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Mediterranean Sea

sea between Europe, Africa and Asia

69 dated entries naming Mediterranean Sea, drawn from 68 separate years between 1206 BCE and 2016 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Mediterranean in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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13th century BC

  • 1206 BCE1206 BC: Approximate starting date of Late Bronze Age collapse, a period of migration, unrest and destruction in the eastern Mediterranean and Ancient Near East, and beginning of the Iron Age in the Near East.source

9th century BC

  • 814 BCE814 BC—Carthage is founded by Phoenician colonists from modern-day Lebanon, led by queen Dido. The city developed into a maritime power that dominated the Mediterranean Sea.source

8th century BC

  • 800 BCEc. 800 BC—The Greek Colonization of the Mediterranean & Black Sea.source

7th century BC

  • 670 BCEMiletus begins establishing colonies in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea.source

4th century BC

  • 332 BCEAlexander conquers Egypt from the Persians. The Egyptians welcome him as their deliverer, and the Persian satrap Mazaces wisely surrenders. Alexander's conquest of Egypt completes his control of the whole eastern Mediterranean coast.source
  • 311 BCEThe Carthaginian general Hamilcar crosses the Mediterranean with an army and wins the Battle of Himera against Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse.source
  • 306 BCEDemetrius Poliorcetes lands on Cyprus and besieges Menelaus, brother of Egypt's ruler, Ptolemy I Soter, at Salamis. Ptolemy Soter, coming to his brother's aid, is decisively defeated in the Battle of Salamis. The battle completely destroys the naval power of Egypt and results in the capture of Cyprus by Demetrius. This gives Demetrius' father, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, control of the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.source

3rd century BC

  • 288 BCEAfter the Egyptian fleet participates decisively in the liberation of Athens from Macedonian occupation, Ptolemy obtains the protectorate over the League of Islanders, which includes most of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. Egypt's maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean in the ensuing decades is based on this alliance.source
  • 285 BCEA 110 metre tall lighthouse on the island of Pharos in Alexandria's harbour is completed and serves as a landmark for ships in the eastern Mediterranean. Built by Sostratus of Cnidus for Ptolemy II of Egypt, it is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It is a technological triumph and is the archetype of all lighthouses since. A broad spiral ramp leads to the top, where a fire burns at night.source
  • 272 BCEEgypt's victories solidify the kingdom's position as the undisputed naval power of the eastern Mediterranean; the Ptolemaic sphere of power now extends over the Cyclades to Samothrace, and the harbours and coastal towns of Cilicia Trachea, Pamphylia, Lycia and Caria.source
  • 241 BCEThe Carthaginians under Hamilcar Barca are forced to accept severe peace terms and agree to evacuate Sicily. As part of the treaty with Rome, Carthage agrees to abandon all its claims on Sicily, to refrain from sailing her warships in Italian waters and to pay an indemnity of 3,200 talents. However, the Carthaginian army is allowed to return home with its arms. Rome is now the dominant power in the Western Mediterranean basin.source
  • 230 BCEAdherbal, admiral of the Carthaginian fleet who has battled for domination of the Mediterranean Sea for Carthage in the First Punic War against Romesource
  • 201 BCEOn Hannibal's advice, Carthage sues for peace with the Romans, ending the Second Punic War. Carthage is reduced to a client state of Rome. In the peace treaty between Carthage and Rome, Carthage surrenders all her Mediterranean possessions to Rome, including her Iberian territories. The Carthaginians agree to pay Rome 200 talents per year for 50 years, allow Masinissa to rule Numidia as an independent kingdom, make no war without Rome's permission, and destroy all but 10 of the Carthaginian warships.source

2nd century BC

  • 188 BCEThrough the peace treaty of Apamea (in Phrygia), the Romans force the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, to surrender all his Greek and Anatolian possessions as far east as the Taurus Mountains, to pay 15,000 talents over a period of 12 years and to surrender to Rome the former Carthaginian general Hannibal, his elephants and his fleet, and furnish hostages, including the king's eldest son, Demetrius. Rome is now the master of the eastern Mediterranean while Antiochus III's empire is reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and western Iran.source

1st century BC

  • 74 BCEMarcus Antonius (father of Mark Antony), a praetor, receives wide-ranging powers and considerable resources to fight the pirates in the Mediterranean Sea.source
  • 67 BCEThe lex Gabinia gives Pompey command of the Mediterranean and its coasts for 50 miles inland for three years. He defeats the pirates in three months and pacifies Cilicia.source
  • 42 BCEIn Sicily, Sextus Pompeius leads the naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea against the triumvirs. He blockades the grain routes from Spain and Africa.source

