The Rise of the Trader

The rise of the trader as a new social class during the time period of the silk road really caught my eye. The idea of a middleman between the producers like farmers, fisherman and herders between the city dweller, aristocrat and artisan has not been seen up to this point. Bulleit raises the question if they contributed more than kings to the rise of great societies and evidence does point in that direction. How else would porcelain pottery made it half way around the world without people spending their entire lives moving goods? Traders facilitated the success of the silk road. Without traders trying to compete with others for the best deals, quickest and safest routes around treacherous mountains and warring nations, nothing would have spread. The importance of the trader cannot be understated and should definitely be looked at more closely.