Mare clausum defended a "Mare clausum" policy during the age of discovery. This was soon challenged by other European nations. From 30 BC to 117 AD the Roman Empire came to surround the Mediterranean by controlling most of its coasts. Romans started then to name this sea "mare nostrum" (Latin for "our sea"). At those times the period between November and March was considered the most dangerous for navigation, so it was declared ""mare clausum"" (closed sea), although bans on navigation were probably never enforced. In classical law the ocean was not territorial. However, since the Middle Ages maritime republics like the
Germany at the 2016 Summer Olympics any leg of the Mare Nostrum tour or the German Open (exactly two months after the trials). The German Swimming Federation (DSV) selected the first batch of swimmers based on their intermediate results at the Olympic Trials and Mare Nostrum Tour, while the remaining batch rounded out the swimming roster for the Olympics through the German Open. All in all, a total of 27 swimmers (16 men and 11 women) were named to the German team for the Games on July 12, 2016, including two-time world record holder Paul Biedermann in middle-distance freestyle, 2015 Worlds champion Marco Koch (200 m