Map A. The Silk Roads

The Silk Roads, a network of ancient trade routes across the formidable terrain of Central Asia, were the stage upon which classical societies encountered each other. Beginning in 500 BCE, the long military and economic reach of two powerful empires -- Rome in the west and Han Chinese in the East -- transformed these prehistoric trade routes into consequential conduits for an ever growing volume of goods, ideas, people, flora and fauna. Within these empires, however, the trade routes accelerated commercial, cultural, political, and biological development of their formerly more autonomous societies. They linked individuals from West to East into far reaching economic, imperial, and religious networks that thrived well into the 15th century. This map highlights the various empires that flourished along these routes, as well as the journeys traveled by some of the world's most famous early explorers.

The establishment of both overland and sea-routes of silk roads led to a great expansion of traded goods between the China and Mediterranean areas. What else did these regions exchange besides goods like silk and perfumes?

Of the many factors that explain the collapse of the Han and Roman empires, how important do you think the silk roads and their consequences were? In explaining the collapse of both empires, do you think internal or external problems were more important? Why?

What kinds of internal problems had greatly weakened the Roman Empire by the 3rd century C.E.?