This general reader's history of the ancient mediterranean combines a thorough grasp of the scholarship of the day with an great historian's gift for imaginative reconstruction and inspired analogy. Extensive notes allow the reader to appreciate thestate of scholarship at the time of writing, the scale and breadth of Braudel's learning and the points where orthodoxy has changed, sometimes vindicating Braudel, sometimes proving him wrong. Above all the book offers us the chance to situate Braudel's mediterranean, born of a lifetime's love and knowledge, more clearly in the climates of the sea's history.

The Mediterranean in the Ancient World is a comprehensive history of the Mediterranean from the first settlers until the fall of Rome. Notes provide a historical context for the work and help readers appreciate the author's love for his subject.

Part 1: seeing the sea; the long march to civilization - the lower palaeolithic - the first artefacts, the first people, fire, art and magic, the Mediterranean strikes back - the first agrarian civilization, conclusion; a twofold birth - Mesopotamia and Egypt - the beginnings, boats on the rivers, ships on the sea, can the spread of megaliths explain the early history of the Mediterranean?; centuries of unity - the seas of the Levant 2500-1200BC - ever onward and upward?, Crete - a new player in the cosmopolitan civilization of the Mediterranean, accidents, developments and disasters; all change - the 12th to the 8th centuries BC. Part 2: colonization - the discovery of the Mediterranean "far west" in the 10th to 6th centuries BC - the first in the field - probably the Phoenicians, the Etruscans - an unsolved mystery, colonization by the Greeks; the miracle of Greece - Greece - a land of city-states, Alexander's mistake, Greek science and thought (8th to 2nd centuries BC); the Roman takeover of the greater Mediterranean - Roman imperialism, Rome beyond the Mediterranean, a Mediterranean civilization - Rome's real achievement; appendices.

Publisher description

This book provides both a detailed introduction to the vivid and exciting period of `late antiquity' and a direct challenge to conventional views of the end of the Empire.

A history of this hub of culture and commerce: “Enviable readability . . . an excellent classroom text.” —European History Quarterly Located at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Mediterranean has connected societies for millennia, creating a shared space of intense economic, cultural, and political interaction. Greek temples in Sicily, Roman ruins in North Africa, and Ottoman fortifications in Greece serve as reminders that the Mediterranean has no fixed national boundaries or stable ethnic and religious identities. In The Mediterranean World, Monique O’Connell and Eric R. Dursteler examine the history of this contested region from the medieval to the early modern era, beginning with the fall of Rome around 500 CE and closing with Napoleon’s attempted conquest of Egypt in 1798. Arguing convincingly that the Mediterranean should be studied as a singular unit, the authors explore the centuries when no lone power dominated the Mediterranean Sea and invaders brought their own unique languages and cultures to the region. Structured around four interlocking themes—mobility, state development, commerce, and frontiers—this book, including maps, photos, and illustrations, brings new dimensions to the concepts of Mediterranean nationality and identity.

Contained in this history of the "Great Sea" are the stories of the birth of Western Civilization, the clash of warring faiths, and the rivalries of empires. David Abulafia leads a team of eight distinguished historians in an exploration of the great facts, themes and epochs of this region's history: the physical setting; the rivalry between Carthaginians, Greeks, and Etruscans for control of the sea routes; unification under Rome and the subsequent break up into Western Christendom, Byzantium, and Islam; the Crusades; commerce in medieval times; the Ottoman resurgence; the rivalry of European powers from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries; and the globalization of the region in the last century. The book departs from the traditional view of Mediterranean history, which placed emphasis on the overwhelming influences of physical geography on the molding of the region's civilizations. Instead, this new interpretation regards that physical context as a staging ground for decisive action, and at center stage are human catalysts at all levels of society-whether great kings and emperors, the sailors of medieval Amalfi, or the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492. The authors do more than simply catalogue the societies that developed in the region, but also describe how these groups interacted with one another across the sea, enjoying commercial and political ties as well as sharing ideas and religious beliefs. This richly illustrated book offers contemporary historical writing at its best and is sure to engage specialists, students, and general readers alike.