Piracy: Lessons From the Past

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2016

Piracy Lessons From the Past

Trimboli Michael

Trimboli M (2016) Piracy Lessons From the Past (Unpublished masters thesis) University of

Calgary Calgary AB doi1011575PRISM27362

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master thesis

University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their

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Downloaded from PRISM httpsprismucalgaryca

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY


by

Michael Lee Trimboli

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GREEK AND ROMAN STUDIES

CALGARY ALBERTA

AUGUST 2016

copy Michael Lee Trimboli 2016

ii

Abstract

Piracy has remained quintessentially the same from its inception to the present day As

piracy has reached all time heights in the past decade since the defeat of the Barbary pirates

there has been much research done in the area of piracy and finding solutions to this age old

problem Modern schools of pirate studies have all but ignored ancient history as a source in this

search for a solution This work outlines the characteristics of piracy in the ancient world the

laws developed in reaction to this menace and the successful tactics and strategies employed by

ancient civilizations in combating this terror which hails from time immemorial These

characteristics laws and methods will then be compared to modern piracy showing the

similarities between them and the possibilities for solutions to be incorporated in our present day

Key words Ancient Piracy Modern Piracy Law History Rome Greece

iii

Acknowledgements

I would first like to show appreciation to my supervisor Dr John Vanderspoel The door

to Dr Vanderspoelrsquos office was always open to me and his guidance and advice helped me to

both focus my thesis and keep on track Dr Vanderspoel has been sensitive to the needs of my

family and helped guide me on the best path to compete my degree while being able to be with

my wife and son Likewise there are many at the University of Calgary who have helped me and

have made my graduate experience both pleasant and rewarding Along with their efforts I

would like to thank the administrative staff who have been an invaluable part of my experience

here in the Department of Greek and Roman Studies I would also like to thank the members of

my defense committee Dr Gavin Cameron Dr Lindsay Driediger-Murphy and Mr James

Hume for taking the time to read my thesis and help me reach a new academic level Their

suggestions and comments have been instrumental in expanding my understanding of the

realities of implementing solutions for piracy on an international level

I offer my appreciation to the Government of Alberta their grant and scholarship support

has allowed me to complete a degree for Master of Arts while raising my family I also offer my

gratitude to the University of Calgary for scholarship support and the opportunity to gain

experience in teaching at the academic level

Finally I express my profound gratitude to my family in particular my wife Grace and

my son Alexander for their constant and continued encouragement throughout my years of

study and through the research and writing of this thesis I could not have accomplished this

without their support Thank you

iv

Dedication

I dedicate this to my loving wife and son

sine vobis nihil sum

v

Table of Contents

Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Dedication iv Table of Contents v List of Abbreviations vi

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER ONE SOURCES AND APPROACHES 6

CHAPTER TWO THE NATURE OF PIRACY 17

CHAPTER THREE PIRACY ndash FROM HOMER TO ALEXANDER 36

CHAPTER FOUR HELLENISTIC PIRACY 58

CHAPTER FIVE POMPEY AND THE PIRATES 78

CHAPTER SIX LESSONS FOR TODAY 94

CONCLUSION 105

APPENDIX 108

BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

vi

List of Abbreviations

CAH Cambridge Ancient History 2nd edn (1961ndash 1st

edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist

Fragmente der griechischen Historiker F Jacoby

(1923ndash )

IG

MRR

Inscriptiones Graecae (1873ndash )

The Magistrates of the Roman Republic T R S

Broughton (1951ndash2) Suppl (1986 supersedes

Suppl 1960)

SEG Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum (1923ndash )

SIG Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 3rd edn W

Dittenberger (1915ndash24)

1

Introduction

Polyphemus cyclops and son of the Greek god Poseidon caught Odysseus on the island

of the Cyclops (Sicily) and asked him this question

ὦ ξεῖνοι τίνες ἐστέ πόθεν πλεῖθ᾽ ὑγρὰ κέλευθα ἦ τι κατὰ πρῆξιν ἦ μαψιδίως

ἀλάλησθε οἷά τε ληιστῆρες ὑπεὶρ ἅλα τοί τ᾽ ἀλόωνται ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι κακὸν

ἀλλοδαποῖσι φέροντες1

O strangers who are you Whence do you sail the waterways Are you either on

business or thoughtlessly roaming such as pirates over the sea who roam risking

their lives and bringing evil to other lands

In one of the oldest Greek texts we find the pervasiveness of piracy in society It is clear that

even before the time this text was written commonly agreed to be sometime during the 8th

century BCE2 that piracy was commonplace According to Diodorus Siculus a Greek historian

from the first century BCE when writing about the first peoples to settle the island of Sicily

οἱ δ᾽ οὖν Σικανοὶ τὸ παλαιὸν κωμηδὸν ᾤκουν ἐπὶ τῶν ὀχυρωτάτων λόφων τὰς

πόλεις κατασκευάζοντες διὰ τοὺς λῃστάς3

The Sicani then in times past inhabited villages building their settlements upon

the strongest hilltops on account of the pirates

All writings from antiquity are filled with mention of pirates and piracy These works give us

insight into the affect of piracy on ancient society and the methods and laws employed in

antiquated times to deal with this menace Today we share a very similar threat Of all the

1 Homer Odyssey 1 9 252-255 2 Although the works attributed to Homer namely the Iliad and the Odyssey are believed to have been composed in

the 8th century BCE modern scholars have used information in the Odyssey to determine the date that these events

took place According to this research which has been cross examined with the archeological evidence from the site

of the city of Troy the fall of Troy took place in 1188 BCE For further details see Constantino Baikouzis and

Marcelo O Magnasco ldquoIs an Eclipse Described in the Odysseyrdquo Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

vol 105 no 26 (June 2008) 8823 And St P Papamarinopoulos et al ldquoA New Astronomical Dating of Odysseusrsquo

Return to Ithicardquo Mediterranean Archaeology amp Archaeometry vol 12 no 1 (2012) 117-128 3 Diodorus The Library of History 5 6

2

studies occupied with solving modern piracy few have taken the time to seek answers from the

classical Greeks and Romans thinking that ancient piracy is too different and too far removed to

be of adequate benefit

In reality piracy has evolved very little and remains similar in many ways I contest that

the study of ancient piracy can be beneficial to the understanding and combating of piracy today

This work will analyze in greater depth the nature of piracy in the ancient world how the fear of

piracy effected the creation of laws to deal with its growing affects giving examples of both

successful and unsuccessful cases of anti-piracy campaigns and how these historical successes

can be applied to modern deliberations in the creation of programs and laws to deal with recent

piracy The outline of this thesis will be as follows

In the first chapter I begin by defining piracy and the importance of the definition in the

context of both ancient and modern piracy arguing that the most significant aspect of piracy is

not included in modern definistions of piracy Next I explain the purpose of the chosen

parameters of the work and the reasons for the limitations in both time and place I continue by

giving an overview of ancient approaches to piracy highlighting some of the most influential

views which have been put forward on this topic I argue that the focus of most scholarship has

been to determine the origin of piracy focusing on social and economic causes which has given

little attention to the laws and methods employed in order to combat piracy In this there is a

clear lack of scholarship in applying the laws and methods of combating piracy in antiquity to

modern counter-piracy programs I then outline the scholarship on modern piracy and its

approaches to solving present-day challenges I will show that modern scholarship has also

overlooked the events of antiquity as a plausible solution to modern anti-piracy programs

3

In the second chapter I begin examining the nature of ancient piracy by explaining the

etymology of the word in both Greek and Latin This shows through written literature how the

Classical and Hellenistic societies viewed piracy and how it evolved as time went on Next I

outline the sources of pirate crews by showing how pirates typically begin their careers I will

argue that piracy thrives during periods of warfare where there is economic and political

instability as well as opportunity This will lead into a discussion of the general locations in

which piracy was common focusing on the geography and accessibility of the areas as a factor

in the rise and success of piracy Subsequently I will outline the ships most commonly used by

pirates and the methods employed in their application to achieve successful pirate raids While

showing how these methods were at times used in war I will argue that piracy differed from the

mainstream methods of naval warfare in both the Classical and Hellenistic periods making the

important distinction between piracy and warfare I will conclude the chapter by addressing the

economic ramifications of piracy as it pertains to the sustainability of both the economy and

piracy itself

In the third chapter I address piracy in the pre-hellenistic era and outline the methods

used to combat piracy I will argue that due to the weakness of political structure during the

period piracy was able to run relatively unchecked The lack of powerful states required

rudimentary methods of protection against piracy I will then show how the rise of the polis led

to a growing separation of piracy from warfare in a political and legal atmosphere although not

in practice I argue that the rise of the polis made more productive methods of combating piracy

possible such as patrols and campaigns but also permitted the growth of piracy due to the

competition of states and the employement of state funded piracy ultimately leading to a more

developed and widerspread piracy than in previous ages

4

In the fourth chapter I deal with Hellenistic reactions to piracy and the methods

employed by Rome and her allies to deal with the high seas menace I will argue that the

growing power of states made it possible to not only perform defensive measures against pirates

but also offensive ones in the shape of pirate campaigns A push for this was the political image

that the greatest nations policed the seas in order make trade safe and the area stable This is best

seen in the War between Philip and Athens and in the pirate campaigns of Rome

In the fifth chapter I focus on the anti-piracy campaign of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

His campaign is a prime example of all the elements of this work from fear and insecurity to

laws and methods of dealing with pirates I will begin by outlining the state of the Roman

Republic in the decade before Pompeyrsquos appointment and show the public support for the

campaign I will then give a statistical analysis of Pompeyrsquos resources and planning for the

campaign This will lead into a chronological account of the methods employed and conclude

with Pompeyrsquos ultimate plan in solving Mediterranean piracy Throughout this analysis I will

indicate that the single most significant factor to Pompeyrsquos success was in the combined land and

sea operations of the campaign an aspect often overlooked by modern scholars especially when

it comes to solutions for modern piracy

In the sixth chapter I discuss the similarities between ancient and modern piracy

reviewing the information discussed in chapter two on the nature of piracy and comparing it to

modern studies I will argue that piracy has changed in only a few technological and legal ways

and remains quintessentially the same I will then proceed to incorporate the successful laws and

methods employed by ancient maritime societies as discussed in chapters three through five

into a modern context and show how they have been employed in todayrsquos fight against piracy

and what laws and methods may yet be employed to help combat the modern piracy crisis

5

noting the advantages and difficulties of such an endeavour I will argue that the most significant

aspect of fighting piracy is in a coordinated attack against pirates at both sea and land and show

how the minor implementation of this method has yielded results today

The conclusion will begin by showing the progression of anti-pirate methods how they

fit into a larger picture the significance they play today and the importance of referring back to

classical material as a tool for dealing with modern piracy I end this work by calling for further

scholarship in this field and its connection to modern circumstances and for a broader range of

scholarship to work with Classical Studies and History in exploring possible solutions for

modern issues across many different fields

6

Chapter One Sources and Approaches

I define piracy as the practice of armed robbery which utilizes ships4 It is important to

define piracy in this way for a number of reasons especially in ancient context First the Latin

and Greek word for piracy in earlier texts is often synonymous with bandit In fact ancient

sources sometimes employed the word bandit in conjunction with the word sea to clarify that the

subject in question was actually piracy Second the fact there is no mention of the sea is also

essential to this definition Although this makes the definition broader it is important to realize

that piracy often occurs on land by means of ships not just as an act of one ship against another

ship on the open seas It is this very nature which makes piracy all the more dangerous While

banditry takes place exclusively on land piracy is more versatile and far reaching being able to

attack both land and sea making piracy harder to anticipate and defend against It is also

significant in that ships require harbours or anchorages to refit resupply and sell plundered

goods They require special materials to maintain them and crews to operate them making piracy

a more expensive but more coordinated and effective method of armed robbery Third this

definition separates piracy from banditry allowing piracy to be discussed in isolation from the

other narrowing the scope of this work to a more practical subject that has implications in both

the ancient and modern world

4 Defining piracy is a difficult task one which even modern scholars and states have problems with The most

influential definition by previous scholars for this work is from Barclay Law and Usage of War ldquoAn act of violence

done upon the ocean or unappropriated lands or within a territory of a state through descent from the sea by a body

of men acting independently of any political organized societyrdquo This definition unlike many others recognizes the

flexible nature of piracy of attacking both land and sea The shortcoming of Barclayrsquos definition lays in the grouping

of piracy as independent of a political organized society This especially in the ancient world is not accurate as

many nations promoted piracy even outfitting pirate groups to aid in creating instability This is also known as state

sponsored piracy Although some have argued that this is privateering as will be discussed later in this work this is

not true in either the ancient or modern world and has only been the case during Europersquos colonialism

