The Silk road ran for 5,000 miles across Asia and increased trade in [[silk]] and fine goods between [[Asia]] and [[Europe]]. Merchants did not travel the entire length, goods were passed on by middle-men who extracted large sums of money for their services. There is no general consensus as to the date when the silk road began, but [[silk]] from China arrived in Rome before the first century A.D. Although the volume of trade fluctuated across time, the Silk Road remained an important trade route until the anti-[[Ch'ing]] revolution of 1911. | The Silk road ran for 5,000 miles across Asia and increased trade in [[silk]] and fine goods between [[Asia]] and [[Europe]]. Merchants did not travel the entire length, goods were passed on by middle-men who extracted large sums of money for their services. There is no general consensus as to the date when the silk road began, but [[silk]] from China arrived in Rome before the first century A.D. Although the volume of trade fluctuated across time, the Silk Road remained an important trade route until the anti-[[Ch'ing]] revolution of 1911. |