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{{Short description|Relations}}
[[File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg|thumb|300px|Roman maritime trade in [[India]] and Scythia according to the ''[[Periplus Maris Erythraei]],'' 1st century AD.]]
The first documented '''relations between [[Middle kingdoms of India|Ancient India]] and [[Ancient Rome]]''' occurred during the reign of [[Augustus]] (27 BC – AD 14), the first [[Roman Emperor]].[[File:Roman Empire and India in 394 CE. (uncaptioned).png|thumb|[[Roman Empire]] and the [[Indian subcontinent]] in 394 CE. The Green representing the [[Gupta Empire]] and Red for [[Roman Empire]].]]
The presence of Europeans, including [[Roman people|Romans]], in the region known at the time as "India" (modern [[South Asia]], including [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]] and eastern-[[Afghanistan]]), during the period of the [[Roman Empire]], is poorly documented. Before the [[Wars of Alexander the Great|conquests]] of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], there are no surviving accounts by contemporaries or near-contemporaries of contact between Europe and the South Asia, so modern understanding depends on more abundant literary, numismatic, and archaeological evidence, mainly relating to the trade between them. The Romans were referred as रोमक ''Romaka'' in Sanskrit, while the Romans called the Indians in Latin ''Indī''.

==Early contacts==

[[File:Kushan ring with Septimus Severus and Julia Domna.jpg|thumb|[[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] ring with portraits of [[Septimius Severus]] and [[Julia Domna]], a testimony to Indo-Roman relations.]]
{{further|Sino-Roman relations|Indo-Roman trade relations | Timeline of Romani history | History of the Romani people }}
Indo-Roman relations were built on trade. [[Indo-Roman trade relations|Roman trade in India]] began with overland caravans and later by direct maritime trade following the [[Roman Egypt|conquest of Egypt]] by [[Augustus]] in 30 BC.

According to [[Strabo]] (II.5.12), not long after Augustus took control of Egypt, while Gallus was Prefect of Egypt (26–24 BC), up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from [[Myos Hormos]] to modern-day India:

{{blockquote|"At any rate, when [[Cornelius Gallus|Gallus]] was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the [[Nile]] as far as [[Aswan|Syene]] and the frontiers of [[Kingdom of Aksum|Ethiopia]], and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India, whereas formerly, under the [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Ptolemies]], only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise."|Strabo II.5.12.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strabo's Geography — Book II Chapter 5 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/2E1*.html |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>}}

Augustus maintained the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic]] Red Sea ports and the picket service from the Red Sea to the Nile, whence goods could be carried downstream to the ports of [[Pelusium]] and [[Alexandria]]. He also replaced the Ptolemaic patrol fleet on the Red Sea to keep piracy in check. He received embassies from Indian kings in 26 and 20 BC and, although little specific is known about them, as Carey puts it: "These missions were certainly intended for something more than an exchange of empty compliments."<ref>Carey (1954), p. 496.</ref>

By the time of Augustus, if not before, a sea-captain named [[Hippalus]] had "discovered" (or, rather, brought news to the West of) the relatively safe and punctual contact over the open sea to India by leaving from [[Aden]] on the summer monsoon and returning on the [[Anti-trades|anti-trade]] winds of winter. This would be made safer and more convenient by the Roman sack of Aden in a naval raid c. 1 BC.<ref>Carey (1954), pp. 567.</ref>

[[Cassius Dio]] (d. sometime after AD 229 ) in his ''Hist. Rom''. 54.9 wrote:

<blockquote>
Many embassies came to him (Augustus), and the Indians having previously proclaimed a treaty of alliance, concluded it now with the presentation, among other gifts, of tigers, animals which the Romans, and, if I mistake not, the Greeks as well, saw for the first time. . . .<ref>Majumdar (1960), pp. 451–452.</ref>
</blockquote>

The overland caravans would gain more convenient access into India after the expansion of the [[Kushans]] into northern India during the 1st century AD, and then down the [[Ganges]] Valley in the early 2nd century.<ref>Hill (2003).</ref>

