Silk and glass in the eastern trade of the Roman Empire. Written sources and their interpretation.

Abstract

In my study, I will examine the written sources related to Eastern trade in the Roman Empire in terms of both the veracity of the auctors’ accounts in the light of our present-day knowledge and the extent to which contemporary researchers tend to misinter-pret the descriptions of the individual authors. I will be focusing on four topics, briefly addressing the topics on (1) Romans and silk, (2) ancient authors on silk, and (4) glass in India, while dedicating more attention to (3) glass and glassware in the trade between Rome and India.