Religion and Trade

The Silk Road

As mentioned throughout the Module, these empires are connected through trade and cultural exchange. The Silk Road wasn’t just one road – it was dozens of trade routes that spanned over 4,000 miles across mountains, deserts, and plains. In fact, one merchant wouldn’t have traveled the whole way. Chinese, Roman, and Indian trade caravans set up trade centers (that became cities) so that merchants would only need to specialize in a few goods. Those goods, though, ended up demonstrating some cool mixes of European and Asian styles.

The Silk Road and Indian Ocean Trade - Products

Trade Networks with goods from Rome, Egypt, Somalia, Arabia, Persia, India, the Steppe, and China.

In the image above, several products are listed from different regions. They are as follows:

Roman Empire
- Glass, Art, Perfume, Iron, Wine, Honey
Egypt/North Africa
- Bottles, Perfume, Linen
Nubia/East Africa
- Salt, Copper, Ivory
Arabia (modern day Saudi Arabia)
- Rugs, Music, Clothing, Dates
Persia (modern day Iran)
- Camels, Wool, Gold, Silver, Tea
India
- Buddhism, Spices, Dyes, Gems, Ivory
The Steppe (area north of China)
- Horses, Jade
China
- Porcelain, Paper, Sugar, Cotton, Silk

Indian Ocean Trading Network and Buddhism

Indians were masters at trade because they not only used the Silk Road but also set up the Indian Ocean Trade Network. As the name suggests, it was a series of trade networks across the Indian Ocean. India’s trade expanded from Africa to Indonesia. Once the land and sea routes were established (and slightly less dangerous), Aśoka also sent Buddhist missionaries east. China, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, and Thailand all experienced significant population conversions. In fact, today, a higher percentage of East Asians than Indians are Buddhist.

Roman Trade and Christianity

The Roman Empire was famous for utilizing internal trade to unite the empire. Some Roman Roads are still visible throughout Europe today, even 1,500 years later. The unification of Rome (great roads, common language of Latin, and the peace of Pax Romana) allowed the relatively small following that Jesus amassed in his life to grow exponentially after his death. A key convert to the growth of Christianity was a Roman man named Paul. Paul wrote letters to influential leaders at key Roman trade sites and emphasized that Christianity was a new religion, separate from Judaism. He emphasized that followers did not have to practice Jewish rituals or laws, nor did they need to be ethnically Jewish. Early Christians had to practice in secret but, by 312 CE, even the Emperor of Rome (Constantine) had converted and Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.

A map showing Roman roads and cities that had Christian populations due to Paul's letters.

Several prominent trade hubs received these letters from Paul (see image above), helping to speed along the emerging religion. They include:

Rome
Thessalonica
Corinth
Philippi
Ephesus
Galatia
Colossae

Practice Activity

Can you match up the products with the region they came from?

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