Introduction
whole series of trade routes along which this traffic used to pass. Imperial Powers like Rome and Byzantium, and armed Merchant Guilds like Genoa and Venice, used to struggle for the possession of these great trade routes, six of which can be discerned crossing the southern "gateway" during the middle ages. The most southerly one was controlled by the Greek mariners, who, starting from Hellas, visited in their ships every bay and natural harbour of the Levant. This important sea-route was continued overland from the Syrian coast to the Mesopotamian oases by way of Palmyra. Farther north came the great land route across Asia Minor, which led from the coast of Lydia to Mesopotamia. The control of the trade that passed this way frequently changed hands, as the imperial power of Byzantium or the Caliphate waxed or waned. In the 14th century the invasion of Turkish nomads and the fall of the Greek Empire caused the exchange between East and West along this line to dwindle. It was only renewed when the Western Power in the 19th century commenced their colonial expansion.
Across Armenia during the middle ages went a third route, which, starting from the Greek sea-board at Trebizond, passed through the city of Ani and ended in the fertile oases of northern and central Persia. There were many suzerain powers along this route—Byzantium, the Armenian kings, the Caliphate and the Shahs. The fortunes of each varied, but with the decline of the influence of the Armenian kings, who were squeezed between the Eastern and Western Powers, most of the authority along this route after the 12th century passed to the Greek Empire and Tartar Khans, who divided the tribute and royalties between them.
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