In ancient times two groups of people lived near the sea the Minoans of Crete, and the Myceneans of the Peloponnese. The city-states of Athens and Sparta came later and were part of Ancient Greece. Persians, Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Venetians (people from Venice), the Seljuk Empire, and the Ottoman Empire later started around the Aegean Sea. The people near the Aegean were very advanced (powerful and clever) in Ancient history and they sailed across it to talk to each other.