The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China in 130 BCE, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce between 130 BCE-1453 CE. The Silk Road was not a single route from east to west and so historians favor the name 'Silk Routes', though 'Silk Road' is commonly used.
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Definition
Timeline
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500 BCE - 330 BCEThe Achaemenid Empire rules in Mesopotamia, Persian Royal Road in use.
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334 BCE - 323 BCEPeriod of the conquests of Alexander the Great.
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c. Jul 329 BCEAlexander the Great founds Alexandria-Eschate on the Iaxartes and destroys Cyropolis.
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260 BCE - 195 BCEKing Euthydemus I of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom rules in Central Asia.
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202 BCE - 220 CEThe Han Dynasty rules in China.
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c. 200 BCEFirst contact between China and the Greco-Bactrian descendents of Alexander the Great's army.
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171 BCE - 138 BCEReign of Mithridates I of Parthia.
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138 BCEHan Emperor Wu the Great sends his emissary Zhang Qian to the west, initiating commerce.
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130 BCEThe Silk Road is officially opened.
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129 BCEParthians conquer Mesopotamia. The Silk Road to China is now controlled by the Parthians.
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27 BCE - 14 CEReign of Augustus Caesar in Rome, Chinese silk is very popular.
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161 CE - 180 CEReign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Rome, Chinese silk popularity endures.
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476 CEThe fall of the western Roman Empire.
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527 CE - 565 CEReign of Emperor Julian of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Beginning of Byzantine silk industry.
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542 CEThe bubonic plague, thought to have been brought through the Silk Road, decimates Constantinople.