7

Within this broad subject area I have chosen to concentrate on particular themes and

explore them through detailed analysis of specific periods As I could not possibly hope to cover

all aspects of piracy over all periods from the Bronze Age to the Modern with equal satisfaction

the process of selection has been guided in part by the demands of time and space This

selection process has also been aided by the work of previous scholars who have concentrated

their studies on particular periods andor societies5 This work therefore will focus on the

Greeks during the Classical and Hellenistic Periods and the Romans during the Republic with

reference to pre-Classical and Roman Imperial periods Both cultures possessed large empires

and held great influence over portions or even all of the Mediterranean during these time

periods and as such are ideal examples to analyze6 The extended period of influence which

these two cultures held allows for a more detailed analysis of how these two peoples dealt with

piracy over time and space Lastly as stated above there are many similarities between the

pirates of western antiquity and those of the modern era which also makes the Greeks and

Romans a good case study for this work7

Piracy as much as it is in the present day was pandemic in the ancient world As such

piracy has affected ancient society in a major way and can be found in almost every type of

source for the ancient world archaeology historical record epigraphy economic records laws

personal correspondence legal proceedings epic literature even poetry and plays As such this

thesis will pull from a variety of sources however the majority of sources will be drawn from

5 The Hellenistic Period has preserved the most abundant literary sources of all the periods which will be covered

and therefore will receive the most attention 6 This is especially true in the case of the Romans at the end of the Republic and most of their Imperial period 7 This study will focus on the Greeks and Romans but has many applications throughout the world in both time and

place There will always be differences between events across the world and this includes piracy but this type of

phenomenon is similar enough in a majority of instances that it can be of benefit to the study of piracy in its entirety

8

the historical and legal accounts The reason for this choice follows the purpose of the work to

outline the laws and methods employed in fighting piracy in the ancient world determining why

some were successful and why others were not and applying these methods to the modern crisis

Sources from other types of records will be in support to these as far as they give a better

understanding to why these laws were created and their methods employed

Since the vast bulk of the evidence comes from the Classical period and after I have

concentrated my research here and made only brief references to the Bronze Age and Archaic

periods The truly historical sources only begin to appear after the development of history as a

form of literature in the fifth century BCE As a result although previous scholars have devoted

a great deal of effort to the period before 500 BCE I have been very brief in my treatment of it

Considerations of length have also played a part here

The bulk of our historical records on piracy come from Polybius Thucydides Livy and

Appian Both Polybius and Thucydides are our best sources for classical and early Hellenistic

periods especially from the Greek point of view ndash Thucydides because he wrote during that

time and Polybius because his account is more detailed and generally considered more

trustworthy than authors such as Appian Livy and Appian give us a better look at the later

Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Periods Authors including Plutarch Diodorus Siculus Strabo

Herodotus and others will be referenced but their focus is less on history and more on other

supplementary subjects8

8 Plutarchrsquos lives are biographies that focus more on the sensational than on history Strabo wrote primarily on

geography and ethnography as did Herodotus This gives us glimpses at more popular views of piracy as well as

unique perspectives and uncommon accounts not found in the primary histories

9

Cicero is one of our primary sources for legal proceedings in the late Roman Republic as

a large portion of his work has survived at least in comparison to other contemporary authors

Although his writings cover only a small period of what we are reviewing in this work Cicero is

an invaluable source for much of the legal proceedings of one of the most turbulent periods of

pirate activity in the ancient world He is invariably connected to the Cilician pirate campaign of

67 BCE and began his career in major politics by prosecuting Verres in 70 BCE whom he often

referred to as a pirate Cicero is also a primary source for personal communication as over 900

letters survive from his correspondence9

The earliest studies on piracy in antiquity were primarily a collection of references from

inscriptions and literary sources Arranged in chronological order these early works constituted

the groundwork from which future scholars could begin their research These works such as that

of Sestier 1880 and Kroll 1921 forwarded the view that piracy was the product of uncivilized

states which was supressed by the rise of civilizing powers such as Athens Rhodes and Rome

Scholars like Henry Ormerod 1924 and Erich Ziebarth 1929 built upon the foundations set by

Sestier and Kroll and were the first to study the subject of Ancient Piracy in greater depth In his

work Piracy in the Ancient World Ormerod expanded both the scope (extending from the

Bronze Age where he looks for early manifestations of piracy to late antiquity) and the source

material (especially inscriptions) concerning ancient piracy The general consensus by these

authors at this phase of pirate studies was that geography and war as opposed to uncivilized

society were the cause of piracy They also viewed piracy as unchanging between the Bronze

9 While only 37 books of his letters survive today 35 books containing letters to Caesar Pompey Octavian and

others have been lost Chisholm Hugh ed Cicero Encyclopaeligdia Britannica (11th ed) Cambridge University

Press 1911

10

Age and Imperial Age of Rome Ziebarthrsquos analysis of ancient piracy was in many ways

simplistic as he assumed that piracy was mainly conducted against seaborne trade This limits

the ability to fully study piracy which had many connections to the coasts and land10

The work of Ormerod and Kroll was fundamental in making available a wide ranging and

historically detailed account of piracy for other scholars to draw upon After their work there has

been no work published on such a broad scale The next phase of scholarship narrows the scope

of the subject and increases the detail of analysis of the sources Such scholars include Benecke

1934 who focuses on the Aitolians and Rostovtzeff 1957 with his two monumental works

which narrow the field in which piracy is viewed11 The next step in scholarship begins with

Jackson who in 1973 published ldquoPrivateers in the Ancient Greek Worldrdquo which considers the

nature of piracy and its connection to contemporary warfare During this phase piracy is often

assessed through social and economic perspectives Bruleacutersquos work 1978 discusses the role of

piracy in the slave trade and as a means for aristocracy to obtain external wealth Gabbert 1986

furthers this view by showing the connection between pirates and Hellenistic rulers often seeing

pirates as synonymous with mercenaries12

The most recent scholarship in this field has been from Philip de Souza and H Pohl

whose research has been focused on the political ties of piracy to Rome and the image of piracy

in the classical world In his work Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 1999 De Souza argues

against many previous theories on ancient piracy by putting forth the idea of propaganda

Although a compelling argument this approach advances the theory that piracy was a minor

10 Philip De Souza Piracy in the Ancient World From Minos to Mohammed (PhD Dissertation University College

1992) 19-20 11 Other scholars who follow this method of scholarship are Dell 1967 Ducrey 1968 Garlan 1972 Gauthier

1972 and Magie 1950 12 Philip De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1999) 20-22

11

concern in the classical world using the image of piracy as a means of discrediting political

rivals and creating excuses for conflict and conquest especially by the Romans in the later

Hellenistic and Republic periods13 Piracy was certainly used as a means of propaganda but

probably not to the extent which De Souza suggests Pohl 1993 likewise views piracy from a

political point of view focusing on Romersquos involvement with piracy Both scholars outline

classical and Hellenistic methods of dealing with piracy but again focusing on politics and

propaganda

It is not surprising that these last scholars would have aspects of how entities from

antiquity dealt with threats from piracy as they write in a time where piracy begins to pose a

problem in the modern world Yet none make a concerted effort to link classical piracy with that

of the modern It is this gap in the scholarship which I wish to address The work that has come

before is significant in its contribution both in collecting into one place a majority of the sources

dealing with piracy and in setting the groundwork for classical methods of dealing with this

ancient menace Building upon this work I will focus upon these methods and connect them to

the modern phenomenon

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) pirate attacks and hijackings have

intensified in the past decade In 2006 there were a total of 20 Somali pirate attacks resulting in

only 5 successful hijackings In 2010 the total number of attacks by Somali pirates had increased

to 828 of which 180 hijackings were successful14 an over 4000 percent increase in just four

13 Other scholars who attach themselves to this view of politics and propaganda in classical piracy are A Avidov

1997 and D Braund 1993 14 Hugh Williamson ldquoProtection of Canadian Ships Against Piracyrdquo Canadian Naval Review vol 9 no 2 (2013)

17 These statistics apply only to confirmed piratical acts by Somali pirates Piracy has taken place in many other

parts of the world These statistics are to express the point of the growing activities of pirates More information

12

years15 Due to these ever increasing threats from pirates Piracy studies as coined by Derek

Johnson and Erika Pladdet in 200316 has become a new and rapid growing field since the 1990s

The speed at which this field of study has grown can be seen in a recent bibliography which

counts over 200 articles and books published recently17 In such a globalized world Piracy

Studies have included many diverse disciplinary approaches These disciplines can be

categorized into about six main groups which follow a certain approach to their research

Security and Strategic Studies as can be expected have approached the subject in terms

of seeing piracy as a problem and threat to things such as economy trade environment and free

navigation at sea all of which can be solved with strategic responses This group also associates

piracy with failed states and security challenges such as terrorism which further increases the

complexity of the subject18 Legal scholars translate piracy into the sphere of international crime

that requires legal and law enforcement apparatuses They try to address the conceptual problems

of prosecuting pirates or concurrence of laws19 The majority of the laws pertaining to acts of

piracy are from the pre 1990s before piracy began to get out of control displaying an obvious

inadequacy of legal devices to deal with the problem Technical disciplines including economics

and computer science approach piracy as a management and technical dilemma They work to

make shipping more efficient by optimizing shipping routes surveillance transit corridors self-

about other areas of the world and their piratical activities will be discussed later in this work As such it should not

be assumed that Somali pirates are the only pirates in the world 15 Although the success rate of pirate attacks has diminished thanks to increased policing efforts the number of

attacks has increased substantially 16 Derek Johnson and Erika Pladdet ldquoAn overview of current concerns in piracy studies and new directions for

researchrdquo Paper presented at the People and the Sea II Conference International Institute for Asian Studies

Amsterdam The Netherlands 1 August 2003 17 Christian Bueger ldquoPiracy Studies Academic Responses to the Return of an Ancient Menacerdquo Cooperation and

Conflict vol 49 no 3 (September 2014) 406 This field of study is for modern piracy and should not be confused

with the study of ancient piracy by scholars since the end of the 19th century 18 Germond and Smith 2009 Murphy 2010 Vreyuml 2009 19 Azubuike 2009 Guilfoyle 2010 Menefee 1990 Treves 2009

13

defence measures and even insurance solutions20 Sociologists and psychologists study the

humanitarian effects specifically focusing on assistance for victims of pirate attacks21 Research

from other disciplines such as anthropology sociology and criminology has viewed piracy as a

form of organized crime or social banditry generally trying to determine the structure of piracy

within both a global and local society22 Still other fields have approached piracy as a question of

trying to determine the underlying causes of piracy and how the root causes can be solved for a

more permanent solution seeing weak government corruption poverty and unemployment all

of which lead to lawlessness as sources of principal concern23

These six categories show both the variety of the disciplines and the problems faced by

the field of piracy studies All these disciplines however work toward two main goals better

understanding of piracy and the development of responses to it Of all the previously mentioned

approaches to the study of piracy there are three main areas that have attracted the most attention

and scholarship origins of piracy organizational structure and methods and responses from

official organizations in other words how did it start how does it work and how can it be fixed

Researching the causes of piracy allows for important research in adequate responses to and

prevention of piracy This is furthered by research into its practices and organization which

allow responses to be customized to more regional and even local areas and determines the threat

level that piracy in those regions and areas has escalated to Research into institutional responses

20 Bendall 2010 Bensassi and Martiacutenez-Zarzaso 2012 Jakob et al 2011 21 Kleinman 2011 Leporatti 2012 to name a couple 22 Hansen 2009 Klien 2013 Vagg 1995 23 Coggins 2010 Hastings 2009 Samatar et al 2010 These six approaches are described in greater detail by

Bueger ldquoPiracy Studiesrdquo 407-414

14

make use of the first two areas of research and puts them into legal political and strategic

circumstances that will fulfil their respective agendas 24

In the modern deliberation preoccupied with solving the question of piracy as is almost

always the case in scholarship there are two opposing views These two views deal with the

issue of ransom there being a pro- and anti-ransom stance The pro-ransom stance hopes to both

mitigate hostility in the present and diminish hostility in the future Pro-ransomists hope to

accomplish this by encouraging the better treatment of hostages through willful payment of

ransoms The hope is that this will result in better treatment and safeguard of hostages by their

captors and therefore less loss of life The possible repercussions of this stance are an increase

in both the number of ransoms and the amount demanded for ransoms25 The anti-ransom

position seeks for a more permanent solution by finding either a way to guard against piratical

activity lessening the effects of piracy to a more controllable level or to eliminate piracy at its

roots26 The latter of these two solutions focuses on economic and legal applications that will

hopefully have long lasting effects both locally and regionally What has made answering this

question more difficult legally is the question of whether piracy should be considered

terrorism27

24 Bueger ldquoPiracy Studiesrdquo 408-409 25 According to The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report of 2011 entitled ldquoOrganized Maritime Piracy and

