ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
The great Nile river in a manner unites Egypt to that region of the world which we have called a “waist” of land, and, by way of the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean are placed geographically close to each other. Continue reading “The Trade-Routes between Rome and India – Egypt and the sea-route to India”
In this post we present selected parts from the excellent and very informative paper titled “Beyond frontiers: Ancient Rome and the Eurasian trade networks“, by Marco Galli (2016). Continue reading “Ancient Rome and the Eurasian trade networks”
Since the 550s, following the collapse of the Rouran Empire (in Chinese characters 柔然, pronounced róu rán), the Türks (in Chinese characters突厥, pronounced tūjué), a nomadic people, came to prominence (552 AD) to the north of China, then further, after defeating the Hephthalite Empire (in Chinese characters 嚈哒, pronounced yàndā), fast becoming a highly influential military power in the middle section of the Silk Road network. Continue reading “Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire and the Western Türks during the 6th century A.D. – Silk Road geopolitics”
Plenty of ancient Chinese sources have been proved keeping rich accounts of the Roman Empire and its close relationship with ancient China, and the frequent activities of envoys, caravans, religious missions and wars on the Silk Road promoted the accomplishment of the mutual communication between the two great civilizations. Continue reading “Roman coins in China”
From the reign of Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) to the fall of Constantinople (1453 AD), the Roman Empire engaged in some degree of contact with China. Continue reading “Connections between the Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire and China during the reign of Justinian I (527-565 AD)”
By Samuel Lieu
The destruction of the Hephthalite Empire in Transoxiana by the combined forces of the Shahanshah Khusrau Anushirvan and the Western Turks in the sixth century (c. A.D. 557) was an event of great significance to the history of China’s trade and diplomatic contacts with the western empires of Iran and Byzantium. Continue reading “Byzantium, Persia and China: Interstate relations on the eve of the Islamic conquest”
Novo Scriptorium 