Chapter 10 Chapter 7 The core area of the original highly developed Eurasian culture
The most obvious and striking feature of the age of classical civilization is that in this era, for the first time, a so-called core area of highly developed Eurasian culture emerged for the first time—an internal area that was beginning to influence each other and develop as a whole. Role of Eurasia.Comparing the map of Eurasia around 1500 BC with the map around 200 AD, we can clearly see the essence of this Eurasian core area (see Figures 6 and 10).The early empires, confined almost entirely to their respective great river basins, looked like a few islands in a vast ocean of barbarism.However, by the 1st century AD, the Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Kushan Empire, and the Han Empire together formed a civilized belt from the Scottish Highlands to the China Sea and across the Eurasian continent.So that the empires can influence each other to a certain extent.Of course, even as early as the ancient civilizations, there was always some kind of mutual contact between regions, as evidenced by the invasions of nomadic tribes in all directions.However, in the classical era, regional interconnections were actually closer, more persistent, and more diverse.However, even at the end of the classical era, China at the eastern end of Eurasia and the Roman Empire at the western end of Eurasia still could not establish a direct and formal relationship, and still failed to master each other's specific and reliable knowledge about each other.Thus, throughout these centuries of the classical era, the universal influence of Eurasia was still in its early stages.The origin, nature, and significance of this early universal influence are the subject of this chapter.
Technological advances are based on the universal influence of the new Eurasia.This is to be expected, since from the very beginning of human history, the extent of human activities has always been determined by its technological level.When humans were in the food gathering stage, the range of activities of each group of humans was limited to its hunting grounds; when humans learned to farm.With the development of metallurgy and shipbuilding, the scope of human activities expanded, for example, to include the Akkadian kingdom of Sargon in the river basin and the Egyptian kingdom of the pharaohs.In the classical age, further technological developments allowed the expansion of agriculture and civilization far beyond the past, thus giving rise to regional empires, which continued to expand their borders, adjoining each other, across Eurasia.Technological progress at this time was mainly manifested in the invention of iron and its increasing use.
As mentioned earlier, ironmaking technology was first developed in Asia Minor in the middle of the second millennium BC and spread from there after the fall of the Hittite Empire around 1200 BC (see Chapter 6, Section 3).We already know that the invention of this technology greatly facilitated the second wave of barbarian invasions at the end of the second millennium BC, but centuries passed between the invention of iron and its widespread use in everyday life.When agricultural implements such as hoes, axes, and plows, like weapons, could be made of iron, there were immediate and far-reaching economic, social, and political ramifications.
However, this stage came later - in India, about 800 BC; in Central Europe, 750 BC; in China, 600 BC.The appearance of cheap iron in these and some other countries was first to cut down dense forests which were formerly too heavy for the stone ax and the wooden plow.Now, farmers can use strong, sharp iron axes and iron plows to spread agriculture from the Middle East to the east, through the Iranian Plateau, to Central Europe; to the west, through the Mediterranean region, to Northern Europe.Likewise, the Aryans, newcomers to India, pushed eastward and cleared the forests of the Ganges; and the Chinese peasants extended their operations southward from the Yellow River to the great Yangtze.
The expansion of the agricultural territory has expanded the scope of the core area of civilization accordingly.The development of the core area of civilization between 1000 and 500 BC was much faster than that between 4000 and 1000 BC.The fundamental reason for this is the incredible increase in productivity at this time.Not only has the area under agriculture increased considerably, but the soils and climate of Central Europe and the monsoonal Ganges and Yangtze River basins have made productivity much higher there than in the drier Middle East, Indus and Yellow River basins.
The dramatic increase in agricultural productivity meant that there was now enough surplus food available to develop the economy and build the state.Trade also increased, especially along the great rivers, which formed ready arteries of communication.Artisans of all kinds also emerged in increasing numbers, providing the services needed for the new agricultural communes and the products needed for the new trade.Initially, the exchange of goods and services was in the form of barter, which was obviously inconvenient for buyers and sellers.As a result, mediums of exchange began to develop, such as grain and, more commonly, bars of precious metals as means of payment.However, every time a transaction is made, the weight and purity of the precious metal must be checked in case it is underweight or depreciated.
Around 700 BC, the Mendians of western Asia Minor began stamping blocks of precious metals to guarantee their quality and weight.Soon, the Greek city-states improved by minting flat, round coins with stamps on both sides.Gold and silver coins facilitated large-scale wholesale or interregional trade; copper coins enabled farmers to sell their produce without barter, and artisans to exchange their labor for wages rather than food.The net result was a great promotion of commerce of all kinds, and a corresponding promotion of manufactures and agriculture, and a general deepening of economic specialization with increasing efficiency and productivity.At this time, for the first time, manufacturers of cheap goods gained a huge market, and small landowners were able to switch from subsistence farming to specialized agriculture, such as mulberry and sericulture in China, and olive oil production in Greece.The new iron tools also enabled people to manufacture more sophisticated and larger ships, thus enabling longer voyages, greater trade, and more colonies.Initially, overseas expansion was hampered by piracy, which was then seen as a normal activity, like banditry on land.The epic poem "The Odyssey" describes the half-pirate, half-merchant expeditions of Menelaus and Odysseus in the Aegean Sea, saying that when all those who participated in the expedition met other people at sea, it was always natural to ask them Is it a pirate.However, due to the huge economic benefits that sea trade can bring, it gradually developed on the basis of regular large-scale voyages.The cost of sea transportation is much lower than that of land transportation. Therefore, until the invention of effective horse gear in the Middle Ages and the construction of good roads in the 18th century, sea transportation has always been the main method.
After the wave of invasions in the second millennium BC, local self-sufficiency economies prevailed in most areas; by the end of the classical era, the situation was very different, and caravan routes had spread all over Eurasia.In addition to the caravan routes across the interior of the Eurasian continent, there are also sea routes around the entire Eurasian continent—from the North Sea to the western Mediterranean, and then to the countries and islands along the eastern Mediterranean; from the Red Sea to India, and then to Southeast Asia and China. (Less trips to China).With the development of overseas trade, colonial activities also expanded, especially in the Mediterranean where the Phoenicians and Greeks dominated, and Southeast Asia, which was later controlled by the Indians.
As the economy developed, so did social and political changes.The social prominence acquired by the military nobility in the invasions of the second millennium BC is being disintegrated by the rise of the merchant, artisan, and seaman classes; the old tribal society is being transformed by the advent of coinage; Disappears as market demand arises.
The political unity fostered by economic development is also a destructive force.Whether in Italy, India, or China, tribal chiefs, tribal councils, and popular assemblies were being replaced by kingdoms and then empires.Economic development led to political centralization, which was not a one-way process; the establishment of the latter in turn facilitated the development of the former.These great new empires spanning the vast land of Eurasia strengthened the maintenance of social order and security, enabling the development of long-distance trade by land and sea; Convenient conditions.
For example, the so-called "royal road" built by the Persian Empire ran from the city of Susa in the north of the Persian Gulf to the Tigris River in the west, and then passed through Syria and Asia Minor to Ephesus on the coast of the Aegean Sea, with a total length of 1,677 miles.There are 111 post stations along the way, and each post station is equipped with horses for court messengers to exchange.It takes 90 days for the caravan to complete the whole journey of the royal road, but it only takes one week for the court messenger.With the expansion of the empire's territory, several forks were opened from the royal road, leading to Egypt in the southwest and the Indus Valley in the southeast.Several centuries later, the Romans also built a world-famous network of post roads. This network of post roads was very well designed, and some of the post roads and bridges on them are still in use today.
The transportation network carefully built by the Chinese on the other side of Eurasia is composed of post roads and canals.By water, goods could be transported from today's Guangzhou to the Yangtze River Basin, thus facilitating overseas trade.The post road built in the northwest direction is connected with the long Silk Road that runs through the whole of Central Asia and reaches the Middle East; the situation of the Silk Road will be mentioned in the next section.Trees are planted on both sides of the main post road, and there are post stations and inns along the way.The construction and maintenance of post roads is the responsibility of central and local officials. If they neglect their duties, they will be impeached.India also has a long royal road, from the Ganges Delta to Tanchashila near the Khyber Pass in the northwest, where it connects with the trade routes that reach the Middle East in the west and Central Asia in the north.
All these developments have brought about profound changes in social relations, political organization, ways of life and ways of earning a living.Such fundamental and comprehensive upheaval is unsettling and uncomfortable.It prompts introspection—asking new questions, seeking new answers; prompting thinkers to reconsider their respective traditions, either to discard them or to adapt them to the needs of transitional periods.Questions that aroused people's thinking at that time included: the moral basis of ideal government, the role of social institutions, and the origin and purpose of the universe and life, etc.
Around the sixth century BC, questions like the above were raised and discussed throughout the core area of civilization.The answers to these questions constituted the great philosophical, religious, and social systems of the classical age.The spokesmen of these systems—Confucius in China, Buddha in India.It is no accident that Zoroaster in Persia and the rationalist philosophers in Greece were contemporaries.Because the above-mentioned regions have all encountered the same turmoil and challenges, but their responses are very different, and thus their development directions are also obviously different.In fact, the unique philosophical concepts and social systems of these civilizations were developed during this period, and became their respective characteristics in the following centuries and continued until modern times.
The Via Apponio, the "Queen's Way", connecting Rome to southern Italy, is still in use today.
The particular nature of these ideas and institutions will be analyzed in subsequent chapters devoted to the individual classical civilizations.The remainder of this chapter examines the interrelationships of these civilizations, that is, the nature of the early Eurasian core.Eurasians at the time knew little about each other's specifics of their respective civilizations, and did not realize that these civilizations developed in parallel.They are certainly aware, however, that the stage of history is expanding, that life is becoming more complex, and that they are being buffeted by a multitude of internal and external forces.Therefore, the Greek historian Polybius said when discussing the history of major events from 220 BC to 145 BC: "In today's era, history can be said to have become an organic whole. Everything that happened in Italy and Libya is related to Asia. It is closely related to everything that happened in Greece, and all kinds of events can only be attributed to one ending in the end."
Part of a Greek vase: Odysseus meets the Sirens, an experience in the former's half-sea, half-commercial expedition.
Two aspects of this new "organic whole" stood out in particular, even to contemporaries.This is the commercial connection and cultural connection between regions, namely the topic of the following two sections.
The physical connection between regions is mainly through commerce, although commerce is not the only way.It was a time when not only goods traveled to and from places, but people with their skills and plants also drifted around.For example, a letter from the Persian ruler Darius to one of his satraps serves to illustrate this situation.The letter approves proposals to transplant plants and trees from one area to another.The letter wrote: "You proposed to transplant the fruit trees on the other side of the Euphrates River to more places in Asia to improve my country. I agree with this plan..." At that time, the scope of the exchange was wide, which can be seen from the following facts to show.During this period, cotton, sugar cane and chickens, first cultivated in India, spread to China and Western Europe.For the first time in these centuries China received vines, alfalfa, chives, cucumbers, figs, sesame, pomegranate, and walnut trees; in return the Chinese gave their own orange, peach, pear, peony, Rhododendrons, camellias, and chrysanthemums were passed on to other parts of Eurasia.At the same time, a similar exchange took place on the technology front.The dissemination of the great invention of the waterwheel is a clear example.The first waterwheel in West Asia was born around 65 BC, during the reign of King Mithridediz of Pontus, which is located on the south bank of the Black Sea; the first waterwheel in China was born shortly thereafter, around BC 30 years in the manufacture.These two dates are too close together. It is impossible for the waterwheel to spread directly from West Asia to China, or from China to West Asia; Originated in two places.This mutual influence of the various regions of Eurasia, which is intimately connected with trade, would doubtless have been much smaller were it not for the general flourishing of local and long-distance trade during these centuries of the classical age.
Trade was carried out mainly by land through central Eurasia and by sea around the edges of Eurasia.These two general lines are by no means mutually exclusive, nor are they independent of each other.Most goods are transported by both land and sea routes; usually between Egypt and India by sea, and between India and China by one of several land routes.Moreover, the various land and sea routes were in competition with each other; and if one route was too expensive, or too unsafe, trade would generally be diverted to other routes.
