The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes
The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China
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Narrated by:
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James Cameron Stewart
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By:
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Raoul McLaughlin
About this listen
The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian regime which ruled ancient Persia (Iran). It explores Roman dealings with the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan) and laid claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the development of Palmyra as a leading caravan city on the edge of Roman Syria and consider trade ventures through the Tarim territories that led Roman merchants to Han China.
The Han Empire of ancient China matched that of Rome in scale and possessed military technology surpassing that of Roman legions. The Han established a system of Central Asian trade routes known as the Silk Road that carried eastern products as far as Persia and the frontiers of the Roman Empire.
This is the first audiobook to address these subjects in a single comprehensive study. It explores Rome's impact on the ancient world economy and reveals what the Chinese and Romans knew about their rival Empires.
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Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
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Entertaining narrative, but poor scholarship
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By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean
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By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean is nothing less than the story of how humans first started building the globalized world we know today. Set on a huge continental stage, from Europe to China, it is a tale covering more than 10,000 years, from the origins of farming around 9000 BC to the expansion of the Mongols in the 13th century AD.
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The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
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Story
In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire - 3,000 years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters. Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations.
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Well Written and Detailed
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The Ocean of Churn
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- Narrated by: Abhishek Sharma
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this ambitious audiobook, best-selling author Sanjeev Sanyal chronicles the grand sweep of history from East Africa to Australia, conjuring the great cities of Angkor and Vijayanagar, medieval Arab empires, and Chinese "treasure fleets" in rich, vivid detail. He explores remote archaeological sites, maritime trading networks, and half-forgotten oral tales to challenge established historical narratives with fresh evidence. Shining new light on medieval geopolitics and long-lost cities, The Ocean of Churn is a mesmerizing journey into the heart of a vibrant civilization.
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An unputdownable treatise on the history of Indian Ocean
- By Akash Mitra on 06-20-20
By: Sanjeev Sanyal
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Ancient Africa
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- By: Captivating History
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Overall
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Africa is the continent where the first humans were born. They explored the vast land and produced the first tools. And although we migrated from that continent, we never completely abandoned it. From the beginning of time, humans lived and worked in Africa, leaving evidence of their existence in the sands of the Sahara Desert and the valleys of the great rivers, such as the Nile and the Niger. Some of the earliest great civilizations were born there, and they give us an insight into the smaller kingdoms of ancient Africa.
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Why isn't this taught in school?
- By Doris on 01-18-22
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The Horde
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Favereau takes us inside one of the most powerful sources of cross-border integration in world history. The Horde was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the 13th and 14th centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. Its unique political regime - a complex power-sharing arrangement among the khan and the nobility - rewarded skillful administrators and diplomats and fostered an economic order that was mobile, organized, and innovative.
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Golden Horde complete history, well done
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China
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Story
Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the current economic transformation of the country.
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Needs new narrator
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Gladius: The World of the Roman Soldier
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In Gladius, Guy de la Bedoyere takes us straight to the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army. Rather than a history of the army itself, or a guide to military organization and fighting methods, this book is a ground-level recreation of what it was like to be a soldier in the army that made the empire. Surveying numerous aspects of life in the Roman army between 264 BCE and 337 CE, Gladius draws not only on the words of famed Roman historians, but also those of the soldiers themselves.
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Nothing new here
- By Charles on 08-06-22
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In God's Path
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In just over a hundred years - from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 - the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time.
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Islamic conquest history from the outside
- By SAMA on 01-22-15
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Mansa Musa and Timbuktu
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Overall
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Performance
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Recent research has revealed that the richest person of all time lived in the 14th century in West Africa and went by many names, including Kankan Musa Keita, Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, and the Lion of Mali II, but today he is usually referred to as Mansa Musa. Adjusting his wealth to modern values, he was worth about an estimated $400 billion as the Sultan of ancient Mali, which controlled the trade routes across the Sahara Desert.