1st century

  • 43The Romans now have complete control of the Mediterranean Sea.source

2nd century

  • 135A Jewish diaspora begins, as Emperor Hadrian bars Jews from Jerusalem, and has survivors of the massacre dispersed across the Roman Empire. Many join Mediterranean ports.source
  • 137Tax laws are passed for trade in Palmyra. The caravan city grows rich by importing rare products from the Persian Gulf, and by exporting items manufactured by the Mediterranean world to the East.source

5th century

  • 429Spring – The Vandals, led by Genseric ("Caesar King"), invade North Africa. They land with a force of 80,000 men including Alans, and Germanic tribesmen with their families from the Iberian Peninsula, across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. The Vandal fleet raids the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and blockades the grain and oil supply to Italy.source
  • 430Spring – The Vandals under King Genseric extend their power in North Africa along the Mediterranean Sea, and lay siege to Hippo Regius (where Augustine has recently been bishop).source
  • 436In the Gothic War (436-439) besieges king Theodoric I the city of Narbonne; the Visigoths obtain access to the Mediterranean Sea and the roads to the Pyrenees.source
  • 467Summer – Vandal War (461-468): King Genseric extends his pirate raids in the Mediterranean Sea; the Vandals sack and enslave the people living in Illyricum, the Peloponnese and other parts of Greece. Leo I joins forces with the Western Empire.source
  • 474Winter – Zeno sends an embassy, to conclude a peace with King Genseric. He succeeds in an agreement with the Vandals, to secure the commercial routes in the Mediterranean.source
  • 477January 25 – Genseric, ruler of the Vandal Kingdom, dies a natural death at Carthage, and is succeeded by his eldest son Huneric. He maintains control over the islands in the western Mediterranean Sea with his Vandal fleet, and rescinds his father's policy of persecuting the Roman Catholics in Africa.source

6th century

  • 551Autumn – Battle of Sena Gallica: The Byzantine fleet (50 warships) destroys the Gothic naval force under Indulf near Sena Gallica (Senigallia), some 17 miles (27 km) north of Ancona. It marks the end of the Gothic supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea.source

7th century

  • 682At about this time, Muslim Umayyad Caliphate forces led by Uqba ibn Nafi overrun the south coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He occupies the cities of Tripoli and Carthage, the last Byzantine bases in Africa. In 682 or 683 the Umayyads are ambushed at the Battle of Vescera near Biskra (modern Algeria) by Romano-Berbers of King Caecilius and their Byzantine allies from the Exarchate of Carthage. Uqba ibn Nafi is killed and his army evacuates the city of Kairouan in Tunisia and withdraws to Barca.source
  • 697Paolo Lucio Anafesto is elected the first Doge of Venice, which begins its rise as a major power in the Mediterranean Sea. Built up from fishing villages settled by fugitives from the Huns (see 452), the city of Venice occupies some 60 marshy islands (Venetian Lagoon).source

8th century

  • 701Arab merchants introduce Oriental spices into Mediterranean markets. Muslim merchant vessels visit the Maluku Islands (South East Asia) for the first time (approximate date).source
  • 707The Muslim-Arabs conquer the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea (approximate date).source
  • 717August 15 – Siege of Constantinople: Maslama begins a combined land and sea effort to capture Constantinople. The capital controls the Bosporus, access between the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and is defended by a garrison of roughly 25,000 men. Leo III orders the granaries be restocked and siege engines installed. The Arab besiegers are suffering immense losses due to disease, and from attrition of siege warfare.source
  • 726Seismic activity in the Mediterranean Sea: The volcanic island of Thera erupts, while the city of Jerash (in present-day Jordan) suffers a major earthquake.source

