How did migration, trade and nomadic invasion threaten and or aid classic empires and civilizations?
Mason Pirio
10/12/14
Period 4

Migration, trade, and nomads effected early civilizations in many ways, some positive and some negative. Nomads made trade difficult at times and occasionally invaded sedentary civilizations. Trade helped boost early economies by providing civilization with useful resources which could not be found in their own region. Migration was key in terms of disseminating culture and ideas throughout the classical world. Migration and trade also spread religion; an example of this is when Buddhism spread from India to china. There were also many drawbacks to migration as it spread new diseases that some cultures were unequipped to deal with.
Trade greatly aided the economies of early civilizations. Silk was a common item of trade in china, as china had the highest quality of silk at the time. The Silk Road was passage in which many travelers used to acquire silk from china. Trade was also important because some places had things that other places didn’t. Trade also encouraged the spread of new ideas and technology such as hunting methods, weaponry, arts, and most of all, religion.
Nomads threatened the trade of early civilizations, and the civilizations themselves. A prime example of nomadic invasion is in china. China feared being attacked by the Mongols, so they built the Great Wall of China to defend from any attacks from the north. This can be both negative and positive, because it limited trade; however it provided security from the Mongols. Another negative impact of this is that lots of time, money, and materials were required to build it. Nomad and civilized people were known to intermarry, thus introducing previously unknown diseases. Migration of this time period is centered upon the migration of nomadic