Maritime trade has been going on since ancient civilizations.Egyptian merchants sailed boldly down the Red Sea to East Africa and along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to Lebanon.Likewise, the Sumerian merchants sailed along the Persian Gulf and along the Arabian Peninsula, while the Indus merchants, by some methods not yet understood, endeavored to make their way westward until they established contact with the former, probably at the Persian Gulf of Bahrain Islands.But all these early navigators were mere amateur sailors compared with the Cretans who lived both on land and on water.The ancient Cretans, like the Argonauts in Greek mythology, were great sea traders in ancient times; they traveled between the two ends of the Mediterranean Sea and became the supreme masters of this inland sea.
With the invasions of the Achaeans and Dorians, this extensive trade ceased, and the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean retreated to a life of subsistence small farmers.The Phoenicians were the first to resume the trade activities of the Cretans.The people who spoke the Semitic language and settled along the narrow coastal plain in the eastern Mediterranean soon developed a prosperous intermediary trade (see Chapter VI, Section 3).They bought myrrh, spices, and various crafts from Mesopotamia in bulk from caravans coming from the east, and imported various metals, animal skins, grains, olive oil, and slaves from overseas countries; Furniture, jewellery, metalware and textiles are exported.Textiles predominate, woven from the wool of their own sheep and dyed with a prestigious fuchsia dye extracted from coastal marine scale animals.
In the process of developing trade, the Phoenicians gradually produced a boat rowed by several sailors, which was fast and suitable for long voyages pushing more and more westward.In the 11th century BC they started trading with Cyprus and established a colony there; from there they expanded into the Aegean Sea.By the end of the ninth century BC, they had entered the western Mediterranean, and established commercial strongholds and colonies in the northwest coast of Africa, the south coast of Spain, Sicily, Malta and the Balearic Islands.The Phoenicians even ventured beyond the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed as far as Cornwall, England, where the tin they so wanted was abundant.It was during this period that Cadiz, the commercial stronghold of the Fat Nikians on the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, was established as an outpost in the risky Atlantic trade.
From about the 11th century BC to the late 8th century BC, the sailors and merchants of Minicea controlled much of the maritime trade in the Mediterranean.After that, the Greeks, spurred by population pressure, emerged as competitors.They first established commercial bases; these commercial bases later developed into agricultural colonies where land resources permitted.Although the colonists still adopted the institutions and religious customs of the mother state, these colonies were completely outside the control of the mother state.Therefore, the result of the Greek colonial expansion movement was a large number of independent city-states, rather than a forced imperialist rule.
One of the major Greek settlements was in Sicily and southern Italy; so many colonies were established there that the area came to be known as "Greater Greece."On the mainland, the Greeks pushed north as far as Naples; there they established contact with the Edaluscans, immigrants from Asia Minor.Attracted by the local railway resources, these Edaluscans came to settle as early as the ninth century BC and developed the earliest urban civilization in Italy.In the western Mediterranean, the Greeks, though constrained by the long-standing Phoenicians, established a firm foothold in northeastern Spain and southern France, where Marseilles was their principal colony.At last the Greeks found the Black Sea region a free land; they were hindered by the cold and foggy climate when they first entered the Black Sea region, but eventually settled in large numbers because of the good economic opportunities available there : The Black Sea itself provided tuna that migrated in schools every year; in addition, the Greeks could exchange various raw materials with the native Scythians who lived in what is equivalent to southern Russia today with the goods they manufactured.By the 5th century BC, the entire Black Sea basin had been surrounded by prosperous Greek commercial strongholds and colonies.
While the Greeks were doing well at sea, the Persians were building a vast empire that would eventually stretch from the Nile Valley to the Indus Valley.Although the Persians originally lived in mountainous areas and knew nothing about maritime affairs, they were still very concerned about opening up shipping routes in order to promote exchanges between their eastern provinces and western provinces.They used the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks of Asia Minor among their subjects for this purpose.They once sent a Greek sailor named Scyllax to lead an expedition that set sail from the Indus River around 510 BC to Arsinore, at the mouth of the Red Sea.The Persians also planned a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, and seem to have done quite a bit of work to make that happen.Under these circumstances, trade flourished greatly, both in terms of volume and geographical extent of trade activities, than in the known past.Greek, Phoenician, Arab, and Indian sailors streamed to and from India, the Persian Gulf, Egypt, and the many ports of the Mediterranean.
The work of the Persians was continued by Alexander and his successors.They sent more and more geographically knowledgeable expeditions and built a series of ports along the Red Sea through which goods could be transported by land to the Nile, loaded on ships, and transported down the Nile to Alexandria.Indian Ocean trade during this period was carried out in two phases.First, Indian and Arab merchants set sail from various Indian ports and traveled westward to the Arabian Peninsula close to the coastline; then they circled the peninsula westward and arrived at the destination of Aden or Muha.There they met merchants from Greece and Egypt.The latter exchanged its own goods for the former's oriental goods, and then transported the oriental goods to Alexandria via the ports along the Red Sea.
All this is only the prelude to the great development of trade between East and West.This great development began shortly before BC and lasted for about two centuries.An important reason is that China's vigorous expansion to the west has opened up several land trade routes and promoted the transportation and sales of silk products, the most important item of inter-regional trade.The precise role of China in this regard will be discussed below when discussing overland trade.Another important reason for the great development of trade was the strengthening of the Roman Empire, including the entire Mediterranean area and most of central and northwestern Europe, and the so-called "Roman Pax" period; Banditry and piracy, which hindered trade, had all but disappeared, and tariff barriers had all but been eliminated.In addition, the wealth of the empire also promoted the development of trade, especially because the rich Roman ruling class loved exotic foreign goods and had money to buy them.
As a result, trade relations flourished between the Romans and all of their neighbors—Scandinavia to the north, Germania across the Rhine, Dacia across the Danube, and sub-Saharan Africa.This had a wide-ranging impact on Eurasia, but the most significant impact was on trade with the East.The rapid development of trade relations between the East and the West is inseparable from the discovery of a certain Greek sailor in the first century BC.He discovered that monsoons could be used to speed ships back and forth across the Indian Ocean (this was likely a rediscovery, since Arab sailors seem to have known this long before the Greeks. The word monsoon is derived from the Arab word for season of).From October to April every year, the northeast monsoon, or winter monsoon, blows from India to East Africa, and from June to September, the southwest monsoon, or summer monsoon, blows from East Africa to India in the opposite direction.Sailors could now cross the ocean directly with the wind, instead of spending a lot of time sailing close to the wide, curved coast.A merchant travels from Rome to India in as little as 16 weeks, including the overland passage through Egypt.
The "Roman" merchants, mostly Greeks and Syrians, not only made such journeys, but some settled permanently in the cities of India; this is attested by Indian sources. "Roman" merchants carried with them mainly gold coins, but also glass, copper, tin, linen and woolen cloth, etc., which they exchanged for pepper and other spices, cotton textiles, precious stones and most of all they needed.Chinese silk products transported to various ports in India via the overland Silk Road.A few more adventurous "Roman" merchants, Marco Polo in their day, went further eastward across India, reaching Burma, Malaya, Sumatra in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and then via the Strait of Malacca to Hanoi, and finally Contacted directly with China.To further their ends, they claimed to be the official emissaries of Rome.This kind of deception was undoubtedly noticed by the Han court, because the imperial "gifts" they brought were only products from nearby Southeast Asia that had already been bought by merchants.However, the very act of offering "tribute" was quite pleasing to the Chinese, so the Chinese probably allowed these Westerners to return loaded with lucrative silk fabrics.
The direct communication between the Roman Empire and the Han Empire seemed to herald the coming of a new era of great economic development.One might expect that during the third and fourth centuries AD there would be an unprecedented increase in trade on the seas surrounding Eurasia.But in fact, the situation is quite the opposite, because at this time the Roman Empire and the Han Empire were in turmoil internally, and were attacked by barbarians externally.However, although trade between Egypt and India declined after the 2nd century, trade between India and Southeast Asia did not.While Rome and China were impoverished and impotent, India, on the contrary, was reaching its peak under the Gupta dynasty (320-647 AD).Indian civilization, too, as will be mentioned in Chapter 9, was at this time in its prime and had a great influence on neighboring regions and countries.The influence of Indian civilization on the region north of northern Xinjiang was mainly religious and cultural; the influence on the southeast across the Bay of Bengal was economic and political (see next section).
Archaeological studies of ancient ruins have shown that contacts between India and Southeast Asia began in ancient times.In the first century AD, attracted by spices and mineral resources, more and more Indian merchants went to the islands and coastal areas of Southeast Asia, and the exchanges between the two places became more and more extensive.Indian literature at that time often mentions that merchants sailed to the golden land of Suvarnabhami, saying that the people in that place were relatively primitive, living mainly by growing rice, without complex political organization or advanced culture Tradition: Thus, it was also easier for Indian merchants and adventurers to intermarry with local first families, spread Indian religion and customs there, and impose control over their economy.This great opportunity attracted not only many merchants, but also Indian Brahmins and warriors; as a result, Indian culture was transplanted on a large scale to the islands and continents of Southeast Asia, and many Indian kingdoms were established there.
This process of Indianization did not penetrate deeply to the grassroots.Under normal circumstances, those who are Indianized are mainly the first local households affected by foreign immigrants; ordinary villagers have to pay the exorbitant taxes imposed by the rulers of the New Kingdom, and their lives remain the same as before, without much change.While India's influence is somewhat superficial, it is extremely wide-ranging.Starting from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, by the 4th century AD, the Indians had gained a firm foothold in Borneo and the Indochina Peninsula, far away from India.In the beginning, the island nations were the first, but towards the end of the third century AD, perhaps because of increased piracy, they fell behind.The center of power shifted to the mainland, which Indian immigrants could enter along the overland route through the Malay Peninsula to Indochina.
Thus, in a place equivalent to today's Cambodia, a great Indian kingdom, the Kingdom of Kambuja, emerged.The Chinese at the time called it Funan, and their records of the kingdom clearly reflect its Indian character.The record says: "There are more than 1000 Brahmin members from India. People follow their teachings and marry their daughters to them, so many Brahmin members live there. They study religious scriptures day and night.... They use bronze Make idols. The ones with two faces have four arms, and the ones with four lids have eight arms. Each hand holds something."
The above can explain the nature of the Great India in Southeast Asia.Obviously, the situation in Greater India is quite similar to the expansion of the Greeks in the Mediterranean region in the early centuries.Both merchants and settlers first set up strongholds in the vast coastal areas, and then transplanted their own systems there.The native population, however, was neither fully Hellenized nor fully Indianized; in the end, the colonies were assimilated, leaving only geographical names and architectural ruins as souvenirs of past undertakings.For the history of Eurasia, the significance of Greater Greece and Greater India lies in their contribution to the expansion of the frontiers of civilization: the former extended civilization from the southern Balkan Mountains to the Strait of Gibraltar and southern Russia; the latter extended civilization from southern India to Borneo and Indochina.
As far as land trade is concerned, its ups and downs depend to a large extent on the maintenance of social order and security.Trade prospered when most land routes were under the strong control of national authorities; conversely, trade languished when society was in disarray.This can be seen by looking at the tendency of trade during these centuries.As a result of technological progress and the expansion of the core of civilization, it is clear that the general trend is to increase the volume of trade.However, in this general trend, there are also fluctuations from time to time, which are related to the political situation at that time.For example, during the centuries under the rule of the Scythian Empire in western Eurasia, the Chinese dynasties in eastern Eurasia, and the Mongol Empire that covered most of Eurasia, the trade routes were secure and trade gained due to the power of the empire. Rapid development.
We know very little about the earliest overland trade.However, fragments of observations have survived from a Greek merchant who lived in the 6th or 7th century BC; the merchant was named Aristes, and he claimed to have traveled eastward with the Scythian sea team as far as China. Asia's Tian Shan Mountains.In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus also wrote a detailed article about the Scythians.The Scythians were a nomadic people who milked horses and lived in carriages. From 700 to 200 BC, they ruled the steppe between the Don River and the Carpathian Mountains.Herodotus listed the various tribes of the Scythians and described their customs and habits; it can be seen that he can grasp the details of the Scythians.This is understandable, since the place where the Scythians lived was adjacent to the city-states of the Greeks on the northern shore of the Black Sea, and there was extensive trade between the two.Relying on the rich resources of the vast interior they controlled, the Scythians exchanged slaves, cattle, hides, furs, fish, wood, beeswax and honey for textiles, wine, olive oil and various luxury goods of the Greeks.
