Silk Road's Influence On Roman Society

The Silk Road had a drastic impact on the eastern hemisphere. From the history of its beginnings to the influence it had on Roman Society. The commerce revolved around it focused mainly on silk, however other goods were also traded as well as unintentional things such as disease. This boom in commerce could be said to have drastically affected economy and culture, but it could be concluded that demography was the most affected by the Silk Road. The economy in China boomed with the Silk Road. China was the main manufacturer of silk which created most of its wealth at the time. Because of this, the people of China began orientating their jobs towards silk manufacturing. Silk was a valuable luxury item and the lower-class people were the ones who processed and refined the silk for the wealthy. Through the Silk Road, silk was then sold to other places and Empires such as Rome. With this boom in economy China gained more power and status. Chinese culture was also impacted mainly through religion. Buddhism was being spread through the Silk Road because of this new form of communication that was opened through trade. In IV. Sailing From Sri Lanka To China: The Homeward Journey Of
III. Silk In Rome, there are three passages that show the use of Silk in Roman society at this time. Silk was used as a luxury in Rome. Their attire was influence by this new availability of silk. The wealthy were seen in silk, however this mostly pertained to women. Silk also became a concern to some people. B. Seneca on Silk and Gender In this excerpt from Seneca it displays his concern towards this new cultural attire when he refers to it by saying “which provides nothing that could possibly afford protection for the body, or indeed modesty, so that, when a woman wears it, she can scarcely, with a clear conscience, swear that she is not naked”. This shows that, at this time, there were cultural issues pertaining to this new