139



B

▶ borders and frontiers

introduction
At fi rst, people may have had no concept of borders anywhere
in the world. Th e world’s human population was so small
and the available land so big that peoples of diff erent cultures
could settle among each other with so much space between
them that they did not care that the others were there. Even
when cities began and central governments formed, it was
possible that people would know they were no longer on their
native land only when they bumped into settlements of peo-
ple belonging to another culture.
As human populations expanded, controlling food
supplies became important. It is possible that the first bor-
ders were just boundaries between farms, perhaps marked
by stones. With the beginning of large public works proj-
ects, such as irrigation canals, groups of people formed
a mutual interest in protecting what they built and the
lands on which they all worked. Territory that remained
wild became frontiers between communities but lacked
defined borders.
Perhaps the fi rst borders formed around trade routes.
Th at trade routes could defi ne a frontier was common in the
ancient world. Control of trade routes could bring in wealth
in the form of tariff s charged to traders and could stimulate
a local economy through trade with other peoples. Building
forts on trade routes and ignoring much of the rest of the land
was also common in ancient times. Th e fortifi cations on bor-
ders suggest that the borders were intended to keep people
out; this, in turn, suggests that borders originally were reac-
tions to warfare and invasion.

Probably more than any other ancient culture, the Ro-

mans were concerned about borders. In most of the world

people defended towns or cities, but the Romans developed

the idea of defending borders that were far from cities and

trade routes. In so doing, they could hope to prevent ene-

mies from reaching their cities. Th e emperor Augustus (r. 27

b.c.e.–14 c.e.) tried to establish clear borders that cartogra-

phers could map, using natural barriers such as rivers.

Many cultures used natural barriers such as rivers,

mountain ranges, and deserts for borders. Th ese were not

perfect, because enemies could cross rivers, scale mountains,

and endure thirst, but a river crossing could be defended, and

mountains and deserts could kill would-be invaders. Even so,

these natural barriers required watching, and people crossing

them would be considered outsiders and potential threats.

Sometimes natural barriers were unavailable or there were

not enough to mark clearly defi ned, defensible borders. Th us,

marking borders with fortresses was oft en done. For example,

the Great Wall of China was a long fortifi cation that defi ned

China’s northern border and helped protect the Silk Road, a

major trade route.

Much of the world still had ill-defi ned borders when the

Western Roman Empire fell. In much of Africa the idea of

borders took root only when Europeans arrived during the

Renaissance era. In China the northern border was defi ned

by the Great Wall and a vast desert, but the southern border

was vague, because of dense forests and native populations

that resisted China’s rule. In the ancient Americas territory

between the frontiers of cities was oft en claimed by no one.

Th us, creating borders was not a universal desire among an-

cient peoples. Instead, borders may have developed out of a