The Han Chinese court welcomed Western trade for one of the first times in its history around 2,000 years ago. What its courtiers couldn't have imagined was that they were laying the foundations for one of the oldest, largest and longest-lasting systems of trade in the world.
That said, the ancient Silk Road system endured the formation and the fall of countless cultures and civilizations throughout its 1,600-year existence, emerging from almost every experience bigger and better than before.
So, what were the events that defined the history of the Silk Road, and why did this system eventually end?
A muddled collection of constantly changing routes and roads moved commodities across Asia and Europe for a significant stretch of antiquity, from approximately 130 B.C. to A.D. 1450.
Commonly called the Silk Road, this terrestrial and aquatic system spanned as many as 6,000 miles and connected countless territories, from China and ...