In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the power of the Scythians was greatly weakened by new nomadic invasions from the east.With the ensuing chaos, long-distance trade ceased to exist and was not resumed until more than two centuries later.This time, the impetus for the revival of long-distance trade came from the Chinese on the other side of Eurasia; they were extending their rule as far as the so-called "Western Region", that is, Central Asia.Its purpose was to fight back against their most dangerous nomadic neighbors, known in European history as the Huns.In the decades before that time, the Chinese had always favored the Huns by giving them a large amount of gifts and money; Ya looked for allies to attack the Xiongnu.
In 139 BC, the great Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent an official Zhang Qian to find and contact the Da Yuezhi, which was broken by the Huns decades ago.The Da Yuezhi was originally the easternmost branch of the Indo-European peoples. After fleeing to the southwest, they conquered the Bactrian Kingdom of the Greeks in Afghanistan today (a kingdom left after the collapse of the Alexander Empire), where settled down.Due to the fertile land and stable life in Xindi, the Da Yuezhi people did not want to come east to fight against the mighty Huns. Seeing this, the envoys of the Han had no choice but to return to China. Geography of the Western Regions.This information was the basis for China's subsequent military and diplomatic offensive in Central Asia.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent several expeditionary armies to crusade against the Huns, and finally forced the tribes of the Huns to submit or flee to the desert.In fact, it was the victory of the Chinese that set off the chain reaction of the great migration of peoples westward, which eventually hit the Roman Empire and led to its collapse.After the Chinese defeated the Xiongnu, they sent a diplomatic mission to the countries in the Western Regions mentioned in Zhang Sai's report.The two remaining Greek kingdoms, Jargan and Sogdia, presumably believed that China was far away from China by the Pamir Plateau and that they were quite safe, so they boldly insulted the Chinese envoy.However, the military power of the Chinese army was astonishing, and they even crossed the Pamirs, forcing them to surrender to the Han emperor.In this way, the Han Empire penetrated Central Asia with a huge wedge, and finally established contact with the Guishuang Empire organized by the Da Yuezhi people in northwestern India in the first century AD.
At this time, trade followed the victorious Chinese flag.The safety of trade routes was guaranteed, and people's needs were greatly developed along with the activities of diplomatic missions.When foreign missions visit, according to the customs at that time, they bring their own unique products as gifts.These official exchanges created new habits and desires and opened the way for private commerce.This is especially the case for Chinese silk fabrics.Chinese silk fabrics were the most demanded everywhere and accounted for at least 90% of China's exports; the remaining 10% consisted of cinnamon, rhubarb, and high-quality iron.作为回报，中国也得到了各种物产，如：来自中亚的毛皮、毛织品、玉和牲畜，来自波罗的海的流浪，来自罗马诸行省的玻璃、珊瑚、珍珠、亚麻布、羊毛织品和黄金，其中黄金占首位。
这些货物由商队沿着著名的“丝绸之路”来回运送。“丝绸之路”的主线自中国西北部的长安（西安）开始，向西经河西走廊至塔里木盆地，分为两道，一条道沿盆地的北部边缘，一条道沿盆地的南部边缘，绕过盆地，然后西逾帕米尔高原，穿过位于俄国土耳其斯坦的撒马尔罕和梅尔夫，再绕过里海南端王位于现代伊拉克境内的塞琉西亚，由此继续西进，至地中海东部沿岸地区的罗马边境
尽管有了丝绸之路，但罗马帝国和中国汉朝之间并没有直接的商业往来。罗马商人未能经由陆路直接去中国，中国人也未能取道陆路直接到罗马。它们之间的商业往来全靠各种中间人，尤其是靠帕提亚（即今日伊朗）的中间人。中国人和罗马人对建立直接的联系都很关心，但是，出于显而易见的原因，帕提亚人对阻止这一联系的建立也同样很关心。这可由中国使者甘英的经历得到说明。公元所年，中国遣甘英出使大秦即罗马帝国。当他到达波斯湾时，据中国官方记载说，那里的帕提亚人告诉他：
帕提亚人不仅夸张取道海路的种种危险，而且也不提前往叙利亚还有更为直接的陆路可走，就这样，把那位使者哄骗了回去。从中国的官方记载中可以看出，当时的中国人已意识到这一情况；记载中说，罗马人“一直渴望派使者到中国来，但安息人' 帕提亚人' 想用中国的丝织品和他们做买卖，因此，就切断了罗马人前往中国的交通”。罗马人对此进行了报复，为了将牟取暴利的帕提亚中间商排除在外，他们积极开展和印度的直接的海上贸易。于是，愈来愈多的商队不再取道西去的丝绸之路，而是向南经过和田前往印度西北部诸港口。候在那里的“罗马”商人接到货物后，在季风的帮助下，将它们迅速地运过印度洋，至红海诸港口卸货。
十七世纪的三张中国画：取茧、择茧、治丝——生产丝绸的最初几道工序。
这一贸易其规模之大，竟使罗马历史学家阿米阿努斯·马尔切利努斯宣称：“昔日仅限于贵族使用的丝织品，现已不加区别地扩大流传到社会各等级手中，甚至包括最低的等级。”无疑，这话言过其实了；实际情况是，许多身居要职的罗马人见到大量黄金因支付受人欢迎的中国丝织品而东流，大为惊恐。
公元二世纪以后，随着罗马帝国和中国社会动乱迭起，这一繁盛的贸易渐渐衰弱；不过，并没有完全枯萎。中国仍在生产丝织品；丝绸之路沿途的那些沙漠中的绿洲城市仍在竭尽全力地维持它们曾借以致富的贸易西方消费者的需求仍没有得到充分满足。甚至在5 世纪罗马陷入蛮族之手以后，君士坦丁堡，也就是拜占庭，依然如同一个伟大的帝国首都一般，需求看惯常的各种奢侈品。据说，公元401年，为年幼的皇帝狄奥多西二世举行基督教洗礼时，“整个城市［君士坦丁堡］被笼罩在花环之下，到处都用丝绸、金光灿灿的宝石和各种各样的饰物装扮起来，其装饰之华丽，无人能加以描绘”。
不过，罗马政权的衰微使中间人牟取暴利这一多年老问题更为突出。3 世纪时，阿比西尼亚人的阿克苏姆王国控制了红海，对海上交通强征很重的税。同样，公元226年以后，在萨珊王朝而不是帕提亚人统治下的波斯人也充分利用了他们对陆上交通的控制。5世纪时，拜占庭帝国政府对丝织品的进口实行了国家垄断，其目的，在一定程度上，是想以集体谈判的方式来对付这些中间人。到6世纪中期，这一问题终于由拜占庭人予以彻底解决，他们成功地将一些放在桑叶上孵化的蚕卵从东方偷运回国；于是，丝绸工业在叙利亚开始发展起来，并传播到希腊和地中海西部地区。西方不再依靠来自中国的进口货，丝绸之路渐被废弃。
穆斯林阿拉伯人的突然兴起，给陆上贸易以最后的打击。7 世纪时，穆斯林阿拉伯人征服了整个中东，随后，又扩张到中亚，并在751年的怛逻斯战役中击败了中国人。于是，中亚成为穆斯林的天下；而且，在以后好几个世纪里，一直是中国和西方之间，以及中国和印度之间的障碍，而不是桥梁。随着陆上道路给最后关闭，贸易转移到大陆周围、正开始由阿拉伯水手和商人控制的海上。直到13世纪，蒙古人征服了从太平洋到波罗的海和黑海的整个欧亚大陆时，才有了再一次重新打开陆路，从而为中世纪的马可波罗及其同行商人扫清道路的可能。
综上听述，尽管贸易方向发生过各种转变，但有一基本事实始终未变；这就是古典时代与早先的古代时期大为不同，其贸易范围和贸易量都有了质的提高。不管是在地中海，阿拉伯海，还是在欧亚大草原的某些地带，其贸易范围都不再限于单个地区，而是随着货物经由海陆两路从欧亚大陆的一端运送到另一端而愈来愈成为跨地区的。这些构成了新兴的欧亚核心区的经济组成部分，下面一节将考察这一核心区的文化方面。
商业联结和文化联结这两者不是互不关联的，或者说，不是相互独立的。印度文化移植到东南亚，在很大程度上是靠印度商人；同样，希腊文化传播整个东方，主要是靠追随亚历山大军队东进的希腊商人。印度佛教传布中国的过程可以沿着举世闻名的丝绸之路了解到，而中国汉朝时期最重要的怫教中心洛阳城之所以闻名天下，则与它是“来自西域的蛮族商人”的聚居地分不开。
不过，各种文化运动有它们自己内在的动力，并非完全依靠商人和商路。公元前二千纪后期发明的简单的字母文字。就是影响除中国以外整个古典世界文化发展的一个十分重要的因素。在那时以前，只有少数书吏能够阅读和书写美索不达米亚的结构复杂的楔形文字和埃及的象形文字。第一个字母系统是由西奈半岛的闪族商人发明的。他们用自己所通晓的一些埃及字符来标示辅音，又用许多别的符号来标示单词和音节，因而．他们的文字未能发展成为严格的音标文字。真正的音标文字是由腓尼基人完成的，他们于公元前13世纪将原有文字发展成由23个辅音音符所组成的字母系统。这一字母系统后经希腊人增补元音字母而进一步完备，形成希腊字母。希腊字母又经过一些改进后，由罗马人向西传播，由拜占庭人向东传播。
字母文字的意义就在于它打开了智力交流的世界，使智力交流的范围远远地超出了从前仅囿于祭司和官吏的那个圈子。埃及和美索不达米亚的书吏对这种新型文字自然是取回避的态度，他们继续使用传统文字，几乎一直到公元。中国因与世隔绝，也仍然使用自己原先的文字，这种文字是由表音和象形两种文字结合而成的，经过几次改进，一直使用到今天。但是，在欧亚其他地方，都采用字母文字，只是采用时稍许作了些变动，以适合各自不同的语言。这样做的结果是，无论哪里，在高雅文化与低俗文化之间、城市统治集团与农民群众之间，随文明的到来而不断扩大的裂缝虽然没有被完全地或大大地弥合，但多少都缩小了。享有特权的知识分子集团对这种现状一般是支持的，他们在国家中居垄断地位，因而，遭到了那些头脑简单的书吏的反对，书吏们不仅对传统的爱国和知识表示亵渎，而且在国内煽起了某种骚动。
在古典时代的这些世纪里，欧亚各文明中显著的、带有全盘性的文化模式是，诸地方文化分解，并入拥有各自独特的语言、宗教和社会制度的新的地区文明。对这些文明来说，交换有形的货物比交流具有不同特点的文化要容易得多。纺织品、香料和各种奢侈品到处可用、悦人心意而祖先崇拜、种性等级制度和城邦一超出它们的发源地则成了不合时宜、不受人欢迎的东西。因而，在欧亚大陆具有普遍性影响的早期阶段，地区间的商业联结通常比文化联结更广泛，更有影响。
不过，后者的确存在，而且，在某些情况下，具有极其重大的历史意义。如希腊文化就是最突出的一例，它曾从希腊世界向东传播到亚洲，向西传播至欧洲。此外，将近古典时代末期兴起的伟大的世界性宗教，尤其是基督教和怫教，也是很好的例子；这些宗教不是要求任何一个团体，而是要求全体人类皈依它们。
先考察希腊文化。希腊文化一词是从希腊人的“Hellas” 意即“希腊”一词派生的。希腊文化之所以能传播整个中东，主要是由于亚历山大对中亚和印度河流域进行了举世闻名的东征。正如下一章将提到的，亚历山大帝国仅在亚历山大生前维持了数年。公元前323年，亚历山大去世，帝国即为他手下的将领所分割，以后；又为西方的罗马和东方的帕提亚人所瓜分。公元前4世纪和3世纪，希腊士兵在军事上占有优势，从而，为成千上万的希腊商人、行政官员和各种专业人员成群地涌往亚历山大及其继承人所建立的许多城市铺平了道路。这些城市从最著名的埃及的亚历山大港到最东面的亚历山大城即阿富汗的科贾特，都成为传播希腊文化的中心。
有许多希腊移民和当地妇女结婚，因为亚历山大本人就以身作则，娶了一名波斯贵族女子为妻，并于印度战役之后，安排了3000 名士兵和波斯妇女举行大规模的集体婚礼。亚历山大还招募波斯士兵入伍，他本人还穿戴波斯君主的袍服和头巾，采用波斯朝廷的礼仪。虽然地统治下的居民多数没有希腊化，但典型的城市基本上都希腊化了，都有选举产生的地方行政官、议会和市民大会。一种新型的希腊语言即柯因内语成为整个中东的共同语。这种语言比古典时代的希腊语简单，所以，那些已希腊化的土著学起来也比较容易。中东请民族中受同化程度最高的是小亚细亚的一些民族，它们已忘却自己的本族语，操柯因内语。在其他地方，希腊的生活方式、娱乐活动、铸币和各种艺术也已为城市的上层阶级所采用。
面对这种情况，希腊人的世界主义日渐发展，他们开始尊重过去一直称之为蛮人的外国人。早先，亚历山大的父亲菲力浦国王入侵亚洲，主要是受了希腊学者伊索克拉底的怂恿，想把亚洲诸民族“从野蛮的暴政下解救出来，置于希腊的保护下”。而亚历山大死了几十年后，情况大为不同，希腊的另一位学者埃拉托色尼撰文批评了那些“把人类划分为希腊人和蛮人两大等级”的人，他说：“较好的做法是根据善与恶来区分人类，因为希腊人中也有许多卑鄙小人，而蛮人中也可找到不少高度文明的人；只要看看其政治制度极其完善的罗马人和迦太基人即可明白。”到公元1世纪，希腊传记作家普卢塔克声称，亚历山大“是受上帝的派遣，来当所有人的统治者和调解者”，“他吩咐所有的人都要把居住地看成自己的祖国。……。
希腊文化的影响向东扩展到印度北部和阿富汗的大夏和粟特。如前一节所述，这些王国在沧亡于来自蒙古的游牧部落大月氏之前，曾繁荣了几乎两个世纪。这些深入亚洲中心的希腊文化的前哨基地对周围请民族产生了一种世所公认、范围广阔的影响。首先发生影响的是用高明技术制作的希腊硬币，这些硬币实际上导致了印度铸币的产生；接着是称为《弥兰阳王问经》的佛经（弥兰陀即大夏的希腊国王，统治古印度西北部），它将希腊的对话体裁引入印度文学。在语言方面，有许多希腊词，包括马嚼子、钢笔、墨水、书和矿等单词，被并入梵文。在科学方面，也有一些希腊词作为术语，被收入印度的星占学和医学。
