<P> Sino - Roman relations comprised the mostly indirect contact , flow of trade goods , information , and occasional travellers between the Roman Empire and Han Empire of China , as well as between the later Eastern Roman Empire and various Chinese dynasties . These empires inched progressively closer in the course of the Roman expansion into the ancient Near East and simultaneous Han Chinese military incursions into Central Asia . Mutual awareness remained low , and firm knowledge about each other was limited . Only a few attempts at direct contact are known from records . Intermediate empires such as the Parthians and Kushans , seeking to maintain lucrative control over the silk trade , inhibited direct contact between these two Eurasian powers . In 97 AD , the Chinese general Ban Chao tried to send his envoy Gan Ying to Rome , but Gan was dissuaded by Parthians from venturing beyond the Persian Gulf . Several alleged Roman emissaries to China were recorded by ancient Chinese historians . The first one on record , supposedly from either the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius or his adopted son Marcus Aurelius , arrived in 166 AD . Others are recorded as arriving in 226 and 284 AD , with a long absence until the first recorded Byzantine embassy in 643 AD . </P>
<P> Sino - Roman relations comprised the mostly indirect contact , flow of trade goods , information , and occasional travellers between the Roman Empire and Han Empire of China , as well as between the later Eastern Roman Empire and various Chinese dynasties . These empires inched progressively closer in the course of the Roman expansion into the ancient Near East and simultaneous Han Chinese military incursions into Central Asia . Mutual awareness remained low , and firm knowledge about each other was limited . Only a few attempts at direct contact are known from records . Intermediate empires such as the Parthians and Kushans , seeking to maintain lucrative control over the silk trade , inhibited direct contact between these two Eurasian powers . In 97 AD , the Chinese general Ban Chao tried to send his envoy Gan Ying to Rome , but Gan was dissuaded by Parthians from venturing beyond the Persian Gulf . Several alleged Roman emissaries to China were recorded by ancient Chinese historians . The first one on record , supposedly from either the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius or his adopted son Marcus Aurelius , arrived in 166 AD . Others are recorded as arriving in 226 and 284 AD , with a long absence until the first recorded Byzantine embassy in 643 AD . </P>
who prevented the romans from sending embassies to the chinese
who prevented the romans from sending embassies to the chinese
Parthians
Parthians