As the title suggests, the chapters within Lampinen and Mataix Ferrándiz's volume focus largely on the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounds during late antiquity. Yet, a key theme of the book is the continued significance of the Mediterranean into and beyond late antiquity, and the contributors investigate the ways in which earlier concepts, symbols and traditions regarding the sea were re-used and transformed over time. As such, many of the chapters cover a broader period than the third to eighth centuries ce. The resilient and adaptable nature of trade and communication networks is also an important theme, which necessitates the discussion of earlier Mediterranean history in several chapters. Thus, the volume should not only appeal to students and scholars of late antiquity, but also to those interested in the maritime world of the Mediterranean from antiquity to the late Middle Ages.
The volume contains a diverse range of contributions and is divided into three sections; the first investigates conceptions and representations of the Mediterranean and other marine environments, the second considers ports and islands and their role as sites of connectivity, and the third deals with various practical and legal solutions adopted to deal with the hazards of the sea. Each chapter adheres to its overarching section theme, despite diverse interpretations of those themes by the authors. The range of subjects and materials discussed by the contributors and their fresh interpretation of evidence makes this an innovative and engaging read. Recurring concepts and ideas throughout the book also ensure it maintains an overall sense of cohesion. The initial chapters by J. Töyräänvuori, Lampinen and A. Grigorieva set the scene for the volume. They stress the continued symbolic significance of the Mediterranean during late antiquity and show that perceptions and representations of the sea were transmitted, modified and transformed in reflection of the changing temporal, cultural, religious and political landscape. Likewise, later chapters demonstrate the continuity and adaptability of Mediterranean maritime networks, trade and legislation in response to the changing cultural and political climate.
Töyräänvuori's chapter investigates the translation and transformation of legends and historical traditions regarding the symbolic subjugation of the sea by rulers, gods and heroes. Her specific focus is on the legend of St George and the dragon as a Christian iteration of these earlier myths and legends, but she also demonstrates that stories related to the subjugation of the sea served as tools to legitimise kingship throughout history. It was the political significance of these stories that ensured their continued transmission into the late antique period. Lampinen also highlights the political conceptualisation of the Mediterranean and shows that there was a renewed interest on the part of late Roman emperors to be represented as triumphant over the sea and all the dangers and enemies that it carried. This, Lampinen argues, was the result of the changing nature of the Mediterranean as a contested environment during late antiquity; an environment that could no longer be dominated by the Romans due to the increased naval strength of Rome's enemies. Lampinen clearly demonstrates that between the third/fourth and eighth centuries the Mediterranean came to be viewed as an environment that could divide rather than unite, and thus traditional literary tropes and historical perceptions of the dangers of the sea became even further entrenched in Roman thought. Grigorieva's study of second- to sixth-century marine mosaics and their presence in coastal and inland regions equally highlights the ongoing importance of the sea throughout the Roman Mediterranean region. Grigorieva's survey of mosaics of the god Oceanus, the moray (murena) and other sea creatures questions whether some of the standard iconographical features of these subjects lost their marine connotations in certain local or Christian contexts; despite this, she confirms that the marine connection and implied Romanitas of many such mosaics, particularly those of Oceanus, remained clear.
Where Part 1 is predominantly concerned with the mobility of ideas and symbols, Part 2 has a greater focus on the mobility of people and goods. A. Karivieri, H.R. Indgjerd, L. Zavagno and Z. Olgun utilise archaeological and material evidence from specific ports, harbours and islands to discuss their role as sites of migration, connectivity and trade. Although these authors investigate specific harbours or island groups, their findings have broader implications for the study of maritime networks and connectivity throughout the Mediterranean region in late antiquity. Their chapters bring together recent archaeological excavation and survey results from several coastal and island sites, making them important contributions to the study of late antique maritime and communication networks. Karivieri's chapter takes a comprehensive look at evidence from Rome's harbour cities, Ostia and Portus, both prior to and during late antiquity. She uses L. Tacoma's categories of migration (Moving Romans [2016]) as the basis for the study, discussing the different types and classes of people who travelled to Ostia and Portus, and their various reasons for doing so. She presents a variety of textual, epigraphic and archaeological evidence to support her conclusions that Rome and its harbour cities became more multi-cultural and multi-religious over time. She suggests that the origins of those migrating to Rome, either permanently or temporarily, changed during late antiquity to reflect the politics of the Mediterranean, with a decrease in migration from Near Eastern areas and an increase from central and northern Europe.