希腊文化对一个被称为犍陀罗的宗教艺术流派有十分重大的影响。犍陀罗原是印度西北部一地区的名宇，该地区曾在希腊统治之下。犍陀罗艺术的主要作品是佛陀像和描绘佛经中各种场景的浮雕品。犍陀罗的佛陀像酷似希腊的阿波罗神，与印度其他宗教的佛陀像有显著差别。前者是现实主义的，强调精确地表现人体解剖上的各种细节，如描绘各块肌肉、添上胡子等。后者是理想主义的，更注重精神的表现而不是外表的相似。犍陀罗艺术传入中国的情况，可以沿着早先由商人以及佛教朝圣者踩出的丝绸之路了解到。佛教雕刻在移植中国的过程中，在很大程度上失去了它的自然，变得简朴、抽象；但原先的希腊现实主义仍表现在如衣服的裙子一类表面细节上。因而，希腊艺术风格明显地影响了伟大的亚洲各文明。
尽管希腊文化的传播给人以深刻印象，但它并没有在中东留下永久的印记，更不用说亚洲其余地方了。其根本原因是，希腊文化的影响仅限于希腊殖民者居住的城市和一些希腊王朝的宫廷所在地。虽然有些土著民族也受到了影响，但真正受到影响的几乎仅囿于少数上等阶层。广大农村甚至许多城市的绝大多数人，仍继续说自己的语言，崇拜自己的神。因而，希腊文化并没有深深扎根，未能经过几个世纪仍幸存下来。当中世纪穆斯杯征服者前来时，他们没费多大事就将小岛似的希腊文化制服了。所以今天，希腊语言和文化仅幸存于巴尔干半岛南端的希腊本土。
希腊文化在地中海西部的生根要缓慢一些，因为当地土著居民的生活还不富裕，文明程度很低。要不足这一原因，希腊文化对该地区的长远影响，会由于当地文化的竞争力较弱而更为持久。
早在公元前6 世纪，罗马人已受到意大利南部希腊殖民地的影响，但直到3世纪起，也就是罗马人征服了巴尔干半岛和地中海东部地区的希腊文化的中心地带时，他们才感觉到希腊文化的全部力量。这时，罗马士兵和官吏与受过高度教育的希腊统治者和行政官员发生了直接交往，在他们带回罗马的人质和奴隶中有许多具有各种专长的希腊人——从伦理学家到柔软杂技演员，从善于赞美的诗人到主厨。当上层阶级的罗马人听到口齿伶俐的臣民们的令人眼花缭乱的雄辩和演说时，眼界大开，一个新的知识世界在他们面前展现。
希腊人给那些上层家庭当私人教师，讲授希腊语言、修辞学，哲学和文学。到公元前1 世纪，送年青的罗马人到雅典或罗得岛的哲学学校去受教育，已是很普通的事。希腊文学作品有极为强大的影响，由于这种影响，罗马人在文学方面未能有重大建树。开始时，受过教育的罗马人给优美的希腊诗歌、戏剧和散文所迷住，满足于翻译或模仿希腊原作；渐渐地，罗马贵族要求文学作品能以罗马人的生活为主题，能表现罗马人的生活理想。于是，一个民族文学开始产生，不过，无论是在维吉尔、贺拉斯和奥维德的“黄金时代”，还是在塞内加、塔西伯、老普林尼和小普林尼的“白银时代”，这一民族文学始终带有源自希腊的印记。
希腊对罗马和帝国其他城市的外观有最明显的影响。希腊建筑的特点是设计简单、比例相称、装饰完美。虽然这些特点已由巴罗克式的富丽堂皇和庞大的规模所取代，但希腊的陶立克、爱奥尼亚和科林斯这三种石柱的形式仍被采用。建筑物都用雕塑品装饰，这些雕塑品最初来自希腊，是作为战利品用货车运回国内的，以后由本地的艺术家仿制。因而，意大利的城镇和中东的一样，开始呈现处于希腊艺术和建筑的影响之下的相同的外观。实际上，罗马人对文明的主要贡献在于将希腊文化据为己有，适度改变，然后传播给从未直接接触过希腊文化的不同民族——高卢人、日耳曼人、不列颠人和伊比利亚人。从这一角度看，罗马的“陷落”也可说成是希腊文化在日耳曼人和克尔特人面前的退却，就象它在中东与穆斯林相遇时的后撤一样。
比希腊文化的影响要持久得多的是基督教和大乘佛教这两大世界性宗教的影响。基督教和大乘佛教于古典时代后期从各自的发源地中东和印度向外扩张；在以后的几个世纪中，前者争取到了整个欧洲，后者赢得了大部分亚洲。这两大宗教获取成功的原因可从它们共同具有的某些新特点中找到。一个特点是，它们都着重于灵魂的拯救，允诺来世可获得永恒的幸福。另一特点是，都坚持平等主义；其团体的大门向所有请求加入的人敞开，不论是男子或妇女、富人或穷人、自由人或奴隶，都一视同仁。最后，都强调很高的道德准则，强调要灵魂得救就必须遵守这些准则；这一要求加之有效的教会组织，使这两大宗教能对信徒的日常生活施加有力的影响。
这些特点在古典时代较后几个世纪里特别吸引人。在那几个世纪中，社会动荡、道德混乱，尤其在中心大城市，情况更是如此。城市里许许多多人感到无家可归、漂泊无定；对这些人基督和大乘怫教提供了安慰、保护和指导。当彼拉多问道“真理是什么”、表达出时代的绝望情绪时，它们也给予了回答。因而，最早皈依基督教的都是些地位低残、无所归依的人，这并非偶然之事。同样，大乘佛教的最大胜利是在中国，在汉朝崩溃之后全国处于混乱阶段、人世间的一些问题似乎找不到解答时取得的。
实际上，基督教和大乘佛教的这些令人满意、适合时宜的特点，正是应时代的需要而逐渐形成的。在基督教赖以发生的犹太教，或者后来分裂出大乘佛教的原始佛教中，均没有这些特点。
犹太教是约公元前12 世纪崇泰耶和华为民族之神的犹太人的地方性宗教。“我是耶和华，你的上帝。…你应崇拜上帝而不可敬拜别的神”。这是耶和华的《十诫》中的第一条。这一条的原意，不是说耶和华是世界上唯一的神，而是说，他是以色列孩子的唯一的神。这一时期犹太教徒的信仰与其说是神秘的、超俗的，不如说是社会的、注重道德的。用一位犹太先知的话来说，耶和华对仪式和祭品满不在乎，他关心的只是，人类应该“追求正义、援救被压迫者，识别生父不明的人、为寡妇辩护”。
但是，从公元前6 世纪起，犹太教徒在波斯人和其他一些统治者的宗教的影响下，改变了自己的宗教观念。此外，他们也受到了许多居住在巴勒斯坦以外地方的犹太人的影响，这些犹太人长期受希腊文化的熏陶，试图用希腊哲学的术语来解释犹太教。因而，犹太教徒逐渐汲取了有关来世的信仰——顺从上帝的意志，就可以升入天堂，获得永恒的幸福，反之，将堕入地狱，遭到永久的惩罚。
不过，基督教在耶稣生前和他钉死在十字架上以后不久这段时间里，仍然是犹太人的宗教信仰。是保罗使基督教广为传播。保罗生于小亚细亚的塔尔苏斯城，是一位希腊化的犹太教徒。他大胆地否认耶稣仅仅是犹太教徒的救世主，认为仁爱的上帝差遣他唯一的儿子耶稣来人间是为了要他替全体人类赎罪。因此，基督教不再是犹太教的一个教派，而发展成为一个新宗教，一个既为犹太人，又为非犹太人的宗教。保罗的做法使基督教从此以后不仅能吸引少数犹太人，而且能吸引整个罗马帝国千百万非犹太人。
因此，尽管这一新宗教遭到官方的迫害，仍稳步发展起来。公元313 年，基督教终于因罗马皇帝君士坦丁公布米兰敕令而受到宽恕，399年，被罗马帝国接受为官方国教。罗马帝国崩溃后，基督教由传教士在60O至80O年期间，传布到英格兰和日耳曼诸民族中；在800至1100年期间，传布到斯堪的纳维亚和斯拉夫诸民族中。以后，随着欧洲的扩张，又由传教士和移民传布到世界各地。
佛教的发展情况同基督教有点相似，正如第九章第二节将要提到的，它是在印度人明显地反对不公平的种性等级制度和婆罗门祭司阶级的剥削的过程中产生的。佛教的创始人乔答摩·悉达多（约公元前563—483年）原属释迦族，贵族出身，因苦恼于在自己周围见到的种种不幸而舍弃优选舒适的家庭，去过四处飘泊的苦行者生活。终于在似乎受到天启的刹那间，达到了澈悟的境界；从此被称为佛佗，意即“觉悟者“。
佛教的四大真理是：（1）人生是苦的；（2）苦的原因在于欲望；（3）只有消灭一切欲望，才能消灭苦因，断绝苦果；（4）要做到这一切，只有通过“八正道”。“八正道”包括正见、正志、正语、正业、正命、正精进、正念、正定；以涅槃为终极目的。所谓涅槃，译意为“无为”、“寂灭”。
佛陀并未打算建立一个新宗教，但佛陀死后，他的弟子们布讲他的教义，并建立了一些开始支配宗教信仰的教团。这些教团的理想是通过苦修身心最终达到神秘的涅槃境界。虽然僧侣们对此很满意，但俗人们在日常生活中却感到难以做到。因而，与“希那衍那”即小乘佛教相对立的“摩诃衍那”即大乘佛教逐渐发展起来。大乘佛教在其包容一切这一意义上说，是“大”了。它兼容并包了更多的佛教以前的印度思想以及人们改信大乘以前的某些宗教思想。它和原先的偏好默祷有点不同，采用了一些较易于领会、奉行的训条。于是，只要信仰，甚至只要有一个不动脑筋、表示信仰的举动，如念叨佛陀的名字，灵魂便可得救。涅槃的含义也改变了，至少对那些世故不深的信仰者来说，涅槃仅指天国中的来世，而天国是很有可能进入的，只要乐善好施便行。
由于大乘佛教从强调修道生活、苦行主义和默祷改为注重施舍行为、虔诚信仰和灵魂得救，所以，对于非印度民族来说，它比小乘佛教更合口味，尽管两者在国外都赢得了皈依者。佛教在公元前3 世纪时，首先流行于锡兰和印度西北部的边远地区。公元前1世纪时，传入中亚和中国。其传入先是通过商人，以后又靠印度传教士和中国皈依者。中国皈依者最为得力，他们在印度研习佛教，然后回国努力说服国内同胞信奉佛教，他们取得了很大成功，据说，到公元4世纪后期，中国西北部十分之九的居民都信奉佛教，到6 世纪时，中国南部的居民也跟着信奉了。接着，佛教又从中国进一步向其他地方传播：公元4世纪时，传入朝鲜；6世纪时，传入日本；以后，又传入西藏和蒙古。在此期间，分裂为大乘和小乘两大教派的佛教还流行于东南亚。象上述这种情况，在以前或以后的任何特定阶段都未发生过，它体现了这一地区历时许多世纪的普遍印度化的一个方面。
佛教取得这些成功后，在许多国家里衰落下来。在中国，约700 年时，佛教臻于极盛，但此后，由于内部的腐朽和政府的敌视，很快衰歇了。佛教的兴盛使寺院拥有大量土地和财富，使众多的僧尼脱离民族经济，这一切引起官方的妒恨，从而招致官方的迫害。据官方记载，841至855年期间，有寺院4600余所和祠庙40O00余个结拆毁，有僧尼26万余人被勒令还俗，和寺院奴隶约15万人一起，重新成为纳税户。佛教经过这次打击后，再也没有复兴过，以后，跟道教和儒教一样，仅仅成为中国信仰诸说融合论者感兴趣的“三个宗教”中的一个。同样，在印度，佛教最终让位于再度盛行的印度教。所以如今，在佛教发源地，实际上已找不到佛教信徒（见第九章第二节）。不过，在锡兰和东南亚许多地方，小乘佛教至今仍居支配地位。
尽管佛教在其极盛时期以后相对而言衰落了，但在古典时代后期和中世纪初期，仍是亚洲居支配地位的宗教。它广为流行于除西伯利亚和中东之外的整个大陆，从而，使整个大陆的文化一体化达到空前绝后的程度。它在亚洲起了伟大的文明力量的作用，就跟同时期的基督教在欧洲所起的作用一样。佛教带给许多民族的不仅是宗教信仰和一套道德标准，而且还有文学体系、建筑式样以及伟大的印度文化和中国文化的其他一切特征——这些东西也是由传教士在传布佛教时传到大陆各地。同样，在欧亚大陆另一端，基督教传教士带给野蛮的日耳曼和斯拉夫诸民族的，除了基督的教义，还有罗马文化和君士坦丁堡文化。以上所述，就是这些强有力的“文化联结”对新兴的欧亚核心区的影响及其历史意义。
在古代文明的数千年中，中东一直是创始力的中心。正是中东，在那一段时期里对人类作出了十分重大的贡献，如发明了农业、冶金术、城市居民的生活方式和帝国组织等。但是，到了古典时代，中东的优势渐渐消失，只有一个领域除外，那就是宗教。不仅犹太教，而且还有琐罗亚斯德教，都根源于中东。虽然后者如今只有印度的少数帕尔西人信奉，但过去在波斯帝国处于鼎盛期时，它对中东有过很大影响。而且，由于锁罗亚斯德教试图用光明、真理和正义等原则来取代当时盛行的波斯人的粗野习俗和迷信，因而，作为一种崇高的宗教信仰在宗教史上占有突出的地位。
不过，在古典时代，除了这些宗教及其有关的教派外，中东不再是创造发明的重要发源地。有位权威人士写道，在公元前二千纪后期的入侵浪潮之后，“古代近东的创造力似乎缩小了……大体上，我们看到的，（那时的古代近东）只是在整理和巩固已获得的知识。”
The Via Apponio, the "Queen's Way", connecting Rome to southern Italy, is still in use today.
The particular nature of these ideas and institutions will be analyzed in subsequent chapters devoted to the individual classical civilizations.The remainder of this chapter examines the interrelationships of these civilizations, that is, the nature of the early Eurasian core.Eurasians at the time knew little about each other's specifics of their respective civilizations, and did not realize that these civilizations developed in parallel.They are certainly aware, however, that the stage of history is expanding, that life is becoming more complex, and that they are being buffeted by a multitude of internal and external forces.Therefore, the Greek historian Polybius said when discussing the history of major events from 220 BC to 145 BC: "In today's era, history can be said to have become an organic whole. Everything that happened in Italy and Libya is related to Asia. It is closely related to everything that happened in Greece, and all kinds of events can only be attributed to one ending in the end."
Part of a Greek vase: Odysseus meets the Sirens, an experience in the former's half-sea, half-commercial expedition.
Two aspects of this new "organic whole" stood out in particular, even to contemporaries.This is the commercial connection and cultural connection between regions, namely the topic of the following two sections.
The physical connection between regions is mainly through commerce, although commerce is not the only way.It was a time when not only goods traveled to and from places, but people with their skills and plants also drifted around.For example, a letter from the Persian ruler Darius to one of his satraps serves to illustrate this situation.The letter approves proposals to transplant plants and trees from one area to another.The letter wrote: "You proposed to transplant the fruit trees on the other side of the Euphrates River to more places in Asia to improve my country. I agree with this plan..." At that time, the scope of the exchange was wide, which can be seen from the following facts to show.During this period, cotton, sugar cane and chickens, first cultivated in India, spread to China and Western Europe.For the first time in these centuries China received vines, alfalfa, chives, cucumbers, figs, sesame, pomegranate, and walnut trees; in return the Chinese gave their own orange, peach, pear, peony, Rhododendrons, camellias, and chrysanthemums were passed on to other parts of Eurasia.At the same time, a similar exchange took place on the technology front.The dissemination of the great invention of the waterwheel is a clear example.The first waterwheel in West Asia was born around 65 BC, during the reign of King Mithridediz of Pontus, which is located on the south bank of the Black Sea; the first waterwheel in China was born shortly thereafter, around BC 30 years in the manufacture.These two dates are too close together. It is impossible for the waterwheel to spread directly from West Asia to China, or from China to West Asia; Originated in two places.This mutual influence of the various regions of Eurasia, which is intimately connected with trade, would doubtless have been much smaller were it not for the general flourishing of local and long-distance trade during these centuries of the classical age.
Trade was carried out mainly by land through central Eurasia and by sea around the edges of Eurasia.These two general lines are by no means mutually exclusive, nor are they independent of each other.Most goods are transported by both land and sea routes; usually between Egypt and India by sea, and between India and China by one of several land routes.Moreover, the various land and sea routes were in competition with each other; and if one route was too expensive, or too unsafe, trade would generally be diverted to other routes.
Maritime trade has been going on since ancient civilizations.Egyptian merchants sailed boldly down the Red Sea to East Africa and along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to Lebanon.Likewise, the Sumerian merchants sailed along the Persian Gulf and along the Arabian Peninsula, while the Indus merchants, by some methods not yet understood, endeavored to make their way westward until they established contact with the former, probably at the Persian Gulf of Bahrain Islands.But all these early navigators were mere amateur sailors compared with the Cretans who lived both on land and on water.The ancient Cretans, like the Argonauts in Greek mythology, were great sea traders in ancient times; they traveled between the two ends of the Mediterranean Sea and became the supreme masters of this inland sea.
With the invasions of the Achaeans and Dorians, this extensive trade ceased, and the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean retreated to a life of subsistence small farmers.The Phoenicians were the first to resume the trade activities of the Cretans.The people who spoke the Semitic language and settled along the narrow coastal plain in the eastern Mediterranean soon developed a prosperous intermediary trade (see Chapter VI, Section 3).They bought myrrh, spices, and various crafts from Mesopotamia in bulk from caravans coming from the east, and imported various metals, animal skins, grains, olive oil, and slaves from overseas countries; Furniture, jewellery, metalware and textiles are exported.Textiles predominate, woven from the wool of their own sheep and dyed with a prestigious fuchsia dye extracted from coastal marine scale animals.
In the process of developing trade, the Phoenicians gradually produced a boat rowed by several sailors, which was fast and suitable for long voyages pushing more and more westward.In the 11th century BC they started trading with Cyprus and established a colony there; from there they expanded into the Aegean Sea.By the end of the ninth century BC, they had entered the western Mediterranean, and established commercial strongholds and colonies in the northwest coast of Africa, the south coast of Spain, Sicily, Malta and the Balearic Islands.The Phoenicians even ventured beyond the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed as far as Cornwall, England, where the tin they so wanted was abundant.It was during this period that Cadiz, the commercial stronghold of the Fat Nikians on the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, was established as an outpost in the risky Atlantic trade.
From about the 11th century BC to the late 8th century BC, the sailors and merchants of Minicea controlled much of the maritime trade in the Mediterranean.After that, the Greeks, spurred by population pressure, emerged as competitors.They first established commercial bases; these commercial bases later developed into agricultural colonies where land resources permitted.Although the colonists still adopted the institutions and religious customs of the mother state, these colonies were completely outside the control of the mother state.Therefore, the result of the Greek colonial expansion movement was a large number of independent city-states, rather than a forced imperialist rule.
One of the major Greek settlements was in Sicily and southern Italy; so many colonies were established there that the area came to be known as "Greater Greece."On the mainland, the Greeks pushed north as far as Naples; there they established contact with the Edaluscans, immigrants from Asia Minor.Attracted by the local railway resources, these Edaluscans came to settle as early as the ninth century BC and developed the earliest urban civilization in Italy.In the western Mediterranean, the Greeks, though constrained by the long-standing Phoenicians, established a firm foothold in northeastern Spain and southern France, where Marseilles was their principal colony.At last the Greeks found the Black Sea region a free land; they were hindered by the cold and foggy climate when they first entered the Black Sea region, but eventually settled in large numbers because of the good economic opportunities available there : The Black Sea itself provided tuna that migrated in schools every year; in addition, the Greeks could exchange various raw materials with the native Scythians who lived in what is equivalent to southern Russia today with the goods they manufactured.By the 5th century BC, the entire Black Sea basin had been surrounded by prosperous Greek commercial strongholds and colonies.
While the Greeks were doing well at sea, the Persians were building a vast empire that would eventually stretch from the Nile Valley to the Indus Valley.Although the Persians originally lived in mountainous areas and knew nothing about maritime affairs, they were still very concerned about opening up shipping routes in order to promote exchanges between their eastern provinces and western provinces.They used the seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks of Asia Minor among their subjects for this purpose.They once sent a Greek sailor named Scyllax to lead an expedition that set sail from the Indus River around 510 BC to Arsinore, at the mouth of the Red Sea.The Persians also planned a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, and seem to have done quite a bit of work to make that happen.Under these circumstances, trade flourished greatly, both in terms of volume and geographical extent of trade activities, than in the known past.Greek, Phoenician, Arab, and Indian sailors streamed to and from India, the Persian Gulf, Egypt, and the many ports of the Mediterranean.
The work of the Persians was continued by Alexander and his successors.They sent more and more geographically knowledgeable expeditions and built a series of ports along the Red Sea through which goods could be transported by land to the Nile, loaded on ships, and transported down the Nile to Alexandria.Indian Ocean trade during this period was carried out in two phases.First, Indian and Arab merchants set sail from various Indian ports and traveled westward to the Arabian Peninsula close to the coastline; then they circled the peninsula westward and arrived at the destination of Aden or Muha.There they met merchants from Greece and Egypt.The latter exchanged its own goods for the former's oriental goods, and then transported the oriental goods to Alexandria via the ports along the Red Sea.
