1. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Romans first learned of silk in the second century before the Common Era. Silk is a beautiful fabric that is soft and seems to glow. Clothing made of silk was a source of pride and a sign of great wealth. Even the smallest pieces of silk would be proudly displayed by wealthy Romans.

2. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Romans first learned of silk in the second century before the Common Era. Silk is a beautiful fabric that is soft and seems to glow. Clothing made of silk was a source of pride and a sign of great wealth. Even the smallest pieces of silk would be proudly displayed by wealthy Romans.

3. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Romans first learned of silk in the second century before the Common Era. Silk is a beautiful fabric that is soft and seems to glow. Clothing made of silk was a source of pride and a sign of great wealth. Even the smallest pieces of silk would be proudly displayed by wealthy Romans.

4. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Romans first learned of silk in the second century before the Common Era. Silk is a beautiful fabric that is soft and seems to glow. Clothing made of silk was a source of pride and a sign of great wealth. Even the smallest pieces of silk would be proudly displayed by wealthy Romans.

5. The Silk Road Chinese History
The silk came from China, and the Chinese were careful to keep the secret of how they made the beautiful fiber. We know today that silk is made from a substance produced by silkworms.

6. The Silk Road Chinese History
The silk came from China, and the Chinese were careful to keep the secret of how they made the beautiful fiber. We know today that silk is made from a substance produced by silkworms.

7. The Silk Road Chinese History
The silkworms are not actually worms, but the tiny caterpillars of silk moths. When the silkworms hatch, they are fed mulberry leaves until they are big enough to spin cocoons. Silk makers boil the cocoons and extract the shimmering fibers that are woven into silk.

8. The Silk Road Chinese History
The silkworms are not actually worms, but the tiny caterpillars of silk moths. When the silkworms hatch, they are fed mulberry leaves until they are big enough to spin cocoons. Silk makers boil the cocoons and extract the shimmering fibers that are woven into silk.

9. The Silk Road Chinese History
The silkworms are not actually worms, but the tiny caterpillars of silk moths. When the silkworms hatch, they are fed mulberry leaves until they are big enough to spin cocoons. Silk makers boil the cocoons and extract the shimmering fibers that are woven into silk.

10. The Silk Road Chinese History
Silk traveled west to Rome and other parts of Europe on what historians would later call the Silk Road. The Silk Road was not an actual road, but a 4,000-mile long network of trade routes that connected China to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

11. The Silk Road Chinese History
Silk traveled west to Rome and other parts of Europe on what historians would later call the Silk Road. The Silk Road was not an actual road, but a 4,000-mile long network of trade routes that connected China to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

12. The Silk Road Chinese History
Very few people traveled the entire length of the Silk Road. Trade represented a chain, with each trader and segment of the trade route representing a link in the chain.

13. The Silk Road Chinese History
Very few people traveled the entire length of the Silk Road. Trade represented a chain, with each trader and segment of the trade route representing a link in the chain.

14. The Silk Road Chinese History
In addition to silk, Chinese merchants sold tea, spices and jade. Jade is a hard, shiny stone used to create beautiful carvings. In exchange, the Chinese received gold, silver, precious stones, glass, ivory, horses, elephants and wool.

15. The Silk Road Chinese History
In addition to silk, Chinese merchants sold tea, spices and jade. Jade is a hard, shiny stone used to create beautiful carvings. In exchange, the Chinese received gold, silver, precious stones, glass, ivory, horses, elephants and wool.

16. The Silk Road Chinese History
In addition to silk, Chinese merchants sold tea, spices and jade. Jade is a hard, shiny stone used to create beautiful carvings. In exchange, the Chinese received gold, silver, precious stones, glass, ivory, horses, elephants and wool.

17. The Silk Road Chinese History
Many Europeans first became aware of China when the armies of Alexander the Great expanded his empire along the Silk Road into Central Asia. In 329BCE, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Eschate ("Alexandria the Furthest") about 400 miles west of the Chinese frontier.

18. The Silk Road Chinese History
Many Europeans first became aware of China when the armies of Alexander the Great expanded his empire along the Silk Road into Central Asia. In 329BCE, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Eschate ("Alexandria the Furthest") about 400 miles west of the Chinese frontier.

19. The Silk Road Chinese History
In the centuries that followed, trade grew between the Roman Empire in the west and the equally extraordinary Han Dynasty in China.

