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.
What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? is a book by biblical scholar and archaeologist William G. Dever detailing his response to the claims of minimalists to the historicity and value of the Hebrew Bible. Dever's book is a response to recent trends in biblical scholarship and biblical archaeology which question whether the bible can be used as a reliable tool for interpreting history. The book begins with Dever's explanation of the "minimalist" position, which holds that the bible is a product of