![]() ![]() Nearer to hand lay the timber, limestone, and marble to build a mighty city and all the resources to sustain it. ![]() To the south, routes led overland to the cities of the Middle East: Damascus, Aleppo, and Baghdad and to the west, the sea lanes through the Dardanelles opened up the whole of the Mediterranean: the routes to Egypt and the Nile delta, the rich islands of Sicily and Crete, the Italian peninsula, and everything that lay beyond to the Gates of Gibraltar. To the east, the riches of Central Asia could be funneled through the Bosphorus into the godowns of the imperial city: barbarian gold, furs, and slaves from Russia caviar from the Black Sea wax and salt, spices, ivory, amber, and pearls from the far Orient. “At this crossroads the Christian city came to control the wealth of a huge hinterland. ![]()
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