Related Kidnapping for Ransomrdquo page 10 ldquoPiracy has now become a financially lucrative criminal activity In five

years the average amount demanded for each captured vessel has increased from USD 150 000 (2005) to USD 52

million (2010) All indications suggest ransom payments will continue to riserdquo 26 Eliminating piracy has generally been ruled out opting instead for the more realistic goal of limiting piracy within

a more acceptable parameter This view can be seen in almost every report on piracy in the last three decades 27 Alfred S Bradford Flying the Black Flag A Brief History of Piracy (Westport Connecticut Praeger 2007) xi

15

The reason for this difficulty stems from the fact that terrorism is governed under

different laws than piracy which in turn would change how pirates would be dealt with

Terrorism as defined by the Oxford English dictionary is

The unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of

political aims (originally) such practices used by a government or ruling group

(freq through paramilitary or informal armed groups) in order to maintain its

control over a population (now usually) such practices used by a clandestine or

expatriate organization as a means of furthering its aims

The definition of terrorism has changed throughout history Rome did not even have a word for

the modern equivalent of terrorism or terrorist Defining terrorism is in itself difficult as it

changes from person to person being based on onersquos own perspective and experience As some

may call a group ldquoterroristsrdquo others may call them freedom fighters Piracy however is

primarily driven by economic motivations This does not mean that pirates do not employ terror

as a means of accomplishing their goals only that piracy is generally not run by terrorist

organizations28 This is a significant point to consider The use of terror has existed for most if

not all of human history It has been used officially and unofficially by nations governments

religions and other groups If the use of terror is the only consideration for the classification of

terrorist then most countries if not all of them at one point or another can be classified as

terrorists Modern views on terrorism and terrorists extends more to political or religious groups

employing terror to accomplish their aims tending toward unofficial employment of terror Yet

28 Although the majority of piracy is not run by terrorists piracy is employed by terrorists to accomplish their goals

such as direct terrorism on the high seas or simply for funding FATF has received reports of this which is discussed

in further detail in their 2011 report pages 9-10 The fact that terrorism is employing piracy makes the question of

classifying piracy as terrorism more relevant However the bulk of piracy still remains outside the scope of terrorist

groups

16

state-sponsored terrorism has been a reality for decades29 State-sponsored piracy was a

commonality in antiquity especially among the Hellenistic Kingdoms a topic which will be

covered in greater depth below How much this state-sponsored piracy was used as a form of

terrorism is debatable but it lends itself to comparison with modern state-sponsored terrorism

and in turn to terrorist-sponsored piracy

One last approach to piracy that of the historical attempts to approach this problem in a

slightly different manner but is no less important than other fields of study In fact as Christian

Bueger states ldquoHistory is crucial to piracy studiesrdquo in that it is does three essential things it

raises awareness that piracy is not a new problem connects the past with the present and links

piracy to broader intellectual domains by addressing how piracy shapes our understanding of

global order international law trade legitimate violence non sovereign spaces and more30 This

approach can be seen in the works of scholars such as Janice Thompson 1994 and Heller-

Roazen 200931 Bueger although declaring that the historical approach is essential in raising

awareness for pirate studies states that ldquoit is certainly not the strength of this pillar to propose or

suggest coping mechanisms for contemporary piracyrdquo32 Though it is true that certain modern

problems have no equivalent in historical context this statement by Bueger underestimates the

benefit of history beyond the three points he makes above A common clicheacute is that those who do

not remember the events of the past are doomed to repeat them Although this is not always true

there is some wisdom in looking to the past for answers to the present

29 The United States of America annually publishes a Report called ldquoCountry Reports on Terrorismrdquo which has a

subsection detailing state sponsored terrorism 30 Bueger ldquoPiracy Studiesrdquo 412 31 Janice Thompson 1994 argues that piracy stands as both a legal and social challenge to state sovereigntyrsquos

monopoly over violence Heller-Roazen 2009 argues for an historical piratical paradigm where pirates are viewed

as the universal foe throughout history 32 Bueger ldquoPiracy Studiesrdquo 414

17

Chapter Two The Nature of Piracy

Since there is little to no evidence of piracy through archaeological sources literary

evidence is our only source in antiquity for this phenomenon33 Due to reliance on literary

sources in this work it is necessary to briefly explore the vocabulary for piracy in both Greek

and Latin Knowing the origin of the word pirate in Greek and Latin is essential to understanding

how the Greeks and Romans viewed piracy How these ancient cultures viewed piracy changed

over time resulting in a shift in terminology employed in surviving texts This can be traced

through time and is important to consider when understanding the nature of piracy in the ancient

world

The first terms employed in the Greek for pirate are far more ambiguous than might be

expected The first word used in Greek was λῃστής (leistes) derived from the word λῃiacuteς (leis)

meaning booty andor plunder This term was first used in the compositions attributed to Homer

in the 8th or 9th century BCE and from 500 BCE in its written form and refers to one who

plunders or commits armed robbery Similar to Greek the first word and most commonly used

in Latin for pirate is praedo derived from the word praeda meaning booty or plunder34 And

just like in the Greek praedo came to mean both bandits and pirates The difficulty encountered

with these terms are their broad meaning as they are used for both pirate and bandit35 Context

therefore is required to determine which group is being implicated although this is not always

clear in the text For instance in the passage from the Odyssey 1 9 252-255 quoted at the

33 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 2 34 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 3 12 Henry A Ormerod Piracy in the Ancient World An Essay in

Mediterranean History (Liverpool Great Britain The University Press of Liverpool Ltd 1924) 59 35 In English bandit is used to describe those who commit armed robbery on land while pirate is used to describe

those who commit armed robbery by means of ships

18

beginning of this work Homer uses the word ληιστῆρες to refer to those who roam the seas

performing acts of piracy as it is implied We know from this context that pirates are being

referred to because of the association with the sea The primary difficulty with this term comes

from similar use in warfare where it was common and expected to take loot or plunder from

your enemy or even to attack anyone and take their possessions This will be discussed in

greater detail in chapter three

The next term commonly used by the Greeks was the word πειρατής (peirates) derived

from the Greek world πειρα (peira) meaning a trial or an attempt at something This appears in

literary sources from 330 BCE The second most common word for pirate in Latin most likely

derived from the Greek peirates is pirata and carries the same meaning36 Peirates never

replaced leistes but continued to be used in the literary sources side by side The meaning of

these two words evolved as time went on The first mention of peirates is in an Attic inscription

from Rhamnous but the context like many texts from antiquity does not clearly identify if they

are actually pirates or enemy forces performing a legitimate raid37 This deficiency in clarity has

been further analysed by scholars such as DS Potter who argued that the earliest form of

peirates found in Diodorus referred to legitimate naval mercenaries and not pirates in the

employ of the Antigonid king38 De Souza in his work Piracy in the Greco-Roman World

refutes this claim by quoting an earlier text from Diodorus which clearly shows peirates as an

unlawful group which the Rhodians made their fame fighting against39

36 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 3 13 37 Two examples of this can be found in SEG 24 no 154 lines 21-23 IG 12 7 386 lines 4-5 15-17 38 Diodorus 20 82 4 DS Potter ldquoAthenian Involvement in the War of Agis IIIrdquo Annual of the British School at

Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235 39 Diodorus 20 81 3 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 6

19

The problem in reading texts mentioning piracy in antiquity is best shown through a

passage from Achilles Tatius

Καὶ ὁ στρατηγὸς πείθεται καὶ ἵστησι τὴν ναῦν καὶ δύο τῶν ναυτῶν ἀκοντίζουσιν

ἑαυτοὺς ἔξω τῆς νεὼς καὶ ἁρπάσαντες τὸ σῶμα ἀναφέρουσιν Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ

λῃσταὶ μᾶλλον ἐρρωμενέστερον ἤλαυνον ὡς δὲ ἦμεν πάλιν πλησίον ὁρῶσιν οἱ

λῃσταὶ ναῦν ἑτέραν καὶ γνωρίσαντες ἐκάλουν πρὸς βοήθειαν πορφυρεῖς δὲ ἦσαν

πειρατικοί Ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ στρατηγὸς δύο ναῦς ἤδη γενομένας ἐφοβήθη καὶ πρύμναν

ἐκρούετο καὶ γὰρ οἱ πειραταὶ τοῦ φυγεῖν ἀποτραπόμενοι προὐκαλοῦντο εἰς μάχην40

The commander agreed and stopped the ship two of the sailors jumped

overboard got hold of the trunk and brought it back to us Meanwhile the pirates

rowed with still greater vigour we were again nearing them when they sighted

another ship and on recognising it called to it for help its crew were purple-

fishers also pirates When the commander saw that there were now two ships

against him he became disquieted and ordered the rowers to reverse the pirates

indeed had already desisted from their flight and were challenging us to give

battle41

It is clear from this passage that the terms leistes and peirates are used synonymously to mean

pirate We know for a certainty from the context that pirate is implied as the event took place on

open water One passage from Polybius is far more ambiguous

συνδραμόντων δὲ πειρατῶν καὶ παραγενομένων πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν Φιγάλειαν οὐκ

ἔχων τούτοις ἀπὸ τοῦ δικαίου συμπαρασκευάζειν ὠφελείας διὰ τὸ μένειν ἔτι τότε

τὴν κοινὴν εἰρήνην τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὴν ὑπ᾽ Ἀντιγόνου συντελεσθεῖσαν τέλος

ἀπορούμενος ἐπέτρεψε τοῖς πειραταῖς λῄζεσθαι τὰ τῶν Μεσσηνίων θρέμματα

φίλων ὄντων καὶ συμμάχων τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἠδίκουν τὰ περὶ τὰς ἐσχατιὰς

ποίμνια μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα προβαινούσης τῆς ἀπονοίας ἐνεχείρησαν καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν

ἀγρῶν οἰκίας ἐκκόπτειν ἀνυπονοήτως τὰς νύκτας ἐπιφαινόμενοι42

A crowd of pirates flocked to him at Phigalea and being unable to get them any

booty by fair means because the peace between all Greeks which Antigonus had

concluded was still in force he was finally reduced to allowing the pirates to drive

off the cattle of the Messenians though they were friends and allies of the

Aetolians These injurious acts were at first confined to the sheep on the border

40 Achilles Tatius 5 7 6-7 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 6 Bolding added for emphasis 41 Translation by S Gaselee For another example of peirates and leistes being used synonymously in Achilles

Tatius see passage 2 17 3 42 Polybius 4 3 8-10 Bolding added for emphasis

20

lands but becoming more and more reckless and audacious they even ventured to

break into the farm-houses by sudden attacks at night43

From this passage we gain very little sense of the idea of piracy as all the acts of armed robbery

takes place on land with no mention of ships being used in the act Instead this passage would

seem to suggest bandits instead of pirates yet the word peirates is used to describe the

perpetrators44 This does not mean that the culprits of these crimes were not in fact pirates as

they were known to attack inland and retreat to their ships and flee a point which will be

explained in greater depth below

The Greeks did have a word which specifically meant pirate καταποντιστής

(katapontistes) which is derived from the verb καταποντiacuteζω (katapontizo) meaning to throw

into the sea Although it is useful to differentiate between bandit and pirate it was rarely used45

According to De Souza this is most likely due to the fact that the word was ldquolong and rather

inelegantrdquo46 Unlike the Greeks the Romans never seemed to have developed a word which

specifically meant pirate The only other word used by the Romans was latrocinium shown most

often as latro and was seldom used47 although its earliest use by Plautus seems to have implied

mercenary its meaning mirrored that of praedo48

It is clear that the Greeks in early antiquity did not distinguish between piracy and

banditry but saw them as the same act This means that scholars who study piracy need to be

careful not to mistake banditry for piracy in passages they use to support their conclusions

43 Translation by Evelyn S Shuckburgh 44 For more examples of leistes and peirates being used synonymously see Strabo 14 3 2 Polybius 4 8 11 and 4

9 10 45 Katapontistes was used by Isocrates Panegyrikos 115 Panathenaicus 12 and 226 Demosthenes uses both

katapontistes and leistes Demosthenes 23 166 46 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 9 47 Cicero II Verres 1 89 Livy 37 13 11-12 48 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 13

