A closer look
Imagine orchestrating the greatest intellectual property theft in history, but your getaway vehicle is a literal walking stick. For centuries, the Byzantine Empire hemorrhaged gold to their Persian rivals just to buy silk. Sick of paying the markup, Emperor Justinian hired monks as ancient secret agents to sneak into the East. By stashing highly fragile silkworm eggs in their hollow canes, they smuggled the means of production past the tightest border security of the ancient world. It completely shattered the eastern monopoly and jumpstarted a European silk industry that lasted for centuries.
