地中海史是那些跨海航行并作为边缘性的外来者到达海的对岸的人们的经历。其他封闭海的历史也是如此。这些人主要是男性,而商人通常是其先锋。他们把一个地区的商品、思想和宗教带到另一个地区。从古典时期开始,迦太基、亚历山大、士麦那和里窝那成为连接面向地中海的三块大陆的纽带,来自其他地方的访客有时可以自由行动,有时则被隔离在聚居区。 The history of the Mediterranean is the experience of those who sail across the sea and reach the other side of the sea as marginal outsiders. The same is true of other closed seas. These people are mainly men, and traders are usually their pioneers. They bring goods, ideas and religions from one area to another. From ancient times Carthage, Alexandria, Smyrna and Livorno became the links connecting the three continents facing the Mediterranean, and visitors from other places were sometimes free to move and sometimes isolated from the enclave.