All this is only the prelude to the great development of trade between East and West.This great development began shortly before BC and lasted for about two centuries.An important reason is that China's vigorous expansion to the west has opened up several land trade routes and promoted the transportation and sales of silk products, the most important item of inter-regional trade.The precise role of China in this regard will be discussed below when discussing overland trade.Another important reason for the great development of trade was the strengthening of the Roman Empire, including the entire Mediterranean area and most of central and northwestern Europe, and the so-called "Roman Pax" period; Banditry and piracy, which hindered trade, had all but disappeared, and tariff barriers had all but been eliminated.In addition, the wealth of the empire also promoted the development of trade, especially because the rich Roman ruling class loved exotic foreign goods and had money to buy them.
As a result, trade relations flourished between the Romans and all of their neighbors—Scandinavia to the north, Germania across the Rhine, Dacia across the Danube, and sub-Saharan Africa.This had a wide-ranging impact on Eurasia, but the most significant impact was on trade with the East.The rapid development of trade relations between the East and the West is inseparable from the discovery of a certain Greek sailor in the first century BC.He discovered that monsoons could be used to speed ships back and forth across the Indian Ocean (this was likely a rediscovery, since Arab sailors seem to have known this long before the Greeks. The word monsoon is derived from the Arab word for season of).From October to April every year, the northeast monsoon, or winter monsoon, blows from India to East Africa, and from June to September, the southwest monsoon, or summer monsoon, blows from East Africa to India in the opposite direction.Sailors could now cross the ocean directly with the wind, instead of spending a lot of time sailing close to the wide, curved coast.A merchant travels from Rome to India in as little as 16 weeks, including the overland passage through Egypt.
The "Roman" merchants, mostly Greeks and Syrians, not only made such journeys, but some settled permanently in the cities of India; this is attested by Indian sources. "Roman" merchants carried with them mainly gold coins, but also glass, copper, tin, linen and woolen cloth, etc., which they exchanged for pepper and other spices, cotton textiles, precious stones and most of all they needed.Chinese silk products transported to various ports in India via the overland Silk Road.A few more adventurous "Roman" merchants, Marco Polo in their day, went further eastward across India, reaching Burma, Malaya, Sumatra in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and then via the Strait of Malacca to Hanoi, and finally Contacted directly with China.To further their ends, they claimed to be the official emissaries of Rome.This kind of deception was undoubtedly noticed by the Han court, because the imperial "gifts" they brought were only products from nearby Southeast Asia that had already been bought by merchants.However, the very act of offering "tribute" was quite pleasing to the Chinese, so the Chinese probably allowed these Westerners to return loaded with lucrative silk fabrics.
The direct communication between the Roman Empire and the Han Empire seemed to herald the coming of a new era of great economic development.One might expect that during the third and fourth centuries AD there would be an unprecedented increase in trade on the seas surrounding Eurasia.But in fact, the situation is quite the opposite, because at this time the Roman Empire and the Han Empire were in turmoil internally, and were attacked by barbarians externally.However, although trade between Egypt and India declined after the 2nd century, trade between India and Southeast Asia did not.While Rome and China were impoverished and impotent, India, on the contrary, was reaching its peak under the Gupta dynasty (320-647 AD).Indian civilization, too, as will be mentioned in Chapter 9, was at this time in its prime and had a great influence on neighboring regions and countries.The influence of Indian civilization on the region north of northern Xinjiang was mainly religious and cultural; the influence on the southeast across the Bay of Bengal was economic and political (see next section).
Archaeological studies of ancient ruins have shown that contacts between India and Southeast Asia began in ancient times.In the first century AD, attracted by spices and mineral resources, more and more Indian merchants went to the islands and coastal areas of Southeast Asia, and the exchanges between the two places became more and more extensive.Indian literature at that time often mentions that merchants sailed to the golden land of Suvarnabhami, saying that the people in that place were relatively primitive, living mainly by growing rice, without complex political organization or advanced culture Tradition: Thus, it was also easier for Indian merchants and adventurers to intermarry with local first families, spread Indian religion and customs there, and impose control over their economy.This great opportunity attracted not only many merchants, but also Indian Brahmins and warriors; as a result, Indian culture was transplanted on a large scale to the islands and continents of Southeast Asia, and many Indian kingdoms were established there.
This process of Indianization did not penetrate deeply to the grassroots.Under normal circumstances, those who are Indianized are mainly the first local households affected by foreign immigrants; ordinary villagers have to pay the exorbitant taxes imposed by the rulers of the New Kingdom, and their lives remain the same as before, without much change.While India's influence is somewhat superficial, it is extremely wide-ranging.Starting from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, by the 4th century AD, the Indians had gained a firm foothold in Borneo and the Indochina Peninsula, far away from India.In the beginning, the island nations were the first, but towards the end of the third century AD, perhaps because of increased piracy, they fell behind.The center of power shifted to the mainland, which Indian immigrants could enter along the overland route through the Malay Peninsula to Indochina.
Thus, in a place equivalent to today's Cambodia, a great Indian kingdom, the Kingdom of Kambuja, emerged.The Chinese at the time called it Funan, and their records of the kingdom clearly reflect its Indian character.The record says: "There are more than 1000 Brahmin members from India. People follow their teachings and marry their daughters to them, so many Brahmin members live there. They study religious scriptures day and night.... They use bronze Make idols. The ones with two faces have four arms, and the ones with four lids have eight arms. Each hand holds something."
The above can explain the nature of the Great India in Southeast Asia.Obviously, the situation in Greater India is quite similar to the expansion of the Greeks in the Mediterranean region in the early centuries.Both merchants and settlers first set up strongholds in the vast coastal areas, and then transplanted their own systems there.The native population, however, was neither fully Hellenized nor fully Indianized; in the end, the colonies were assimilated, leaving only geographical names and architectural ruins as souvenirs of past undertakings.For the history of Eurasia, the significance of Greater Greece and Greater India lies in their contribution to the expansion of the frontiers of civilization: the former extended civilization from the southern Balkan Mountains to the Strait of Gibraltar and southern Russia; the latter extended civilization from southern India to Borneo and Indochina.
As far as land trade is concerned, its ups and downs depend to a large extent on the maintenance of social order and security.Trade prospered when most land routes were under the strong control of national authorities; conversely, trade languished when society was in disarray.This can be seen by looking at the tendency of trade during these centuries.As a result of technological progress and the expansion of the core of civilization, it is clear that the general trend is to increase the volume of trade.However, in this general trend, there are also fluctuations from time to time, which are related to the political situation at that time.For example, during the centuries under the rule of the Scythian Empire in western Eurasia, the Chinese dynasties in eastern Eurasia, and the Mongol Empire that covered most of Eurasia, the trade routes were secure and trade gained due to the power of the empire. Rapid development.
We know very little about the earliest overland trade.However, fragments of observations have survived from a Greek merchant who lived in the 6th or 7th century BC; the merchant was named Aristes, and he claimed to have traveled eastward with the Scythian sea team as far as China. Asia's Tian Shan Mountains.In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus also wrote a detailed article about the Scythians.The Scythians were a nomadic people who milked horses and lived in carriages. From 700 to 200 BC, they ruled the steppe between the Don River and the Carpathian Mountains.Herodotus listed the various tribes of the Scythians and described their customs and habits; it can be seen that he can grasp the details of the Scythians.This is understandable, since the place where the Scythians lived was adjacent to the city-states of the Greeks on the northern shore of the Black Sea, and there was extensive trade between the two.Relying on the rich resources of the vast interior they controlled, the Scythians exchanged slaves, cattle, hides, furs, fish, wood, beeswax and honey for textiles, wine, olive oil and various luxury goods of the Greeks.
In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the power of the Scythians was greatly weakened by new nomadic invasions from the east.With the ensuing chaos, long-distance trade ceased to exist and was not resumed until more than two centuries later.This time, the impetus for the revival of long-distance trade came from the Chinese on the other side of Eurasia; they were extending their rule as far as the so-called "Western Region", that is, Central Asia.Its purpose was to fight back against their most dangerous nomadic neighbors, known in European history as the Huns.In the decades before that time, the Chinese had always favored the Huns by giving them a large amount of gifts and money; Ya looked for allies to attack the Xiongnu.
In 139 BC, the great Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent an official Zhang Qian to find and contact the Da Yuezhi, which was broken by the Huns decades ago.The Da Yuezhi was originally the easternmost branch of the Indo-European peoples. After fleeing to the southwest, they conquered the Bactrian Kingdom of the Greeks in Afghanistan today (a kingdom left after the collapse of the Alexander Empire), where settled down.Due to the fertile land and stable life in Xindi, the Da Yuezhi people did not want to come east to fight against the mighty Huns. Seeing this, the envoys of the Han had no choice but to return to China. Geography of the Western Regions.This information was the basis for China's subsequent military and diplomatic offensive in Central Asia.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent several expeditionary armies to crusade against the Huns, and finally forced the tribes of the Huns to submit or flee to the desert.In fact, it was the victory of the Chinese that set off the chain reaction of the great migration of peoples westward, which eventually hit the Roman Empire and led to its collapse.After the Chinese defeated the Xiongnu, they sent a diplomatic mission to the countries in the Western Regions mentioned in Zhang Sai's report.The two remaining Greek kingdoms, Jargan and Sogdia, presumably believed that China was far away from China by the Pamir Plateau and that they were quite safe, so they boldly insulted the Chinese envoy.However, the military power of the Chinese army was astonishing, and they even crossed the Pamirs, forcing them to surrender to the Han emperor.In this way, the Han Empire penetrated Central Asia with a huge wedge, and finally established contact with the Guishuang Empire organized by the Da Yuezhi people in northwestern India in the first century AD.
