Dr Raoul McLaughlin is a Tutor at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests include Roman commerce and the ancient economy.

In the half century since Mortimer Wheeler's pioneering Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers appeared, the archaeological and scholarly inquiry of the Far East has expanded dramatically. A synthetic up-to-date account of the progress of this inquiry has been a desideratum. Raoul McLaughlin's Rome and the Distant East has heroically tackled this important task, assembling the exotic and esoteric literature, and with penetrating insight analyzed the extensive trade that characterized the international world of the early Roman imperium. The study is comprehensive, involving both the aromatics trade with Arabia and India, and the fabled Silk Road that connected China with the distant Da Qin-as the Chinese called Rome-in the west, and exploring the commercial arteries, both the overland caravan routes and sea routes, and including a discussion of the impact of the luxury trade on the Roman economy. There is much to glean from this stimulating and interesting study that should attract historians, economists, and a variety of other scholars

• 1. The ancient sources for Rome's eastern trade \ 2. Diplomatic contacts between the Roman Empire and the distant East \ 3. Roman Egypt and the sea route to India \ 4. The Roman Empire and Arabian trade \ 5. Trade routes through Persia and the Silk Road connection \ 6. The impact on the Roman world

Dr Raoul McLaughlin is a Tutor at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests include Roman commerce and the ancient economy.

In the half century since Mortimer Wheeler's pioneering Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers appeared, the archaeological and scholarly inquiry of the Far East has expanded dramatically. A synthetic up-to-date account of the progress of this inquiry has been a desideratum. Raoul McLaughlin's Rome and the Distant East has heroically tackled this important task, assembling the exotic and esoteric literature, and with penetrating insight analyzed the extensive trade that characterized the international world of the early Roman imperium. The study is comprehensive, involving both the aromatics trade with Arabia and India, and the fabled Silk Road that connected China with the distant Da Qin-as the Chinese called Rome-in the west, and exploring the commercial arteries, both the overland caravan routes and sea routes, and including a discussion of the impact of the luxury trade on the Roman economy. There is much to glean from this stimulating and interesting study that should attract historians, economists, and a variety of other scholars

• 1. The ancient sources for Rome's eastern trade \ 2. Diplomatic contacts between the Roman Empire and the distant East \ 3. Roman Egypt and the sea route to India \ 4. The Roman Empire and Arabian trade \ 5. Trade routes through Persia and the Silk Road connection \ 6. The impact on the Roman world

Dr Raoul McLaughlin is a Tutor at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests include Roman commerce and the ancient economy.

In the half century since Mortimer Wheeler's pioneering Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers appeared, the archaeological and scholarly inquiry of the Far East has expanded dramatically. A synthetic up-to-date account of the progress of this inquiry has been a desideratum. Raoul McLaughlin's Rome and the Distant East has heroically tackled this important task, assembling the exotic and esoteric literature, and with penetrating insight analyzed the extensive trade that characterized the international world of the early Roman imperium. The study is comprehensive, involving both the aromatics trade with Arabia and India, and the fabled Silk Road that connected China with the distant Da Qin-as the Chinese called Rome-in the west, and exploring the commercial arteries, both the overland caravan routes and sea routes, and including a discussion of the impact of the luxury trade on the Roman economy. There is much to glean from this stimulating and interesting study that should attract historians, economists, and a variety of other scholars

• 1. The ancient sources for Rome's eastern trade \ 2. Diplomatic contacts between the Roman Empire and the distant East \ 3. Roman Egypt and the sea route to India \ 4. The Roman Empire and Arabian trade \ 5. Trade routes through Persia and the Silk Road connection \ 6. The impact on the Roman world