Indgjerd's chapter is a reminder of the importance of utilising data from both terrestrial and underwater contexts to gain a more accurate picture of trade networks and connectivity over time. His study focuses primarily on the results of recent surface surveys and underwater finds from Naxos and the islands of the Lesser Cyclades. Naxos was an in-between node on major maritime trading routes, and it is this aspect of the island that makes Indgjerd's study so important. The rich archaeological finds from this island group provide valuable information on the role of islands in the local production and trade of goods, on coastal trading and cabotage, and long-distance maritime networks. Based on the combination of terrestrial and underwater data, Indgjerd demonstrates that the anchorages and harbours of southern Naxos and the Lesser Cycladic islands retained an important role in long-distance trading networks throughout late antiquity and into the Middle Byzantine period. Zavagno and Olgun again highlight the resilience of islands and their continued role as strategic hubs along maritime networks. Using both literary and material evidence, such as seals, ceramics and coins, their study is an investigation and reassessment of the importance of large islands like Cyprus, Malta and Sardinia as sites of connectivity and interaction from around 500 ce. They show that, despite the immense political and territorial changes that occurred from this period, these islands were able to transform from sites associated with the Roman annona to integral cross-cultural nodes along the maritime routes of an otherwise politically and economically divided Mediterranean region. Zavagno and Olgun argue that large islands became sites of ongoing diplomatic, commercial, cultural and religious interaction, and, as such, they should be credited – at least partially – with maintaining a level of cohesion in the Mediterranean during this period.
Part 3 investigates the ways in which late Romans dealt with the dangers and uncertainties of the sea from a practical perspective. Mataix Ferrándiz and V.M. Minale examine legislation related to shipwrecking activities, and D. Forsyth looks at the practicalities of sailing in Mediterranean climatic conditions. Forsyth's chapter is an in-depth investigation of weather conditions and seasonal variations in the Mediterranean; he highlights the wide-ranging impacts that natural conditions had on trading activities and connectivity throughout the Mediterranean. Forsyth makes good use of diagrams to explain the impact that seasonal wind and weather conditions had on sailing vessels – particularly square-rigged sailing ships – and to describe the nautical innovations and practices adopted by sailors and shipwrights to overcome these conditions. He concludes that cargo ships often relied on a combination of sailing practices, sailing in a direct, one-stop line for one leg of their journey and making multiple stops along the coast on their other leg.
Mataix Ferrándiz's chapter explores shipwrecking and plundering activities through an investigation of maritime laws contained in civil legislation. She suggests that the re-use of earlier legislation related to these activities shows that piracy and the plundering of sailing vessels remained commonplace and difficult for imperial authorities to eradicate. Like many other contributors, Mataix Ferrándiz recognises the changing socio-political landscape of the Mediterranean during late antiquity and sees this reflected in maritime legislation. She argues that, although the laws related to maritime matters contained traditional concepts regarding the state's authority over the sea, they also reflected imperial power in the changing Mediterranean landscape, with the legislation providing an overall impression of declining imperial stability and ‘the progressive disappearance of the mare nostrum and its social and political significance for the Roman world’ (p. 143). Minale's chapter focuses on one fragment preserved in Justinian's Digest and later legislative compilations related to the plundering of sailing vessels after they had been shipwrecked. Minale uses this law fragment to reiterate the importance of the traditional Rhodian sea laws in all maritime matters. He explores the transmission and transformation of this fragment – and the Rhodian sea law in general – in the Roman and later Byzantine worlds. Like Mataix Ferrándiz, he demonstrates that the Romans (and Byzantines) identified with past views of the sea contained in the legislative tradition, but that they also adapted the legislation to reflect the contemporary socio-political landscape and ideas of imperial authority.
There are several black-and-white illustrations and maps throughout the book. The pictures accompanying the chapters by Töyräänvuori and Grigorieva illustrate their iconographic points well, and the photographs, maps and diagrams in the Indgjerd and Forsyth chapters are very informative. However, the quality of some of the illustrations and maps is not ideal, and this makes their content a little unclear. For example, it is difficult to distinguish between the colours of the different areas identified in the legend of the second uncaptioned map at the start of the volume. There are also several typographical errors throughout the book. These minor criticisms do not, however, detract from the overall quality of the volume, which has much to offer historians and archaeologists. It is a collection of fresh and innovative studies of seafaring, mobility and connectivity in the late antique Mediterranean world.
