How Did The Silk Roads Change Over Time

Sabrina Eierle
CCOT Essay The Silk Roads were created when classical empires were established, and the scope of long distance trade expanded, connecting much of Eurasia. Throughout the Classical and post-Classical periods, the Silk Roads provided a way for not only goods to be introduced to new lands, but also ideas, religions and technology. The Silk Roads changed drastically due to expanding empires, new technology and diseases. Although the effects and empires with which the Silk Road was connected changed continuously throughout the Classical and post-Classical period, the thing that remained constant was the trade of spices and goods to and from Asia and Europe, and the Silk Road never lost its importance to the economies of the empires.
This constantly happened with the introduction of new diseases to empires throughout the end of the Classical period and all of the post-Classical period. One example of this was China, when diseases were brought to its shore from the ships, its population decimated and they stopped trading with vast nations for luxuries and kept the trade within its empire till its economy grew and then they continued in trade throughout the silk road. The new technology introduced to the Silk Road had the most impact on the trade patterns. Throughout the classical period not many changes in technology occurred, however during the post-Classical, you start to see many new technologies introduced to the Silk Road. Yolks, saddles and stirrups were just some of the new transportation technology developed. In the 600s B.C.E., yolks, saddles and stirrups were used to allow more goods to be carried on horse, camels and ox and allowed them to travel further distance. Saddles were first developed in Southern Arabia for transportation. Then, Stirrups first appeared in Afghanistan, created by the Kushan folk. The stirrup
Asian goods were traded with European merchants along the Silk Road and vice versa. In particular, spices from Asia, which were traded with most wealthy empires, particularly Europe, fueled Asia’s economy. These spices were wanted by the Europeans constantly and elaborated the importance of the Silk Road. During the Post-Classical period, many countries like Portugal and Spain, tried to take control of the Spice trade. Although unsuccessful, it shows the importance of the spice trade to the Silk Roads. The spice trade created an economic boom in Asia and every other country wanted that leading to wars and a race to find the quickest route to Asia. Furthermore, Asia’s economy, specifically China’s economy, was dependent on the money from trade on the Silk Road, regardless the type of goods that were traded to fuel their economy. Likewise, Asian trades drove Europe’s