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
What the Rose did to the Cypress What the Rose did to the Cypress What the Rose did to the Cypress is a Persian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in "The Brown Fairy Book" (1904), with the note "Translated from two Persian MSS. in the possession of the British Museum and the India Office, and adapted, with some reservations, by Annette S. Beveridge." A king had three sons. The oldest went hunting and chased a deer, giving orders that it should be captured rather than killed. It led him to a sandy waste where his horse died. He found a tree with a spring beneath it