The maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the only port along the western coast between Genoa (then a small village) and Ostia. Pisa served as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians, Gauls, and Carthaginians. In 180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as . In 89 BC, became a "municipium". Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port and changed the name to .