t Persia, he left governors; and in
these the western civilization was long in evidence. Some of the Greek and
Roman metrical and astronomical terms {78} found their way, doubtless at
this time, into the Sanskrit language.[305] Even as late as from the second
to the fifth centuries A.D., Indian coins showed the Hellenic influence.
The Hindu astronomical terminology reveals the same relationship to western
thought, for Var[=a]ha-Mihira (6th century A.D.), a contemporary of
[=A]ryabha[t.]a, entitled a work of his the _B[r.]hat-Sa[m.]hit[=a]_, a
literal translation of [Greek: megale suntaxis] of Ptolemy;[306] and in
various ways is this interchange of ideas apparent.[307] It could not have
been at all unusual for the ancient Greeks to go to India, for Strabo lays
down the route, saying that all who make the journey start from Ephesus and
traverse Phrygia and Cappadocia before taking the direct road.[308] The
products of the East were always finding their way to the West, the Greeks
getting their ginger[309] from Malabar, as the Phoenicians had long before
brought gold from Malacca.

Greece must also have had early relations with China, for there is a
notable similarity between the Greek and Chinese life, as is shown in their
houses, their domestic customs, their marriage ceremonies, the public
story-tellers, the puppet shows which Herodotus says were introduced from
Egypt, the street jugglers, the games of dice,[310] the game of
finger-guessing,[311] the water clock, the {79} music system, the use of
the myriad,[312] the calendars, and in many other ways.[313] In passing
through the suburbs of Peking to-day, on the way to the Great Bell temple,
one is constantly reminded of the semi-Greek architecture of Pompeii, so
closely does modern China touch the old classical civilization of the
Mediterranean. The Chinese historians tell us that about 200 B.C. their
arms were successful in the far west, and that in 180 B.C. an ambassador
went to Bactria, then a Greek city, and reported that Chinese products were
on sale in the markets there.[314] There is also a noteworthy resemblance
between certain Greek and Chinese words,[315] showing that in remote times
there must have been more or less interchange of thought.

The Romans also exchanged products with the East. Horace says, "A busy
trader, you hasten to the farthest Indies, flying from poverty over sea,
over crags, over fires."[316] The products of the Orient, spices and jewels
f