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
Epistle to the Romans review the current scholarly viewpoints on the purpose of Romans, along with a bibliography, see "Dictionary of Paul and His Letters". For a 16th-century "Lollard" reformer view, see the work of William Tyndale. In his prologue to his translation of the book of Romans, which was largely taken from the prologue of German Reformer Martin Luther, Tyndale writes that: ... this epistle is the principal and most excellent part of the new testament, and most pure evangelion, that is to say glad tidings and what we call the gospel, and also a light and a way in unto the whole