Mare Nostrum

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Mare Nostrum in 117 ( Roman Empire )

Mare Nostrum (Latin for "our sea") was a Roman name and the name for the Mediterranean Sea , also called mare internum .

history

The term mare nostrum was originally used by the Romans to refer to the entire Tyrrhenian Sea after the conquest of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica during the Punic Wars with Carthage . Around 30 BC, Roman rule extended over the Iberian Peninsula to Egypt and the name mare nostrum was also used by the Romans for the rest of the Mediterranean. After the fall of the Roman Empire (476/480) in the west and the transition to the Byzantine Empire in the east (early 7th century), the name mare nostrum was forgotten.

Use of the term by Italian nationalists

With the rise of Italian nationalism in the 1880s, the demand for the establishment of an Italian colonial empire was made. The term was first reused by the Italian writer Gabriele d'Annunzio as part of his nationalist ideas.

Use of the term in fascist Italy

The term mare nostrum was used again by Benito Mussolini in 1939 for use in fascist propaganda. Mussolini claimed the succession of the Roman Empire and believed that Italy was the most powerful state of the Mediterranean countries after the First World War . He declared "the twentieth century will be a century of Italian power" and set up one of the most powerful fleets in the world to control the mare nostrum ( Mediterranean Sea ).

Contemporary usage of the term

After 400 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean Sea within a few days in autumn 2013, Italy organized the Mare Nostrum naval operation .

literature

  • Anthony Rhodes: Propaganda: The art of persuasion: World War II, Chelsea House Publishers, New York 1976.
  • CJ Lowe: Italian Foreign Policy 1870-1940 Mare Nostrum, Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27372-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anthony Rhodes, Propaganda: The art of persuasion: World War II , p. 70, Chelsea House Publishers, New York 1976
  2. ↑ Fleming, Thomas. The New Dealers' War , Perseus Books 2001
  3. ↑ Immigration: Italy launches Mare Nostrum, 400 more saved , ANSAmed, October 15, 2013.