World History The Silk Roads

classical era (500 BC-500 AD)

Rulers invested heavily in the construction of roads and bridges 

Classical societies large stretches of       and      

pacified,Eurasia,North Africa

Examples of Classical Empires: 

• Han Empire 

• Achaemenid 

• Roman Empire 

• Kushan Empire 

The silk roads reached their zenith the classitical empires during the

after, Post-classical period (500-1453 AD) 

The Silk Roads-Post-classical Peroid 

• Post-classical empires-examples: 

• Tang Empire 

• Byzantine Empire 

• Abbasid Empire 

These roads collectively are referred to as the since high quality from China was one of the principal exchanged over these roads 

silk roads, silk, commodities

Han capital at Chang’an

Taklamakan desert 

very few ever traveled the entire

merchants,distance

has been considered the starting point of this

Chang’an, road 

From Chang ‘an, the main silk road went westward where it split at the into two main .

westward,Taklamakan Desert,branches

Silk roads trade by       during the post        would surpass Silk Roads trade by         

sea, classical period, land

were extremely important commodities in because they had many more than they do

Spices, classical times, uses, today 

Besides condiments and flavoring agents, they served as 

condiments and flavoring agents, drugs, aphrodisiacs, perfumes, aromatics and magical potions 

Fine spices such as all came from

cloves, nutmeg, Southeast Asia

China and southwest Asia always from the .  

gold, silver, and ivory, West

The art of was a

paper making, Chinese invention

The  took this invention from the Chinese and        . 

Islamic world,Chinese,mass-produced paper

became the most prominent faith of the (for almost a thousand years) 

Mahayana Buddhism,silk roads’ merchants

(thus the helped spread both and from into ) 

maritime silk roads, Buddhism,Hinduism,India,Southeast Asia

Key individual insutrmental in spreading in was (shoo wen Zheng) 

Buddhism,China,Xuanzang

He continued to translate  and helped       wide adoption of   in         . 

Buddhist treaties,proselytize, Buddhism,China

thus the that spread along the from was called

Christianity, eastward ,Silk roads, Mesopotamia,Nestorian Christianity

        was the faith derived from the prophet       

Manichaeism,Mani

his religion was a blend of.

syncretic, Zoroastrian, Christian and Buddhist elements 

The rapid spread of was a major downside to the

disease,silk roads 

thus contributed to weakening the and to serious in after the collapse of the in  220 A.D. 

disease,Roman Empire,instabilityChina,Han dynasty

associate the        with      

tetrarchy,Diocletian  

he severely persecuted who he blamed for the that had beset the

Christians,troubles,Empire 

thus moved the capital of the from to (after his would be renamed )  

Constantine,Roman Empire, Rome, Byzantium,death,Constantinople

thus became the to officially stop the persecutions of throughout the

Constantine,first emperor,Christians,empire   

• Used the Tetrarchy to administer the Roman Empire. 

• Severely persecuted Christians. 

Diocletian 

• Moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople 

• Became first Roman emperor to officially end persecutions of Christians throughout the Roman Empire 

Constantine 

The principal reason for the collapse of the was the onslaught of   

Western Roman Empire,barbarian invasions   

The date for the of the was . The would not fall for almost

collapse,Western Roman Empire,476 AD,Eastern Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire),1,000 years later (1453)  

He would be the best known of the Fathers of the Church

St. Augustine

His greatest work was The City of God

St. Augustine

• Best known of the Fathers of the Christan Church 

• His greatest work is “The City of God 

St. Augustine 

Strengthened the early Christian Church by forcing it to redefine its positions

Heresies  

The         of         became the head of the       in the          only one to be called      

bishop,Rome,Church, West,"Pope"

The principal teachings of the religion are found in the

Christian,New Testament 

Jerome

He translated both the Old and New Testament into Latin from Greek