There problems of piracy in the Mediterranean for many years.
This bad situation which at times disrupted sea transportation was
handled by the Roman navy. Prior to the Punic Wars, Rome had no
navy to speak of. These wars demanded a navy to compete with that
of Carthage. It should also be noted that when Augustus Caesar took
over the Roman government, he did reduce the number of legions, but
he did not reduce the Roman navy. The navy helped keep trading
routes by sea secure.