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.
Air Nostrum was established on 23 May 1994 and started operations on 15 December. It was founded as Líneas Aéreas del Mediterraneo/Air Nostrum in Valencia. In May 1997, Air Nostrum signed an agreement with Iberia to become an Iberia franchise. It acquired Iberia subsidiary Binter Mediterraneo and absorbed its operations. Following Iberia's merger with Aviaco in 1999, additional domestic and international services were taken over by Air Nostrum. It acquired Dutch airline Denim Air in 1999, but disposed of its interest in the company in 2002. Air Nostrum is owned by Nefinsa (75%), Caja Duero (22%) and Air Nostrum management (3%) and