Overtime, many things change but many remain the same. The Silk Road played a major aspect in that role. The Silk Road was an important network of trade routes established during the Classical period between 200 B.C.E and 1450 C.E to connect the East and West. Even though the Silk Road has undergone many changes throughout the years, its initial purpose of trade has remained the same. Goods are still traded to and from Europe and Asia. A change along the silk route was how disease was spread and how it largely impacted those who were affected. One of the continuities along the Silk Road was the initial purpose of establishing the trade route. Asian goods were traded with European merchants. Asia relied heavily on Silk being traded and considered …show more content…
The trade route helped not only get products from one place to another, but help spread religion, culture, and disease. The Silk Road had started out as a small merchant route for trade and slowly grew into something bigger. Products were carried in large camel caravans that traveled through the harsh and devastated steppes, deserts, and oases of Central Asia. Later on, products were carried on boats and had a negative result of spreading disease. Diseases were unfamiliar and had little to no immunity. One example of disease being spread was in Athens between 430-429 B.C.E; it was entered through Greece via seaborne trade from Egypt and killed about 25% of its army and had weakened the city-state. Another example of disease was smallpox and measles; it affected the Roman and Han dynasty and contributed to their political collapse. Disease hit once again and affected the Mediterranean Sea coastal areas. Black rats that were disease infected had traveled via sea trade and killed 10,000 people per day during a 40 day period in Constantinople. The spread of disease has caused people to take precautions before interacting with one another and has help find unknown cures. The diseases affected everyone dramatically and changed how interactions