The Connections Between Ancient Civilizations - Romans in China, Greeks in India, Africans in England—through a number of mechanisms, people of the ancient world got around more than we give them credit for. Other than a vague notion of the Silk Road, many have no idea how wide-ranging and enterprising some ancient civilizations were.
There were, of course, the Phoenician explorers who likely circumnavigated Africa two millenia before Vasco de Gama. Carthaginians explored as far north as Greenland, as far south as Sierra Leone, and spread Mediterranean culture into Africa.Thanks to Alexander the Great, Hellenistic culture made it all the way to what is now Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. After Alexander’s death, his generals divvied up the Macedonian’s conquests.
This ushered in centuries of cultural transfusion during which entire Greek-style cities were built in Bactria (now Afghanistan). The Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms brought together east and west with cross-cultural relics like statues of Buddha wearing a toga and the “Greek” friezes found in Pakistan.
At least some Greeks converted to Buddhism and mixed their beliefs with Indian religions.The Romans got around, too. They drew troops from all over the empire, which included places like Mauritania, a land renowned for its horsemen. Serving in the Roman army, Mauritanians, like many other auxiliaries, fought everywhere from Britain to Dacia (now Romania, among others).
The Roman military wasn’t the only site of unlikely cultural commingling, though. There is evidence for Roman trading outposts in the Kerala region of India from as early as the first century B.C. During Emperor Nero’s reign, Roman explorers following the course of the Nile may have traveled nearly to the Sudan-Uganda border. But it was in A.D. 166 that the Romans achieved something perhaps more incredible.
Chinese-Roman trade goods had long been exchanged via intermediaries, likely piquing curiosity in both east and west. In A.D. 166, Roman ambassadors from the court of Marcus Aurelius traced the route of those goods and arrived in the Chinese capital. Take that, Marco Polo!
There were, of course, the Phoenician explorers who likely circumnavigated Africa two millenia before Vasco de Gama. Carthaginians explored as far north as Greenland, as far south as Sierra Leone, and spread Mediterranean culture into Africa.Thanks to Alexander the Great, Hellenistic culture made it all the way to what is now Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. After Alexander’s death, his generals divvied up the Macedonian’s conquests.
This ushered in centuries of cultural transfusion during which entire Greek-style cities were built in Bactria (now Afghanistan). The Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms brought together east and west with cross-cultural relics like statues of Buddha wearing a toga and the “Greek” friezes found in Pakistan.
At least some Greeks converted to Buddhism and mixed their beliefs with Indian religions.The Romans got around, too. They drew troops from all over the empire, which included places like Mauritania, a land renowned for its horsemen. Serving in the Roman army, Mauritanians, like many other auxiliaries, fought everywhere from Britain to Dacia (now Romania, among others).
The Roman military wasn’t the only site of unlikely cultural commingling, though. There is evidence for Roman trading outposts in the Kerala region of India from as early as the first century B.C. During Emperor Nero’s reign, Roman explorers following the course of the Nile may have traveled nearly to the Sudan-Uganda border. But it was in A.D. 166 that the Romans achieved something perhaps more incredible.
Chinese-Roman trade goods had long been exchanged via intermediaries, likely piquing curiosity in both east and west. In A.D. 166, Roman ambassadors from the court of Marcus Aurelius traced the route of those goods and arrived in the Chinese capital. Take that, Marco Polo!
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