***There were even Roman soldiers found that were captured in the middle east***
Would these be the remnants of the army of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the General who defeated Spartacus?
***There were even Roman soldiers found that were captured in the middle east***
Apparently some Roman soldiers were held captive (or settled ) in the farthest west part of China.
As well, some theories suggest the Magi were from China (as it took them two years to arrive — ie, the timing would be correct if they were following the silk road.)
Captives held by the victorious Parthians would no doubt have been a tradable commodity just like silk. As the intermediaries on the land route (also called Silk Road), they certainly had that ability. Yon Cassius, he of the “lean and hungry look”, was respected for having brought 10,000 Roman soldiers back to Roman controlled Syria from Crassus’ deadly campaign. This was only a small portion of those who had marched east. In fact it was Caesar’s “ambition” to go fight the Parthians again to reclaim Romes honor and avenge Crassus’ death that motivated Cassius to the assassination of Casear. Cassius knew from first hand experience just how deadly the Parthians were in warfare. I believe this was in the area of current Afghanistan. Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are likely to repeat them. At least Rome did not repeat that mistake.