I think it would be very important, as naval power was much more significant in the ancient world than it was in the medieval.

One of the reasons Rome became the top dog is because it eventually rivaled, and then surpassed the navies of Carthage during the Punic Wars. At the time of the First Punic War, Carthage was the predominant naval power. That was no longer true by the time the First Punic War had ended.