21

Luckily as time went on authors of antiquity began to use the terms more specifically An

example of this can be found in the Byzantine Lexicon ldquoThe Sudardquo written in the 10th century

CE

Λῃσταί Λῃστὴς μὲν ὁ ἐν ἠπείρῳ πειρατὴς δὲ ὁ ἐν θαλάσσῃ49

Leistai leistes [a raider] is one [operating] on land a pirate one [operating] on the

sea

Πειρατῶν καταποντιστῶν κατὰ θάλασσαν λῃστῶν Πεῖρα γὰρ ὁ δόλος καὶ ἡ

ἀπάτη καὶ ἡ τέχνη ὅθεν καὶ πειραταὶ οἱ κατὰ θάλατταν κακοῦργοι50

Peiraton katapontistai those who throw [people] into the water raiders by sea

For peira [means] trickery and deceit and art[fulness] And so peiratai are knaves

[operating] by sea

These definitions are from a much later period and thus as has been established above do not

reflect the attitudes and thoughts of the Greeks of early antiquity

We also see that the word katapontistai is mentioned in the entry which clearly defines

piracy The only historical author to make extensive use of the term katapontistai is Dio Cassius

a third century CE Roman historian51 Dio especially separates pirates from bandits in his

narrative of Pompeyrsquos campaign against the Cilician pirates giving us many reasons and

examples as to why piracy was both worse than banditry and distinct from it52 Although using

the term katapontistai more often than other authors Dio still prefers to use the term leistes over

katapontistes when discussing piracy utilizing context to express meaning and only using

katapontistes when absolutely necessary The defining characteristic lies in the use of ships to

49 The Suda 474 50 The Suda 1454 51 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 10 52 Dio 36 20-27 39 56 5

22

determine the difference Below is an example of Diorsquos methods of differentiating between the

two

καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν ταῖς ἠπείροις λῃστικά ἅτε καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν δήμων μᾶλλον ὄντα

καὶ τήν τε αἴσθησιν τῆς βλάβης ἐγγύθεν καὶ τὴν σύλληψιν οὐ πάνυ χαλεπὴν ἔχοντα

ῥᾷόν πως κατελύετο τὰ δὲ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐπηυξήθη τῶν γὰρ Ῥωμαίων

πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιπολέμους ἀσχολίαν ἀγόντων ἐπὶ πολὺ ἤκμασαν πολλαχόσε τε

περιπλέοντες καὶ πάντας τοὺς ὁμοίους σφίσι προστιθέμενοι ὥστε τινὰς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν

συμμαχίας λόγῳ συχνοῖς ἐπικουρῆσαι53

Now the operations of the bandits on land being in better view of the towns

which could thus perceive the injury close at hand and capture the perpetrators

with no great difficulty would be broken up with a fair degree of ease but those

on the sea had grown to the greatest proportions For while the Romans were busy

with their antagonists the pirates had gained great headway sailing about to many

quarters and adding to their band all of like condition to such an extent that some

of them after the manner of allies assisted many others54

Leistes is used to discuss both bandits and pirates but Dio qualifies pirates as those leistes on the

sea This way of qualifying the difference between pirate and bandit is exemplified in a Latin

passage from Nepos

Qua celeriter effecta primum Corcyraeos fregit deinde maritimos praedones

consectando mare tutum reddidit55

This being quickly achieved he first humbled the Corcyraeans then by pursuing

the pirates he made the sea safe

The piratesrsquo main source of strength was their ability to strike over great distances

operating all over the Mediterranean56 Pirates could only operate on such a large scale as Dio

portrayed it if they had bases of operation on land where they could refit their ships sell stolen

goods and recruit new pirates into their ranks This also created a unique condition that is both

essential to pirate success and pirate suppression Pirates move between both land and sea in

53 Dio 36 20 3-4 54 Translation by E Cary 55 Nepos Themistocles 2 3 56 Dio 36 22 4

23

their operations and attacking one will not eliminate the other Only attacking pirate bases and

pirates at sea simultaneously will result in pirate suppression

What drives someone to enter into an illegal and fundamentally dangerous occupation

One of the most studied aspects of piracy today especially concerning modern piracy is the

source of piracy Answers have varied from economics and politics to traditions and

convenience Possibly the most significant factors lie in war and politics Like all things piracy

does not form due to one factor but to many varying in their influence I will speak of war and

politics as the most instrumental to the rise of piracy but it must be remembered that without

other contributing factors this would not be the case

War has always been the military arm of politics War can only exist if there are two

organized groups whether that be on a familial tribal or national level War carries with it a

legitimacy that is otherwise absent in almost all other forms of violence Nevertheless the

violence promoted in war is often illegitimate A clear and distinctive pattern can be seen in

periods of time when piracy was at its zenith In most cases piracy thrives when war rages57

Piracy has never been truly eradicated nor could it be As long as the reward outweighs the risks

piracy will continue to exist therefore piracy will exist even when there is peace it will simply

do so on a much smaller scale War however creates a chaotic atmosphere in which piracy can

thrive In the ancient world this was especially true as both sides would promote piracy against

the other in an effort to injure their rivals58 Some scholars have considered this to be a form of

57 An obvious time when piracy does not thrive is when the war itself is waged against piracy or is primarily fought

on land although the latter can lead to a translation of violence on the sea 58 Good examples of this are found in Thucydides 3 51 4 41 7 26 8 34 In these examples we find pirates

joining Sparta during the Peloponnesian War This should not be seen as pirates taking a political side as pirates do

not care about such things instead there are many economic reasons for why pirates would have preferred to attack

Athens over Sparta first Athens unlike Sparta had curtailed pirate operations for many years Second Athens had

24

privateering as opposed to piracy The main problem with this view is that privateering as a

concept did not truly exist in antiquity at least not in the way that we understand it today59

Piracy during war is ultimately created due to the chaos and in turn the inability of a state

to effectively police its waters as mentioned above This leads us to the next most significant

factor in the rise of piracy political instability Although war is a chief factor in political

instability and is the most significant factor in the rise of piracy a state can be in political

turmoil even without war In any place where the government is weak unstable or indecisive

piracy will grow Due to the inability of a state to effectively police its territory all forms of

crime will increase not just piracy but piracy is one of the most dangerous forms of crime that

can grow as it requires more initial investment and organization than most other forms of crime

making it more effective and longer lasting

Another major contributor to piracy is economics When poverty reaches a certain level

the benefit of piracy begins to outweigh the risks involved The devastations of war cause great

economic turmoil for the bystanders that are caught in-between Armies would raid enemy

territory for supplies profit etc Eventually those who lose the most are the poorest of people

who are then driven to crime after they have lost what little they had Politically tumultuous

andor weak states are also breading grounds for economic instability which in turn creates the

conditions of desperation that lead some to risk all for the opportunity of survival at its basic

and fortune if luck aid them One example given from our sources shows pirates joining due to

their poverty

the much larger shipping fleet which pirates could take advantage of Athens was clearly the more logical choice as

an economic target 59 Ormerod 61

25

ὡς δὲ ὁ πόλεμος ἐμηκύνετο πλέονες ἐγίγνοντο καὶ ναυσὶ μεγάλαις ἐπέπλεον

γευσάμενοι δὲ κερδῶν μεγάλων οὐδ᾽ ἡττωμένου καὶ σπενδομένου τοῦ Μιθριδάτου

καὶ ἀναχωροῦντος ἔτι ἐπαύοντο οἱ γὰρ βίου καὶ πατρίδων διὰ τὸν πόλεμον

ἀφῃρημένοι καὶ ἐς ἀπορίαν ἐμπεσόντες ἀθρόαν ἀντὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκαρποῦντο τὴν

θάλασσαν60

As the war lengthened they became more numerous and navigated larger ships

Relishing their large gains they did not desist when Mithridates was defeated

made peace and retired Having lost both livelihood and country by reason of the

war and fallen into extreme destitution they harvested the sea instead of the land61

In some instances we see those too poor to pay their taxes were sold into slavery and as a result

they rose up and turned to banditry and piracy to free themselves62 Pompey Magnus saw this as

one of the causes of piracy during his campaign against the Cilician pirates a subject which will

be addressed in chapter five

The last major contributor to creating piracy and the weakest of them all is opportunity

This is subject to many of the above factors but can be used even without them It may be as

simple as a fisherman who sees ships pass by on a regular basis knows the waters well and sees

his opportunity to take a big prize with little risk to himself It may even be that there is simply a

shipwreck that the person takes advantage of to improve their own situation Taking advantage

of shipwrecked or abandoned cargo was common enough that the Greeks and Romans developed

laws around this very occurance63

There are other minor factors which can lead people to participate in the act of piracy but

none of them can be seen as primary For piracy to rise to any kind of threatening level these

factors must all be working together War political and economic instability and opportunity

60 Appian Mithridates 92 61 Translated by Horace White 62 Diodorus 36 3 Dio 36 20 Cicero Verres 2 3 85 Ormerod 207 63 Digest 2 9

26

These factors combined or in some varying combination will bring about pirates in one form or

another

We have discussed above the many different factors which lead to piracy And although

piracy can exist anywhere where these factors exist it is geography which determines where

piracy will best flourish According to Sir Henry Keppel a nineteenth century admiral who

conducted multiple expeditions against pirates in Asian waters ldquoas surely as spiders abound

where there are nooks and crannies so have pirates sprung up wherever there is a nest of

islandsrdquo64 Geography as much in the early modern period as in the ancient has been the

ldquosinister allyrdquo of pirates during both ancient and modern times65 The Mediterranean like many

places around the world contains a plethora of islands from which pirates can establish their

operations Greece is one of the most ideal locations for this Greece as can be seen in Figure 2

is an assortment of islands chokepoints inlets and rivers all of which aid geographically pirate

activity How geography aids piracy will be discussed shorty

Piracy does not need islands to thrive One of the best examples of this is the Cilician

pirates considered the worst pirates in the ancient world The Cilician coast has remarkably few

islands with the minor exception of Cyprus which lies not far from its shores ndash Figure 3 The

location of the pirate strongholds of Cilicia were instead located on the southern slopes of the

Taurus mountain range where they were closest to the sea The Cilician coast offers many

strategic advantages for pirates It is jagged with many estuaries rivers and cliffs which make

approach very difficult The mountains stretch almost the entire distance from the Amanus to the

64 Philip Gosse The History of Piracy (New York Tudor Publishing 1946) 1 65 Martin N Murphy Small Boats Weak States Dirty Money The Challenge of Piracy (New York Columbia

University Press 2009) 72

27

Sporades66 This rugged mountainous and relatively barren land does not permit the expansion

of a very large agricultural base instead lending itself to the creation of a hardy people that can

raid at will and retreat to the defensible shelter provided by such a topography In both cases

pirates require areas that are defensible more easily used by smaller ships promote ambushes

and raiding and are close enough to trade routes or settlements while remaining at a sufficient

distance to not easily be located Where you can find a location like this there are almost surely

pirates All these factors including geography contribute to piracy today

The types of vessels used by pirates varied greatly during the classical world as it does

during any era This is partly based on the type of participants that make up the bulk of pirate

crews As has been discussed above pirate crews varied from fisherman who took advantage of

opportunities to those who made a living as professional pirates and built entire fleets This in

turn determines the type of vessel used by pirates These vessels varied from small river craft to

massive warships like those which were used during the Mithridatic Wars and the subsequent

pirate campaign waged by Pompey Magnus It would be impossible to cover all vessel types

used by pirates in this work given the nature of pirates to use whatever vessel was available I

will therefore focus my analysis on the most common pirate vessel used

Like the present-day the majority of ancient pirates since their impoverished natures did

not normally permit otherwise used smaller craft to conduct piratical activities The most widely

used pirate craft and for the longest period of time was the liburnia67 named so after the region

66 Strabo 14 668 Ormerod 190-202 Ormerod gives a much more detailed description of all the geographical

features of the region where I cannot do it justice in so short a work 67 Ormerod 29 Other types of common pirate craft included the hemiolia celes triakontoros and the myoparo all

commonly used in major fleets as scout vessels Examples of this can be found in Arrian Anabasis 6 1 1

Polybius 5 101 Appian Punic Wars 75 Diodorus 19 65 Livy 38 27 Xenohpon Hellenica 1 6 36 Aeschines

1 191 Theophrastus Characters 25

28

in which it was built68 Liburnia Figure 4 is located on the Dalmatia coast in the eastern

