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People seem to forget that the final collapse of the Han Dynasty, the collapse of the Parthian (Iranian) Empire, and the Crisis of the Third Century in the Roma
by zhdc1 8y ago
People seem to forget that the final collapse of the Han Dynasty, the collapse of the Parthian (Iranian) Empire, and the Crisis of the Third Century in the Roman Empire all happened within a fifteen year period (220-235CE).
Although the Han Dynasty started coming undone in the 180s, there was a cooling period in East Asia and North East Europe that started around 200CE and lasted for most of the century. It isn't difficult to imagine a macro linkage between cooling -> agricultural output -> instability that was exacerbated by a similar reduction in Eurasian trade due to the global transition of power (in 200CE, the land route for the Silk Road was effectively controlled by four powers - the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Kushan Empire, and the Han Dynasty... this fragmented dramatically, particularly in East and Central Asia, by the end of the century).
- wonderbear 8y agoIt's so easy with all the stories of "discovering" around the 1300s/1400s to not realize that earlier cultures were actually interconnected and had appreciable impact on each other.
- zhdc1 8y agoIt's also interesting once you realize that parts of the early modern era were shaped by the efforts of various European kingdoms to reestablish trading routes that were lost after the breakup of the Mongol Empire and, later on, the capture of Constantinople by the Turks.
- BurningFrog 8y agoTrue, but remember that Rome and China could trade without any Roman and Chinese person ever meeting. My understanding of the Silk Road is that the cargo got reloaded many times and each individual leg was relatively short, at least in relation to the whole distance.
- digi_owl 8y agoMakes a guy wonder what kind of world we have before us...
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoOne could argue that the Roman Empire also started coming undone in the 180s.