The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.102

c9.102

Augustus speaks of envoys received by him from India, a thing never before known,¹ and it is not improbable that he also received an embassy from China.² Suetonius (first century A.D.) speaks in his history of these relations,³ as do several of his contemporaries,⁴ and Vergil⁵ tells of Augustus doing battle in Persia. In Pliny’s time the trade of the Roman Empire with Asia amounted to a million and a quarter dollars a year, a sum far greater relatively then than now,⁶ while by the time of Constantine Europe was in direct communication with the Far East.⁷