The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean Read online

  DAVID ABULAFIA

  The Great Sea

  A Human History of the Mediterranean

  ALLEN LANE

  an imprint of

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  ALLEN LANE

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

  Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  www.penguin.com

  First published 2011

  Copyright © David Abulafia, 2011

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book

  ISBN: 978-0-14-196999-2

  a la memoria de mis antecesores

  Contents

  List of Illustrations

  System of Transliteration and Dating

  Preface

  Introduction: A Sea with Many Names

  PART ONE

  The First Mediterranean, 22000 BC–1000 BC

  1. Isolation and Insulation, 22000 BC–3000 BC

  2. Copper and Bronze, 3000 BC–1500 BC

  3. Merchants and Heroes, 1500 BC–1250 BC

  4. Sea Peoples and Land Peoples, 1250 BC–1100 BC

  PART TWO

  The Second Mediterranean, 1000 BC–AD 600

  1. The Purple Traders, 1000 BC–700 BC

  2. The Heirs of Odysseus, 800 BC–550 BC

  3. The Triumph of the Tyrrhenians, 800 BC–400 BC

  4. Towards the Garden of the Hesperides, 1000 BC–400 BC

  5. Thalassocracies, 550 BC–400 BC

  6. The Lighthouse of the Mediterranean, 350 BC–100 BC

  7. ‘Carthage Must Be Destroyed’, 400 BC–146 BC

  8. ‘Our Sea’, 146 BC–AD 150

  9. Old and New Faiths, AD 1–450

  10. Dis-integration, 400–600

  PART THREE

  The Third Mediterranean, 600–1350

  1. Mediterranean Troughs, 600–900

  2. Crossing the Boundaries between Christendom and Islam, 900–1050

  3. The Great Sea-change, 1000–1100

  4. ‘The Profit That God Shall Give’, 1100–1200

  5. Ways across the Sea, 1160–1185

  6. The Fall and Rise of Empires, 1130–1260

  7. Merchants, Mercenaries and Missionaries, 1220–1300

  8. Serrata – Closing, 1291–1350

  PART FOUR

  The Fourth Mediterranean, 1350–1830

  1. Would-be Roman Emperors, 1350–1480

  2. Transformations in the West, 1391–1500

  3. Holy Leagues and Unholy Alliances, 1500–1550

  4. Akdeniz – the Battle for the White Sea, 1550–1571

  5. Interlopers in the Mediterranean, 1571–1650

  6. Diasporas in Despair, 1560–1700

  7. Encouragement to Others, 1650–1780

  8. The View through the Russian Prism, 1760–1805

  9. Deys, Beys and Bashaws, 1800–1830

  PART FIVE

  The Fifth Mediterranean, 1830–2010

  1. Ever the Twain Shall Meet, 1830–1900

  2. The Greek and the unGreek, 1830–1920

  3. Ottoman Exit, 1900–1918

  4. A Tale of Four and a Half Cities, 1900–1950

  5. Mare Nostrum – Again,1918–1945

  6. A Fragmented Mediterranean, 1945–1990

  7. The Last Mediterranean, 1950–2010

  Illustrations

  Conclusion: Crossing the Sea

  Further Reading

  Notes

  List of Illustrations

  1. Mnajdra, Malta (akg-images/Rainer Hackenberg)

  2. The ‘Sleeping Lady’ (National Archaeological Museum, Valletta, Malta. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  3. Cycladic figure, c. 2700 BC, Greek private collection (Heini Schneebeli/The Bridgeman Art Library)

  4. Female head, Early Cycladic II Period, c. 2700–2400 BC (Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photograph: Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library)

  5. Octopus vase from Knossos, c. 1500 BC (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Photograph: Bernard Cox/The Bridgeman Art Library)

  6. Fresco c. 1420 BC from the tomb of Pharaoh’s vizier Rekhmire, Upper Egypt (Mary Evans/Interfoto)

  7. Akrotiri fresco, Thera, sixteenth century BC (akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  8. Gold death mask from Mycenae, c. 1500 BC (National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  9. Early Philistine clay face from a sarcophagus, Beth She’an, northern Israel (Israel Museum (IDAM), Jerusalem. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  10. Twelfth-century BC Warrior Vase, Mycenae (National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photograph: akg-images)

