On the Development of the Red Sea Route to India

Teresa R. Moore

The large-scale trade between India and the Roman world was made possible by the discovery of an open sea route between the Gulf of Aden and the western coast of India. By exploiting the southwest monsoon, traders were able to bypass African and Arab middlemen and sail directly to Indian ports. By the time of Augustus, large fleets were voyaging regularly to India, returning with cargoes of silk, spices, and precious stones. Transshipment of goods to Alexandria was facilitated by a number of ports on Egypt's inhospitable Red Sea coast and by a network of roads leading to the Nile.

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