The Mediterranean is no less than thousands of things together. Not merely single sceneries, but countless ones. Not a single sea, but a succession of seas. Not a mere civilization, but heaps of civilizations piling on top of each other. The Mediterranean is a historically old crossroad: for several millennia, everything centered around it, muddling, yet enriching its history. Although much has been said and retold about the ‘Mare Nostrum’, it is fortunate that there is always something new to add about its unity, divisions, transparencies and obscurities. We have known for long that it is neither ‘a given reality’ nor a ‘constant’, for the Mediterranean is composed of several subsets that defy or refute several ideas received.

Predrag Matvejević

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