It was the sphere of the aegean mariners and had been so as far back as Phoenician memory ran.
"The Ancient East"
D. G. Hogarth
They had never come in contact with the higher aegean civilization, nor had they mixed their blood with that of cultivated predecessors; their land was continental, poor in harbours, remote from the luxurious centres of life, and of comparatively rigorous climate; its configuration had offered them no inducement to form city-states and enter on intense political life.
"The Ancient East"
D. G. Hogarth
But the capture of the chief base of the hostile fleets which still ranged the aegean was all essential to Alexander, and he bridged the sea to effect it.
"The Ancient East"
D. G. Hogarth