ABSTRACT
The influence of the Roman world in antiquity was immense, stretching far beyond the Empire's boundaries. The latter, at their greatest extent, included the entire Mediterranean basin from the fringes of the Sahara in the south to beyond the Rhine and Danube in the north, eastwards to the head of the Persian Gulf, Syrian and Arabian deserts, and westwards to the Atlantic and North and Irish Seas. Beyond lay contacts, mainly through trade, with China and India, east Africa and trans-Saharan tribes, central Europe up to the Baltic, Scotland and Ireland; Roman coins have reputedly been found in Manchuria.