At this time, trade followed the victorious Chinese flag.The safety of trade routes was guaranteed, and people's needs were greatly developed along with the activities of diplomatic missions.When foreign missions visit, according to the customs at that time, they bring their own unique products as gifts.These official exchanges created new habits and desires and opened the way for private commerce.This is especially the case for Chinese silk fabrics.Chinese silk fabrics were the most demanded everywhere and accounted for at least 90% of China's exports; the remaining 10% consisted of cinnamon, rhubarb, and high-quality iron.作为回报，中国也得到了各种物产，如：来自中亚的毛皮、毛织品、玉和牲畜，来自波罗的海的流浪，来自罗马诸行省的玻璃、珊瑚、珍珠、亚麻布、羊毛织品和黄金，其中黄金占首位。
这些货物由商队沿着著名的“丝绸之路”来回运送。“丝绸之路”的主线自中国西北部的长安（西安）开始，向西经河西走廊至塔里木盆地，分为两道，一条道沿盆地的北部边缘，一条道沿盆地的南部边缘，绕过盆地，然后西逾帕米尔高原，穿过位于俄国土耳其斯坦的撒马尔罕和梅尔夫，再绕过里海南端王位于现代伊拉克境内的塞琉西亚，由此继续西进，至地中海东部沿岸地区的罗马边境
尽管有了丝绸之路，但罗马帝国和中国汉朝之间并没有直接的商业往来。罗马商人未能经由陆路直接去中国，中国人也未能取道陆路直接到罗马。它们之间的商业往来全靠各种中间人，尤其是靠帕提亚（即今日伊朗）的中间人。中国人和罗马人对建立直接的联系都很关心，但是，出于显而易见的原因，帕提亚人对阻止这一联系的建立也同样很关心。这可由中国使者甘英的经历得到说明。公元所年，中国遣甘英出使大秦即罗马帝国。当他到达波斯湾时，据中国官方记载说，那里的帕提亚人告诉他：
帕提亚人不仅夸张取道海路的种种危险，而且也不提前往叙利亚还有更为直接的陆路可走，就这样，把那位使者哄骗了回去。从中国的官方记载中可以看出，当时的中国人已意识到这一情况；记载中说，罗马人“一直渴望派使者到中国来，但安息人' 帕提亚人' 想用中国的丝织品和他们做买卖，因此，就切断了罗马人前往中国的交通”。罗马人对此进行了报复，为了将牟取暴利的帕提亚中间商排除在外，他们积极开展和印度的直接的海上贸易。于是，愈来愈多的商队不再取道西去的丝绸之路，而是向南经过和田前往印度西北部诸港口。候在那里的“罗马”商人接到货物后，在季风的帮助下，将它们迅速地运过印度洋，至红海诸港口卸货。
十七世纪的三张中国画：取茧、择茧、治丝——生产丝绸的最初几道工序。
这一贸易其规模之大，竟使罗马历史学家阿米阿努斯·马尔切利努斯宣称：“昔日仅限于贵族使用的丝织品，现已不加区别地扩大流传到社会各等级手中，甚至包括最低的等级。”无疑，这话言过其实了；实际情况是，许多身居要职的罗马人见到大量黄金因支付受人欢迎的中国丝织品而东流，大为惊恐。
公元二世纪以后，随着罗马帝国和中国社会动乱迭起，这一繁盛的贸易渐渐衰弱；不过，并没有完全枯萎。中国仍在生产丝织品；丝绸之路沿途的那些沙漠中的绿洲城市仍在竭尽全力地维持它们曾借以致富的贸易西方消费者的需求仍没有得到充分满足。甚至在5 世纪罗马陷入蛮族之手以后，君士坦丁堡，也就是拜占庭，依然如同一个伟大的帝国首都一般，需求看惯常的各种奢侈品。据说，公元401年，为年幼的皇帝狄奥多西二世举行基督教洗礼时，“整个城市［君士坦丁堡］被笼罩在花环之下，到处都用丝绸、金光灿灿的宝石和各种各样的饰物装扮起来，其装饰之华丽，无人能加以描绘”。
不过，罗马政权的衰微使中间人牟取暴利这一多年老问题更为突出。3 世纪时，阿比西尼亚人的阿克苏姆王国控制了红海，对海上交通强征很重的税。同样，公元226年以后，在萨珊王朝而不是帕提亚人统治下的波斯人也充分利用了他们对陆上交通的控制。5世纪时，拜占庭帝国政府对丝织品的进口实行了国家垄断，其目的，在一定程度上，是想以集体谈判的方式来对付这些中间人。到6世纪中期，这一问题终于由拜占庭人予以彻底解决，他们成功地将一些放在桑叶上孵化的蚕卵从东方偷运回国；于是，丝绸工业在叙利亚开始发展起来，并传播到希腊和地中海西部地区。西方不再依靠来自中国的进口货，丝绸之路渐被废弃。
穆斯林阿拉伯人的突然兴起，给陆上贸易以最后的打击。7 世纪时，穆斯林阿拉伯人征服了整个中东，随后，又扩张到中亚，并在751年的怛逻斯战役中击败了中国人。于是，中亚成为穆斯林的天下；而且，在以后好几个世纪里，一直是中国和西方之间，以及中国和印度之间的障碍，而不是桥梁。随着陆上道路给最后关闭，贸易转移到大陆周围、正开始由阿拉伯水手和商人控制的海上。直到13世纪，蒙古人征服了从太平洋到波罗的海和黑海的整个欧亚大陆时，才有了再一次重新打开陆路，从而为中世纪的马可波罗及其同行商人扫清道路的可能。
综上听述，尽管贸易方向发生过各种转变，但有一基本事实始终未变；这就是古典时代与早先的古代时期大为不同，其贸易范围和贸易量都有了质的提高。不管是在地中海，阿拉伯海，还是在欧亚大草原的某些地带，其贸易范围都不再限于单个地区，而是随着货物经由海陆两路从欧亚大陆的一端运送到另一端而愈来愈成为跨地区的。这些构成了新兴的欧亚核心区的经济组成部分，下面一节将考察这一核心区的文化方面。
商业联结和文化联结这两者不是互不关联的，或者说，不是相互独立的。印度文化移植到东南亚，在很大程度上是靠印度商人；同样，希腊文化传播整个东方，主要是靠追随亚历山大军队东进的希腊商人。印度佛教传布中国的过程可以沿着举世闻名的丝绸之路了解到，而中国汉朝时期最重要的怫教中心洛阳城之所以闻名天下，则与它是“来自西域的蛮族商人”的聚居地分不开。
不过，各种文化运动有它们自己内在的动力，并非完全依靠商人和商路。公元前二千纪后期发明的简单的字母文字。就是影响除中国以外整个古典世界文化发展的一个十分重要的因素。在那时以前，只有少数书吏能够阅读和书写美索不达米亚的结构复杂的楔形文字和埃及的象形文字。第一个字母系统是由西奈半岛的闪族商人发明的。他们用自己所通晓的一些埃及字符来标示辅音，又用许多别的符号来标示单词和音节，因而．他们的文字未能发展成为严格的音标文字。真正的音标文字是由腓尼基人完成的，他们于公元前13世纪将原有文字发展成由23个辅音音符所组成的字母系统。这一字母系统后经希腊人增补元音字母而进一步完备，形成希腊字母。希腊字母又经过一些改进后，由罗马人向西传播，由拜占庭人向东传播。
字母文字的意义就在于它打开了智力交流的世界，使智力交流的范围远远地超出了从前仅囿于祭司和官吏的那个圈子。埃及和美索不达米亚的书吏对这种新型文字自然是取回避的态度，他们继续使用传统文字，几乎一直到公元。中国因与世隔绝，也仍然使用自己原先的文字，这种文字是由表音和象形两种文字结合而成的，经过几次改进，一直使用到今天。但是，在欧亚其他地方，都采用字母文字，只是采用时稍许作了些变动，以适合各自不同的语言。这样做的结果是，无论哪里，在高雅文化与低俗文化之间、城市统治集团与农民群众之间，随文明的到来而不断扩大的裂缝虽然没有被完全地或大大地弥合，但多少都缩小了。享有特权的知识分子集团对这种现状一般是支持的，他们在国家中居垄断地位，因而，遭到了那些头脑简单的书吏的反对，书吏们不仅对传统的爱国和知识表示亵渎，而且在国内煽起了某种骚动。
在古典时代的这些世纪里，欧亚各文明中显著的、带有全盘性的文化模式是，诸地方文化分解，并入拥有各自独特的语言、宗教和社会制度的新的地区文明。对这些文明来说，交换有形的货物比交流具有不同特点的文化要容易得多。纺织品、香料和各种奢侈品到处可用、悦人心意而祖先崇拜、种性等级制度和城邦一超出它们的发源地则成了不合时宜、不受人欢迎的东西。因而，在欧亚大陆具有普遍性影响的早期阶段，地区间的商业联结通常比文化联结更广泛，更有影响。
不过，后者的确存在，而且，在某些情况下，具有极其重大的历史意义。如希腊文化就是最突出的一例，它曾从希腊世界向东传播到亚洲，向西传播至欧洲。此外，将近古典时代末期兴起的伟大的世界性宗教，尤其是基督教和怫教，也是很好的例子；这些宗教不是要求任何一个团体，而是要求全体人类皈依它们。
先考察希腊文化。希腊文化一词是从希腊人的“Hellas” 意即“希腊”一词派生的。希腊文化之所以能传播整个中东，主要是由于亚历山大对中亚和印度河流域进行了举世闻名的东征。正如下一章将提到的，亚历山大帝国仅在亚历山大生前维持了数年。公元前323年，亚历山大去世，帝国即为他手下的将领所分割，以后；又为西方的罗马和东方的帕提亚人所瓜分。公元前4世纪和3世纪，希腊士兵在军事上占有优势，从而，为成千上万的希腊商人、行政官员和各种专业人员成群地涌往亚历山大及其继承人所建立的许多城市铺平了道路。这些城市从最著名的埃及的亚历山大港到最东面的亚历山大城即阿富汗的科贾特，都成为传播希腊文化的中心。
有许多希腊移民和当地妇女结婚，因为亚历山大本人就以身作则，娶了一名波斯贵族女子为妻，并于印度战役之后，安排了3000 名士兵和波斯妇女举行大规模的集体婚礼。亚历山大还招募波斯士兵入伍，他本人还穿戴波斯君主的袍服和头巾，采用波斯朝廷的礼仪。虽然地统治下的居民多数没有希腊化，但典型的城市基本上都希腊化了，都有选举产生的地方行政官、议会和市民大会。一种新型的希腊语言即柯因内语成为整个中东的共同语。这种语言比古典时代的希腊语简单，所以，那些已希腊化的土著学起来也比较容易。中东请民族中受同化程度最高的是小亚细亚的一些民族，它们已忘却自己的本族语，操柯因内语。在其他地方，希腊的生活方式、娱乐活动、铸币和各种艺术也已为城市的上层阶级所采用。
面对这种情况，希腊人的世界主义日渐发展，他们开始尊重过去一直称之为蛮人的外国人。早先，亚历山大的父亲菲力浦国王入侵亚洲，主要是受了希腊学者伊索克拉底的怂恿，想把亚洲诸民族“从野蛮的暴政下解救出来，置于希腊的保护下”。而亚历山大死了几十年后，情况大为不同，希腊的另一位学者埃拉托色尼撰文批评了那些“把人类划分为希腊人和蛮人两大等级”的人，他说：“较好的做法是根据善与恶来区分人类，因为希腊人中也有许多卑鄙小人，而蛮人中也可找到不少高度文明的人；只要看看其政治制度极其完善的罗马人和迦太基人即可明白。”到公元1世纪，希腊传记作家普卢塔克声称，亚历山大“是受上帝的派遣，来当所有人的统治者和调解者”，“他吩咐所有的人都要把居住地看成自己的祖国。……。
希腊文化的影响向东扩展到印度北部和阿富汗的大夏和粟特。如前一节所述，这些王国在沧亡于来自蒙古的游牧部落大月氏之前，曾繁荣了几乎两个世纪。这些深入亚洲中心的希腊文化的前哨基地对周围请民族产生了一种世所公认、范围广阔的影响。首先发生影响的是用高明技术制作的希腊硬币，这些硬币实际上导致了印度铸币的产生；接着是称为《弥兰阳王问经》的佛经（弥兰陀即大夏的希腊国王，统治古印度西北部），它将希腊的对话体裁引入印度文学。在语言方面，有许多希腊词，包括马嚼子、钢笔、墨水、书和矿等单词，被并入梵文。在科学方面，也有一些希腊词作为术语，被收入印度的星占学和医学。
