Is it true that before the Silk Road opened, Romans had never seen or heard of silk?

The Silk Road was used between 114 BCE and 1450 CE, which is a very long time. It began in Europe and had a few routes that someone could take to get to China or another part of southeastern Asia. The reason that the Silk Road was opened was to allow people from Europe and western Asia to get to China and trade for their silk.

It was dangerous for people to make this trip because they would be walking over mountainous terrain and through desert areas. Many people would take another route to get to the silk in China before the road being built. However, danger still existed even after the Silk Road was made because robbers would wait on the way.