as well as food (from fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages. Due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states and the Phoenicians, both of which extensively colonised the coastlines of the Mediterranean. Later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). The Blindleia is a skerry-protected waterway that starts near Kristiansand in southern Norway, and continues past Lillesand. In Danish, the word may even apply to shallow lagoons. Like fjords, freshwater lakes are often deep. Alcoholic drinks like beer,