History of the Mediterranean region Alexandria. Mesopotamia became a fringe border region between the Roman Empire and the Persians. When Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Mediterranean sea began to be called "Mare Nostrum" (Latin: "Our Sea") by the Romans. Their empire was centered on this sea and all the area was full of commerce and naval development. For the first time in history, an entire sea (the Mediterranean) was free of piracy. For several centuries, the Mediterranean was a "Roman Lake", surrounded on all sides by the empire. The empire began to crumble, however, in the fifth century and Rome collapsed after 476 CE.
Now That's What I Call Christmas! 2002 with sales of 1,614,000 and 741,000 copies respectively. As of November 2014, "Now That's What I Call Christmas!" is the eighth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 — present), having sold 3,480,000 copies. Now That's What I Call Christmas! Now That's What I Call Christmas! is a two-disc holiday music compilation that was released on October 23, 2001 by Universal Music Group. The album is part of the (U.S.) "Now!" series, and the first holiday-themed album in the series. On November 15, 2004, "Now That's What I Call Christmas!"