@juergen_hubert I also find this question hugely interesting. Some aspects of it are treated by David Abulafia in his fantastic book "The Great Sea" https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/AUTHORS/Abulafia2014-HistoryMediterranean.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Sea:_A_Human_History_of_the_Mediterranean
