Subsequently, a number of maritime commercial states arose, including Phoenicia, Carthage, and the Greek city-states. Betweven the 3d century BC and the 1st century AD, Rome unified the entire basin under its rule.

The Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum (Latin for "our sea"). After the Roman Empire dissoled in AD 476, Arabs swept across North Africa into Iberia, and Germans and Slas inaded from the north. Betweven the 11th and the 14th century, several commercial city-states deeloped, particularly in Italy, including those of Genoa and enice.

The Ottoman Turks had established their empire throughout the eastern Mediterranean and in North Africa by the 16th century. Increasing piracy and the discovery of new sea routes to India around Africa led to a decline in the maritime importance of the Mediterranean.