Adriatic Rome between 229 BCE and 168 BCE had fought three wars with the peoples of this

region ndash the Illyrians This was a name given to all those who lived northwest of the Greeks and

should not be seen as a reference to a kingdom or nation Although our sources refer to this area

as belonging to the Illyrian Kingdom this is an outside construct enforced upon them by the

Greeks and Romans who are our only sources for the history of this region It is highly doubtful

that any of these tribes viewed themselves as anything other than individual kingdoms This is

reinforced by the fact that many of the tribes often went to war with each other conquering their

neighbors and raiding their lands 69 This hardly portrays a unified kingdom suggested by our

sources

The three wars fought against the Illyrians were in fact fought against the Ardiaei tribe

whom some scholars believe lived inland till the late 4th century70 By the mid 3rd century the

Ardiaei had built up a powerful navy and began a reign of terror and piracy This rise in piracy is

often attributed to King Agron of the Ardiaei Under his rule he took advantage of the power

vacuum left by the weakened kingdoms of Macedon and Epirus Virtually unchallenged Agron

expanded in all directions conquering other Illyrian tribes and invading Greek territory to the

south making it as far as Corcyca

The success of the Ardiaei can in part be attributed to the vessel they employed with great

skill in both their military conquest and their piratical activities The liburnia known also as

68 Ormerod 29 As Ormerod notes most pirate craft were named after the region of their original creation These

included the samaina of Samos liburna pristis etc 69 Harry J Dell ldquoThe Origin and Nature of Illyrian Piracyrdquo Historia Zeitschrift Fuumlr Alte Geschichte Bd 16 H 3

(July 1967) 350 70 For more on this see Dell 1967 In his article he puts forward a couple of theories which attempt to show the

migration of the Ardiaei in the 4th century and that piracy was not common in the eastern Adriatic till the mid 3rd

century at least in as far as it concerns Illyrian piracy

29

lemboslemboi in Greek and lembuslembi in Latin (I will use the Latin term from hereon out)

was an expertly built craft that was small fast and maneuverable yet was capable of carrying up

to 50 soldiers71 could be outfitted with a mast for sailing and could perform ramming tactics

The lembus varied slightly in its design ranging from small river craft to biremes (two rows of

oars) that were suited for war72 This variance allowed the lembus to be employed in an

assortment of situations based upon the needs of the crewstate73 The effectiveness of the lembus

can be seen when it was used by the Ardiaei to defeat an Aetolian fleet during this period74

One of the reasons why pirates favoured smaller craft was due to their ability to be carried

over land either by hand or by wagons75 This made evasion from larger warships easier as well

as pirate attacks far less predictable This tactic was also ideal due to the rugged nature of Greece

itself as mentioned above The craft was so effective that many nations integrated it into their

own fleets76

An account from Polybius gives a detailed description on how the lembus would have

been used to greatest effect

71 Polybius 2 3 This is based on the number of soldiers and ships that the Ardiaei brought when coming to the aid

of the Epirotes when they were being invaded by the Aetolians In the subsequent battle at Medion of which the

Ardiaei were the victors against what was commonly considered the strongest Grecian league at the time Agron

amassed 100 lembi carrying 5000 soldiers equating to 50 soldiers per ship 72 The question of ship numbering has been highly debated for the last century It is undetermined whether the

numbering of a vessel suggests the banks of oars or the banks of rowers There is no evidence which proves that

ships with more than three banks of oars ever existed The most logical argument suggests that the number was a

mixture of the two where a quinquereme could be a ship with three banks of oars and have more than one rower per

oar the total banks of rowers numbering five For a thorough examination of this debate see Lionel Casson 1995

JS Morrison 1996 Michael Pitassi 2011 Pitassirsquos work is the most convincing and both compiles all previous

arguments while using his own method namely mathematics to prove that a ship with more than three or four banks

of oars is physically impossible 73 Appian The Illyrian Wars 3 Livy 24 35 44 28 Michael Patissi Roman Warships (Woodbridge UK The

Boydell press 2011) 106 74 Polybius 2 3 75 Thucydides 4 67 76 Lucan Civil War 3 534 The Roman altered the liburna design into their Bireme warship but they also used

liburnae in their natural form

30

εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ μεταξὺ τῶν καταφράκτων νεῶν ἔταξαν οἱ Μακεδόνες τοὺς λέμβους

ῥᾳδίαν ἂν καὶ σύντομον ἔλαβε κρίσιν ἡ ναυμαχία νῦν δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐμπόδια πρὸς τὴν

χρείαν τοῖς Ῥοδίοις ἐγίνετο κατὰ πολλοὺς τρόπους μετὰ γὰρ τὸ κινηθῆναι τὴν ἐξ

ἀρχῆς τάξιν ἐκ τῆς πρώτης συμβολῆς πάντες ἦσαν ἀναμὶξ ἀλλήλοις ὅθεν οὔτε

διεκπλεῖν εὐχερῶς οὔτε στρέφειν ἐδύναντο τὰς ναῦς οὔτε καθόλου χρῆσθαι τοῖς

ἰδίοις προτερήμασιν ἐμπιπτόντων αὐτοῖς τῶν λέμβων ποτὲ μὲν εἰς τοὺς ταρσούς

ὥστε δυσχρηστεῖν ταῖς εἰρεσίαις ποτὲ δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὰς πρώρρας ἔστι δ᾽ ὅτε κατὰ

πρύμναν ὥστε παραποδίζεσθαι καὶ τὴν τῶν κυβερνητῶν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐρετῶν χρείαν

κατὰ δὲ τὰς ἀντιπρώρρους συμπτώσεις ἐποίουν τι τεχνικόν αὐτοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἔμπρωρρα

τὰ σκάφη ποιοῦντες ἐξάλους ἐλάμβανον τὰς πληγάς τοῖς δὲ πολεμίοις ὕφαλα τὰ

τραύματα διδόντες ἀβοηθήτους ἐσκεύαζον τὰς πληγάς σπανίως δ᾽ εἰς τοῦτο

συγκατέβαινον καθόλου γὰρ ἐξέκλινον τὰς συμπλοκὰς διὰ τὸ γενναίως ἀμύνεσθαι

τοὺς Μακεδόνας ἀπὸ τῶν καταστρωμάτων ἐν ταῖς συστάδην γινομέναις μάχαις τὸ

δὲ πολὺ κατὰ μὲν τοὺς διέκπλους παρασύροντες τῶν πολεμίων νεῶν τοὺς ταρσοὺς

ἠχρείουν μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ἐκπεριπλέοντες καὶ τοῖς μὲν κατὰ πρύμναν

ἐμβάλλοντες τοῖς δὲ πλαγίοις καὶ στρεφομένοις ἀκμὴν προσπίπτοντες οὓς μὲν

ἐτίτρωσκον οἷς δὲ παρέλυον ἀεί τι τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἀναγκαίων καὶ δὴ τῷ

τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ μαχόμενοι παμπληθεῖς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς διέφθειραν77

Had not the Macedonians placed their galleys [lembi] between the opposing lines

of decked ships the battle would have been quickly decided but as it was these

proved a hindrance to the Rhodians in various ways For as soon as the first charge

had disturbed the original order of the ships they became all mixed up with each

other in complete confusion which made it difficult to sail through the enemys

line or to avail themselves of the points in which they were superior because the

galleys [lembi] kept running sometimes against the blades of their oars so as to

hinder the rowing and sometimes upon their prows or again upon their sterns

thus hampering the service of steerers and rowers alike In the direct charges

however the Rhodians employed a particular maneuver By depressing their bows

they received the blows of the enemy above the water-line while by staving in the

enemys ships below the water-line they rendered the blows fatal Still it was rarely

that they succeeded in doing this for as a rule they avoided collisions because

the Macedonians fought gallantly from their decks when they came to close

quarters Their most frequent maneuver was to row through the Macedonian line

and disable the enemys ships by breaking off their oars and then rowing round

into position again charge the enemy on the stern or catch them broadside as they

were in the act of turning and thus they either stove them in or broke away some

necessary part of their rigging By this manner of fighting they destroyed a great

number of the enemys ships78

77 Polybius 16 4 8-15 Bolded words have been added for emphasis 78 Translation by Evelyn S Shuckburgh

31

Although the translator of this passage does not directly state the type of vessel which was used

opting for a more generic description of the ship79 the type of vessel described by Polybius was

the lembus Had it been a different vessel Polybius would have used another name It is clear that

Polybius meant this type of vessel and not another the lembus being a specific type of vessel

different from triremes and such which would have been commonly known at the time The

tactics favoured by lembi and for that matter any craft attacking a ship larger than itself were

the περιπλους (periplous a sailing around) the διέκπλους (diekplous a sailing through) which is

described in the passage above and the subsequent ἀναστροφή (anastrophe inverse or U-turn)

later called the ἐπάνοδος (epanodos coming back around or reversion) These maneuvers were

employed to obtain ideal ramming angles Each of the maneuvers mentioned above place the

attacking ship on the flank or stern of the enemy vessel In the case of the above passage the

lembi performed the διέκπλους in the hopes of both breaking the enemyrsquos oarsrudders and

placing them on the stern of the enemyrsquos ships to follow up with a series of ramming attacks80

These tactics however would only have been used if the lembus was participating in a

battle against larger ships and therefore a naval battle between two fleets It was not until

piracy became strong enough to challenge the power of states that they would have been used in

this manner81 Pirates primarily opted for the tactic of fleeing from military vessels and waiting

for more vulnerable targets We read of one such instance in Livy

79 The word galley means a vessel rowed by three banks of oars or less This description would represent anything

from a trireme or smaller 80 JS Morrison Greek and Roman Oared Vessels (oxford The Alden Press 1996) 361 81 This can be seen with Agron at the battle of Medion and the Cilician pirates during the 1st century BCE

According to Alfred S Bradford Flying the Black Flag A Brief History of Piracy 2007 there have only been seven

primary periods in which piracy was strong enough to attack on both land and sea and threaten the security of

nations ranging from the 8th century BCE to the Barbary pirates of the Early Modern Period (xii)

32

cum derexissent ad terram proras quindecim ferme eis naves circa Myonnesum

apparuerunt quas primo ex classe regia praetor esse ratus institit sequi apparuit

deinde piraticos celoces et lembos esse Chiorum maritimam oram depopulati cum

omnis generis praeda revertentes postquam videre ex alto classem in fugam

verterunt et celeritate superabant levioribus et ad id fabrefactis navigiis et

propiores terrae erant82

As they were steering for the land some fifteen ships came into view off

Myonnesus The praetor thought at first that they were part of the kings fleet and

began to pursue them then it became evident that they were piratical barques and

cutters They had been plundering along the coast of Chios and were returning

with booty of every description When they saw the fleet they took to flight and

owing to their vessels being lighter and built especially for the purpose and also

because they were nearer the land they outsailed their pursuers83

Piracy like any business venture tries for the path of least resistance and greatest reward

Already filled with plunder there would have been no need to attack a Roman fleet Even had the

pirates not had plunder it is doubtful that they would have attacked a war fleet which

outnumbered them84

Another favorite tactic for pirates was to play innocent Since many pirates made use of

commonly employed vessels it was normal for pirates to pretend to be normal sea traders to

attack their unsuspecting prey In one passage from Pausanias we see the brazen treachery of

Illyrian pirates

οἱ δὲ Ἰλλυριοί ἀρχῆς τε γεγευμένοι καὶ ἐπιθυμοῦντες ἀεὶ τοῦ πλείονος ναῦς τε

ἐπήξαντο καὶ ἐληίζοντο ἄλλους τε ὡς ἑκάστους τύχοιεν καὶ ἐς τὴν Μοθωναίαν

σχόντες ὡρμίσαντο οἷα ἐς φιλίαν στείλαντες δὲ ἄγγελον ἐς τὴν πόλιν ἄγειν σφίσιν

οἶνον ἐπὶ τὰ πλοῖα ἐδεήθησαν ὡς δὲ ἄγοντες ἀφίκοντο ἄνδρες οὐ πολλοί τόν τε

οἶνον ὠνοῦντο ἐπιτιμώντων τῶν Μοθωναίων καὶ αὐτοί σφισιν ἐπίπρασκον ὧν

ἐπήγοντο ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἀφικομένων ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πλειόνων παρέχουσι καὶ

