New Book:
Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the ancient lands of Arabia, India and China
By Raoul McLaughlin
Published by Continuum International Publishing Group - 2010
In ancient times there were several major trade routes that connected the Roman Empire to exotic lands in the distant East. Ancient sources reveal that after the Augustan conquest of Egypt, valued commodities from India, Arabia and China became increasingly available to Roman society. These sources describe how Roman traders went far beyond the frontiers of their Empire, travelling on overland journeys and maritime voyages to acquire the silk, spices and aromatics of the remote East.
Records from ancient China, early India and a range of significant archaeological discoveries provide further evidence for these commercial contacts. Truly global in its scope, this study is the first comprehensive enquiry into the extent of this trade and its wider significance to the Roman world. It investigates the origins and development of Roman trade voyages across the Indian Ocean, considers the role of distant diplomacy and studies the organization of the overland trade networks that crossed the inner deserts of Arabia through the Incense Routes between the Yemeni Coast and ancient Palestine. It also considers the Silk Road that extended from Roman Syria across Iraq, through the Persian Empire into inner Asia and, ultimately, China.
Preview this book:
http://bit.ly/S00d2c
Gold of the empire flowing to the Indes?
Nice, but not exactly a rare book...just recently saw it on a bookshelf in a bookshop in Washington DC airport...
Romans were the first Europeans to discover the sea route to India;- Roman galleys had visited the ancient port of Muziris ;-ie present day Kodungalloor, (about 50km north of Cochin) for trade;-(as evidenced by Roman coins found in the area on land; & also during the dredging (late 1930's) of Cochin port to create the (artificial) Willingdon Island); Coincidentally & probably because the route was well known to the sea-farers of that age,-Muziris also happens to be the initial point of landing /settlement of all three Semitic religions, ie Judaism, Christianity & Islam in the order indicated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muziris
Aditya Bondyopadhyay: If you read carefully...its been mentioned as a 'New Book'. : )
>> Romans were the first Europeans to discover the sea route to India; Actually no, it was the Indians who discovered a sea route to Europe. I quote from the book above Page 4 last para -- please read.
I am reading this book -- this is one of nicest -- most easily written book I have read -- of extreme austerity in flights of imagination (something many history texts fall prey too) -- and severe logic in deductions. At least what I have read so far. Great. Really chuffed with a book after a longed time.
Satyakam Sudershan check Dr Moti Chandra's , Sarthvaha you may find it interesting...
That sounds interesting Mita Chakravotry, could you tell me more please?
the book was published in 1966 from Rashtrabhasa Parishad, Patna....it gives a detailed account of two millennia of Indian trade and various routes both over land and seas using primary sources from Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit languages corroborating it with Greek, Roman and Chinese references ....
Port Muziris is of great importance in maritime trade relations with Rome and we have to probe a deeper study on it.This book describes Sangam classics as of bardic literature and this may be the impact of Dr.K.Kailasapathy's works.