  11. Frieze from the temple of Madinat Habu in Upper Egypt (akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  12. Phoenician inscription, Nora, Southern Sardinia (Roger-Viollet/Topfoto)

  13. Stele, Carthage, c. 400 BC (Roger Wood/Corbis)

  14. Model of a Phoenician ship (National Archaeological Museum, Beirut. Photograph: Philippe Maillard/akg-images)

  15. Phoenician silver coin (National Archaeological Museum, Beirut. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  16. Chigi Vase, found near Veii, c. 600 BC (Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome. Photograph: akg-images/Nimatallah)

  17. Panel from the bronze gates of the Assyrian royal palace, Balawat, c. ninth century BC (Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  18. Dionysos krater, late sixth century BC (Staatliche Antikensammlung & Glypothek, Munich. Photograph: akg-images)

  19. Fresco from Tarquinia, late sixth century BC (akg-images/Nimatallah)

  20. Marsiliana abecedarium, Etruria, seventh century BC (Florence Archaeological Museum. Photograph: akg-images/Album/Oronoz)

  21. Gold tablet, Pyrgoi, late sixth century BC (Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome. Photograph: akg-images/Nimatallah)

  22. Etruscan pot helmet (The Trustees of the British Museum)

  23. Tower of Orolo, Sardinia (akg-images/Rainer Hackenberg)

  24. Sard bronze boat, c. 600 BC (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Cagliari. Photo: akg-images/Electra)

  25. Bust of Periandros (Vatican Museum)

  26. Bust of Alexander the Great (Print Collector/Heritage-Images/Imagestate)

  27. The ‘Dama de Elche’ (ullstein bild – United Archives)

  28. Bust of Sarapis (akg-images/ullstein bild)

  29. Carthaginian Melqart coin (The Trustees of the British M
useum)

  30. Bronze Nero coin (The Trustees of the British Museum)

  31. Cleopatra coin (The Trustees of the British Museum. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  32. Nero coin marking the completion of the harbour at Ostia (The Trustees of the British Museum)

  33. Relief of Roman quinquireme, Praeneste, now Palestrina (akg-images/Peter Connolly)

  34. Fresco of a harbour near Naples, possibly Puteoli (Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Naples. Photograph: akg images/Erich Lessing)

  35. Sixth-century mosaic of the Byzantine fleet at Classis, from the basilica of Sant’Apollinare, Ravenna (akg-images/Cameraphoto)

  36. Cornice from the synagogue at Ostia, second century (Photograph: Setreset/Wikimedia Commons)

  37. Inscription from the synagogue at Ostia (akg-images)

  38. Panel from the Pala d’Oro, St Mark’s Basilica, Venice (akg-images/Cameraphoto)

  39. View of Amalfi, 1885 (Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin. Photograph: akg images)

  40. Majorcan bacino (Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, Pisa)

  41. Khan al-‘Umdan, Acre, Israel (Photograph: Ariel Palmon/Wikimedia Commons)

  42. The Venice quadriga (Mimmo Jodice/CORBIS)

  43. Late-medieval map, after Idrisi (Wikimedia Commons)

  44. Majorcan portolan chart, early fourteenth century (British Library)

  45. Wall-painting showing the capture of the City of Majorca in 1229 (Museo de Catalunya, Barcelona. Photograph: akg images/Bildarchiv Steffens)

  46. Aigues-Mortes, Carmargue, France (Photo: Bertrand Rieger/Hemis/Corbis)

  47. Genoa, as depicted in Hartmann-Schedel’s 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle (by permission of the Master and Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)

  48. Dubrovnik (Photograph: Jonathan Blair/Corbis)

  49. Manises bowl (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

  50. Votive model of a cargo ship, c. 1420 (Maritime Museum, Rotterdam)

  51. The Exchange in Valencia (Photograph: Felivet/Wikimedia Commons)

  52. Early manuscript copy of the Consulate of the Sea (Album/Oronoz/akg-images)

  53. Portrait of Mehmet II by Giovanni Bellini (akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  54. French miniature of the siege of Rhodes (detail) (The Granger Collection, New York)