τοῖσδε κερδᾶναι τέλος δὲ γυναῖκες καὶ ἄνδρες κατίασιν ἐπὶ τὰ πλοῖα οἶνόν τε

ἀποδόσθαι καὶ ἐκ τῶν βαρβάρων ἀντιληψόμενοι ἔνθα νῦν ἀποτολμήσαντες οἱ

82 Livy 37 27 4-5 83 Translated by Rev Canon Roberts 84 Livy 37 28-29

33

Ἰλλυριοὶ καὶ ἄνδρας πολλοὺς καὶ ἔτι πλείονας τῶν γυναικῶν ἁρπάζουσιν ἐσθέμενοι

δὲ ἐς τὰς ναῦς ἔπλεον τὴν ἐπὶ Ἰονίου Μοθωναίων ἐρημώσαντες τὸ ἄστυ85

Now the Illyrians having tasted empire and being always desirous of more built

ships and plundering others whom they fell in with put in to the coast of Mothone

and anchored as in a friendly port Sending a messenger to the city they asked for

wine to be brought to their ships A few men came with it and they bought the

wine at the price which the inhabitants asked and themselves sold a part of their

cargo When on the following day a larger number arrived from the town they

allowed them also to make their profit Finally women and men came down to the

ships to sell wine and trade with the barbarians Thereupon by a bold stroke the

Illyrians carried off a number of men and still more of the women Carrying them

on board ship they set sail for the Ionian Sea having desolated the city of the

Mothonaeans86

The passage begins to outline the primary methods employed by pirates in the ancient world

Although the capture of goods was valuable there was much to be done when they were

obtained If pirates captured goods those goods then had to be taken to port and sold or traded

Since piracy was not well thought of especially in the later Hellenistic Period this was actually

more difficult than it may seem Pirates would need to find a port that was willing to trade with

them We know from our sources that there were cities which traded with pirates especially

some of the major trade cities such as Delos and many of the cities in places like Crete87 Trade

with pirates became a large enough problem in some areas that nations passed laws against

offering pirates safe harbors and trading with them88

The one type of merchandise which pirates sought after more than all others was people

a commonality shared with modern piracy As described in the passage above the Illyrians took

people from the city of Mothone in such great numbers that it actually crippled the city An

85 Pausanias 4 35 6-7 86 Translated by WHS Jones and HA Ormerod 87 Strabo 11 496 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 57-58 De Souza mentions that the largest cities for

pirate trade were Delos and Aigina but even this status did not save them from being sacked by pirates in the first

century BCE 88 MH Crawford et al Roman Statutes I (London 1996) pp 231-270 Avidov 29-30

34

inscription on a monument at Amorgos dated around the year 300 BCE gives us a clear idea of

the plight people faced by piracy ldquoPirates came into our land at night and carried off young girls

and women and other souls slave and free to the number of thirty or more They cut loose the

boats in our harbour [no doubt to prevent pursuit] and seizing Dorieusrsquo boat escaped on it with

their captives and bootyrdquo89 This is the most common occurrence of pirate activity that is found

in our sources and the greatest source of fear in the ancient world As De Souza puts ldquomurder

pillage and kidnap by seaborne raiders were familiar terrors for many of the inhabitants of the

Mediterranean in Classical timesrdquo90 Kidnap resulted in one of three options ransom slavery or

death If a captive was worth enough as was the case with Julius Caesar who was kidnapped by

pirates in the first century BCE91 then heshe would be returned after the ransom was paid92 If

the captive was unable to procure a ransom then heshe would be sold into slavery at a slave

market93 Delos was ideal for this having both a slave market and a willingness to trade with

pirates94 If either option was not available then heshe was likely to be killed to make room for

more valuable cargo

Whether piracy and the slave trade were closely connected has been a topic of much

debate among scholars We do find instances in our sources that this was the case at least in

part95 Yet some scholars believe that piracy added little to the slave trade96 I will not attempt to

89 Casson The Ancient Mariners 200 90 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 1 Here are just a few mentions of people being kidnapped by

pirates SIG 520 521 Herodotus 1 2 11 54 IG 12 7 386 Homer Odyssey 15 427 386 Homeric Hymns 2

123 7 1-12 91 Plutarch Julius 2 Crassus 7 Suetonius Julius 4 174 Velleius 2 41 92 SIG 520 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 65 For a general survey of ransoming in the Greek world

see WK Pritchett The Greek State at War ndash Volume 5 (Berkeley University of California Press 1991) 245-299 93 Ormerod 31 94 According to Strabo 14 5 2 as many as 10000 slaves could be brought and sold in a day at Delos 95 Menander Sicyonioi lines 3-7 335-339 Plautus Poenulus lines 896-897 Miles Gloriosus Line 118

35

answer this question as it is neither the topic of this work nor is there proper room to address

such a debated subject It is clear that pirates were connected to the slave trade it is simply not

certain to what extent

In conclusion pirates were often an economically deprived opportunistic people who

took advantage of politically unstable areas often due to war and which were located near

islands or defensible locations Using light and fast ship pirates primarily raided small

settlements in search for loot but largely for inhabitants to kidnap and ransom or to sell into

slavery In the rare occasions when they grew to unmanageable sizes they reigned in terror

attacking cities and nations but still preferring to hit the easiest target for the quickest profit and

flee before authorities could confront them

96 Scholars in opposition to piracy as a major component of the slave trade in Rome are De Souza Piracy in the

Greco-Roman World 64 WV Harris ldquoTowards a Study of the Roman Slave Traderdquo Memoirs of the Roman

Academy in Rome vol 36 (1980) 118-120 123-124 134 Scholars in accordance with piracy being a major factor

to the Roman slave trade are Bradford 30 MI Finley The Ancient Econcomy (London 1973) 156 Avidov 21

Pohl 186-190 This is just a small list of scholars Generally the scholarship favors the later authors but opposition

to this is more in the new scholarship

36

Chapter Three Piracy ndash From Homer to Alexander

The earliest mention of piracy in the western tradition is found in the writings attributed

to Homer namely the Iliad and Odyssey During these early periods it is difficult given the scant

sources to determine the difference between acts of piracy and acts of war Chronologically

Minos is our first mention of piracy as his story recorded in both the Iliad and by Thucydides in

his work The Peloponnesian War takes place roughly three generations before the siege of Troy

by the Greeks97 In this passage King Minos of Knossos is attributed with both building the first

navy and clearing the seas of piracy

Μίνως γὰρ παλαίτατος ὧν ἀκοῇ ἴσμεν ναυτικὸν ἐκτήσατο καὶ τῆς νῦν Ἑλληνικῆς

θαλάσσης ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐκράτησε καὶ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων ἦρξέ τε καὶ οἰκιστὴς

πρῶτος τῶν πλείστων ἐγένετο Κᾶρας ἐξελάσας καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ παῖδας ἡγεμόνας

ἐγκαταστήσας τό τε λῃστικόν ὡς εἰκός καθῄρει ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἐδύνατο

τοῦ τὰς προσόδους μᾶλλον ἰέναι αὐτῷ98

Minos is the first to whom tradition ascribes the possession of a navy He made

himself master of a great part of what is now termed the Hellenic sea he

conquered the Cyclades and was the first coloniser of most of them expelling the

Carians and appointing his own sons to govern in them Lastly it was he who

from a natural desire to protect his growing revenues sought as far as he was able

to clear the sea of pirates99

The main motivation attributed to Minos by Thucydides is the increase in revenues through

maritime trade We know in this case that pirates are referred to and not bandits due to the clear

correlation to the sea Yet this is a unique case The majority of settlements before the classical

period were too small to have amassed the wealth necessary to create a fleet to run counter-

97 Homer Iliad 13 450 Odyssey 11 321 Herodotus 3 122 2 Homer makes mention of Minos but it is in both

Thucydidesrsquo and Herodotusrsquo account that Minos is credited with building the first navy 98 Thucydides 1 4 99 Translation by Benjamin Bowett

37

piracy operations It is possible that Thucydides was projecting upon the past aspects of his

present but it is far more likely that he was simply quoting popular tales as no records survive

from that time period from which Thucydides could have factually based his account There is

some evidence to suggest that this statement by Thucydides may be true Of all the cities found

in Crete there have been no walled cities suggesting that the Minoans had a powerful enough

navy to protect themselves from pirates therefore not needing walls to protect their city from

either pirates or invading forces100

The primary problem with studying piracy during the pre-classical era especially before

500 BCE is that the distinction between pirates and regular warfare was blurred101 This is

primarily due to scarcity of sources from that period making it difficult to fully analyze and

determine if the accounts reffered to either piracy or warfare As we shall see even later on at the

end of the Hellenistic Period piracy was a form of warfare that states employed to economically

injure their enemies The concept of piracy does not start to truly form until between 800 and 500

BCE around the time that the Homeric Poems were being written102

Another problem faced by scholars studying this period lies in the social acceptance of

piracy as a form of warfare particularly for heroes in epic literature103 The theme of piracy is

prominent in the writings attributed to Homer particularly the Odyssey In one passage

Odysseus describes himself as a pirate

lsquo ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς ἀλάπαξε Κρονίωνmdashἤθελε γάρ πουmdash ὅς μ᾽ ἅμα ληϊστῆρσι

πολυπλάγκτοισιν ἀνῆκεν Αἴγυπτόνδ᾽ ἰέναι δολιχὴν ὁδόν ὄφρ᾽ ἀπολοίμην στῆσα δ᾽

ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ποταμῷ νέας ἀμφιελίσσας ἔνθ᾽ ἦ τοι μὲν ἐγὼ κελόμην ἐρίηρας ἑταίρους

100 Ormerod 80 In addition to this the amount of trade revealed through archaeology suggests that trade routes

were relatively protected 101 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 16 102 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 17 103 Xenophon Anabasis 4 1 7-8 Homer Odyssey 3 71 9 252 Ormerod 68

38

αὐτοῦ πὰρ νήεσσι μένειν καὶ νῆας ἔρυσθαι ὀπτῆρας δὲ κατὰ σκοπιὰς ὤτρυνα

νέεσθαι οἱ δ᾽ ὕβρει εἴξαντες ἐπισπόμενοι μένεϊ σφῷ αἶψα μάλ᾽ Αἰγυπτίων ἀνδρῶν

περικαλλέας ἀγροὺς πόρθεον ἐκ δὲ γυναῖκας ἄγον καὶ νήπια τέκνα αὐτούς τ᾽

ἔκτεινον104

But Zeus the son of Cronos ended that ndash such was his pleasure ndash when he

prompted me to my ruin sailing the long voyage to Egypt as a wandering corsair

There in the Nile I moored my curved ships Then I told my loyal companions to

stay and guard them while I sent scouts to find the highest ground But my crews

feeling confident and succumbing to temptation set about plundering the

Egyptiansrsquo fine fields carrying off women and children and killing the men till

their cries reached the city105

Yet Odysseus was never socially viewed as a pirate nor at any time is he directly called a pirate

in the Odyssey by another In fact there many instances where heroes performing blatant acts of

piracy are praised for their deeds106 It is clear in the writings attributed to Homer that heroes are

always treated differently and better than normal individuals This idea is transferred over into

warfare where amounting swag and women in war was a task to be honored and expected107

But I digress This topic deserves more room than there is to treat it in this work and I will say no

more save only that this topic deserves more attention and that it muddles the study of piracy

during this period

While the Homeric epics were being composed the Greek city states were colonizing

around the Mediterranean Piracy according to our sources was very common among these new

and growing colonies who were relatively unprotected108 One Phoenician colony Alalia

(Corsica) was so notorious for their acts of piracy against their neighbors that some of the more

powerful of these injured parties banded together and forced their departure

104 Homer Odyssey 17 424-434 105 Translated by AS Kline 106 Homer Odyssey 14 222-234 Homer Hymn to Apollo 452-55 107 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 18 20 108 Thucydides 1 13 6 4 5 Strabo 1 3 2 Herodotus 2 152 1 163 166 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman

World 22

39

ἐπείτε δὲ ἐς τὴν Κύρνον ἀπίκοντο οἴκεον κοινῇ μετὰ τῶν πρότερον ἀπικομένων ἐπ᾽

ἔτεα πέντε καὶ ἱρὰ ἐνιδρύσαντο καὶ ἦγον γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἔφερον τοὺς περιοίκους

ἅπαντας στρατεύονται ὦν ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς κοινῷ λόγω χρησάμενοι Τυρσηνοὶ καὶ

Καρχηδόνιοι νηυσὶ ἑκάτεροι ἑξήκόντα οἱ δὲ Φωκαιέες πληρώσαντες καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰ

πλοῖα ἐόντα ἀριθμὸν ἑξήκοντα ἀντίαζον ἐς τὸ Σαρδόνιον καλεόμενον πέλαγος

συμμισγόντων δὲ τῇ ναυμαχίῃ Καδμείη τις νίκη τοῖσι Φωκαιεῦσι ἐγένετο αἱ μὲν γὰρ

τεσσεράκοντά σφι νέες διεφθάρησαν αἱ δὲ εἴκοσι αἱ περιεοῦσαι ἦσαν ἄχρηστοι

ἀπεστράφατο γὰρ τοὺς ἐμβόλους καταπλώσαντες δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἀλαλίην ἀνέλαβον τὰ

τέκνα καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὴν ἄλλην κτῆσιν ὅσην οἷαι τε ἐγίνοντο αἱ νέες σφι ἄγειν

καὶ ἔπειτα ἀπέντες τὴν Κύρνον ἔπλεον ἐς Ῥήγιον109

And when they came to Cyrnus they lived there for five years as one community

with those who had come first and they founded temples there But they harassed

and plundered all their neighbors as a result of which the Tyrrhenians and

Carthaginians made common cause against them and sailed to attack them with

sixty ships each The Phocaeans also manned their ships sixty in number and met

the enemy in the sea called Sardonian They engaged and the Phocaeans won yet

it was only a kind of Cadmean victory for they lost forty of their ships and the

twenty that remained were useless their rams twisted awry Then sailing to Alalia

they took their children and women and all of their possessions that their ships

could hold on board and leaving Cyrnus they sailed to Rhegium110

In another instance a group of colonists failed to found a settlement at their planned destination

As a result the group seized the Lipari Islands instead While there they were attacked by

Tyrrhenian pirates to such a degree that the inhabitants were forced to learn warfare at sea to

protect themselves This skill once the pirates were defeated was turned to piracy against their

neighbors due to the poverty of the settlements111 This is one of the pirate havens and states that

was created during this time112 No state at almost any time during the Archaic Classical and

Hellenistic Periods was innocent of piracy even Rome practiced piracy in her early history113

109 Herodotus 1 166 110 Translated by AD Godley 111 Livy 5 28 Bradford 13-14 112 Herodotus 3 39-60 113 Polybius 324 a treaty between Carthage and Rome possibly as early as 509 BCE specifically states that Rome

was forbidden to raid certain lands which would have required the use of ships given their locations

40

The primary methods employed by pre-classical settlements in the Mediterranean to

combat piracy were far more rudimentary than those used later on Since most settlements did

not have the means to defend themselves at sea defence against pirates was of necessity on land

Although it is clear from archaeological evidence that trade took place over the sea in this age it

was as yet limited compared to subsequent periods114 We have discussed above how pirates

were most feared for their attacks on land where they would raid and kidnap the inhabitants of

coastal settlements The earliest method of defence against any type of aggressor was simply to

settle inland and atop defensive locations According to Diodorus


πόλεις κατασκευάζοντες διὰ τοὺς λῃστάς 115



This method of settlement allowed for both a better defensive position and an early warning

system as it gave a higher vantage point for detecting pirates Although Diodorus mentions

pirates specifically it is probable that inland settlements were set up due to economic

advantages defence against warring neighbors and even roving bandits not just for defense

against pirates The above passage also refers specifically to villages but applies to larger

settlements as well Looking at the more archaic cities in the Mediterranean it is plain to see that

many are located inland Prime examples of this are Acrocorinthos Athens Knossos Rome

Sparta and so on116 Each of these cities along with many others of older foundation were

114 CAH 3 3 115 Diodorus 5 6 116 Ormerod 39

41

situated a few kilometers inland affording sufficient warning against attacks while still being

close enough to gain access to the sea117

The wealthiest of these settlements could afford to add an additional perimeter of

protection either in the form of walls lookout towers or in the guise of watch dogs118 Besides

these there was another method of early warning system for cities that could not afford walls or

towers ndash fire signals We find multiple mentions of fire signals being used in the ancient world

One such instance is in the Helena by Euripides ldquoWhy should I tell you about our losses in the

Aegean and Nauplios beacons on Euboia and my visits to Crete and the cities of Libya and the

mountain-peaks of Perseusrdquo119 Another passage from the Odyssey is yet more convincing ldquofor

nine days we sailed night and day alike and now on the tenth our native land came in sight and

lo we were so near that we saw men tending the beacon firesrdquo120 Although these passages do

not directly mention pirates they do inform us that these ldquobeaconsrdquo existed and were widespread

They were obviously built for a defensive purpose most likely a warning system against

invasion from neighboring settlements but it is highly plausible that they would also have been

used to warn against any form of hostile incursion including pirates

The effectiveness of these early methods has also been recorded Odysseus related his

experience when dealing with one of these early methods

Ἰλιόθεν με φέρων ἄνεμος Κικόνεσσι πέλασσεν Ἰσμάρῳ ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐγὼ πόλιν ἔπραθον

ὤλεσα δ᾽ αὐτούς ἐκ πόλιος δ᾽ ἀλόχους καὶ κτήματα πολλὰ λαβόντες δασσάμεθ᾽ ὡς

μή τίς μοι ἀτεμβόμενος κίοι ἴσης ἔνθ᾽ ἦ τοι μὲν ἐγὼ διερῷ ποδὶ φευγέμεν ἡμέας

ἠνώγεα τοὶ δὲ μέγα νήπιοι οὐκ ἐπίθοντο ἔνθα δὲ πολλὸν μὲν μέθυ πίνετο πολλὰ δὲ

μῆλα ἔσφαζον παρὰ θῖνα καὶ εἰλίποδας ἕλικας βοῦς lsquoτόφρα δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ οἰχόμενοι

Κίκονες Κικόνεσσι γεγώνευν οἵ σφιν γείτονες ἦσαν ἅμα πλέονες καὶ ἀρείους

117 Thucydides 1 7 Bradford 12 Ormerod 38 118 Apollodorus Bibliotheca 3 2 2 Ormerod 44-45 Bradford 15 119 Euripides Helena 767 Translation from E P Coleridge 120 Homer Odyssey 10 29-30

42

ἤπειρον ναίοντες ἐπιστάμενοι μὲν ἀφ᾽ ἵππων ἀνδράσι μάρνασθαι καὶ ὅθι χρὴ πεζὸν

ἐόντα ἦλθον ἔπειθ᾽ ὅσα φύλλα καὶ ἄνθεα γίγνεται ὥρῃ ἠέριοι121

But let me tell you of my sad voyage back from Troy that Zeus had willed The

wind carried me from Ilium to Ismarus city of the Cicones I sacked the city and

slew the men and the women and riches we split between us so that as far as I

could determine no man lacked an equal share Then as you might imagine I

ordered us to slip away quickly but my foolish followers wouldnrsquot listen They

drank the wine and slaughtered many sheep and shambling cattle with twisted

horns Meanwhile the Cicones rounded up others their neighbours further inland

more numerous and braver men skilled at fighting their enemies from chariots and

on foot as needed At dawn they came as many as the leaves and flowers of the

spring122

Odysseus did not raid the settlements inland instead opting to attack a more vulnerable

settlement along the coast The effectiveness of the inland settlements is also displayed through

the time they had to gather their forces and repel the pirate attack This passage also brings to

attention another important method of pre-classical defense against pirates agreements of mutual

aid

This is one of the methods which continues even onto today If a single state was too

weak to effectively protect itself from pirate raids making agreements of mutual protection with

surrounding neighbors as shown in the passage above would permit multiple cities to combine

their resources for a more effective defense coming to one anotherrsquos aid should there be an

attack on any of the participating states123 This is an example of a treaty between Hierapytna and

Rhodes for mutual protection

121 Homer Odyssey 9 39-52 122 Translation by AS Kline 123 SIG 37 38 535 1-20 SEG 24 154 19-23 Bradford 22 Michael Austin The Hellenistic World from

Alexander to the Roman Conquest A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation ndash 2nd Edition (Cambridge

Cambridge University Press 2006) 205-206 This passage specifically states that all freemen from the respective

cities that are captured and sold into slavery must be freed by both parties and outlines the different situations and

laws regarding that

43

εἰ δέ τινές κα τῶν ὑποδεχομένων τοὺς λαιστὰς ἢ συνεργούντων α[ὐ]τοῖς

συστρατευσάντων Ἱεραπυτνίων Ῥοδίοις ἐπὶ τὰν κατάλυσιν τοῦ λαιστηρίου πόλεμον

ἐξενέγκω[ν]τι Ἱεραπυτνίοις διὰ ταύταν τὰν στρατείαν βοαθούντων Ῥόδιοι

Ἱεραπυτνίοις παντὶ σθένει κατὰ τὸ δυ[να]τόν καὶ ὁ ταῦτα πράσσων πολέμιος ἔστω

Ῥοδίοις124

And if during a campaign which the Hierapytnians are waging with the Rhodians

to destroy a pirate base any of those who provide shelter or assistance to the

pirates wage war on the Hierapytnians because of this campaign the Rhodians

shall come to the help of the Hierapytnians with all possible strength and anyone

who acts in this way shall be an enemy of the Rhodians125

Although only a small section of the treaty outlines agreements concerning piracy the

parameters extend to both pirates and those aiding them

In all this the fear of piracy was still rampant This fear led to a common occurrence in

our sources ndash mistaken identity The fear of piracy only enlarged due to the frequency of pirate

attacks has caused the deaths of more than a few innocent bystanders126 Pirates attacked any

location and at any time According to Herodotus this ranged from individuals to groups and

even towns and cities They especially preferred attacking during festivals and celebrations most

likely due to the diminished awareness of their victims127 None were immune to mistaken

identity either heroes and commoners alike One passage from Apollodorus describes Catreus

son of Minos being mistaken as a pirate and slain

ἀποβὰς δὲ τῆς νεὼς σὺν τοῖς ἥρωσι κατά τινα τῆς νήσου τόπον ἔρημον ἠλαύνετο ὑπὸ

τῶν βουκόλων λῃστὰς ἐμβεβληκέναι δοκούντων καὶ μὴ δυναμένων ἀκοῦσαι

λέγοντος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀλήθειαν διὰ τὴν κραυγὴν τῶν κυνῶν ἀλλὰ βαλλόντων

κἀκείνων παραγενόμενος Ἀλθαιμένης ἀκοντίσας ἀπέκτεινεν ἀγνοῶν Κατρέα128

124 SIG 581 This entire treaty outlines all the instances where both nations must assist the other in times of war or

raid by pirates 125 Translated by Michael Austin 126 Herodotus 6 16 This incident lead to the deaths of the Chians who were recently defeated and beached their

ships in Mykale to escape The local inhabitants killed them all believing them to be pirates making an inland raid 127 Herodotus 6 138 128 Apollodorus 3 2 2

44

And having landed from the ship with the heroes at a desert place of the island he

was chased by the cowherds who imagined that they were pirates on a raid He

told them the truth but they could not hear him for the barking of the dogs and

while they pelted him Althaemenes arrived and killed him with the cast of a

javelin not knowing him to be Catreus129

Rome also dealt with her fair share of mistaken identity After putting off Etruscan rule Rome

sent envoys to the oracle at Delphi 394 BCE to commemorate her victory over the Etruscan city

of Veii While travelling by sea the envoys were intercepted by the Laparans who mistook them

as Etruscan pirates This was probably because they either captured an Etruscan vessel or copied

its design When the mistake was realized the Laparans guided them both to the sanctuary and

back so others would not make the same mistake130 The Romans were lucky that this episode

ended as well as it did unlike other individuals which have been mentioned above No system of

counter-piracy is perfect but some are more efficient than others

As the polis became more powerful and politically stable sometime durning the 7th

century BCE131 the methods employed against piracy changed as well This is in part due to the

rise in warfare scale which increased the gap between piracy and warfare132 It is also during this

time that piracy became more villainized in literature This may simply be the reporting of

previous attitudes towards piracy due to the increase in literature at the time but it is more likely

due to the increased participation of the Greek aristocracy in overseas trade133 The aristocracy in

Homerrsquos works often committed acts of piracy Now that they were running the bulk of the trade

market piracy no longer added to their prestige but hindered their profit Earlier states which

129 Translated by James G Frazer 130 Dradley Workman-Davies Corvus A Review of the Design and Use of the Roman Boarding Bridge During the

First Punic War 264-241 BC (Lulucom 2006) 9 131 The Development of the Polis in Archaic Greece edited by Lynette Mithchell and PJ Rhodes (New York

Routledge 2003) 30 132 Herodotus 3 39 1 166 5 97-101 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 25 133 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 23