<blockquote>
"From those land routes at least in the time of Augustus several embassies reached Rome. At least four such embassies are mentioned in the Latin literature, namely 1) the embassy from [[Puru (Vedic tribe)|Puru]] country (the territory between the [[Jhelum]] and [[Beas River|Beas]]) took with it to Rome serpents, [[monal]]s, tigers and a letter written in Greek language, 2) the embassy from [[Bharuch|Broach]] was accompanied by a Buddhist monk named Germanos, 3) an embassy from the [[Chera Dynasty|Chera]] country. It was reported in Rome that at [[Muziris]] (near [[Cranganore]]) was built a temple in honour of Augustus and 4) an embassy from the Paṇḍya country ([[Pandya Kingdom]]) brought with it precious stones, pearls and an elephant. We know that in the time of Augustus commercial relations between India and Rome grew but in this the balance of trade was in favour of India from the very beginning and as a result of this Roman gold poured into the country."<ref>Chandra (1977), p. 111.</ref>
</blockquote>

==The Periplus==
The ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', written by an anonymous sea-captain in Greek, can now be confidently dated to between 40 and 70<ref>Casson (1989) p. 7.</ref> and, probably, between AD 40 and 50.<ref>Fussman (1991), pp. 37–38.</ref>

The author of the Periplus lists ports from [[Barbarikon]] at the mouth of the Indus in the west near modern [[Karachi]], right around the southern tip of the Indian peninsula and north as far as the mouth of the [[Ganges]] near modern [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta). In contrast to the wealth of information on some of the west coast ports, the author gives no political information on the ports up the east coast of India,<ref>Casson (1989), p. 47.</ref> perhaps indicating that he had not personally visited them. In fact the text seems to imply that western vessels normally did not travel beyond the tip of the Indian peninsula, probably leaving onward trade to local boats as the passage between India and the northern tip of Palaisimundu or [[Taprobana|Taprobanê]] ([[Sri Lanka]]) was very shallow for trans-oceanic vessels, while the route around the island was long<ref>Casson (1989), pp. 24, 83, 89.</ref> and may have forced skippers to pass another season in the region before the winds were right for the return to Egypt.

==Pliny's accounts==
[[File:Statuetta indiana di Lakshmi, avorio, da pompei, 1-50 dc ca., 149425, 02.JPG|thumb|Indian art also found its way into Italy: in 1938 the [[Pompeii Lakshmi]] was found in the ruins of [[Pompeii]] (destroyed in an eruption of [[Mount Vesuvius]] in AD 79 ).]]
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23–79), generally known as [[Pliny the Elder]], writing c. AD 77, left probably the most important account of India and its trade with Rome that has survived in Classical literature. He gives quite a lot of detail about India, albeit not all accurate, but his observations do more than just outline the bare bones of history, and help give us some picture of how intimately Indian culture and trade was becoming known:

<blockquote>"Coral is as highly valued among the Indians as Indian pearls. It is also found in the Red Sea, but there it is darker in colour. The most prized is found in the Gallic Gulf around the Stoechades Islands, in the Sicilian Gulf around the [[Aeolian Islands]], and around [[Drepana|Drepanum]]. . . . Coral-berries are no less valued by Indian men than specimen Indian pearls by Roman ladies. Indian soothsayers and seers believe that coral is potent as a charm for warding off dangers. Accordingly they delight in its beauty and religious power. Before this became known, the [[Gauls]] used to decorate their swords, shields and helmets with coral. Now it is very scarce because of the price it commands, and is rarely seen in its natural habitat." Pliny. ''Natural History'' (AD 77) (XXXII, chaps. 21, 23).<ref>Healy (1991), p. 281.</ref></blockquote>

Although his estimate of the value of Rome's trade to the East at some 100 million [[sesterce]]s annually (Pliny, NH, VI, 26, 6 & NH, XII, 41, 2) has often been thought to be an exaggeration but, if it is interpreted as referring to the total value of the trade rather than as coinage, it becomes quite believable:

