Mediterranean Sea

Radar!

The peninsula is a little to the east of the "center" of the sea.

Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Rhone (largest by far), plus the Herault and the Aude

The Mediterranean is the name of a body of water between Europe and Africa. The term is also used to describe the region bordering that body of water. Mediterranean climate means cool but not cold wet winters and dry summers. A mediterranean diet includes food using a lot of olive oil. So, it is a place and a way of life.

Suez Canal

The river Nile is the major river that flows through Egypt.

about 40 miles

From April to September because during the rest of the year the mediterranean can get quite rough, although these days the modern ships are very stable and even though you do run into a storm the boat hardly rocks.

The only down side is, obivously if you travel high season every where is very busy. You'll probably find lower prices in October and November. We cruised in early November last year, and the weather was comparable to the mid-Atlantic weather, low to mid 60's in the daytime, dipping to the 40's in the evening. You'll probably have more rain at this time of year, but we only had one rainy day out of seven, so you always take a chance on the weather. August in the Med can be quite hot.

The mountain range that runs parallel to the Mediterranean Sea from Lebanon into Syria is the Lebanese Mountains called Mount Lebanon.

The countries in North Africa that border the Mediterranean Sea from west to east are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt

Morocco

Asia, Turkey, and Africa

Very roughly: about 50 kilometers.

Rome was given access to the sea by the river Tiber, which flowed into this sea, and her proximity to the coast (about 14 miles at that time). The first port was Portus Tiberinus, of the river, by the Aventine Hill. Later, Rome built the port of Ostia, on the coast. Ships unloaded their cargo there, which were then carried to Rome up the river Tiber by smaller vessels.

The geographical aspects of how ancient Rome had access to the Mediterranean Sea is correct. Prior to 264 BC/BCE the city-state of Carthage dominated trade in the western Mediterranean Sea. The Roman port of Ostia is on the west coast of the Italian peninsula.

With that being said, ancient Rome's economy was primarily based on agriculture. Historical events, however, placed Rome in a position to challenge Carthage and her Greek allies over control of the island of Sicily. Carthage had a powerful naval fleet which prior to 264 BC/BCE was used to protect her commercial shipping from pirates or any other nation from interfering with Carthage's control of the Western Mediterranean Sea & the lands & islands in that area.

The first conflict Rome had with Carthage over Sicily found Rome without any sort of navy that could challenge Carthage's ability to transport shipping soldiers and goods in the areas of dispute. This was the First Punic War.

Rome then attempted with much difficulty to build an armed fleet of ships it needed to keep up with Carthage.

After many failures, Rome created a powerful naval fleet. In the battles starting in 264 BC/BCE, Rome had beaten Carthage. The war ended in 241 BC/BCE and the treaty of surrender gave Rome the spoils of war. The terms of the peace treaty allowed Rome to annex Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia

At this point Carthage could not monopolize trade & shipping in the western Mediterranean.

So to complete the answer to the question of what gave Rome free access to the seas, we see that Rome's annexation of the major islands in the Western Mediterranean and the elimination of Carthage's dominance, was vital to Rome's sea trade & naval power.

From Nice, France to Casablanca, Morocco, you have to cross the Mediterranean sea.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and its deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft).

Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco

The Silk Road.

no more than usual

The Suez Canal and the Red Sea is the most direct route to the Indian Ocean. Otherwise it means going the longer way round the Southern tip of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope.

Greeks

The inhabitants of Northern Africa are roughly divided into three groups. Those who live in the Mahgreb, the Nile Valley and the Sahara desert. In the Mahgreb it is believed that the Berbers were the earliest inhabitants and in the Nile Valley the Egyptians and Nubians. There is also some evidence of early Berbers in this area. In the Sahara it is believed to be the nomadic trans-Saharan people.

Water is scarce in the region and therefore a precious commodity. Control of the existing water sources such as rivers can cause political problems when one country diverts water sources that are also needed by other countries.