From early in the first millennium BCE the Incense Route wound its way from the vast groves of frankincense and myrrh in “Arabia Felix” to the shores of the Mediterranean. Following the ‘discovery’ of the monsoon in the late first millennium BCE Roman ships criss-crossed the Indian Ocean in a quest for exotic spices and other luxury goods and resulting in the decline of the Incense Route and the emergence of powerful mercantile cities and ports. From the seventh century, with the coming of Islam, this remarkable maritime network stretched from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea and beyond, conveying precious goods along with intrepid traders and adventurers.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• L. Casson, The Periplus Maris Erythraei, Princeton University Press, 1989. ISBN 0691040605
• W. Dalrymple, The Golden Road, Bloomsbury, 2024. ISBN 1408864428
• R. McGlaughlin, Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean, Pen and Sword, 2018, ISBN: 9781526738073
• St. John Simpson (ed.), Queen of Sheba. Treasures from Ancient Yemen, British Museum Press, 2002. ISBN 0714111511

COURSE OUTLINE

• The existence of the lucrative Incense Route before the ‘discovery’ of the Indian Ocean monsoons
• The role of the Indian Ocean monsoons in east-west trade
• The origin of the various luxury good traded between ancient Rome, India, and south-east Asia
• The great expansion of the Monsoon Route with the coming of Islam

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Understand the role of the Indian Ocean in facilitating east-west trade and linking Europe with Asia
2. Realise the importance of the Arabian products of frankincense and myrrh in the ancient western economy
3. The importance of Indian products to the Roman world