Long Distance Trade• Before classical times – trade risky
– Bandits & pirates– Made trade more expensive
• Two developments reduced risk– 1st – rulers built roads & bridges– 2nd – rulers built larger states that bordered on each
other
• Cost of trade dropped – volume increased
Trade Networks of Hellenistic Era• Alexander’s colonies increased amount of trade
– They attracted Greek merchants and bankers
• Ptolemies had land routes in Africa – also sea routes linking Red Sea to Arabian Sea
• Trade routes expensive to maintain– need military protection – construction crews– bureaucracies to tax goods that moved through
• Greatly stimulated economies of the empires
• From China to West: silks, porcelain• From India to West: textiles, spices, pepper,
perfumes, gems, pearls• From Persia & Egypt: grains• From Med area: wine, olive oil, jewelry art• From Africa: ivory, tortoise shells, skins, gold• From Central Asia: horses, jade
Silk Roads• Stability of empires enhanced trade• Han, Parthains (Persia, Meso), Rome, Gupta(India)• Most of Eurasia & North Africa covered in network of
trade routes– Collectively called Silk Roads
• Linked China all the way to Roman empire
Sea Lanes
• Sea lanes crisscrossed the Indian Ocean
• South China Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Med Sea
The “Stages”The “Stages”• Most trading done in stages• Hard for one person (or group) to travel from one
end to other• Had trading stations all along the routes• China & nomads controlled from China to Bactria
– Then Parthians through western Asia– Then Roman groups
Cultural Exchanges• Silk Roads served as cultural and religious
exchanges
• Also served to spread disease between Africa, Asia, and Europe
Spread of Buddhism & Hinduism• As merchants traveled out of India – they
explained their religion to others• Gradually made its way to Iran, central Asia,
China and SE Asia• Est. first in oasis towns
– Oases were dependent on trade to make money– They allowed monks to build monasteries
– Oasis towns gave lodging to many different people who had different cultures
– Became cosmopolitan centers– Gradually, they adopted Buddhism
• Most prominent faith of silk road merchants from 200BCE to 700CE
• From there it spread to the steppes and to China• Nomads visited the oases to trade animals for
grains and goods– Carried Buddhism that they found back to China– Were responsible for the spread of it through most of
Asia
Buddhism in China• 1st cent. BCE – Buddhism
est. in China• Han allowed foreign
merchants to worship Buddhism
• Did not appeal to Chinese at first
• Monasteries were built – attracted converts
• b/c popular in East Asia, Japan and Korea
• Buddhism & Hinduism spread into SE Asia
• Merchants traveling the sea lanes brought it
• Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia adopted Indian ways
• Called leaders rajas• Adopted Sanskrit• Some rulers converted to
Buddhism, others to Hinduism• Appointed Buddhist or Hindu advisors
Southeast Asia
Spread of Christianity• Missionaries took advantage
of Roman networks of trade to spread message
• Took it to Anatolia (Gregory the Wonderworker) in mid 3rd century
• Despite imperial opposition, communities developed in Syria, Egypt, Greece, Spain & Gaul
• Moved into Iran and even some churches in India
• 3rd century CE some Christians abandoned society and lived as hermits in deserts of Egypt, mountains of Greece, etc.– This inspired the formation of Christian monastic
communities
• 5th century CE, Christians in SW Asia began to separate from Roman Christians
• Most became Nestorians– Emphasized the human
nature of Jesus as opposed to the divine
– Christian Church rejected these views
– So many left and established communities in central Asia, India, and China
Fall of the Han• Fell mostly due to internal problems:
– 1) fighting and backstabbing b/w gov’t factions– 2) unequal land distribution– 3) landowners became influential in gov’t and
lowered their taxes and raised peasant taxes– 4) epidemics
• Results:– 1) Yellow Turban Uprising– 2) generals took power in their regions– 3) emperor became a puppet– 4) 220CE – empire abolished– 5) China became several large kingdoms and was
disunited for more than 350 years
Fall of Rome
• Mostly fell from internal problems and external invasions• Problems:
– 1) within 50 years, 26 “barracks emperors” seized power – 49 died violently
– 2) the size of Rome was too large to handle efficiently• Diocletian tried to help by dividing it into eastern
and western
– Each ruled by co-emperor and four tetrarchs– After his retirement, internal power struggles set off a
civil war
• By 313CE – Constantine defeated everyone and came to power
– Reunited the two parts but it was too late
– 3) epidemics
– 4) Germanic invasions• Different groups (Visigoths,
Saxon, etc) migrated to the edges of the empire
– Adopted laws, Christianity, etc.
• When Huns (Attila) began migrating into their territory, they began pushing into Rome and settling
• 410CE – Visigoth general, Alaric, sacked Rome