How barbarian were the Barbarians?

[Alanus]

I'm not sure where you are going with this, Ron. But on the subject of trade, we can seen how barbarians received those luxuries and wine. The trade routes in Asia-- east and west-- were well established before the Greeks entered the arena. The Pazryk Scythians, likely the ancestors of the Saka/Massagetae/Alans, were trading with the Persians and Chinese in the fifth century BC. Prior to the conquests of Alexander, the Sogdians and Bactrians opened up routes into India, and they were largely responsible for the development of what we now call the "Silk Road."

All of these tribes were "barbarians," perhaps not as barbaric as we might think. That seems to be the way Alexander saw it. After all, he married one of them. :lol: