5 - The Roman Empire and the Western Silk Roads

Summary

Chapter Five begins by outlining the often-chaotic history of the Roman Republic through to the advent of Augustus, and the Roman Peace he instituted, which made it possible for the Romans to engage in long-distance trade across Eurasia. It considers the evidence for land-based trade routes from the Mediterranean into Central Asia, using primary sources and the archaeological discoveries of Palmyra. Finally, the chapter discusses the various ways in which the import of silk and other luxury commodities influenced the culture and economy of Rome. Although poets appreciated the sexual allure of the wearing of silk garments by women, the practice was viewed by conservatives as a moral disgrace and a ‘national extravagance’, particularly after men also started wearing silk clothes, even the emperor himself. Several attempts were made to regulate and even prohibit the wearing of silk, using moral, economic and gender arguments. Yet the demand for silk and other luxury products proved unstoppable in Imperial Rome, and this was probably also of considerable financial benefit to the empire through the high customs duties the state imposed on these imports, which might even have partly funded the legions themselves.