Cutting a Silken Thread

Silk, as we all know, was a major luxury commodity of Ancient and Medieval times. Trade in the fabric was the foundation of Eurasian trade routes eponymously named the "Silk Road".

Interestingly, silk production did eventually travel West by Late Antiquity. Legend has it that the Roman Emperor Justinian acquired silkworms through subterfuge. Supposedly, Roman monks smuggled silkworm eggs from China in their hollowed out canes. Regardless of the specific method of transmission, the Byzantines did end up with a silk industry of their own.

Given the value of silk as a trade commodity, it's somewhat surprising to me that the Chinese were able to protect the secrets of its production so well and for so long. While the mechanics of turning silkworm cocoons into well-crafted fabric is probably not a simple thing to imitate, trial and error could eventually sort out such methods. The real difficulty is gaining the semi-domesticated silkworms themselves, else there is no way to practice with the material at all.

Given the value and potential ease by which silk production technology may diffuse, let's make it happen.

Before the expansion of the Parthian Empire into the old domains of the Seleucids, Greek merchants in this Hellenistic age manage to acquire silkworm eggs. Silkworms soon rapidly spread through the Kingdoms of the Diadochi and Greek offshoots: from Bactria, to Medea, Seleucia, and Egypt.

By this time, the growing Roman Republic has crushed Macedonia for its interference in the Punic Wars, and set up clients and allies through Greece, Macedonia and the Balkans. This frustrates the confident Seleucid Empire, and it comes to war in the ~190sBC

Roman and Seleucid collide in great battles within Greece and Ionia, with the Seleucids gravely humbled by the flexible legions and aggressive Roman leadership.

The end of the war brings with it Roman client states extending into Anatolia, and leads to the introduction of silk to the Eternal City. Wealthy Roman elites eagerly adopt the fabric as the highest of fashions.

Not much time passes before silk production itself spreads to Italy and various Roman provinces from the east. The lower cost of shimmering cloth causes it to be adopted by even the better off middle classes of Roman society. No woman secure in her social and financial status would dare to be seen in public without wearing her silk stola.

As the Roman Republic absorbs the disintegrating Hellenistic Empires, trade with the east picks up. However, there is no need for trade in silk. Instead, the West seeks spices and other luxuries with greater intensity over OTL. Red Sea ports and the Persian Gulf prosper through such trade with India and the Spice Islands.

By contrast, the overland trade routes are smaller and poorer than OTL. Trade over land is expensive, and China has less of interest to export that great distance.

What might all this mean? How will trade through Central Asia evolve and adapt?

What effects might the greater emphasis on spices or otherwise non-silk items by the Mediterranean markets have on East-West trade in general?
 
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