Mare Nostrum

Roman Empire at its greatest extent (under Trajan)

The Empire, as it was finally shaped by Augustus, included Spain, Gaul, Italy, and the Balkans, the north coast of Africa, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. The Mediterranean was a Roman lake. Every people who had contributed to the sum of Western civilization was now subjected to Rome.

H.A.L. Fisher
A History of Europe (p. 85)
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1935