  55. Portrait of Admiral Khair-ed-din, 1540, by Nakkep Reis Haydar (Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey/The Bridgeman Art Library)

  56. Portrait of Andrea Doria (Palazzo Bianco, Genoa. Photograph: akg-images/Electra)

  57. Cartoon showing the Spanish capture of Goleta (akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  58. The expulsion of Moriscos, 1613, by Pere Oromig and Francisco Peralta (ullstein bild – Aisa)

  59. Venetian naval victory over Turkey in 1661 by an anonymous artist of the Venetian School (Museo Correr, Venice. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  60. The assault on Mahón, 1756, by an anonymous French artist (Musée de la Marine, Paris. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  61. The execution of Admiral Byng, c. 1760, British school (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

  62. Portrait of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov by an anonymous nineteenthcentury artist (Central Naval Museum, St Petersburg. Photograph: akg-images/RIA Novosti)

  63. Portrait of Admiral Samuel Hood, 1784, by James Northcote (National Maritime Museum, London/The Bridgeman Art Library)

  64. Portrait of Ferdinand von Hompesch by Antonio Xuereb (attrib.), Presidential Palace, Valletta (Malta) (Photograph by and courtesy of Heritage Malta)

  65. Portrait of Stephen Decatur, c. 1814, by Thomas Sully (Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia/courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library)

  66. Port Said, 1880 (Wikimedia Commons)

  67. Lloyd’s quay, Trieste, c. 1890 (adoc-photos)

  68. The Grand Square, or Place Mehmet Ali, Alexandria, c. 1915 (Werner Forman Archive/Musees Royaux, Brussels/Heritage-Images/Imagestate)

  69. The Italian occupation of Libya, 1911 (akg-images)

  70. The attack on the French warships moored at Mers el-Kebir, October 1940 (Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis)

  71. British troops land in Sicily, 1943 (Imperial War Museum, London, A17918)

  72. Ship carrying Jewish refugees, Haifa, 1947 (akg-images/Israelimages)

  73. Charles de Gaulle in Algeria, 1958 (akg-images/Erich Lessing)

  74. Beach scene, Lloret de Mar (Frank Lukasseck/Corbis)

  75. Illegal migrants from Africa trying to land on Spanish soil (EFE/J. Ragel)

  p. 597 Cartoon of 1936 from Falastin (Mark Levine, Overthrowing Geography (California, 2005))

  ENDPAPERS The Brig by Gustave Le Gray (V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

  System of Transliteration and Dating

  Transliteration is a nightmare in a book that covers such a long period, and consistency is impossible. I have tried to combine authenticity with clarity. With Greek names, I have rejected the sometimes absurd latinized forms long used, unless, as with Aeschylus, the alternative is unrecognizable to non-experts. So I have Herodotos and Sophokles, and Komnenos for the great Byzantine dynasty, not Comnenus. This becomes more complicated in later centuries. Ancient Thessalonika becomes Ottoman Salonika and then modern Thessaloniki, while Epidamnos, Dyrrhachion, Dyrrachium, Durazzo, Durrës are all one place in Albania at different epochs; I have used the name current in the period about which I am writing. Comparable problems arise with Hebrew, Turkish and Arabic names. Along the Croatian and Montenegrin coast, I have favoured Slav forms, since they are now in general use, so I use Dubrovnik rather than Ragusa but (lacking an equally elegant word for the inhabitants) I have called its inhabitants ‘Ragusans’.

  Another contentious issue is whether to use the Christian labels for dates, BC and AD, or the modern substitutes, BCE and CE, or indeed (as Joseph Needham used to recommend) a simple ‘–’ and ‘+’. Since these variants produce exactly the same dates as BC and AD I am not sure what advantage they bring; and those who are uncomfortable with Before Christ and Anno Domini are free to decide that BC and AD stand for some other combination of words, such as ‘Backward chronology’ and ‘Accepted date’.

