The Mediterranean World: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Napoleon

by Monique O'Connell, Eric R Dursteler

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 beautifully illustrated book brings new dimensions to the concepts of Mediterranean nationality and identity.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2016

About the author

Monique O’Connell is interested in Renaissance Italian history, particularly the political and social history of Venice. Her first book, Men of Empire: Power and Negotiation in Venice’s Maritime State (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009) placed Venice’s overseas holdings into the larger debate on early modern empires and state formation, offering a new reading of how Venice successfully administered a wide swath of diverse territory for hundreds of years. She is currently the project editor of Rulers of Venice (rulersofvenice.org), an electronic version of Venice’s medieval election registers, and she is completing a synthetic history of the medieval and early modern Mediterranean, co-authored with Eric Dursteler. She is also in the early stages of a project on the methods and means of political communication in Renaissance Italy. She is originally from Connecticut, and comes to Winston Salem by way of Rhode Island, Chicago, Venice, and San Francisco. She took a group of students to Casa Artom in the spring of 2010 and hopes to return soon!

Reviews

[Melisende · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

Twelve chapters dealing with different aspects in the history of this volatile region. The emphasis is on themes rather than a chronological history, and is designed for the lay-historian rather than the academic.

My personal favourite sections were on the medieval period - specifically "Medieval Frontier Societies". This is a period that is of interest to me, so a welcome addition to my own personal library.

[Tobias Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this general history of the Mediterranean from the fall of Rome to the end of the 18th century, O'Connell and Dursteler challenge some common misconceptions about the region.

In particular, they argue that Saïd's theory of othering and East-West dichotomy is too binary for the diversity and cosmopolitanism of North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Venice and Spain.

Their narrative, of a Mediterranean of interwoven interests and cultural fascination (rather than merely hostility) is argued in such a way as stands to logic. The story of the Mediterranean has often been framed as a story of religious conflict. While horrific episodes like the Crusades and the expulsion of Jewish people from Spain are fundamental to the history of the region, the authors hint that there may be a need to also engage with such common phenomena as widespread inter-religious marriage, a missionary being received proselytizing at the feet of the Ottoman Sultan and the role of conversion in frontier societies.

I finished this book the day that the Turkish government announced that the Aya Sofya will be converted back into a mosque. My feelings on this are more mixed than some prominent critics, particularly those of the Orthodox faith. This book emphasises that the Mediterranean is about collaboration and dialogue as much as it is about religious conflict. I hope that Turkey will not allow itself to become isolated from its neighbours in the west. It is a wonderful country with a rich cultural heritage and much to offer the region just as it had historically.