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Ecology and Beyond:
The Mediterranean Paradigm
Alain Bresson
One of the fundamental notions put forward by P. Horden and
N. Purcell in their important book The Corrupting Sea is the
necessity of separating history in the Mediterranean from a
history of the Mediterranean. 1 The former was Fernand Braudel’s
purpose in his famous book The Mediterranean and the
Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. The latter is
Horden and Purcell’s ambition. They hold that such an approach
can isolate what might be called the nucleus of a Mediterranean
paradigm. With this purpose in mind, they provide
an account that covers a very long period of history from the
prehistoric period up to the beginning of industrialization. This
is a necessary foundation for an analysis that aims to provide
trans-periodical definitions.
Although it will not refrain from presenting short comments
on more recent periods, this chapter will focus mostly on antiquity,
with only brief glances at more recent periods. However,
these ‘ancient times’ will begin far earlier than usual, that is in
the neolithic period, thus allowing us to take into account the
longue durée required for an exercise in conceptualization.
According to the Corrupting Sea, the nucleus of the Mediterranean
paradigm consists in an exceptional fragmentation of landscapes
and countryside as well as in an extreme instability and
unpredictability of the climate, which thanks to the presence of
the sea provided the conditions for a connectivity that reached a
I should like to express warm thanks to William Harris for improving my
English, and to all the participants in the conference for our exchange of ideas.
1
Horden and Purcell, CS, with the sensitive review by B. D. Shaw, JRA
14 (2002), 419–53.