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| Cerunnos |
 Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:50 pm Post subject: What made the Mediterranean Sea so important? |
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| I'm trying to draw out some coastlines for a world before I start putting together the rest of my very first game, and I started wondering about the Mediterranean Sea. How could you get the same basic effect of being so much the CENTER of cultures and world history in a coastline design? Is it just that Europe got lucky? Is it that there were tons of mountains nearby that otherwise made travel difficult? How could you design another Mediterranean Sea without just outright copying it? What makes that sea what it is and was to the developing world? |
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| deinol |
| Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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I think it was that it is a (relatively) shallow warm water sea. Much easier to travel, even along the coastline, than other parts of the world. So yes, Europe and North Africa got lucky with an easy trade route area.
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| metatsu |
| Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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| You must also consider alot of fresh water rivers run to the sea and/or ocean, plus the abundance of sea life as a food source. Add ease of travel and transport, and a mechanism to reach other cultures that are otherwise land locked by terrain, and the possibilities seem endless. |
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| Amy Carrier |
| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:53 am Post subject: |
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I've given some thought to this for my own campaign maps. I think it was valuable/important because:
1) It has a tremendously long and convoluted coastline, providing lots of opportunities for harbors. By contrast look at the Florida coast - flat and boring. Florida has over two thousand miles of shoreline, and in all that distance there are only two medium-size ports (Jacksonville and Tampa) and two small ports (Cape Canaveral and Miami).
2) It has a tremendously varied coastline, with richly forested mountains, bucolic rolling hills, burning deserts, and even an occasional bit of swamp.
3) Relating to the varied coastline, it also had varied cultures with varied resources. Egypt was Rome's breadbasket, producing enough grain to feed the empire. The timber resources of Phoenicia were so famous that the modern Lebanese flag bears a picture of a cedar tree. The island of Cyprus produced so much copper that the metal was actually named after the island (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cyco/hd_cyco.htm).
4) It is relatively small, compared to actual oceans. A fairly short journey of just a couple of days would let merchants move goods from where they were plentiful to where they were needed, and even the longer journeys could be made in easy stages. (For example, Egypt to Rome, about a thousand miles, could be made broken up into several steps: Alexandria to Crete, Crete to Greece, Greece to Sicily, and Sicily to Rome.)
Break is over, got to go back to work. I hope this is enough to spark some ideas. |
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| deinol |
| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:31 am Post subject: |
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While I overall agree with your ideas there, I must say Florida is full of places for ships to come in. I work in the pleasure yachting business, and Florida is the yacht capital of America.
The reasons for Florida's fewer ports are likely due to economic reasons and the way the new world was developed. By the time the colonization started, ships were faster and so didn't need to stop at every little place along the coast. Also, Florida's swamps sucks for building railway on, so when goods were being landed and then shipped via train inside the country, there was less of a need to land in Florida. Or land in New Orleans and ship stuff up the Mississippi.
One of the biggest advantages of the Mediterranean is how shallow it is compared to a real ocean. So weather is a lot milder, smaller boats could manage to travel in safety if they hugged the coastline.
The fact that it is stretched east to west also helps. It allows trade along a stretch of area that has mostly the same climate. That may not seem like a big deal, but it really did help the flow of trade and ideas back in the days before you had air conditioned transportation.
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| Amy Carrier |
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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You are correct Deinol, I spoke carelessly in my post. While it is true there are only four harbors suitable for big modern ships, there are hundreds and hundreds of small inlets, river mouths, and sheltered areas that would have been perfectly suitable for ancient ships.
However, I can stand by at least part of my statement, as almost all of the “good” coastline is on the state’s Gulf Coast. Florida’s Atlantic Coast is quite bland and featureless by comparison. |
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| Zherog |
| Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:32 am Post subject: |
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Amy -- you seem to have a fair bit of knowledge, and it's really interesting. Might I suggest you pitch an article to everybody's favorite Kobold-in-Chief? Your post has a ton of great world-building information, based on real-world analogs. I can see a wonderful little 3-page system-neutral article there.
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| Amy Carrier |
| Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:16 am Post subject: |
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Thank you Zherog, I am quite flattered! 
Maybe I will - I've certainly enjoyed Open Design, and writing an article is just the next logical step, right? |
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| mightymongo |
| Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:06 pm Post subject: Be careful what you wish for..... |
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| Amy Carrier wrote: |
Thank you Zherog, I am quite flattered!
Maybe I will - I've certainly enjoyed Open Design, and writing an article is just the next logical step, right? |
Go for it, Amy; That's how I got started. First a KQ.com web article, then a two page article in KQ#18, now I am contracted to write @ 100k words for the Midgard Player's Guides...just be careful when WB offers you that sulphur-smelling contract and asks you to sign in blood....  |
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