A quick, unscheduled post to point out the online translation of the Weilue – “The Peoples of the West”, an overview of the Roman Empire by Chinese scholar, compiled in the third century.
This text was transalted by John E. Hill, and is available through the servers of the university of Washington.
This is the West through Eastern eyes, in the third century.
“The ruler of this country [Rome] is not permanent. When disasters result from unusual phenomena, they unceremoniously replace him, installing a virtuous man as king, and release the old king, who does not dare show resentment.”
… well, sorta.
Considering the title and the topics covered in Karavansara, this link will appear obvious.
This is also part of the documentation for the sword & sorcery stories I’m writing – as I’m planning to move my heroes Eastwards.
Great find, thanks to a link on the Io9 website.
Related articles
- Weilue: The Peoples Of The West (metafilter.com)
- A Third Century A.D. Chinese Description of the Roman Empire (neatorama.com)
- How Third-Century China Saw Rome, a Land Ruled by “Minor Kings” (blogs.smithsonianmag.com)
- Here’s what third-century China thought about the Roman Empire (io9.com)
- List of Roman emperors (en.wikipedia.org)
- Topic of Interest: Splitting the Roman Empire, Diocletian, 285 AD (kbusbyblog.wordpress.com)
Karavansara 