Alexander's incursion into the region of Central Asia in the late 4th century BC had long-lasting consequences on the economic, political and cultural form of the entirety of Eurasia. It served as a bridge between the great Civilisations of Europe and Asia, which up until then lived in relatively isolated civilizational bubbles, separated from one another by the vastness of the distance between them. The foundation of these first European-Asian relations, founded by the Greeks with their interference in Central Asian affairs, served as a base for the building of relations between two other great states: Rome on one hand and Han China and it’s successors on the other. This master's thesis thus addresses the subject of Greco-Roman-Chinese diplomatic and economic relations between the weaving of first contacts during Alexander's incursion and the zenith of Han China to the collapse of the foreign policy ambitions of the Eastern Roman and Chinese countries in the sixth century AD, when the contacts between Europe and the Asian territories ceased. Rome and China have been seen as the culmination of state and political development of Ancient History and are still considered a pillar of culture and statehood in the period before the development of the concept of the modern state. As the main superpowers of their time, both Empires had something to offer to one another and through the steppes of Central Asia, their mingling created the Silk Route, which not only served as a means of economic exchange but also as a way of transmitting ideas, knowledge and concepts. Due to the vastness of the space between them, scholars and scribes were offered new information regarding the other only in fragments, yet in due time, both the Greco-Romans and the Chinese knew quite a lot about each other. Due to the nature of their relations and the currents in the Historiography of the Era, there are many inconsistencies and fallacies, which come up in their sources. In due time, due to these factors, both countries considered the other of being a vast “treasure country” filled with unimaginable riches and wealth, a land of the mysterious and mystical. The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to analyse the currently still available primary written sources, to give forth an explanation regarding their relations, and to show how diplomacy worked between the two superpowers of the Ancient World.
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