Measles and smallpox traveled along it, as did bubonic plague, which came from the east to the west in 534, 750, and most devastatingly in 1346. This last plague, known as the Black Death, resulted in the largest population decimation in human history, with nearly half of Europeans dying in a four-year period. A sizable majority of people living in Italy died, as did two-thirds of Londoners. And it quite possibly wouldn't have happened without the Silk Road. If you were living in London in the 14th century, you probably didn't blame the Silk Road trade for your community's devastation. But it played a role. If you look at it that way, the interconnectedness fostered by the Silk Road affected way, way more people than just those rich enough to buy silk, just as today's globalization offers both promise and threat to each of us.