Pausanias and Rome’s Eastern Trade

Abstract

This article studies Pausanias’ description of Chinese silk production and Chinese geography within the context of Rome’s eastern trade. China was the last stop of land and sea routes connecting Rome and the Far East through Asia Minor, Egypt, Arabia, Persia and India. Although he never journeyed into the Far East, Pausanias provides vivid descriptions of these regions, their products and inhabitants, and the people involved in trade there. The article examines the sources he might have used to construct narratives about the Far East, China and Chinese silk and where such sources might have been made available to him.