Empires of Ancient Eurasia: The First Silk Roads Era, 100 BCE – 250 CE (New Approaches to Asian History)

The Silk Roads Are The Symbol Of The Interconnectedness Of Ancient Eurasian Civilizations. Using Challenging Land And Maritime Routes, Merchants And Adventurers, Diplomats And Missionaries, Sailors And Soldiers, And Camels, Horses And Ships, Carried Their Commodities, Ideas, Languages And Pathogens Enormous Distances Across Eurasia. The Result Was An Underlying Unity That Traveled The Length Of The Routes, And Which Is Preserved To This Day, Expressed In Common Technologies, Artistic Styles, Cultures And Religions, And Even Disease And Immunity Patterns. In Words And Images, Craig Benjamin Explores The Processes That Allowed For The Comingling Of So Many Goods, Ideas, And Diseases Around A Geographical Hub Deep In Central Eurasia. He Argues That The First Silk Roads Era Was The Catalyst For An Extraordinary Increase In The Complexity Of Human Relationships And Collective Learning, A Complexity That Helped Drive Our Species Inexorably Along A Path Towards Modernity. Introduction -- Pastoral Nomads And The Empires Of The Steppe -- Early China: Prelude To The Silk Roads -- Zhang Qian And Han Expansion Into Central Asia -- The Early Han Dynasty And The Eastern Silk Roads -- The Roman Empire And The Western Silk Roads -- The Parthian Empire And The Silk Roads -- The Kushan Empire: At The Crossroads Of Ancient Eurasia -- Maritime Routes Of The First Silk Roads Era -- Collapse Of Empires And The Decline Of The First Silk Roads Era -- Conclusion. Craig Benjamin. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 284-297) And Index. The Silk Roads are the symbol of the interconnectedness of ancient Eurasian civilizations. Using challenging land and maritime routes, merchants and adventurers, diplomats and missionaries, sailors and soldiers, and camels, horses and ships carried their commodities, ideas, languages and pathogens enormous distances across Eurasia. The result was an underlying unity that traveled the length of the routes, and which is preserved to this day, expressed common technologies, artistic styles, cultures and religions, even disease and immunity patterns. In words and images, Craig Benjamin explores the processes that allowed for the comingling of so many goods, ideas and diseases around a geographical hub deep in central Eurasia. He argues that the first Silk Roads Era was the catalyst for an extraordinary increase in the complexity of human relationships and collective learning, a complexity that helped driver our species inexorably along a path towards modernity--back cover Contents 6 Figures and Maps 10 Introduction 14 1 Pastoral Nomads and the Empires of the Steppe 29 2 Early China 55 3 Zhang Qian and Han Expansion into Central Asia 81 4 The Early Han Dynasty and the Eastern Silk Roads 104 5 The Roman Empire and the Western Silk Roads 132 6 The Parthian Empire and the Silk Roads 161 7 The Kushan Empire 189 8 Maritime Routes of the First Silk Roads Era 217 9 Collapse of Empires and the Decline of the First Silk Roads Era 251 Conclusion 289 Bibliography 297 Index 311 Craig Benjamin introduces the first Silk Roads era, and the imperial states and nomadic empires that were connected by this vast exchange network. As the first book to focus exclusively on this crucial period of world history, this survey will be of tremendous interest to a wide range of readers.