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Lackluster details, poor sound
- By Robert Duke on 12-03-20
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A History of Warfare
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Starting with the premise that all civilizations owe their origins to warmaking, Keegan probes the meanings, motivations, and methods underlying war in different societies over the course of more than two thousand years. Following the progress of human aggression in its full historical sweep, from the strangely ritualistic combat of Stone Age peoples to the warfare of mass destruction in the present age, his illuminating and lively narrative gives us all the world's great warrior cultures.
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Not what I expected
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The Sea Wolves
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In AD 793 Norse warriors struck the English isle of Lindisfarne and laid waste to it. Wave after wave of Norse "sea wolves" followed in search of plunder, land, or a glorious death in battle. Much of the British Isles fell before their swords, and the continental capitals of Paris and Aachen were sacked in turn. Turning east, they swept down the uncharted rivers of central Europe, captured Kiev, and clashed with mighty Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
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A little dry but very interesting
- By Angela on 08-30-15
By: Lars Brownworth
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The Scythians were nomadic horsemen who ranged wide across the grasslands of the Asian steppe from the Altai mountains in the east to the Great Hungarian Plain in the first millennium BC. Their steppe homeland bordered on a number of sedentary states to the south and there were, inevitably, numerous interactions between the nomads and their neighbours. The Scythians fought the Persians on a number of occasions, in one battle killing their king and on another occasion driving the invading army of Darius the Great from the steppe.
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What listeners say about The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JK
- 11-26-24
RECOMMEND
Just finished this very interesting book.
As a student of history, I have read several books re. The Silk Road, but this book describes the route and it’s history from a different perspective.
Very interesting.
I totally enjoyed the book and I highly recommend listening.
As always, you can look the different locations up in Google Earth.
The narrator, mr. Raoul McLaughlin has a pleasant voice.
My thanks to all involved, JK.
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- Jim Davis
- 02-27-21
A must have if you want to study the Roman Economy
Really well done book on the Roman Economy. If you get McLaughlin's second title The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean, you will get the full picture of the Ancient Roman Economy and how Raoul argues that Roman wealth was exported to the East while Rome did not take in the same amount of money on goods they exported resulting in the eventual collapse of the Roman Economy. There are many reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire but Raoul does a great job in laying out his thesis that it was Rome's lust for luxury items that did them in. Anyone who understands the US trade deficit would recognize what this book clearly lays out.
I believe this is your thesis to graduate and you polished it to be your first book. I liked both books equally. Your book is essential for me to understand the Roman economy enough to develop characters in a novel series and I have a background in TV & Film and I will suggest you put in your resume to production houses for them to see about you being a fact checker on TV shows and movies. If you get in the loop, writers will want to pick your brain.
This title is worth listening to more than once and reading along with it making notes. If you are a student in college with a major in History, this should be added to your Roman Historians so you understand what goes into researching History.
The really enjoyed both of these books. I believe I bought both kindle copies too if they weren't on kindle unlimited. I will be buying these in print for my future library.
Seriously man, great job.
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4 people found this helpful
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- A Homeschooling Grandma
- 12-05-20
Worth It
Very interesting. Once you get familiar with nations and leaders, the stories are engaging.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-07-21
Great, colorful details from across the era
The back and forth Meandering between east and west might not be enjoyable for all, but I thought it was an awesome read in this day and age of tightening globalism
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- Eternl Rayne
- 12-27-19
An arduous trek through Eurasia
The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes is a different kind of ancient history book. Instead of discussing battle, sieges and the rise and fall of empire, this book focuses on trade, commerce, and economy.
First, the narration. The narrator, Stewart is one of the slower narrators I have heard in recent memory. His pronunciations are proper and easy to follow, but his pacing is often jagged and jarring. I found myself rewinding several times as I lost my train of thought due to his ill-timed pauses. While he is an adequate narrator, I believe this book would have been more enjoyable with a different voice, one that is less rigid and academic.