希腊文化对一个被称为犍陀罗的宗教艺术流派有十分重大的影响。犍陀罗原是印度西北部一地区的名宇，该地区曾在希腊统治之下。犍陀罗艺术的主要作品是佛陀像和描绘佛经中各种场景的浮雕品。犍陀罗的佛陀像酷似希腊的阿波罗神，与印度其他宗教的佛陀像有显著差别。前者是现实主义的，强调精确地表现人体解剖上的各种细节，如描绘各块肌肉、添上胡子等。后者是理想主义的，更注重精神的表现而不是外表的相似。犍陀罗艺术传入中国的情况，可以沿着早先由商人以及佛教朝圣者踩出的丝绸之路了解到。佛教雕刻在移植中国的过程中，在很大程度上失去了它的自然，变得简朴、抽象；但原先的希腊现实主义仍表现在如衣服的裙子一类表面细节上。因而，希腊艺术风格明显地影响了伟大的亚洲各文明。
尽管希腊文化的传播给人以深刻印象，但它并没有在中东留下永久的印记，更不用说亚洲其余地方了。其根本原因是，希腊文化的影响仅限于希腊殖民者居住的城市和一些希腊王朝的宫廷所在地。虽然有些土著民族也受到了影响，但真正受到影响的几乎仅囿于少数上等阶层。广大农村甚至许多城市的绝大多数人，仍继续说自己的语言，崇拜自己的神。因而，希腊文化并没有深深扎根，未能经过几个世纪仍幸存下来。当中世纪穆斯杯征服者前来时，他们没费多大事就将小岛似的希腊文化制服了。所以今天，希腊语言和文化仅幸存于巴尔干半岛南端的希腊本土。
希腊文化在地中海西部的生根要缓慢一些，因为当地土著居民的生活还不富裕，文明程度很低。要不足这一原因，希腊文化对该地区的长远影响，会由于当地文化的竞争力较弱而更为持久。
早在公元前6 世纪，罗马人已受到意大利南部希腊殖民地的影响，但直到3世纪起，也就是罗马人征服了巴尔干半岛和地中海东部地区的希腊文化的中心地带时，他们才感觉到希腊文化的全部力量。这时，罗马士兵和官吏与受过高度教育的希腊统治者和行政官员发生了直接交往，在他们带回罗马的人质和奴隶中有许多具有各种专长的希腊人——从伦理学家到柔软杂技演员，从善于赞美的诗人到主厨。当上层阶级的罗马人听到口齿伶俐的臣民们的令人眼花缭乱的雄辩和演说时，眼界大开，一个新的知识世界在他们面前展现。
希腊人给那些上层家庭当私人教师，讲授希腊语言、修辞学，哲学和文学。到公元前1 世纪，送年青的罗马人到雅典或罗得岛的哲学学校去受教育，已是很普通的事。希腊文学作品有极为强大的影响，由于这种影响，罗马人在文学方面未能有重大建树。开始时，受过教育的罗马人给优美的希腊诗歌、戏剧和散文所迷住，满足于翻译或模仿希腊原作；渐渐地，罗马贵族要求文学作品能以罗马人的生活为主题，能表现罗马人的生活理想。于是，一个民族文学开始产生，不过，无论是在维吉尔、贺拉斯和奥维德的“黄金时代”，还是在塞内加、塔西伯、老普林尼和小普林尼的“白银时代”，这一民族文学始终带有源自希腊的印记。
希腊对罗马和帝国其他城市的外观有最明显的影响。希腊建筑的特点是设计简单、比例相称、装饰完美。虽然这些特点已由巴罗克式的富丽堂皇和庞大的规模所取代，但希腊的陶立克、爱奥尼亚和科林斯这三种石柱的形式仍被采用。建筑物都用雕塑品装饰，这些雕塑品最初来自希腊，是作为战利品用货车运回国内的，以后由本地的艺术家仿制。因而，意大利的城镇和中东的一样，开始呈现处于希腊艺术和建筑的影响之下的相同的外观。实际上，罗马人对文明的主要贡献在于将希腊文化据为己有，适度改变，然后传播给从未直接接触过希腊文化的不同民族——高卢人、日耳曼人、不列颠人和伊比利亚人。从这一角度看，罗马的“陷落”也可说成是希腊文化在日耳曼人和克尔特人面前的退却，就象它在中东与穆斯林相遇时的后撤一样。
比希腊文化的影响要持久得多的是基督教和大乘佛教这两大世界性宗教的影响。基督教和大乘佛教于古典时代后期从各自的发源地中东和印度向外扩张；在以后的几个世纪中，前者争取到了整个欧洲，后者赢得了大部分亚洲。这两大宗教获取成功的原因可从它们共同具有的某些新特点中找到。一个特点是，它们都着重于灵魂的拯救，允诺来世可获得永恒的幸福。另一特点是，都坚持平等主义；其团体的大门向所有请求加入的人敞开，不论是男子或妇女、富人或穷人、自由人或奴隶，都一视同仁。最后，都强调很高的道德准则，强调要灵魂得救就必须遵守这些准则；这一要求加之有效的教会组织，使这两大宗教能对信徒的日常生活施加有力的影响。
这些特点在古典时代较后几个世纪里特别吸引人。在那几个世纪中，社会动荡、道德混乱，尤其在中心大城市，情况更是如此。城市里许许多多人感到无家可归、漂泊无定；对这些人基督和大乘怫教提供了安慰、保护和指导。当彼拉多问道“真理是什么”、表达出时代的绝望情绪时，它们也给予了回答。因而，最早皈依基督教的都是些地位低残、无所归依的人，这并非偶然之事。同样，大乘佛教的最大胜利是在中国，在汉朝崩溃之后全国处于混乱阶段、人世间的一些问题似乎找不到解答时取得的。
实际上，基督教和大乘佛教的这些令人满意、适合时宜的特点，正是应时代的需要而逐渐形成的。在基督教赖以发生的犹太教，或者后来分裂出大乘佛教的原始佛教中，均没有这些特点。
犹太教是约公元前12 世纪崇泰耶和华为民族之神的犹太人的地方性宗教。“我是耶和华，你的上帝。…你应崇拜上帝而不可敬拜别的神”。这是耶和华的《十诫》中的第一条。这一条的原意，不是说耶和华是世界上唯一的神，而是说，他是以色列孩子的唯一的神。这一时期犹太教徒的信仰与其说是神秘的、超俗的，不如说是社会的、注重道德的。用一位犹太先知的话来说，耶和华对仪式和祭品满不在乎，他关心的只是，人类应该“追求正义、援救被压迫者，识别生父不明的人、为寡妇辩护”。
但是，从公元前6 世纪起，犹太教徒在波斯人和其他一些统治者的宗教的影响下，改变了自己的宗教观念。此外，他们也受到了许多居住在巴勒斯坦以外地方的犹太人的影响，这些犹太人长期受希腊文化的熏陶，试图用希腊哲学的术语来解释犹太教。因而，犹太教徒逐渐汲取了有关来世的信仰——顺从上帝的意志，就可以升入天堂，获得永恒的幸福，反之，将堕入地狱，遭到永久的惩罚。
不过，基督教在耶稣生前和他钉死在十字架上以后不久这段时间里，仍然是犹太人的宗教信仰。是保罗使基督教广为传播。保罗生于小亚细亚的塔尔苏斯城，是一位希腊化的犹太教徒。他大胆地否认耶稣仅仅是犹太教徒的救世主，认为仁爱的上帝差遣他唯一的儿子耶稣来人间是为了要他替全体人类赎罪。因此，基督教不再是犹太教的一个教派，而发展成为一个新宗教，一个既为犹太人，又为非犹太人的宗教。保罗的做法使基督教从此以后不仅能吸引少数犹太人，而且能吸引整个罗马帝国千百万非犹太人。
因此，尽管这一新宗教遭到官方的迫害，仍稳步发展起来。公元313 年，基督教终于因罗马皇帝君士坦丁公布米兰敕令而受到宽恕，399年，被罗马帝国接受为官方国教。罗马帝国崩溃后，基督教由传教士在60O至80O年期间，传布到英格兰和日耳曼诸民族中；在800至1100年期间，传布到斯堪的纳维亚和斯拉夫诸民族中。以后，随着欧洲的扩张，又由传教士和移民传布到世界各地。
佛教的发展情况同基督教有点相似，正如第九章第二节将要提到的，它是在印度人明显地反对不公平的种性等级制度和婆罗门祭司阶级的剥削的过程中产生的。佛教的创始人乔答摩·悉达多（约公元前563—483年）原属释迦族，贵族出身，因苦恼于在自己周围见到的种种不幸而舍弃优选舒适的家庭，去过四处飘泊的苦行者生活。终于在似乎受到天启的刹那间，达到了澈悟的境界；从此被称为佛佗，意即“觉悟者“。
佛教的四大真理是：（1）人生是苦的；（2）苦的原因在于欲望；（3）只有消灭一切欲望，才能消灭苦因，断绝苦果；（4）要做到这一切，只有通过“八正道”。“八正道”包括正见、正志、正语、正业、正命、正精进、正念、正定；以涅槃为终极目的。所谓涅槃，译意为“无为”、“寂灭”。
佛陀并未打算建立一个新宗教，但佛陀死后，他的弟子们布讲他的教义，并建立了一些开始支配宗教信仰的教团。这些教团的理想是通过苦修身心最终达到神秘的涅槃境界。虽然僧侣们对此很满意，但俗人们在日常生活中却感到难以做到。因而，与“希那衍那”即小乘佛教相对立的“摩诃衍那”即大乘佛教逐渐发展起来。大乘佛教在其包容一切这一意义上说，是“大”了。它兼容并包了更多的佛教以前的印度思想以及人们改信大乘以前的某些宗教思想。它和原先的偏好默祷有点不同，采用了一些较易于领会、奉行的训条。于是，只要信仰，甚至只要有一个不动脑筋、表示信仰的举动，如念叨佛陀的名字，灵魂便可得救。涅槃的含义也改变了，至少对那些世故不深的信仰者来说，涅槃仅指天国中的来世，而天国是很有可能进入的，只要乐善好施便行。
由于大乘佛教从强调修道生活、苦行主义和默祷改为注重施舍行为、虔诚信仰和灵魂得救，所以，对于非印度民族来说，它比小乘佛教更合口味，尽管两者在国外都赢得了皈依者。佛教在公元前3 世纪时，首先流行于锡兰和印度西北部的边远地区。公元前1世纪时，传入中亚和中国。其传入先是通过商人，以后又靠印度传教士和中国皈依者。中国皈依者最为得力，他们在印度研习佛教，然后回国努力说服国内同胞信奉佛教，他们取得了很大成功，据说，到公元4世纪后期，中国西北部十分之九的居民都信奉佛教，到6 世纪时，中国南部的居民也跟着信奉了。接着，佛教又从中国进一步向其他地方传播：公元4世纪时，传入朝鲜；6世纪时，传入日本；以后，又传入西藏和蒙古。在此期间，分裂为大乘和小乘两大教派的佛教还流行于东南亚。象上述这种情况，在以前或以后的任何特定阶段都未发生过，它体现了这一地区历时许多世纪的普遍印度化的一个方面。
佛教取得这些成功后，在许多国家里衰落下来。在中国，约700 年时，佛教臻于极盛，但此后，由于内部的腐朽和政府的敌视，很快衰歇了。佛教的兴盛使寺院拥有大量土地和财富，使众多的僧尼脱离民族经济，这一切引起官方的妒恨，从而招致官方的迫害。据官方记载，841至855年期间，有寺院4600余所和祠庙40O00余个结拆毁，有僧尼26万余人被勒令还俗，和寺院奴隶约15万人一起，重新成为纳税户。佛教经过这次打击后，再也没有复兴过，以后，跟道教和儒教一样，仅仅成为中国信仰诸说融合论者感兴趣的“三个宗教”中的一个。同样，在印度，佛教最终让位于再度盛行的印度教。所以如今，在佛教发源地，实际上已找不到佛教信徒（见第九章第二节）。不过，在锡兰和东南亚许多地方，小乘佛教至今仍居支配地位。
尽管佛教在其极盛时期以后相对而言衰落了，但在古典时代后期和中世纪初期，仍是亚洲居支配地位的宗教。它广为流行于除西伯利亚和中东之外的整个大陆，从而，使整个大陆的文化一体化达到空前绝后的程度。它在亚洲起了伟大的文明力量的作用，就跟同时期的基督教在欧洲所起的作用一样。佛教带给许多民族的不仅是宗教信仰和一套道德标准，而且还有文学体系、建筑式样以及伟大的印度文化和中国文化的其他一切特征——这些东西也是由传教士在传布佛教时传到大陆各地。同样，在欧亚大陆另一端，基督教传教士带给野蛮的日耳曼和斯拉夫诸民族的，除了基督的教义，还有罗马文化和君士坦丁堡文化。以上所述，就是这些强有力的“文化联结”对新兴的欧亚核心区的影响及其历史意义。
在古代文明的数千年中，中东一直是创始力的中心。正是中东，在那一段时期里对人类作出了十分重大的贡献，如发明了农业、冶金术、城市居民的生活方式和帝国组织等。但是，到了古典时代，中东的优势渐渐消失，只有一个领域除外，那就是宗教。不仅犹太教，而且还有琐罗亚斯德教，都根源于中东。虽然后者如今只有印度的少数帕尔西人信奉，但过去在波斯帝国处于鼎盛期时，它对中东有过很大影响。而且，由于锁罗亚斯德教试图用光明、真理和正义等原则来取代当时盛行的波斯人的粗野习俗和迷信，因而，作为一种崇高的宗教信仰在宗教史上占有突出的地位。
不过，在古典时代，除了这些宗教及其有关的教派外，中东不再是创造发明的重要发源地。有位权威人士写道，在公元前二千纪后期的入侵浪潮之后，“古代近东的创造力似乎缩小了……大体上，我们看到的，（那时的古代近东）只是在整理和巩固已获得的知识。”