<blockquote>"For example, just one documented consignment from [[Muziris]] ([[Chera dynasty|Chera kingdom]], modern-day [[South India]]) to [[Alexandria]] consisted of 700-1,700 pounds of nard (an aromatic balsam), over 4,700 pounds of ivory and almost 790 pounds of textiles. This has been calculated as worth a total value of 131 [[Talents of silver|talents]], enough to purchase 2,400 acres of the best farmland in Egypt. When it is borne in mind that an average Roman cargo ship would have held about 150 such consignments, Pliny's figure becomes entirely plausible. With such staggering profits it is little wonder that the Roman government in Egypt encouraged – and profited by! – the trade: a 25 per cent tax on all goods from India was levied by the Romans at the Red Sea port of [[Leuke Kome|Leuce Come]]."<ref name="Ball 2000, p. 123">Ball (2000), p. 123.</ref> </blockquote>

==Trajan==
After the Roman Emperor [[Trajan]] [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|defeated]] the [[Dacians]] and annexed the [[Nabataean]] Arabs centered in [[Petra]] c. AD 105, he returned to Rome where:
<blockquote>"...ever so many embassies came to him from various barbarians, including the Sindi [people of the [[Indus Valley]]]. And he gave spectacles on one hundred and twenty-three days, in the course of which some eleven thousand animals, both wild and tame, were slain, and ten thousand gladiators fought."<ref>[[Dio Cassius]], ''Roman History'' Bk. 68 [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/68*.html]</ref></blockquote>
Trajan later defeated [[Parthia]] and, sailing down the [[Tigris River]] (115–16), reached the northern shores of the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>Carey (1954), p. 646.</ref> "Roman troops had beaten the might of Parthia from the field and had reached the Persian Gulf; and their victorious [[Imperator]], Trajan, had dreamed of repeating Alexander's march to the northwestern subcontinent, only to acquiesce in giving up the project on account of his age."<ref>Narain (1968), p. 233.</ref>

==Later references==
[[Image:TabulaPeutingerianaMuziris.jpg|thumb|Muziris, near the southern tip of India, in the ''[[Peutinger Table]]''.]]
The ''[[Peutinger Table]]'', a medieval copy of a 4th or early 5th century map of the world, shows a "Temple to [[Augustus]]" at [[Muziris]], one of the main ports for trade to the Roman Empire on the southwest coast of India.<ref>Ball (2000), p. 123</ref> This and evidence of agreements for loans between agents, one of whom most likely lived in Muziris, and a rather oblique reference in the Periplus, all seem to point to a settlement of Roman subjects living in the region.<ref>Casson (1989), p. 24.</ref>

Embassies are recorded as arriving from the "Indians of the East" at the court of [[Constantine the Great]] ({{reign|306|337}}):
<blockquote>"Ambassadors from the Indians of the East brought presents . . . . which they presented to the king (Constantine the Great) as an acknowledgment that his sovereignty extended to their ocean. They told him, too, how Princes of India had dedicated pictures and statues in his honour in token that they had recognised him as their autocrat and king." [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] ({{floruit|early 4th century}}) ''Vita Constantini'' IV. 50.<ref name="Majumdar 1960, p. 453">Majumdar (1960), p. 453.</ref></blockquote>

More embassies are mentioned from "the Indian nations" in AD 361:
<blockquote>"Embassies from all quarters flocked to him (the [[Emperor Julian]] in 361 A.D.), the Indian nations vying with emulous zeal in sending their foremost men with presents, as far as from the Divi ([[Maldives]]) and the Serendivi (Ceylonese) [sic]." [[Ammianus Marcellinus]]. ''History'' XXII.vii.10.<ref>Majumdar (1960), p. 452.</ref></blockquote>

Finally, Johannes Malala or [[John Malalas]] ({{floruit|mid-6th century}}), p. 477, records that, in AD 530, "an ambassador of the Indians was sent to [[Constantinople]]."<ref name="Majumdar 1960, p. 453"/>

==Archaeological record==
[[Image:ArikameduRomanCeramic.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Roman piece of pottery from [[Arezzo]] in Italy, found at Veerampattinam, [[Arikamedu]], Puducherry, India(1st century AD).]]
[[File:Berenike Buddha (drawing).jpg|thumb|upright|The ''[[Berenike Buddha]]'', discovered in [[Berenice Troglodytica|Berenice]], Egypt.]]
The best archeological record of Roman presence can be found in southern India, specifically at [[Arikamedu]].

