Mare Nostrum Mare Nostrum Mare Nostrum (Latin for "Our Sea") was a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In Classical Latin it was pronounced [ˈma.rɛ ˈnɔs.trũ], and in Ecclesiastical Latin it is pronounced [ˈma.ɾe ˈnos.trum]. In the years following the unification of Italy in 1861, Italian nationalists who saw Italy as the successor state to the Roman Empire attempted to revive the term. The term "mare nostrum" originally was used by Romans to refer to the Tyrrhenian Sea, following their conquest of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica during the Punic Wars with Carthage. By 30 BC, Roman domination extended from the Iberian Peninsula
Exultavit cor nostrum Exultavit cor nostrum Exultavit cor nostrum is a letter, also known as a Papal bull, from Pope Urban IV to the Mongol Ilkhanate leader Hulagu in 1263/1264. The letter was evidently in response to a message brought to Urban by John the Hungarian, who claimed to be the Mongol envoy (it was not uncommon for individuals to present themselves as envoys, even when they were not). According to John, Hulagu desired to become a Christian, and requested that Urban send a representative who would help to baptise him. Pope Urban responded with the "Exultavit", which indicated that Urban had heard