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.
Mare Nostrum (1926 film) "Mare Nostrum", this one a sound film, was made in Spanish in 1948. It starred Fernando Rey and María Félix, and was directed by Rafael Gil, who, the year before, had directed the first full-length Spanish film version of Cervantes's "Don Quixote". Mare Nostrum (1926 film) Mare Nostrum (1926) is a silent film set during World War I. A Spanish merchant sailor becomes involved with a spy. It was the first production made in voluntary exile by Rex Ingram and starred his wife, Alice Terry. It is based on the novel of the same name by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Long