  Preface

  ‘Mediterranean history’ can mean many things. This book is a history of the Mediterranean Sea, rather than a history of the lands around it; more particularly, it is a history of the people who crossed the sea and lived close by its shores in ports and on islands. My theme is the process by which the Mediterranean became in varying degrees integrated into a single commercial, cultural and even (under the Romans) political zone, and how these periods of integration ended with sometimes violent disintegration, whether through warfare or plague. I have identified five distinct periods: a First Mediterranean that descended into chaos after 1200 BC, that is, around the time Troy is said to have fallen; a Second Mediterranean that survived until about AD 500; a Third Mediterranean that emerged slowly and then experienced a great crisis at the time of the Black Death (1347); a Fourth Mediterranean that had to cope with increasing competition from the Atlantic, and domination by Atlantic powers, ending around the time of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869; finally, a Fifth Mediterranean that became a passage-way to the Indian Ocean, and found a surprising new identity in the second half of the twentieth century.

  My ‘Mediterranean’ is resolutely the surface of the sea itself, its shores and its islands, particularly the port cities that provided the main departure and arrival points for those crossing it. This is a narrower definition than that of the great pioneer of Mediterranean history, Fernand Braudel, which at times encompassed places beyond the Mediterranean; but the Mediterranean of Braudel and most of those who have followed in his wake was a land mass stretching far beyond the shoreline as well as a basin filled with water, and there is still a tendency to define the Mediterranean in relation to the cultivation of the olive or the river valleys that feed into it. This means one must examine the often sedentary,
traditional societies in those valleys that produced the foodstuffs and raw materials that were the staples of trans-Mediterranean commerce, which also means taking on board true landlubbers who never went near the sea. The hinterland – the events that took place there, the products that originated or came through there – cannot of course be ignored, but this book concentrates on those who dipped their toes into the sea, and, best of all, took journeys across it, participating directly, in some cases, in cross-cultural trade, in the movement of religious and other ideas, or, no less significantly, in naval conflicts for mastery over the sea routes.

  Inevitably, in what is still a long book, difficult choices have had to be made about what should be included and what should be excluded. Words used less often than they should be are ‘perhaps’, ‘possibly’, ‘maybe’ and ‘probably’; a great many statements about the early Mediterranean, in particular, can be qualified this way, at the risk of generating a fog of uncertainties for the reader. My intention has been to describe the people, processes and events that have transformed all or much of the Mediterranean, rather than to write a series of micro-histories of its edges, interesting as that might be; I have therefore concentrated on what I consider important in the long term, such as the foundation of Carthage, the emergence of Dubrovnik, the impact of the Barbary corsairs or the building of the Suez Canal. Religious interactions demand space, and plenty of attention is naturally given to the conflicts between Christians and Muslims, but the Jews also deserve close attention, because of their prominent role as merchants in the early Middle Ages and again in the early modern period. I have given roughly equal coverage to each century once I reach classical antiquity, since I wished to avoid writing one of those pyramid-shaped books in which one rushes through the antecedents to arrive at comfortably modern times as quickly as possible; but the dates attached to chapters are highly approximate, and separate chapters sometimes deal with events at the same time at different ends of the Mediterranean.

  The Mediterranean we know now was shaped by Phoenicians, Greeks and Etruscans in antiquity, by Genoese, Venetians and Catalans in the Middle Ages, by Dutch, English and Russian navies in the centuries before 1800; indeed, there is some strength in the argument that after 1500, and certainly after 1850, the Mediterranean became decreasingly important in wider world affairs and commerce. In most chapters, I have concentrated on one or two places which I believe best explain broader Mediterranean developments – Troy, Corinth, Alexandria, Amalfi, Salonika and so on – but the emphasis is always on their links across the Mediterranean Sea and, where possible, on some of the people who effected or experienced these interactions. One result of this approach is that I say less about fish and fishermen than some readers might expect. Most fish spend their time below the surface of the sea, and fishermen tend to set out from a port, make their catch (often at some distance from their home port) and return to base. By and large, they do not have a destination the other side of the water where they will make contact with other peoples and cultures. The fish they bring home may well be processed in some way, as salted or pickled food, or even as a strong-tasting sauce, and the merchants who carried these products abroad are often mentioned; fresh fish must very often have been standard food for naval crews. Frankly, though, the data are scanty; my attention has only switched to what happens beneath the surface of the Mediterranean with the arrival of submarine warfare in the early twentieth century.