9th century

  • 859Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.source

10th century

  • 935Ziri ibn Manad is installed as governor of central Maghreb. He initiates the construction of the fortress of Ashir, near Médéa (modern Algeria). It symbolises the rise of the Zirid dynasty in the Western Mediterranean region.source
  • 941May – September – Rus'–Byzantine War: The Rus' and their allies, the Pechenegs, under the Varangian prince Igor I of Kiev, cross the Black Sea with an invasion fleet of 1,000 ships (40,000 men) and disembark on the northern coast of Asia Minor. While the Byzantine fleet is engaged against the Arabs in the Mediterranean, the Rus' forces reach the gates of Constantinople. Emperor Romanos I organizes the defense of the capital and assembles 15 old ships (equipped with throwers of Greek fire) under the chamberlain (protovestiarios) Theophanes. The Byzantines repel the Rus' fleet (nearly annihilating the entire fleet) but can not prevent the invaders from pillaging the hinterland of Constantinople, venturing as far south as Nicomedia (modern-day İzmit). In September, John Kourkouas and Bardas Phokas ("the Elder"), two leading generals, destroy the Rus' forces in Thrace. Igor manages, with only a handful of boats, to escape to the Caspian Sea.source
  • 965Battle of the Straits: The Byzantine attempt to recover Sicily fails, when the Byzantine fleet is annihilated by the Fatimids. The last Byzantine stronghold on the island, Rometta, surrenders. The population is massacred, and the survivors are sold into slavery. Caliph Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah completes the conquest of Sicily, and establishes naval superiority in the Western Mediterranean.source

11th century

  • 1005Spring – The Republic of Pisa conducts a military offensive against the Saracen strongholds in Southern Italy. The Pisan fleet sacks the city of Reggio Calabria. Pisa becomes one of the four commercial Maritime Republics (the other three are Genoa, Venice and Amalfi), which fight each other for control of the Mediterranean Sea.source

12th century

  • 1105The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, sends a maritime expedition to Palestine from Sevilla to ward off the Crusaders and perhaps to reconquer Jerusalem. The fleet of about seventy ships rushes into a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, and is never seen again.source
  • 1114Count Ramon Berenguer III (the Great) of Barcelona, joins the expedition to the Balearic Islands. A Pisan and Catalan fleet (some 450 ships), supported by a large army, conquer Ibiza and Mallorca. They destroy the bases on the islands used by Moorish pirates to prey on Mediterranean shipping.source
  • 1127Summer – King Roger II of Sicily claims the Hauteville possessions in Italy as well the overlordship of Capua. However, a coalition of Norman noblemen in Apulia and Calabria resist (supported by Pope Honorius II) against Sicilian rule. The same year, Roger regains control over Malta after a rebellion. Roger II also establishes a pact with the maritime Republic of Savona to guarantee the security of the Mediterranean Sea, probably following an Almoravid raid against the Sicilian realm.source
  • 1152Summer – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, re-captures most of Crusader territory in the Orontes Valley – reducing the Principality of Antioch to little more than a narrow coastal strip along the Mediterranean. The County of Tripoli remains unchanged and Jerusalem remains a potential threat with ambitions to expand eastward, while also striving to dominate the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt.source
  • 1170Winter – Egyptian forces, led by Saladin, invade the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and besiege Darum on the Mediterranean coast. Its defenses are weak, and though Saladin has no siege engines with him, the fall seems imminent. King Amalric I withdraws his Templar garrison from Gaza, to assist him in defending Darum. Saladin raises the siege and marches on Gaza, where he captures the lower town (despite the stiff resistance ordered by Lord Miles of Plancy), and massacres the inhabitants. However, the citadel is too strong for Saladin, and he is forced to retreat to Egypt.source
  • 1190July 4 – King Richard I (the Lion Heart) and Philip II (Augustus), meet at Vézelay and agree to divide the spoils of the Crusade equally between themselves. They march to the coast and then make their way across the Mediterranean, taking different routes. Richard travels with an expeditionary force (some 17,000 men) via Marseille and Philip travels with a smaller contingent (some 15,000 men) via Genoa. Richard has some 100 ships at his disposal, several of which are from Norman ports, others from Shoreham and Southampton.source

