This introductory article sets out the global historical approach adopted by the articles in this special issue, focusing on the circulations of goods, peoples, and ideas in ancient Afro-Eurasia (300 BCE-700 CE). Special attention is given to the overland Silk Road and Indo-Pacific networks of maritime exchange. Our aims are to apply globalization thinking to a wider (macro) frame than has arguably been done in existing ancient world studies, to ensure that sufficient focus is maintained on how the local and global intersect, and to demonstrate the analytical utility of concepts connected to globalization and glocalization. Ultimately, we seek to go beyond merely applying theories of globalization to new data, but to use these data to offer an alternative approach to the study of global Antiquity.

中文翻译：

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连接古代非洲-欧亚世界

这篇介绍性文章阐述了本期特刊文章所采用的全球历史方法，重点关注古代非洲-欧亚大陆（公元前 300 年至公元 700 年）的商品、人民和思想的流通。特别关注陆上丝绸之路和印太海上交流网络。我们的目标是将全球化思维应用于比现有古代世界研究更广泛的（宏观）框架，以确保充分关注本地和全球如何交叉，并展示与全球化和全球本地化。最终，我们寻求超越仅仅将全球化理论应用于新数据，而是利用这些数据为全球古代研究提供另一种方法。