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Quote:it would've been cool if one of those romans came back and taught a legionary Kung Fu.
I've seen a fair case made that it was Greek Pankration transmitted to India and blended with local fighting arts that was then brought to China by Indian Buddhist monks. So no need to travel so far
Paul M. Bardunias
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A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"
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For me, this is a VERY interesting topic. I've often wondered about the possible connection, ever since I first noticed the shield designs in the notitia dignitatum, that look unmistakeably like the eastern yin-yang symbol.
Marcus Julius Germanus
m.k.a. Brian Biesemeyer
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Quote:They aren't yin-yang symbols.
Are you sure? Where does the yin-yang symbol derive from. If it is Buddhist, then there's a possibility that, just like the ubiquitous swaztika, they could both come from the same indo-european source.
Paul M. Bardunias
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A Spartan, being asked a question, answered "No." And when the questioner said, "You lie," the Spartan said, "You see, then, that it is stupid of you to ask questions to which you already know the answer!"
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Just because trade goods arrive in an area doesn't mean that the creators of the goods actually arrived there themselves. Hellenistic textiles have been found in Mongolia; Roman glassware has been found in Korea. Goods changed hangs dozens of times before winding up with their final owner. There's an example I can use just in the Roman Empire. In a coin hoard called Oliver's Orchard, a very worn and almost completely unrecognizable coin of Domitian (and we know it's Domitian of the general shape of his head on the coin) was found with thousands of other coins that date mostly from 240-280. Why, after nearly two centuries, was the Domitian coin still in circulation? It was because it was accepted to still have value. There have been other examples of Roman coins being restamped and reused as currency in other states at the same time or after the fall of the empire. So basically silver is silver, and it has value in Persia, India, China, or Cambodia. Perhaps it took centuries for a few coins to wind up in southeast Asia. It's certainly interesting.
I've been somewhat interested in trade between Rome and China/the East. I've studied the "Romans in China" phenomenon in great detail and can attest that is is highly improbably that Roman legionaries wound up in Central Asia.
Ethan Gruber