A Mediterranean Timeline

From the Phoenician traders to the Europe of today: three thousand years of Mediterranean history in a few dozen dates.

Antiquity
The Middle Ages
The modern era

The Colosseum, Rome · Photo: Melanie van Leeuwen / Unsplash

A timeline

Three thousand years in brief

This is the story of the Mediterranean in a few dozen dates, from the Phoenician traders to the Europe of today. Each country page tells its own story in more depth.

Ancient dates marked "by tradition" are the ones the ancients themselves gave; historians debate many of them.

Antiquity

Phoenicians, Greeks and Rome

The PhoeniciansFrom c. 1200 BC
From Tyre, Sidon and Byblos, the Phoenicians trade across the sea and spread the alphabet.
Carthage814 BC
Founded by Phoenicians from Tyre, by tradition.
The first Olympic Games776 BC
At Olympia in Greece.
Rome753 BC
Founded, by tradition, by Romulus.
Massaliac. 600 BC
Greeks found Marseille.
Classical Athens5th century BC
The Parthenon, drama and philosophy.
Alexandria331 BC
Founded by Alexander the Great.
The Punic Wars264 to 146 BC
Rome against Carthage; Carthage destroyed in 146 BC.
The Roman Empire27 BC
Augustus becomes the first emperor; the whole sea is Roman.
VesuviusAD 79
Pompeii and Herculaneum are buried.

The Acropolis of Athens seen from Philopappos Hill — The Acropolis of Athens from Philopappos Hill · Photo: A.Savin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Middle Ages

Byzantium, Islam and the maritime republics

Constantinople330
Constantine moves the capital east.
The Western Empire ends476
Italy passes to Gothic kings.
Hagia Sophia537
Justinian's great church is completed.
The Islamic world7th and 8th centuries
From Damascus to Córdoba; Arab armies reach Iberia in 711.
Cairo969
Founded by the Fatimids.
Norman Sicily11th and 12th centuries
Latin, Greek and Arab art in Palermo.
The Grimaldis1297
François Grimaldi takes the Rock of Monaco.
The Popes in Avignon1309 to 1377
The Palace of the Popes.

Hagia Sophia under a clear blue sky, Istanbul — Hagia Sophia, Istanbul · Photo: Arild Vågen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Early modern

Empires, Renaissance and discovery

Constantinople falls1453
The Ottomans make it their capital, Istanbul.
Granada1492
The last Nasrid kingdom falls; Columbus sails west.
The sea route to India1498
Vasco da Gama.
The Renaissance15th and 16th centuries
Florence, Rome and Venice.
The Knights in Malta1530
The Great Siege follows in 1565 and Valletta is founded.
Lepanto1571
A great naval battle in the Gulf of Patras.
The Grand Tour17th and 18th centuries
Young aristocrats travel to Italy for art and antiquity.
Lisbon1755
Earthquake, and a city rebuilt.
The end of Venice1797
After more than a thousand years, the Most Serene Republic ends.

The modern era

Nations, resorts and Europe

Greek independence1821 to 1830
The modern Greek state.
Italy unites1861
The Kingdom of Italy.
Monte-Carlo1860s
The casino and the birth of the Riviera season.
The Suez Canal1869
The Mediterranean is joined to the Red Sea.
The modern Olympics1896
Revived in Athens.
The Monaco Grand Prix1929
First run through the streets.
The Cannes Film Festival1946
First held on the Croisette.
Independence in North Africa1956
Morocco and Tunisia.
Malta and Cyprus1960 and 1964
Independence for Cyprus (1960) and Malta (1964).
New nations1991 to 2006
Slovenia and Croatia in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, Montenegro in 2006.
Europe2004 and 2013
Malta, Cyprus and Slovenia join the European Union in 2004; Croatia in 2013.

The Casino de Monte-Carlo lit at blue hour, Monaco — The Casino de Monte-Carlo at blue hour, Monaco · Photo: Misho68 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Country by country

The history of each country

The Mediterranean Season Letter

Where to be, every season

Four letters a year, one for each season: the Mediterranean from spring to autumn, and Beyond the Mediterranean, into the Alps, in winter. The one best hotel to book, and the events worth crossing a sea for.