Arikamedu was a [[Tamil people|Tamil]] fishing village which was formerly a major [[Early Cholas|Chola]] port dedicated to bead making and trading with [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] traders. It flourished for centuries until the Romans left in the 5th century AD.

Various Roman artifacts, such as a large number of [[amphorae]] bearing the mark of Roman [[Pottery|potter]] schools VIBII, CAMURI and ITTA, have been found at the site, supporting the view on a huge ancient trade between [[Rome]] and the [[ancient Tamil country]], which today include Tamil Nadu, Kerala and regions of Sri Lanka.

Another place full of archeological records is [[Muziris]], in the [[Kerala]] region. Muziris was a major centre of trade in Tamilakkam between the [[Chera Empire]] and the Roman Empire. Large hoards of coins and innumerable shards of amphorae found in the town of [[Pattanam]] have elicited recent archeological interest in finding a probable location of this port city.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4970452.stm BBC News: Search for Muziris]</ref>

A statue of the Buddha, the ''[[Berenike Buddha]]'', made locally and dated to the 2nd century AD, was discovered in the Egyptian harbour of [[Berenice Troglodytica|Berenike]].<ref name="Smith">{{cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Parker |first2=Christopher |title=Archaeologists Unearth Buddha Statue in Ancient Egyptian Port City |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/buddha-statue-found-berenike-egypt-180982075/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

==Numismatic record==
Numerous hoards of Roman gold coins from the time of Augustus and emperors of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD have been from southern India. Attention may be drawn to the large number of Roman [[Aureus|aurei]] and [[Denarius|denarii]] of Augustus to [[Nero]] spanning approximately 120 years, found all along the route from about [[Mangalore]] through the [[Muziris]] area and around the southern tip of India to the south eastern Indian ports.

Under the rule of Augustus, (63 BC–AD 14) the silver content of the denarius fell to 3.9 grams. It remained at nearly this weight until the time of Nero (AD 37–68).<ref name="George Menachery 1987">George Menachery, 'Kodungallur...' (1987, repr. 2000)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indianchristianity.com/html/Books.htm|title=Kodungallur : The Cradle of Christianity in India 2000}}</ref> This would also indicate that the land route from the [[Western India|West coast]] to the [[East India|East coast]] via the Palghat pass in the [[Western Ghats]] was much more popular than the risky or circuitous sea route rounding the Cape or Sri Lanka.<ref name="George Menachery 1987"/>

