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Emst Baltrusch, Hans Kopp, Christian Wendt (eds.), Seemacht, Seeherrschaft und die Antike (Historia Einzelschriften - 244), Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2016, pp. 348, ISBN 978-3-515-11431-8
The issues surrounding the presence of Greeks and Romans at sea are a popular subject among scholars. This interest is entirely natural, as the sea occupied an important place in their culture, religion, and economic and military activity. This is also confirmed by a large amount of material and written evidence. Interpreting these sources is no easy task, however, as they came from various periods and places. As a result, although their authors employ similar concepts, these do not always have the same meaning that is usually ascribed to them. There is therefore a risk of misunderstanding the phenomena that they describe, leading to incorrect interpretation. The great diversity of these phenomena over time means that a collaborative effort is necessary for assessing them appropriately. An example of such cooperation is the international conference that took place in December 2013 at Freie Universität Berlin, whose objective was to examine marine affairs in antiquity from a broad time perspective. In this case, it essentially encompassed the issues and events that took place in Greece from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period, and in Rome at the time of the Republic and Empire. The Franz Steiner Verlag has now published the proceedings of the conference, whose 15 articles - 11 in German and four in English - provide an insight into the contents presented there.
The main objectives of the conference are defined by its organisers (E. Baltrusch, H. Kopp, C. Wendt) in the introduction (Einleitung, pp. 9-23). They are worth listing here, as they shaped the form of the publication. The first was to clarify the meaning of the concept of thalassokratia, frequently used by Greek authors. One of the difficulties with interpreting this word is that it is impossible to render it precisely in contemporary languages. Consequently, although for many scholars it is generally a synonym of domination at sea, ancient authors used it in various meanings...