09-30-2006, 08:35 AM
Quote:I can add that there have been several founds of Roman coins at excarvations in Cambodia ;-) )
But I never got any further with the question: why!?
Simply the Romans had do pay for the Oriental goods:
spices, silk and perfumes.
And they did pay a lot of money each year.
I`ve got book by the Russian scientist A.M. Petrov "West-East. From the history of ideas and goods" (Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, 1996) - sorry no English translation. He underlined that Oriental spices and even perfumes (per fumum - via smoke - healing, clearing with the help of the smoke) were widely used in the medicine of Antique and Medieval Europe - that`s why the prices were so high - now we are also paying big money for the cures and medical treatment. Silk clothes were healthy - no louses - if you are living in the world where epidemies happened constantly, and don`t forget that everyday life in Antique world wasn`t so clear. In this book and in his "Great Silk Road: about most simpliest but less known matters" (the same year of edition) there are many references to Antique and Medieval sourses - so you could believe me. That was the general cause why Roman coins could be founded in Cambodia or Vietnam. Globalization stated much earlier than we are usually thinking of it.
Though I don`t think that Roman civilization could more or less impress the Chinese if this interaction was much closer and direct (not via transit trade).
Now there is exhibition in Moscow - famous terracotta warriors from the tomb of Chinese Emperor Shi Huandi. What impress me most - not the figures itself - we saw them many times in the books, on TV etc., but a part of bronze Chinese arbalet trigger mechanism of the III cent. B.C. And there`s a proposal that many of these figures (and of course real warriors in that times) were armed with arbalets. This mechanic part of arbalet looks like it was made in Late Medieval Europe. I mean the quality of work, not the construction of it or material - I don`t know much of European arbalets.
Rome was more interested in contacts with the Orient and China - Chinese couldn`t get much interesting for them from Antique, Medieval and Early Modern times Europe: only silver and gold.
Only in the 19th century Great Britain founded out (in India) this thing, which was interesting for the Chinese and they were ready to pay Europeans for it - opium. Situation in trade with Russia was different - in Russia were rarely used spices and silk - it is cold here and tradtions of medicine and food were different - but still Russia payed in silver for Chinese tea.
