Greek refugees the spread of the Hellenistic civilization in the 3rd century BC, Greek became the lingua franca of Asia Minor, and by the fifth century AD, when the last of the Indo-European native languages of Anatolia ceased to be spoken, Greek became the sole spoken language of the natives of Asia Minor. After the founding of Constantinople by the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in 330, Asia Minor, the major part of the Greek East, became the most important region of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. For the centuries to follow, the area was the main manpower and wheat
Economy of East Asia known today as China, Japan, and Korea. These three ancient states traded an abundance of raw materials and high-quality manufactured goods, exchanged cultural ideas and practices, and had military conflicts with each other throughout the centuries. For much of East Asia's history, China was the largest and most advanced economy in the region and globally as a whole. During the first half of the Middle Ages, China was the most developed state in East Asia. The history of trade in East Asia was largely shaped by the history of trade within Ancient China. Ancient China had economic contacts with Persia