Table of contents; Preface; Introduction: Silk on the Silk Roads. Exchange between East and West in Antiquity Berit Hildebrandt ; 1. Looking towards the West -- how the Chinese viewed the Romans Liu Xinru; 2. Textiles and trade in South Asia during the Proto-Historic and Early Historic Period J. Mark Kenoyer; 3. Word migration on the Silk Road: the etymology of English silk and its congeners Adam Hyllested; 4. Silk production and trade in the Roman Empire Berit Hildebrandt