20. The Silk Road Chinese History
Travel along the Silk Road could be extremely dangerous. Merchants who traveled the routes were often robbed and killed. In the thirteenth century, Mongol armies used the Silk Road to expand their empire.

21. The Silk Road Chinese History
Travel along the Silk Road could be extremely dangerous. Merchants who traveled the routes were often robbed and killed. In the thirteenth century, Mongol armies used the Silk Road to expand their empire.

22. The Silk Road Chinese History
Travel along the Silk Road could be extremely dangerous. Merchants who traveled the routes were often robbed and killed. In the thirteenth century, Mongol armies used the Silk Road to expand their empire.

23. The Silk Road Chinese History
The first Mongols on the Silk Road were nomadic warriors who attacked and looted the markets on their trade routes, but in time, the Mongols developed their own efficient trade along the Silk Road.

24. The Silk Road Chinese History
In 1269, Marco Polo traveled from his home in Venice to China on the Silk Road. Marco Polo wrote a book about his adventures, but his stories of China were so amazing that many Europeans could not believe his tales were true.

25. The Silk Road Chinese History
In 1269, Marco Polo traveled from his home in Venice to China on the Silk Road. Marco Polo wrote a book about his adventures, but his stories of China were so amazing that many Europeans could not believe his tales were true.

26. The Silk Road Chinese History
Ideas also traveled the Silk Road. Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty by merchants from India. Over time, Buddhism lost much of its influence in India, but became very popular in China.

27. The Silk Road Chinese History
Ideas also traveled the Silk Road. Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty by merchants from India. Over time, Buddhism lost much of its influence in India, but became very popular in China.

28. The Silk Road Chinese History
Ideas also traveled the Silk Road. Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty by merchants from India. Over time, Buddhism lost much of its influence in India, but became very popular in China.

29. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Black Death was a devastating illness that took the lives of nearly half of the people of Europe between 1348 and Scientists believe the plague began as a bacterial disease in Central Asian rats.

30. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Black Death was a devastating illness that took the lives of nearly half of the people of Europe between 1348 and Scientists believe the plague began as a bacterial disease in Central Asian rats.

31. The Silk Road Chinese History
People on land were usually safe because the rats did not like the smell of their horses, but at the western edge of the Silk Road, goods were loaded into ships on the Black Sea.

32. The Silk Road Chinese History
The ships transported goods to cities throughout Europe. In addition to sailors, the ships were home to rats and fleas. Fleas living on the blood of the rats bit the sailors on board. When the sailors returned to their homes in Europe, they carried the deadly, contagious disease.

33. The Silk Road Chinese History
The ships transported goods to cities throughout Europe. In addition to sailors, the ships were home to rats and fleas. Fleas living on the blood of the rats bit the sailors on board. When the sailors returned to their homes in Europe, they carried the deadly, contagious disease.

34. The Silk Road Chinese History
The ships transported goods to cities throughout Europe. In addition to sailors, the ships were home to rats and fleas. Fleas living on the blood of the rats bit the sailors on board. When the sailors returned to their homes in Europe, they carried the deadly, contagious disease.

35. The Silk Road Chinese History
The ships transported goods to cities throughout Europe. In addition to sailors, the ships were home to rats and fleas. Fleas living on the blood of the rats bit the sailors on board. When the sailors returned to their homes in Europe, they carried the deadly, contagious disease.

36. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Silk Road lost its importance when the Mongol Empire disintegrated because the Mongols no longer policed the trade routes. The Silk Road became even more dangerous when bandits learned to make Chinese gunpowder.

37. The Silk Road Chinese History
The Silk Road lost its importance when the Mongol Empire disintegrated because the Mongols no longer policed the trade routes. The Silk Road became even more dangerous when bandits learned to make Chinese gunpowder.

38. The Silk Road Chinese History
The end of the Silk Road came by the fifteenth century, as Portuguese sailors learned to circumnavigate Africa. The new sea routes created by the Portuguese were faster and safer than the Silk Road.

39. The Silk Road Chinese History
The end of the Silk Road came by the fifteenth century, as Portuguese sailors learned to circumnavigate Africa. The new sea routes created by the Portuguese were faster and safer than the Silk Road.

40. Undiscovered Creature by Dan O’Connor Learn more about history at
Music credit:
Undiscovered Creature by Dan O’Connor
(DanoSongs.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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