Maenads in a silk dress, Naples National Archaeological Museum. Trade with the Roman Empire, Roman fashion confirmed he used silk, started from the first century C. While the Romans knew wild silk, cultivated in Kos, did not initially connect to the silk also occurred farther west in the kingdom Sarikol of the Pamir Mountains. There were no direct business contacts between Romans and the Han Chinese, because births and Kushans rivals jealously guarded his lucrative role as commercial intermediaries. Much of what is called the Roman side on trade in silk and silk in general comes the account of Pliny the Elder in his Natural History: The Seres are famous for the woolen substance obtained from their forests, after soaking and combed it into the whites of their leaves ... So diverse is the work of employed and so distant is the region of the globe to harness, to enable the Roman maiden to flaunt transparent clothing in public her.Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VI, 54 Pliny the Elder wrote about the great value of the trade between Rome and Eastern countries For the lowest estimate, India, Seres and the Arabian Peninsula taken from our empire 100 million sesterces every year: that is, that's how much they cost us our luxuries and women. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 12.84 But later, in the same work, wrote: The larva of 'mulberry' then becomes a caterpillar, after which the state assumes the which is known as 'bombylis' and then 'necydalus' then this, in six months, it becomes a silkworm. These insects build up networks similar to those of the spider, the material of which is used to produce the most expensive and luxurious clothing for women, known as 'bombycina'.Panfila, a woman of Cos, the daughter of Platea, was the first person who discovered the art of unraveling these networks and weave a web from there, in fact, she should not be deprived of the glory of having discovered the art of making dresses that reveal the charms of a woman at the same time as the cover. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XI, 26 The Roman Senate issued, in vain, several edicts to prohibit the use of silk, economic and moral grounds: the importation of silk caused a huge outflow of gold and silk clothes were considered decadent and immoral: I can see the silk dresses, if the materials do not hide the body or even their own decency, can not be recalled clothes ... Wretched flocks of maids work so that they can be adulterous visible through his thin clothes, so that her husband has no greater knowledge than any foreigner or stranger on the body of his wife. Seneca (c. 3 BC-65), Dialogues, vol.I The Roman historian Florus also described the visit of numerous envoys, including of Beings, the first Roman emperor Augustus, who reigned from 27 a. C. and 14: Now that all races in the west and south are subjugated and northern races, ... the Scythians and Sarmatians sent ambassadors seeking friendship beings and also the Indians, who live directly under the sun , brought elephants from their gifts, and precious stones and pearls, considered its long journey to the fulfillment of which had taken four years as the greatest tribute paid and, indeed, his skin test coming from beneath another sky.Florus, Epitomae, II, 34 The commands of Jiaozhi and quarrel in what is now northern Vietnam became the main entry point to China by Western countries as far away as the Roman Empire, as recorded in the Book of Later Han: In the ninth year Yanxi (166), during the reign of Emperor Huan, the king of Da Qin (the Roman Empire), Andu a (Marco Aurelio, r. 161-180), sent envoys over Beyond the borders of quarrel ... During the reign of Emperor He (89-105), several envoys arrived, bringing tribute and offerings. Later, the Western Regions rebelled and these relations were interrupted. Then, during the second and fourth year of the reign of Emperor Yanxi Huan (159 1619) and often since then, (the) foreigners have arrived (at sea) to the borders of quarrel (south of Jiaozhi command) to present offerings . Hill (2009), pp. 27, 31. The Book of Liang argues that the merchants of this country ieDa Qin or the Roman Empire frequently visited Funan (in the Mekong River Delta), quarrel and Jiaozhi (in the Red River delta, near present-day Hanoi), but few of the inhabitants of these states have gone to southern border Da Qin. During the V century Huangwu period of the reign of Sun Quan (226), a merchant of Da Qin, whose name was Qin Lun Jiaozhi arrived, the prefect Taishou of Jiaozhi, Wu Miao, Sun Quan sent him (the Emperor Wu), who asked for a report on his native country and its people. ARC China Hill (2009), p.