The Roman Embassy to China and the Dawn of a Dark Age
The second century AD marked a pinnacle of power and prosperity for both the Roman and Han Chinese Empires. By AD 160, these two colossal powers stood at their political and economic zenith, seemingly untouchable. Yet, as history often teaches us, such heights can precede a precipitous fall. This period witnessed the first recorded direct contact between these empires, a momentous occasion overshadowed by a catastrophe that would reshape the ancient world: the Antonine Pandemic.
The Meeting of Giants: Rome and Han China
The Han Empire, mirroring Rome in size and population (over 50 million subjects), boasted a formidable military machine. While its standing army was smaller than Rome's, numbering less than 40,000, it possessed technological advantages. Chinese infantry wielded sophisticated multi-shot crossbows with steel-tipped bolts, a far cry from the javelins and short-swords of Roman legionaries. Furthermore, the Han could draw upon a vast reserve of peasant manpower, capable of fielding enormous armies when necessary. Ancient documents reveal staggering quantities of weaponry stored in state armories, highlighting the Han's capacity for large-scale warfare.
The Romans, on the other hand, were increasingly aware of China's existence, primarily through merchants and ambassadors who had contacts in Central Asia. The lucrative silk trade, draining Roman bullion eastward, made China a significant economic factor for the Roman regime. They also learned of the high-grade steel produced in the East, used by the Parthians to craft superior weaponry. Even Roman satirist Juvenal mentioned the Chinese, a testament to their growing prominence in Roman consciousness.
In AD 161, Emperor Antoninus Pius died, succeeded by Marcus Aurelius. This transition coincided with renewed conflict with the Parthian Empire, a long-standing rival. In AD 165, Marcus Aurelius, possibly seeking to outflank the Parthians and forge new alliances, dispatched envoys aboard a merchant ship to make direct contact with the Han Empire. This wasn't unprecedented; Rome had previously used merchant networks to facilitate diplomatic missions in the East.
The Roman envoys, after a lengthy journey, finally reached the Chinese outpost at Rinan (in modern-day Vietnam) in AD 166. They were promptly escorted to the Han capital, Luoyang, traveling along well-maintained Chinese highways that dwarfed most Roman roads. This journey highlighted the impressive infrastructure of the Han Empire.
At Luoyang, the Roman delegates were granted an audience with Emperor Huan. Chinese records identify the envoys as representing "Antun," almost certainly referring to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and his co-ruler Lucius Verus. The delegates explained that previous Roman attempts at contact had been thwarted by the Parthians, keen to maintain their control over the silk trade. It's notable that the delegates made no mention of Rome's impending war with Parthia, perhaps indicating a fact-finding mission.
However, the Roman embassy stumbled in a crucial aspect of ancient diplomacy: gifts. Instead of presenting lavish Roman goods, they offered only a collection of relatively ordinary Eastern items – elephant tusks, rhinoceros horn, and turtle-shell. This was a significant faux pas. Han officials, expecting exquisite Roman treasures, were deeply disappointed.
The Hou Hanshu (The Later Han Histories) explicitly notes the lack of valuable gifts, leading to suspicion not about the delegates' authenticity, but about previous reports of Roman wealth and power. This skepticism was reinforced when no further Roman diplomats or merchants arrived in subsequent years. The Chinese, unaware of the unfolding disaster in the West, were left to question the true might of Rome.
Sophie
The Antonine Pandemic: A Scourge Unleashed
Unbeknownst to both empires, a devastating force was already at work, poised to disrupt their carefully laid plans and decimate their populations. A virulent new disease, originating possibly from Borneo or another remote region, had entered the ancient world's trade routes around AD 160.
The disease first struck the Han army stationed on the northern frontiers in AD 162. Within a year, the Han military suffered catastrophic losses, losing a third of its operational strength, with many more soldiers debilitated. This unnamed disease, likely an ancestral strain of smallpox or measles (or a combination), ravaged a population with no prior exposure or natural resistance. The epidemic crippled the Han military and hampered their ability to recruit new soldiers.
Simultaneously, the disease was spreading westward, reaching the Roman armies engaged in a campaign against Parthia in AD 165. This marked the beginning of what is now known as the Antonine Pandemic. By AD 166, the disease reached epidemic proportions in the densely populated cities of Babylonia, forcing the Roman army to retreat from Iraq.
Returning Roman troops carried the disease back to the heart of the Empire, spreading it rapidly through major cities, including Rome. The Historia Augusta vividly describes how the disease seemed to follow co-emperor Lucius Verus's return journey, ultimately reaching the capital. The pandemic spread relentlessly, affecting regions from Persia to the Rhine and Gaul, and even reaching Britain.
