Evidence for Rome establishing relations/ contact with China

[Komet]

Yes, marsvigilia, we know that. I'm looking for the specific name that would distinguish Chinese barbarians from other barbarians.

What did the Romans call China?

The Greeks and Romans called the Chinese "Seres" and China "Serica".


~Theo

The "Seres" (or what we think of as Chinese) were to the Romans merely people living to the east of the easternmost people the Romans ever had contact with. It's true that the Romans just knew them as the people that produced silk. The Chinese word "Daqin" represented to the Chinese the land that consumed their silk, which was to the Chinese, the area west of the westernmost people the Chinese ever had established contact with. The two empires knew little else of each other.