Silk Road

Silkworm - Silkworm is a larva / caterpillar native to China and has been domesticated for silk
production.
Silk Road- A network of trade routes that stretched from Asia in China to Europe and Africa and vice
versa

Facts about the Silk Road

The route stretched from China through India, up throughout Mesopotamia (modern-day Iran), to Egypt,
down to the African continent, the Asia Minor (Asian half of modern-day Turkey), up to Greece, then
Rome, until it reaches Britain.

Goods being Traded

(from West to East)

(from East to West)

 STORY TIME

 Opened in 130 BC by the Han Dynasty in China under the reign of Emperor Wu
 Was coined as “SILK ROAD” because of the popularity of silk among Europeans especially to
the Romans
 Silk was a product monopolized by China, but very much loved by the Europeans, hence keeping
the Silk Road thrive.
 The Romans loved silk so much.
 When Cleopatra and Mark Antony were denounced as immoral by Octavian Caesar, Caesar used
the topic of silk clothing as licentious. He triumphed over the two. However, he was not able to
curtail the popularity of silk.
 Later in 4 BCE to 65 CE, conservative Romans were more expressive in decrying that Chinese
silk is an immoral dress for women and an effeminate attire for men.
 But these criticisms did not stop the silk trade, that it led to the island of Kos (Greece) becoming
wealthy for manufacturing silk clothing.
 Around 60 CE, the west had become aware that silk was not grown on trees in China but was
actually spun by silkworms.
 This was a very well kept secret by China that when it went out, China carefully guarded their
silkworms and their process of harvesting the silk.
 In 476 CE, the Western Roman Empire fell and was survived by its eastern half – the Byzantine
Empire. Byzantine carried on the Roman infatuation of silk.
 Because silk was very expensive due to its demand, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian sent two
emissaries to China disguised as monks to steal silkworms and smuggle them back to the west.
 This became successful and initiated the Byzantine silk industry.
 In 542 CE, a disease traveled in the network of roads. Bubonic plague arrived in Constantinople
through the Silk Road which decimated the Byzantine Empire.
 The loss of Roman territory in Asia and the rise of Arabian power made the Silk Road unsafe for
travelling.
 After the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Turks, the Ottoman Empire closed the Silk Road and
cut all ties with the west. This was in 1453 CE.
 The Mongols revived the route during the 13th and 14th century and was used by Marco Polo in
his travels to China with his father and his uncle.

THE SILK ROAD LEGACY

•Silk Road was important to modern human civilization as it has paved way to the exchange of culture
including art, religion, philosophy, technology, language, science, architecture, and every other element
of civilization.
•All these were carried by merchants along with the goods they trade from country to country.
•The closure of the routes forced the merchants to take to the sea to ply their trades, thus initiating the
Age of Discovery.
•The Silk Road created such a huge impact to the development of world civilization that it is difficult to
imagine the current world without it.
•It can be said that the Silk Road have established the groundwork for the development of the modern
world.