Trafficking in the Mediterranean World: A Historical Perspective

This chapter presents a historical overview of the illicit trafficking of humans and goods both around and across the Mediterranean world. Although it has become a pressing problem for law enforcement in the twenty-first century, this type of activity has been a constant feature of the region’s history for more than two millennia. The argument delineated in this paper is that although there are not perfect parallels to be drawn between the contemporary situation and historical events, we can nevertheless identify historical antecedents for today’s traffickers in the activities of pirates, bandits, smugglers, and others who have formed part of the intensive flow of people and goods around the Middle Sea since ancient times. Each historical era has presented new opportunities and dangers for traffickers, who are forced to adapt to ongoing transformations in regional politics, inter-imperial relations, technology, and international law.