==See also==

* [[Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations]]
* [[Ancient maritime history]]
* [[Economic history of India]]
* [[List of regions by past GDP (PPP)#Indian|Historic GDP of India (AD 1-1947)]]
* [[Indian Ocean trade]]
* [[Indo-Mediterranean]]
* [[Indo-Roman trade relations]]
* [[India–Italy relations]]
* [[Greece–India relations]]
* [[Indus–Mesopotamia relations]]
* [[Indian maritime history]]
* [[Meluhha#Trade with Sumer|Meluhha trade with Sumer]]
* [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]
* [[Silk Road]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Ball, Warwick. (2000). ''Rome in the East: The transformation of an empire''. Routledge. London and New York. {{ISBN|0-415-11376-8}}.
* Begley, Vimala and de Puma, Richard Daniel (eds). (1991). ''Rome and India: The Ancient Sea Trade''. University of Wisconsin Press. {{ISBN|0-299-12640-4}}.
* Carey, M. (1954). ''A History of Rome down to the reign of Constantine''. 1st edition 1935,. 2nd edition 1954. Reprint 1970 by Macmillan, St. Martin's Press.
* Casson, Lionel. ''The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text With Introduction, Translation, and Commentary''. [[Princeton University Press]], 1989. {{ISBN|0-691-04060-5}}.
* Chami, F. A. 1999. "The Early Iron Age on Mafia island and its relationship with the mainland." ''Azania'' Vol. XXXIV, pp. 1–10.
* Chami, Felix A. 2002. "The Graeco-Romans and Paanchea/Azania: sailing in the Erythraean Sea." From: ''Red Sea Trade and Travel''. The British Museum. Organised by The Society for Arabian Studies.
* Chandra, Moti. (1977). ''Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India''. Abhinav Publications. New Delhi.
* Fussman, G. 1991. "Le Periple et l'histoire politique del'Inde". ''Journal Asiatique'' 279 (1991):31–38.
* Healy, John F. (1991). ''Pliny the Elder. Natural History: A Selection''. Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-14-044413-0}}.
* Hill, John. (2004). A draft annotated translation of "The Peoples of the West" from the ''Weilüe'': A Chinese description of the West, including the Roman Empire (Da Qin), especially Sections 11–21 and notes at: [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html#section11].
* {{cite book|title=Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE|year=2009|first=John E.|last=Hill|publisher=BookSurge|isbn=978-1-4392-2134-1}}, See especially Sections 11–16 and notes.
* Huntingford, G. W. B. (1980). ''The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'', transl. ([[Hakluyt Society]]). {{ISBN|0-904180-05-0}} (also includes translation of Red Sea material from [[Agatharchides]])
* Majumdar, R. C. (1960). ''The Classical Accounts of India''. Firma KLM Private Ltd., Calcutta. Reprint 1981.
* Menachery, George, "Kodungallur the Cradle of Christianity in India", Azhikode, 1987, repr.2000.
* Menachery, George, "The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India", Ed. George Menachery, Vol.I 1982, II 1973, III 2009.
* Menachery, George, The Indian Church History Classics, Vol.I, "The Nazranies", SARAS, Ollur, 1998.
* Miller, J. Innes. 1969. ''The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641''. Oxford University Press. Special edition for Sandpiper Books. 1998. {{ISBN|0-19-814264-1}}.
* Nagaswamy, R. 1995 ''Roman Karur: A peep into Tamil's past.'' Brahad Prakashan, Madras.
* Narain, A. K. (1968). "The Date of Kaniṣka." In: ''Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka''. Edited by A. L. Basham. Leiden. E. J. Brill.
* Robin, C. 1991. "L'Arabie du sud et la date du Périple de la mer érythrée". ''Journal Asiatique'' 279:1–30.
* [[Wilfred Harvey Schoff|Schoff, Wilfred Harvey]], translator (1912). ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century, Translated from the Greek and Annotated.'' (First published 1912, New York, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.) Reprinted 1995, New Delhi: Munshiram Monoharlal Publishers, {{ISBN|81-215-0699-9}} .
* Smith, Vincent A. (1908). ''The Early History of India: From 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest including the invasion of Alexander the Great''. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.

==External links==
* [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/periplus/periplus.html] "The present text has been digitalized from the translation of [[Wilfred Harvey Schoff|William H. Schoff]], The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912). Some additional commentary including alternate spellings or translations from [[Lionel Casson]]'s more recent edition are given in square brackets."
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html Ancient history sourcebook]: The basic text from Schoff's 1912 translation.

{{Ancient international relations}}
{{Territories with limited Roman Empire occupation & presence}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indo-Roman Relations}}
[[Category:Roman-Indian relations| ]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of ancient India|Roman]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of ancient Rome|Indian]]
[[Category:Bilateral trading relationships]]
[[Category:Maritime history of India]]
[[Category:Economic history of India]]
[[Category:1st century BC in international relations]]
[[Category:Ancient international relations]]

Indo-Roman relations - Revision history

EkaSaffronGaruda at 18:50, 3 April 2026