« Fauces Rubri maris : the Greco-Roman Bab al-Mandab »

International audienceThis article is a comprehensive study of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in antiquity, based on Greek and Roman sources from the 5th century BC to the 2nd century AD. It consists of six sections, and a corpus of texts in appendix : 1.The historical background: the Greeks and Romans in the area of Bab al-Mandab (from early times to the 2nd century A.D.); 2.From stoma to stena: the making of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge ; 3.The "Greco-Roman Bab al-Mandab": a synthetic review of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge; 4.The local trade network in the area of Bab al-Mandab; 5.Crossing the strait and mapping the strait: two perceptions of the space; 6.Imperialism and space; power and glory: the rulers / conquerors and the Bab al-Mandab Strai