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Article: Meanwhile, in other lands. . .(Han dynasty in 1 A.D.)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- January 8, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Not all roads led to Rome in A.D. 1. Though he never saw it, China's Han dynasty would have humbled even Augustus: A detailed census taken in A.D. 2 counted nearly 60 million souls under the emperor's rule, protected from northern barbarians by a garrisoned wall stretching hundreds of miles.
At the heart of Han power was trade, with far-reaching and well- regulated routes on sea and land. Silk, along with other manufactured goods like lacquer boxes and iron, tied the empire to almost every corner of the ancient world, as trade pulsed along the route travelers today still call the Silk Road. (The secrets of cultivating the silkworm were closely guarded by the ...