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Hello, everyone. I'm Olympia. Thank you for being here with me.

In this wonderful place called Lights Out Library. And I have a great story to tell you.

For tonight, we're going to travel along the mythical spice road.

You know the spices are among the first types of goods that were traded long distance in the world,

and we're going to discover the peoples and the pioneers who made this possible.

Austronesian peoples from Indonesia and the Pacific Ocean since prehistoric times.

Indian and Arab traders since antiquity and closer to us, Portuguese and then Dutch navigators from the age of discovery. I will also explain what these spices are and why they were in such high demand for centuries.

To most of our ancestors' spices were luxury items, only accessible to wealthier people,

and fantastic legends and tales appeared about their mysterious origins and properties.

All of this gives us a lot to discuss tonight,

and this journey will take us to multiple places and time periods.

But first, I would like to let you know that we have a Patreon page.

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