*Includes pictures
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
The story of the Silk Road has been a popular topic amongst tourists, academics, economists, state parties, and daydreaming children for many centuries. In many ways the Silk Road can be seen everywhere, and it has existed for as long as people have traveled across Eurasia. Its impact is widely felt among the diverse peoples that live on the continent, through the unique regional art and architectural styles, as well as in countless films, books, academic studies, and organized tours devoted to the ancient trade routes.
The concept of international trade was born in the ancient Mediterranean, which provided the perfect set of circumstances needed to produce an intricate trading system whose influence can still be seen in present-day economic practices. The ancient Mediterranean was home to a diverse range of cultures and landscapes, encompassing deserts, forests, islands and fertile plains. Different natural resources were available in different geographical areas, and with the advent of sailing ships around 3000 BCE, people were suddenly able to travel much further afield than ever before. This created an opportunity to trade local resources in international markets in exchange for exotic goods not available at home.
At the same time, this shift in Mediterranean trade from a local to international scale was a catalyst for immense social, political and economic changes that helped to shape the course of Western Civilization as a whole. Starting with the Egyptians and Minoans around 3000 BCE until the decline of the Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century CE, ancient trade in the Mediterranean brought cultures into increasingly close contact with one another, and just as in the globalized world today, these cross-cultural influences came to shape the development of belief systems, languages, economics, politics, and art throughout wide expanses of land. Traders introduced foreign goods, but also foreign ideas and new methods of expression, and they in turn took new ideas home with them from the places they visited.
Sometimes these mutual exchanges make it difficult to determine whether a particular process or idea originated from the buyers or the sellers, and in some cases the meeting of disparate cultures produced entirely new ideas unique from anything that existed in either culture prior to their interaction with one another. At the same time, interactions with foreign peoples also brought about new ways of viewing one's own identity. Ancient cultures could now be more clearly defined in terms of their differences from other distinct cultures. This sense of distance between the self and the "other" helped form national and communal identities, made famous by the ancient Greek identification of non-Greeks as "barbarians."
Over the centuries, the profits generated from trade helped establish wealthy nations and fuel economic development across the sea. By taxing imports and exports, governments could afford large infrastructure projects, like the construction of roads and harbors, which in turn helped to further increase trade and wealth. As a result, wars were fought for control of important trade routes and to maintain access to crucial commodities such as grain and precious metals. Economics became a primary consideration when establishing government policies and dealing with international relations. Some cities, most notably Rome and Athens, even built empires on the back of their mercantile success.
Trade in the Ancient World: The History and Legacy of Trade in Europe, the Near East, and Africa during Antiquity examines how the trade routes formed and developed, the goods involved, and the impact the trade routes had on Europe, the Near East, and Africa. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about ancient Mediterranean trade like never before.