Seafaring and Mobility in the Late Antique Mediterranean - (Ancient Environments) (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

More than any other type of environment, with the possible exception of mountains, the sea has been understood since antiquity as being immovable to a proverbial degree. Yet it was the sea's capacity for movement - both literally and figuratively through such emotions as fear, hope and pity - that formed one of the primary means of conceptualizing its significance in Late Antique societies.

This volume advances a new and interdisciplinary understanding of what the sea as an environment and the pursuit of seafaring meant in antiquity, drawing on a range of literary, legal and archaeological evidence to explore the social, economic and cultural factors at play. The contributions are structured into three thematic parts which move from broad conceptual categories to specific questions of networks and mobility. Part One takes a wide view of the Mediterranean as an environment with great metaphorical and symbolic potential. Part Two looks at networks of seaborne communication and the role of islands as the characteristic hubs of the Mediterranean. Finally, Part Three engages with the practicalities of tackling the sea as a challenging environment that needs to be challenged politically, legally and for the means of travel.

Review Quotes

"Seafaring and Mobility in the Late Antique Mediterranean 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." --The Classical Review

"This volume is an innovative piece of scholarly work that discusses in novel ways the interactions of humans with the marine environment during Late Antiquity. The subject of the volume touches on important current topics like continuity and disruption in human societies that lived in contact with dynamic natural environments like the sea, making it a very fitting contribution for this Ancient Environment Series. With its interdisciplinary approach the book highlights how it is possible to make Classics and research of the ancient Mediterranean world relevant to the present and the future." --Katerina Velentza, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This is an in-depth volume that brings welcome attention and discussion to some of the previously overlooked spaces, places and themes within the study of the seafaring world of the Mediterranean in Late-Antiquity." --Julian Whitewright, Visiting Fellow in Maritime Archaeology, University of Southampton, UK

"This is an interesting and innovative volume reflecting changing approaches and new thinking on seafaring and mobility, and it certainly fits in well with the objectives of the Ancient Environments series." --IJNA

About the Author

Antti Lampinen is Docent in Classical Philology at the University of Turku, Finland, and Docent in Ancient Languages and Culture at the University of Helsinki, Finland. From 2018 to 2023, he worked as the Assistant Director at the Finnish Institute at Athens.

Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz is a Maria Zambrano Fellow at the University of the Basque Country, Spain.