Okay, after all it turned into an interesting discussion, so I opened a new topic to discuss it in, rather than the Post your Empires thread! So, the question is: was there contact between west (the middle east) and the east (China) during ROP’s timeframe? How much of a “Silk road” was there?
Good points. However, all you’re saying is why according to biased western people/scholars, there couldn’t be a silk road before Alexander. You are, however, not giving proof of reasons why there would be a silk road.
Okay, first of all, not the whole route was under one government. Alexander didn’t conquer China, now did he?
Anyway, I found an interesting text when I finally resolved to googling the issue. There’s probably much more info out there, but this one will do: http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html
It basically confirms one of my ideas why you can’t take for granted that there was a Silk Road in ROP’s timeframe. You see, we have only taken a look at the western end of the route. We have agreed that the Persians were sophisticated enough to warrant a foundation of the Silk Road. However, what about the eastern end? I don’t know too much about East Asian history. Certainly, China has been one the most advanced empires throughout history, but in ROP’s timeframe?
The point is, China was first unified by Qin Shi Huangdi in 3rd century BC. During the period of the Warring States, before Qin, it is not as likely that a trade route like the Silk Road could have come to been. As the article portrays well, it’s not only a really long route, it’s also a very difficult one. According to the article, the Chinese began to send scouting/diplomatic missions into Central Asia (trying to make contact with the Yuezhi) in the 2nd century. It must’ve been at this point that trade and communication between east and west could have started to grow. As I mentioned, the route was long and hard. It goes through unforbidding deserts, bordered by the highest mountain range in the world. And there’s plenty of bandits lurking on merchants laden with valuables. (hence why the Chinese started to protect the route – But that is far into the time of the Romans).
Allegedly, the Romans first came into contact with silk during Crassus’ campaign into Parthia. This is where their interest in and desire for silk supposedly begins.
Anyway, despite all this, you guys are still right that there may have been some contact. The article saysSo, conclusion: When the Persian Empire was at its height, China was not yet unified. So while the western part was sophisticated and stable enough to form the silk road, the eastern part wasn't yet. The only question remaining, in my opinion, is the nature of contact and trade of those 'individual traders'.In the west, the Greek empire was taken over by the Roman empire. Even at this stage, before the time of Zhang Qian [‘father of the silk road’, 2nd century BC] small quantities of Chinese goods, including silk, were reaching the west. This is likely to have arrived with individual traders, who may have started to make the journey in search of new markets despite the danger or the political situation of the time.