Second, the book. This is not a book for someone looking to get into Roman or ancient history. The author makes it clear throughout the book that he expects you to understand and know about many of the people and places he discusses. There is no backstory on the Roman side, so if you are not familiar with many of the Roman emperors and policies, then you will be left behind during some sections. The book starts off with its primary point; understanding silk and how it influenced ancient economy and trade. The author spends a good amount of time explaining how silk (and iron) were manufactured, and how/why the East was superior in crafting both these commodities. You will definitely learn about not only how silk is made, but why some silk garments sold for more than the average Roman laborer made in a year. This section takes about a fourth of the book and is the section I greatly enjoyed.
The next section introduces the real star of the book; Han China. Yes, the book is called The Roman Empire and the Silk Roads, but in actuality, it should be titled Trade During the Time of the Han Dynasty. While you cannot, of course, have trade in the ancient world without mentioning China in some capacity, Han China is the focus of the book. Rome is mentioned in the earlier and later sections, the bulk of the book deals with Han China. How it was created, how its government operated, and how its trade delegations made it across the mountains of central Asia. The book does bring in other civilizations that impacted trade from the 5th century B.C. to about the 5th century A.D. It discusses their rise and their impact on trade from east to west. If you are not interested in learning about Han China or other civilizations that came to power in India, Afghanistan and the Caucasus, this book is not for you.
The final section is a strange hodgepodge of different civilizations and stories that relate to trade. It is also the only time that battles of any kind are described in detail. They are explained well enough (one is about the disastrous march of Crassus and what befell his Roman legions) but they seem to fit in the context of another book. They are tied into trade and commerce in the back end, but it’s a little too late for their addition to have any merit or any reason to be in the book. In fact, the book finishes on an even stranger note; introducing a new empire on the stage in the last chapter, only to give the book a few pages to wrap up and reiterate its points.
Conclusion. The Roman Empire is a difficult book to read. Not a bad one, by any means, just difficult. This is in part because of the subject matter. It focuses on commerce and trade through numerous passes and cities. One needs a map to find and recollect them all. Then there is Han China. I was not expecting the bulk of the book to be focused on this civilization, with the Roman empire taking a back seat. Finally, there are the inconsistencies of the last section of the book. It bounces around civilizations and battles and cities without the focus of the previous sections. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes is a book that will teach you about a very niche subject. If you are curious as to how trade worked in the ancient world and are versed in the civilizations of the time, then this book is for you. But it is not an easy read and is not for the faint of heart or novice historian.
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36 people found this helpful
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- sh8101
- 07-10-20
Great book on a hard to find period of history
I loved this book and devoured it. The silk and spice roads are of great interest to me, but finding any information on them that isn't geared toward a 1st grader at the very least to non existant at best.
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- Susan K Weimer
- 03-27-24
Numbers and Facts
This recounting of the reactions of China with the Roman Empire during ancient might have sounded like a bunch of population numbers and a list of commodities, but they rounded out the narrative and added to a better understanding of the need for movement of goods. It provided a further grasp of the distances traveled, the hazards that travelers faced, and information on the various countries that were involved. The narrative provided a better understanding of communication problems due to time and distance and to lack of understanding each other’s culture.
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- A. Carman
- 04-09-21
Loved it!
While it can be difficult to keep all the peoples straight, the story explains the importance of trade to the ancient world and how connected everything was.
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- Kevin
- 03-12-23
Great content. bad narration
Very interesting topic and well researched and written, but almost spoiled by the narrator. He could not pronounce more than 5 words without a break, and kept the same robotic tone throughout the book.
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- Yanomami
- 04-28-24
Excellent book. Horrible narration.
Excellent book on the trade and cultural relations between the eastern and western empires along the Silk Road. The narrator is probably one of the worst I have heard on Audible—and I’ve heard hundreds of titles, many on the same kind of subjects treated here. Incredible the author would approve of this…. Having said that, it is well worth the pain—you soon get numb to it—, as the subject matter is extremely interesting and well researched.
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