From China To Rome

Ancient China traded with imperial Rome, but the Chinese and the Romans never met. The only link between the two civilizations was the Silk Road, which ran overland around the northern edge of the Himalayas from China to the eastern Mediterranean coast, with a branch leading south into India. During the 2nd century BC, camel caravans laden with silk, then a Chinese monopoly, began to move regularly along this arduous 11,200 km (7000 miles) route. The Chinese themselves did not venture beyond their own frontiers, however. Instead they transferred their bales of merchandise at a point near the Afghanistan border to other traders, often from Persia or Central Asia. These merchants in turn sold the silk to Syrians and Greeks near the western end of the route, and from there the silk was shipped to Rome.