Jørgen Christian Meyer
The Greco-Roman civilization an the Middle Eastern world

In stead of looking at the ancient world as the absolute centre, the Mediterranean shores are turned into marginal zones of larger areas in the hinterland with different resources. The Mediterranean becomes an huge area of transit. Special attention is paid to the external exchange of goods between the different regions and between the Mediterranean shores and the hinterland. This exchange had deep impact on the organisation of the Mediterranean societies from the Bronze Age throughout the ancient period. Of special importance was the Middle Eastern network, which to a large degree determined the rise and fall of more complex societies in the Mediterranean. The history of the Greco-Roman civilisation is thus viewed as an integrated part of the Middle Eastern history.