Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c18.s3.30

c18.s3.30

³ In one class of his copper coins appears a Roman head which was palpably imitated from that of Augustus (B.C. 27-A.D. 14), Tiberius (A.D. 14-37), or Claudius (A.D. 41-54). *JRAS*, 1912, 679; 1913, 912; Smith, *Catalogue*, 66; *Camb. Short Hist.*, 74. Rome and its people, Romakas, first appear in the *Mahābhārata* (II. 51, 17) and occur not unfrequently in later literature. Diplomatic relations between Rome and India were established as early as the time of Augustus who received an embassy from king 'Pandion' (*JRAS*, 1860, 309 ff. *Camb. Hist. Ind.* I. 597.) about B.C. 27-20. An Indian embassy was also received by Trajan (A.D. 98-117) shortly after A.D. 99. Strabo, Pliny and the Periplus refer to a brisk trade between India and the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. See *JRAS*, 1904, 591; *IA*, 5. 281; 1923, 50. Pliny deplores the drain of specie (*JRAS*, 1912, 986; 1913, 644-1031).