At some point they start pushing back against the existing commercial world order, which leads to conflict with the dominant naval/air power, who plays the role of protecting trade.
Then they lose.
The Romans won against Carthage, even though they had no navy (apart some Liburnian ships copied from the Illyrians), and had to build it by scratch.
They actually won with no true experience.
Carthage was a mercantile navy power, while Rome was a land power at the time. The exact scenario repeated in the battle of Lepanto, but this time the navy power won. (the Ottomans being the land super power of the time, and Venice a mercantile navy power).
Lepanto was the opposite, the end of over a millennium of armies fighting at sea and the emergence of a new form of naval supremacy.
Usually when the naval power stays off the home turf, it goes alright, but I take this is a great counter point.