of the second century BCE, the Han dynasty was led by Emperor Wu. It began fighting with roaming communities, called the Xiongnu. For many years, Xiongnu horsemen had raided Chinese settlements along the northern border. Emperor Wu had often fought them. Soon he decided if they were to win altogether, they needed to get horses somewhere else.

He sent a messenger. His name was Zhang Qian. The goal was to find allies who could help fight the Xiongnu. Zhang returned to China, eager to discuss the wonders he had seen in Ferghana. Today we know Ferghana as Uzbekistan, in Central Asia. This region produced rice, wheat, and grapes. However, it was best known for its strong, “heavenly” horses.

These “heavenly horses” of Ferghana became greatly desired in China. China imported many horses. The Dayuan people who controlled the Ferghana valley soon said “no more!” Han China decided if they could not buy the horses, they would take the land. That led to a three-year conflict. It was called the War of the Heavenly Horses. By 101 BCE, the Ferghana valley belonged to Han China. But an interesting thing happened. Control of the Ferghana valley also opened a route to the West.

With a new supply of horses, Han China had increased its military strength across Asia. The growth of Han’s control led to the first Pax Sinica. That is Latin for “Chinese Peace.” During this time, Chinese cities grew. There were more jobs and wealth. The government was stable. All this led to more demand for fancy goods from far-off places.

Meanwhile, the Roman Empire was growing, too. Rome won the Punic Wars. It gave them control over the western Mediterranean Sea. Eventually, Rome expanded to control all of the Mediterranean shoreline.

The first century CE saw the beginning of the Pax Romana. It means “Roman Peace” in Latin. For about 200 years there were few wars. As with Han China, a stable government brought more trade. Rome began to trade regularly on overseas trade routes to India. It went through Egypt.

Rome and Han China expanded greatly. Still, there was a great distance between them. Central Asia is covered with mountains, deserts, and huge grasslands. People did not travel through it for fun. Traders only went through because they knew they could make good money. They created important linked networks between the Roman and Han empires.

Travel on the Silk Road

Traders had to find ways to move their goods smoothly. This is where camels come in. They were the best way to travel. Roaming peoples in Central Asia started raising camels around the second millennium BCE. For example, the Han Chinese captured camels from the Xiongnu. They used them to carry military supplies. Camels were tough. They could handle the harsh desert conditions of Central Asia. Camels also could carry up to 500 pounds! Without pack animals, transporting goods over land on the Silk Road would not have been worth it.

Land wasn’t the only way to travel. Merchants used the ocean to transport goods, too. Sailors did not need camels. However, they did need to understand wind patterns and storm systems. Otherwise, they could not navigate the dangerous waters. Take the Indian Ocean for example. Monsoon winds blow from the northeast in the winter. In the summer, the winds come from the southwest. The southwestern wind pushed merchants east. This allowed them to travel from the Red Sea between Egypt and Arabia to India in the summer. Then they would go back to the Red Sea in the winter. This important information was exchanged among sailors. It soon made its way beyond the Indian Ocean.

The effects of exchange

There was one obvious effect of trade along the Silk Road. More goods were available in more places. Silk became greatly desired. In fact, it was used as money in Central Asia. What was so special about silk? Unlike other fabrics, it was unusually soft. It always had an appealing shine. This is because silk is made from the cocoons of silkworms. It does not come from plants. The Romans would have made their own silk, but they did not know how. How to get from cocoon to fabric was a Chinese secret. They hid it until the sixth century CE. So, China remained the only producer of silk until then. That meant that trade goods continued to travel across Asia. 

Women were in charge of silk harvesting and weaving. Their production of silk generated much money from the trade on the Silk Road networks. It also brought the payment of taxes to the government. Women were important. Their jobs benefited the Han dynasty and its wealth.

Chinese silk was not the only item traded along these routes. China also exported ginger. Lacquerware, a kind of glazed pottery, was popular. Spices came from the East Indies. Glass beads arrived from Rome. Furs arrived from animals of the Caucasian steppe, or grasslands. Unfortunately, the Silk Road also made it easier for enslaved peoples from all over to be transported.

So many goods, people, and ideas were moving. This had big effects. Life changed for many people. One example can be seen with the Tang dynasty of China. Sculptures of camels were placed in graves. Clearly the animals mattered to them!

New trade routes often spread two other things without even trying: ideas and diseases. They moved quickly. Both would have large effects on the communities along the Silk Road. Toward the end of the second century, a plague crushed the Roman Empire. Plague is a deadly disease. It killed 10 percent of the population. Historians think this plague first appeared in China. Then it followed the trade routes to the Near East. Roman soldiers were stationed there.

Then there was the exchange of ideas. The religion Buddhism came to China through trade with India. The Sogdians of Central Asia often acted as traders between India and China. Sogdians also translated Sanskrit sutras, or short religious texts, into Chinese. They spread the Buddhist faith as they traded. Other faiths also traveled along the sea and land routes. Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and Christianity were a few examples. These religions developed and changed as they were accepted in new areas. 

So now we can see the conditions that allowed Chinese silk to arrive in Roman markets. Both the Han Chinese and Roman Empires controlled vast lands. They kept them relatively peaceful. The Han took over Central Asia. From there, roaming traders carried goods farther west or south.

Trade brought new ideas, new diseases, and new goods to new places. They would be forever changed by the Silk Road.