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Spices and the Exploration of the World
The Spice Trade is one of the oldest known to man. Overland trade routes across Asia anteceded recorded history. The Greeks and Romans used herbs and spices extensively. By the 10th century, Venice had begun to prosper with trade. The Italian City States: Pisa, Genoa and particularly Venice, had become very powerful. As the wealth of Europe poured into Venice the Venetian fleet came to control much of the Mediterranean. The City States were able to establish a monopoly over the spice trade in the Mediterranean Region as great as the Arab control over the Near East.