Casualty rates were highest in overcrowded urban centers like Alexandria and Rome. The movement of troops facilitated the initial spread, but maritime commerce and crowded marketplaces further propagated the epidemic. Shared living arrangements among soldiers and the Roman practice of communal bathing in thermae (large public bath complexes) exacerbated the spread of the infection. Doctors, following the Greek medical view that bathing could aid recovery, inadvertently contributed to the disease's rapid dissemination.
Contemporary accounts, like that of Aelius Aristides, offer chilling glimpses into the pandemic's impact. He describes the successive sickness of his servants and the death of his foster child. Even the renowned physician Galen fled Rome for his home city of Pergamon, highlighting the severity of the outbreak. The Historia Augusta recounts the removal of corpses in carts and wagons due to the overwhelming number of deaths in Rome.
The Antonine Pandemic persisted at epidemic levels for over a decade (AD 165-175). Refugees fleeing infected areas caused widespread panic and food shortages. Tax records from Egypt reveal staggering population losses, with some villages losing over 70% of their adult male population. Renewed outbreaks continued to decimate communities, as evidenced by records from Socnopaiou Nesos, where nearly a third of the male population died within six months. Entire villages were erased from tax records due to disease and banditry.
The pandemic's impact extended beyond population loss, crippling the Roman economy. Mining operations, crucial for the empire's finances, suffered severely. Evidence from Dacia, Britain, and Iberia indicates a significant decline in mining activity during this period. The Alexandrian mint in Egypt, facing silver shortages, reduced the silver content of its tetradrachma coins and even halted production for a time.
Wealthy merchants, like those from Tyre, faced financial ruin, and cities like Athens had to relax membership criteria for their ruling councils due to population decline. Continued outbreaks are documented in places like Virunum, near the Danube frontier, where a local temple lost a significant portion of its members in AD 183.
Sophie
A Kingdom of Iron and Rust: The Aftermath
The Roman military struggled to regain control of its frontiers, finally restoring the Danube region in AD 168. However, the mass movement of troops and supplies created new avenues for the disease to spread. Emperor Lucius Verus himself succumbed to the disease (or possibly a toxic remedy) on the return journey to Rome, leaving Marcus Aurelius to face the crisis alone.
The pandemic forced Marcus Aurelius to implement unprecedented measures to rebuild the depleted Roman army. He recruited slaves, gladiators, and even bandits, and temporarily rescinded the ban on soldiers marrying to fast-track their sons into the legions. He even paid German tribes to fight as auxiliaries against their own countrymen.
Facing a severe manpower shortage and deserted agricultural lands, Marcus Aurelius adopted a risky new policy: settling German allies within the Empire in exchange for military service. This policy, while offering a potential solution to both problems, also led to unrest, as evidenced by a German revolt in northern Italy.
The pandemic also challenged existing religious beliefs. Mainstream paganism struggled to explain the indiscriminate suffering, while Christianity, with its promise of solace in the afterlife, gained traction. Christian theologians like Cyprian emphasized the world's decay and the inevitability of death, resonating with a population facing unprecedented hardship.
In China, the Han Empire faced similar challenges, culminating in the Yellow Scarves Rebellion in AD 184, a peasant uprising led by a Taoist sect. This rebellion, fueled by faith healers who promised to restore prosperity, severely destabilized the Han regime, ultimately leading to its fragmentation. Buddhism also gained numerous converts in China, offering a philosophy that acknowledged suffering as a fundamental aspect of existence.
The Roman army continued to suffer heavy losses from recurring outbreaks of the disease. Contemporary accounts describe the devastation wrought upon the military, with whole armies succumbing to the sickness. Marcus Aurelius himself contracted the disease and died in AD 180, uttering his famous last words about the shared pestilence and death.
His successor, Commodus, negotiated a peace settlement with the Germanic tribes, requiring substantial payments. The Empire was exhausted, its population decimated, its agricultural prosperity diminished, and its international trade in decline. As the historian Dio Cassius eloquently put it, Rome had descended "from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust." The Golden Age of the Roman Empire was over, replaced by an era of military contention and failing grandeur.
The Roman embassy to China, intended as a symbol of expanding power and influence, ultimately became a poignant reminder of the fragility of even the greatest empires. The Antonine Pandemic, a silent and deadly force, irrevocably altered the course of history, leaving both the Roman and Han Empires weakened and vulnerable, ushering in an era of profound change and uncertainty.