13th century

  • 1207Spring – Siege of Attalia: Seljuk forces led by Sultan Kaykhusraw I besiege the city port of Attalia (modern-day Antalya) with siege machines. After a siege of more than 2 months, the city is captured, Kaykhusraw allows his forces 3 days of looting and slaughtering. The capture of the port gives the Seljuk Turks a major path into the Mediterranean.source
  • 1212Spring – After the fall of Argos the Crusaders complete their conquest of the Morea in southern Greece. The city, along with Nauplia, is given to Othon de la Roche, a Burgundian nobleman, as a fief, along with an income of 400 hyperpyron from Corinth. Meanwhile, the Venetians conquer Crete and evict Henry, Count of Malta ("Enrico Pescatore"), a Genoese adventurer and pirate, active in the Mediterranean.source
  • 1271The 17-year-old Marco Polo departs from Venice with his father and uncle Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, to set off for Asia to meet the Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan (the grandson of Genghis Khan) at his court in Beijing, China. They sail across the Mediterranean Sea and travel overland, crossing Armenia, Persia and the Pamir Mountains.source
  • 1284August 5–6 – Battle of Meloria: A Genoese fleet (some 90 galleys) led by Admiral Oberto Doria defeats the Pisan ships in the Ligurian Sea. This marks the decline of the maritime power of Pisa in the Mediterranean.source
  • 1287Winter – Two unidentified 'merchants' travel from Alexandria to Cairo to warn Qalawun of the economic dangers posed by Genoese domination in the eastern Mediterranean, which leaves the Mamluk trade at their mercy. Qalawun accepts the invitation to intervene, and breaks the truce with Tripoli.source

14th century

  • 1311May 29 – Sancho the Peaceful of Barcelona becomes the new King of Majorca, a set of islands in the Mediterranean Sea (now Spain's Balearic Islands) after the death of his father, King Jaume IIsource

16th century

  • 1583The Ottoman fleet crosses into the Western Mediterranean and raids the Italian coastline. In Corsica, the towns of Sartene and Arbellara are sacked (summer).source
  • 1590April 24 – Ten armed English merchant vessels of the Levant Company are intercepted by 12 galleys of the Spanish Navy while attempting to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar after trading in the Mediterranean Sea. Levant Company's Benedict Barnham, on the flagship Salomon, leads the corporate fleet in a six-hour battle and heavily damages the Spanish ships, clearing the way for the company ships to return home.source

17th century

  • 1676April 22 – The Battle of Augusta is fought in the Mediterranean Sea off of the coast of Sicily during the Franco-Dutch War. The French Navy and the combined Dutch Republic and Spanish forces each lose over 500 men.source
  • 16941 March – British flagship HMS Sussex (carrying gold coin) and twelve other ships are wrecked in a storm in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar with the loss of approximately 1,200 lives.source

18th century

  • 17702 May – A Royal Danish Navy fleet bound for Algiers departs from Copenhagen to bomb the city in response to the recurrent pirate attacks in the Mediterranean Sea.source
  • 1786The United States pays protection money to the Sultan of Morocco to ensure the safety of American merchantmen in the Mediterranean Sea from Barbary pirates.source

19th century

  • 1831July 15 – The volcanic Graham Island briefly emerges in the Mediterranean.source
  • 1847December 20 – British Royal Navy steam frigate HMS Avenger is wrecked on the Sorelle Rocks in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of 246 lives and only eight survivors.source
  • 184720 December – Royal Navy steam frigate HMS Avenger is wrecked on the Sorelle Rocks in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of 246 lives and only eight survivors.source
  • 1869November 17 – In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony.source
  • 188723 February – The French Riviera is hit by a powerful earthquake originating in Liguria, killing around 2,000 along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.source
  • 1899November 14 – The first aerial crossing of the Mediterranean Sea is made by Louis Capazza and Alphonse Fondère in Capazza's balloon.source

20th century

  • 192618 March – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake, with a maximum intensity of VIII (Severe), occurs in the Mediterranean Sea southwest of Kaş in the Antalya Province. Some people are killed.source
  • 193021 November: A flying boat airliner I-RONY, operating on a passenger flight for Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA), disappears over the Mediterranean Sea during a flight from Barcelona, Spain, to Marseille, France; all six people on board are lost.source
  • 19536 August – Israeli Air Force Mosquito FB.6, disappears in flight over the Mediterranean: two crew are missing.source
  • 1968September 7 – The crash of Air France Flight 1611 kills 95 people, including French Army General René Cogny, as the Caravelle jetliner plunges into the Mediterranean Sea following a fire while making its approach to Nice following its departure from the island of Corsica.source

21st century

  • 2008November 27 – XL Airways Germany Flight 888T. An Airbus A320 due to be redelivered to Air New Zealand stalls and crashes over Mediterranean Sea resulting the deaths of 7source
  • 201025 January – The Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, scheduled from Beirut to Addis Ababa, crashes into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Rafic Hariri International Airport.source
  • 2016May 19 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea en route from Paris to Cairo, killing all 66 people on board.source

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