A third land route by which silk was brought to the Persian merchants, and
by them sold to the Romans, was from Samarcand and Bochara, through the
northern provinces of China, to the metropolis of the latter country: this,
however, was a long, difficult, and dangerous route. From Samarcand to the
first town of the Chinese, was a journey of from 60 to 100 days; as soon as
the caravans passed the Jaxartes, they entered the desert, in which they
were necessarily exposed to great privations, as well as to great risk from
the wandering tribes. The merchants of Samarcand and Bochara, on their
return from China, transported the raw or manufactured silk into Persia;
and the Persian merchants sold it to the Romans at the fairs of Armenia and
Nisibis.
Another land route is particularly described by Ptolemy: according to his
detail, this immense inland communication began from the bay of Issus, in
Cilicia; it then crossed Mesopotamia, from the Euphrates to the Tigris,
near Hieropolis: it then passed through part of Assyria and Media, to
Ecbatana and the Caspian Pass; after this, through Parthia to Hecatompylos:
from this place to Hyrcania; then to Antioch, in Margiana; and hence into
Bactria. From Bactria, a mountainous country was to be crossed, and the
country of the Sacae, to Tachkend, or the Stone Tower. Near this place was
the station of those merchants who traded directly with the Seres.
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