Drought is one of the most serious climatic risks in the Mediterranean region, and there are fears that it will be amplified by climate change. In this paper, we have examined this phenomenon over the long term, from the Holocene beginning to the present. In the first part, we have consulted the results of several specialised studies in paleoclimatology, climate morphology, paleolimnology, archaeology, and history. In a second part, we have based our analysis on the values of the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and on climate reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5 at a resolution of 0.5°X 0.5°. The chronology of severe drought events that have affected the Mediterranean region since the beginning of the Holocene until the present was presented in the first and second parts. Over the period studied, the region was not immune to this type of event, with frequent droughts varying in duration, severity, and impact, despite some spatial and temporal differences. In the last section, we have outlined the factors that can cause droughts in the Mediterranean region by relying on the characteristics of atmospheric and oceanic circulation dynamics and their oscillations, as well as other natural and anthropogenic causes.