Poem: "The Last Command"
I messed up the offerings in an audience poll. Nobody made a different request, so this second choice is the free epic for the April 2, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl making its $200 goal. It was spillover from the April 5, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from rix_scaedu. It also fills the "communication" square in my 4-4-22 "Aspects" card for the Genderplay Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.
"Meeting in the Middle"
[97 CE]
In the beginning, the Silk Road
worked like a bucket chain, with
goods passed from one caravan
to the next, instead of being
shepherded from the start to
the finish by a single merchant.
Thus the silk traveled from land
controlled by the Chinese, to
the Kushans, the Parthians,
and finally to the Romans.
Roman glassware traveled
in the opposite direction
to reach Chinese nobles.
When the Xiongnu fought
to control the Silk Road,
the Han general Pan Chao
stabilized the Tarim basin region
and drove away the troublemakers.
Then Pan Chao decided to reach out
to the Roman Empire and sent forth
an ambassador called Kan Ying.
Along with the ambassador went
wagons full of fantastic gifts.
Kan Ying made it as far as
Mesopotamia. From there he
meant to take a ship to Rome.
The Parthians worried that
direct contact between China
and Rome might undermine
their position as middlemen.
So they tried to fool Kan Ying,
telling him that it would take
two years to reach Rome.
The wily Kan Ying suspected
deceit, though, because he had
seen the dates stamped on coins
and glassware, and he knew that
two years sounded too long.
So he went into the markets
and spoke with other merchants,
asking about how long it would take
to get goods from different places.
The merchants were happy
to talk trade, and from them
Kan Ying learned that a trip
to Rome would take less than
a month from the local market.
Happily he booked passage
and reached Rome in good time.
The Romans were delighted
to receive an ambassador from
the Land of Silk, especially one
who bore such lavish gifts.
They introduced Kan Ying
to the foremost Roman traders,
and together made arrangements
for a new kind of caravan that would
ship goods all the way underneath
the auspices of one merchant,
thus cutting costs substantially.
That communication laid
the groundwork to establish
closer ties between the empires.
In the future, their emissaries
would be able to meet in the middle,
probably somewhere in Parthian
Kushan territory, to make plans
for further cooperation -- perhaps
even an alliance, eventually.
It would take time, and effort,
but Kan Ying felt confident that
it would all work out, and he
looked forward to traveling
the Silk Road that now
bound them together with
a love of beautiful things.
* * *
Notes:
Read about the first contact between Rome and China in local-Earth.
Gan Ying was a Chinese diplomat and explorer who went on a mission to the Roman Empire in 97 CE.
In that time, the Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk among other goods.
Antiochia (or Antiocheia, Antiochea, Antiokheia) may refer to any of several Hellenistic cities in the Near East which were founded or rebuilt by the several rulers named Antiochus during the Seleucid Empire:
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in April takes 22.3 days, covering 2922 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 2.91
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 3.08
Per passenger in a carriage: 597.14
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in July takes 26.1 days, covering 3024 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 3.89
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 4.23
Per passenger in a carriage: 705.04
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in September takes 22.7 days, covering 2910 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 3.55
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 3.88
Per passenger in a carriage: 618.84
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in January takes 21.9 days, covering 3018 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 2.87
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 3.04
Per passenger in a carriage: 587.64
"Meeting in the Middle"
[97 CE]
In the beginning, the Silk Road
worked like a bucket chain, with
goods passed from one caravan
to the next, instead of being
shepherded from the start to
the finish by a single merchant.
Thus the silk traveled from land
controlled by the Chinese, to
the Kushans, the Parthians,
and finally to the Romans.
Roman glassware traveled
in the opposite direction
to reach Chinese nobles.
When the Xiongnu fought
to control the Silk Road,
the Han general Pan Chao
stabilized the Tarim basin region
and drove away the troublemakers.
Then Pan Chao decided to reach out
to the Roman Empire and sent forth
an ambassador called Kan Ying.
Along with the ambassador went
wagons full of fantastic gifts.
Kan Ying made it as far as
Mesopotamia. From there he
meant to take a ship to Rome.
The Parthians worried that
direct contact between China
and Rome might undermine
their position as middlemen.
So they tried to fool Kan Ying,
telling him that it would take
two years to reach Rome.
The wily Kan Ying suspected
deceit, though, because he had
seen the dates stamped on coins
and glassware, and he knew that
two years sounded too long.
So he went into the markets
and spoke with other merchants,
asking about how long it would take
to get goods from different places.
The merchants were happy
to talk trade, and from them
Kan Ying learned that a trip
to Rome would take less than
a month from the local market.
Happily he booked passage
and reached Rome in good time.
The Romans were delighted
to receive an ambassador from
the Land of Silk, especially one
who bore such lavish gifts.
They introduced Kan Ying
to the foremost Roman traders,
and together made arrangements
for a new kind of caravan that would
ship goods all the way underneath
the auspices of one merchant,
thus cutting costs substantially.
That communication laid
the groundwork to establish
closer ties between the empires.
In the future, their emissaries
would be able to meet in the middle,
probably somewhere in Parthian
Kushan territory, to make plans
for further cooperation -- perhaps
even an alliance, eventually.
It would take time, and effort,
but Kan Ying felt confident that
it would all work out, and he
looked forward to traveling
the Silk Road that now
bound them together with
a love of beautiful things.
* * *
Notes:
Read about the first contact between Rome and China in local-Earth.
Gan Ying was a Chinese diplomat and explorer who went on a mission to the Roman Empire in 97 CE.
In that time, the Romans traded spices, glassware, perfumes, and silk among other goods.
Antiochia (or Antiocheia, Antiochea, Antiokheia) may refer to any of several Hellenistic cities in the Near East which were founded or rebuilt by the several rulers named Antiochus during the Seleucid Empire:
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in April takes 22.3 days, covering 2922 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 2.91
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 3.08
Per passenger in a carriage: 597.14
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in July takes 26.1 days, covering 3024 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 3.89
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 4.23
Per passenger in a carriage: 705.04
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in September takes 22.7 days, covering 2910 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 3.55
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 3.88
Per passenger in a carriage: 618.84
The Fastest journey from Antiochia to Roma in January takes 21.9 days, covering 3018 kilometers.
Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options:
Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 2.87
Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 3.04
Per passenger in a carriage: 587.64