45

were weaker were forced to perform the most basic methods of protecting themselves against

pirate incursions This is not the case in the classical period We see a larger number of cities

being founded along the coast134 The increase in power and wealth afforded the poleis the means

of both building greater fortifications which would have been almost unassailable by the

majority of pirates and the construction of more powerful fleets which could patrol territorial

waters This method was employed in the pre-classical period but as mentioned above was the

exception and not the norm and became far more common during the height of Greek power

Along with this growth in power came an expansion in territory Many of the Greek city states

built new colonies in the Black Sea North Africa Italy Sicily the North Western

Mediterranean and so on135

With increase in political stability comes the creation of ever more laws Laws

concerning piracy began to abound especially the punishments regarding pirates Most Roman

laws which are heavily influenced by Greek laws have only survived from literary accounts

such as Cicero and from compilations of laws during the Roman Empire The Digest compiled

under Justinian in the 6th century CE is the greatest source of Roman law to date The majority

of the documents which the Digest was compiled from have not survived or have not yet been

found The laws contained in the Digest date back to the early republic and as such may have

been interpreted incorrectly or altered due to the passage of time

134 Ormerod 39 Appian Civil War 4 14 107-108 135 Bradford 12

46

The official punishments for piracy as dictated by the Romans were crucifixion

beheading and being fed to beasts136 One example of crucifixion can be found in an account

from Plutarch when he describes Julius Caesarrsquos kidnapping and ransom by pirates

ἐκείνου δὲ καὶ τοῖς χρήμασιν ἐποφθαλμιῶντος ῾ἦν γὰρ οὐκ ὀλίγα καὶ περὶ τῶν

αἰχμαλώτων σκέψεσθαι φάσκοντος ἐπὶ σχολῆς χαίρειν ἐάσας αὐτὸν ὁ Καῖσαρ εἰς

Πέργαμον ᾤχετο καὶ προαγαγὼν τοὺς λῃστὰς ἅπαντας ἀνεσταύρωσεν ὥσπερ

αὐτοῖς δοκῶν παίζειν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ προειρήκει πολλάκις137

But since the praetor cast longing eyes on their money which was no small sum

and kept saying that he would consider the case of the captives at his leisure

Caesar left him to his own devices went to Pergamum took the robbers out of

prison and crucified them all just as he had often warned them on the island that

he would do when they thought he was joking138

It is not certain how justified Julius Caesar was in taking it upon himself to execute the pirates

which held him captive but the method he used would have been acceptable in Roman eyes

There is some support for Caesarrsquos actions According to Roman law pirates were considered

communes hostes gentium (the enemies of all nations) and therefore were not subject to

protection under the law139 It was also the duty of all governors to actively prosecute all

pirates140 Furthermore Romans permitted individuals to defend themselves against pirates

taking whatever steps were necessary141 Very little Greek law survives on this subject The best

source would most likely be Rhodian law since they were famed for their stance on piracy in the

ancient world a subject which will be discussed in greater detail below Fortunately the few

136 Cicero Verres 2 5 71 78-79 Velleius 2 42 Digest 9 2 28 137 Plutarch Julius 2 4 138 Translated by Bernadotte Perrin 139 Cicero Verres 2 5 76 and 4 21 Cicero de officiis 3 107 Digest 1 18 3 9 24 and 14 2 3 140 Digest 1 18 3 141 Digest 9 2 4

47

remaining fragments of Rhodian law have been preserved in Justinianrsquos Digest and it is often

theorized that the bulk of Romersquos naval laws are based on these142

Possibly the most important aspect to punishment of pirates and for that matter any

criminal was its public display This accomplished two things gratifying the injured parties and

deterring future crimes We read in Cicerorsquos speech against Verres that the people of Syracuse

felt disappointed when they were deprived of seeing the execution of the arch-pirate143

Punishments were often given in a ldquomanner that befitted their villainyrdquo144 This meant that there

were more methods of punishment than has been outlined above but what they are we do not

know for certain All these punishments being made public would have been to serve as both a

warning and deterrent to other pirates who may have seen or heard of the punishments How

much this deterrent worked is debatable Clearly it was not enough to stop piracy from occurring

given that the worst period of piracy was yet to come but it may have deterred a small portion of

prospective pirates According to Ormerod the punishment of pirates has changed little

throughout history145 suggesting that they must have been the most effective deterrents

Another important aspect to anti-piracy in the classical period is derived from the

increase in naval power of individual states As fleets grew in size and strength gradually

nations took an active role in not just protecting trade against pirates but ultimately bringing the

fight to them These anti-pirate campaigns although not a new idea as they were used earlier

142 John W Cairs and Paul du Flessis Beyond Dogmatics (Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press 2007) 158

Robert D Benedict ldquoThe Historical Position of the Rhodian Lawrdquo The Yale Law Journal vol 18 no 4 (February

1909) 223 143 Cicero Verres 2 5 65-66 The words iucundissimum spectaculum (most delightful spectacle) are specifically

used Cicero seems to suggest that public punishments were very gratifying to the populaces which were directly

effected At the same time many feel a sense of satisfaction even today when seeing ldquojusticerdquo fall upon the

deserving In many places in the world including some first world countries public executions are still carried out 144 IG 12 3 171 This is an inscription from Ephesus concerning the punishment of pirates which had been

captured 145 Ormerod 54

48

became the hallmark of the greater states These states included Athens Macedon Sprata

Rhodes and later Rome

According to Herodotus hostilities between the Greeks and the Persians began with

piracy committed by Phoenicians146 It was the Persians after their conquest of Ionia and

subsequent defeat of the Phoenicians that curtailed piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean When

the Ionians revolted asking for aid from both Athens and Sparta this opened up a series of

events leading to the Persian Wars which left Persia weakened and Athens the premiere naval

power of the East147 This culminated in the Delian League which many scholars have come to

believe was created with the purpose of committing acts of piracy against the Persian Empire148

Ultimately this league became the basis of Athensrsquo maritime empire149

The imperialism of Athens led to an increase in suppression of piracy in the east Athens

set up choke points throughout the extensive Greek islands and fortified them restricting

movement and making it so there were fewer safe havens for pirate bases150 This was only

possible after the creation of the Delian League due to the increased collective resources which

any one nation could not have mustered as well as the coordination of so many poleis over the

whole of the Aegean151 Athens under the reign of Cimon152 and by the blessing of the

Amphictyoni Assembly constructed a powerful navy and went about reducing Greek piracy

146 Herodotus 1 1-4 In this tale Herodotus relates the kidnap of princess Io and the retaliatory kidnap of princess

Europecirc 147 Bradford 15-18 148 Bradford 2007 Sealey 1966 Jackson 1969 De Souza 1999 149 Bradford 18 150 Bradford 19 The island of Euboea was one of the more valuable and rich islands which Athens sought to protect

from piracy as it was located so close to the Attic coast 151 Ormerod 108 152 Plutarch Cimon 8

49

qua celeriter effecta primum Corcyraeos fregit deinde maritimos praedones

consectando mare tutum reddidit in quo cum divitiis ornavit tum etiam

peritissimos belli navalis fecit Athenienses153

This being soon constructed he first reduced the Corcyraeans and then by

vigorously pursuing the pirates rendered the sea secure In acting thus he both

supplied the Athenians with wealth and made them extremely skilful in naval

warfare154

As the most powerful of the maritime states in the Delian League Athens headed much of the

deliberation and campaigns against the pirates setting up a council with all other Greek states to

determine what should be done about the constant threat155 Under this watchful league with

Athens at its head piracy was diminished for a time and only rose again under the umbrella of

war the Peloponnesian War156

The primary cause of the increase in piracy during the Peloponnesian War lies in the

employment of ldquoprivateersrdquo during the conflict In truth privateering did not exist not in the way

we think of it The act of piracy which is sanctioned by the state was simply the regular mode of

warfare for the Greeks of antiquity Thucydides is our primary source for this war and there is

no lack of piracy in his accounts being employed by both poleis to attack the other157 This also

led to increased counter measures employed by both parties Many islands in the Greek

Archipelago were occupied during the war in order to intercept ships both from the enemy and

from pirates Along with these new naval bases came fortifications to reinforce against pirates

and enemies alike158 Just because pirates were being employed on either side does not mean that

153 Nepos Themistocles 2 3 154 Translated by Rev John Selby Watson 155 Plutarch Pericles 17 156 The Peloponnesian War was caused primarily through Athensrsquo imperialism or that is to say the reaction of

other states to Athensrsquo Imperialism Sparta being the primary opponent which feared Athensrsquo ever increasing power 157 Plutarch Alcibiades 293 Diodorus 13 69 5 13 73 158 Thucydides 2 32 6 9

50

all pirates joined a side nor does it mean that the pirates employed would not take advantage of

the situation and raid both factions anyways That said Athens received the worst of it Since

Athens was a sea trading city state they were the most vulnerable and the most tempting target

to pirates

When Sparta was victorious Athens was required to pay an indemnity Being unable to

pay the indemnity many nations began employing piracy against Athens in order to make up for

the unpaid debts159 This only further weakened Athens who had lost the bulk of her fleet

territory and was bled dry by reparations With no fleet actively working against the pirates

which had grown exponentially towards the end of the war piracy began to rage across the

Mediterranean According to Isocrates pirates controlled the seas ldquoand furthermore not even

the present peace nor yet that lsquoautonomyrsquo which is inscribed in the treaties but is not found in

our governments is preferable to the rule of Athens For who would desire a condition of things

where pirates command the seas and mercenaries occupy our citiesrdquo160 Piracy would not be put

in check again in the east till the rise of the Hellenistic states

In the west the Romans differed greatly in their methods of dealing with piracy Rome

had many threats on the sea such as her neighbor Antium who began to raid Romersquos

settlements along the weastern Italian coast After taking Antiumrsquos cities with her legions Rome

dismantled Antiumrsquos naval forces161 This is a significant reaction in her treatment of enemy

naval forces including pirates Rome through almost the entire history of her Republican period

instead of simply absorbing ships into her fleet decided to dismantle them Rome would rather

159 Lysias 30 22 Xenophon Hellenica 2 1 30 Thucydides 5 115 160 Isocrates Speeches 4 115 There are further mentions of how unsafe the sea was during this period Isocrates

Speeches 17 35-36 Xenophon Hellenica 5 1-2 Demosthenes 52 5 161 Dradley Workman-Davis Corvus A Review of the Design and Use of the Roman Boarding Bridge During the

First Punic War 264-241 BC (Lulucom 2006) 10

51

eliminate a threat to her shores than protect them a pattern which will continue until her

transition into Empire In 349 BCE Rome was plagued by the increased activity of Greek pirates

along the Italian coast Instead of building ships to counter the pirates and defend their coasts

from future aggression the Romans decided to station troops along the coast to keep the pirates

from landing and raiding settlements162 Rome saw the seas more as a barrier than a road As part

of this view Rome signed her first treaty with Naples in 327 BCE making them the first Roman

socius navalis (naval ally) The terms of this treaty were that Rome would defend Naples with

her legions if Naples defended Romersquos coasts with her ships163 This offered the protection that

Rome sought at sea while not being directly involved with its operation

Rome eventually decided to build a fleet in 311 BCE but it consisted of only 20 ships

under two admirals given the special office of duoviri navales who commanded ten ships each

This early Roman fleet which would not grow in strength till the First Punic War was met with

nothing but defeat Admiral Publius Cornelius fought against the Nucerians in 310 BCE and was

decisively defeated The Roman legions had to siege the city and win the war on land Again in

282 BCE the Roman navy was defeated by the Tarentines with the support of Pyrrhus of Epirus

According to Livy all ten ships from one of the fleets were destroyed With their naval defeat

and the coming of Pyrrhus to aid the Tarentines in their war against Rome the Romans were

compelled to ally with Carthage for mutual protection The treaty signed in 279 BCE proposed

that Rome would produce the armies to fight Pyrrhus while Carthage would fight all the naval

engagements164

162 Livy 8 14 JH Thiel A History of Roman Sea-Power Before the Second Punic War (Amsterdam North-

Holland Publishing Company 1954) 7 163 Workman-Davies 8 11 And Livy 7 25 3-15 164 Workman-Davies 11-12

52

This was not the first treaty made with Carthage the earliest of which was in 509 BCE

around the founding of the Republic165 The treaty stipulated that Carthage would not interfere

with Romersquos sphere of influence Rome was to limit her trading by sea and not to land troops or

settle on the island of Sicily This was an advantage to Carthage who would have gained more

control over naval matters and trade Rome although expanding to the extants of Italy and

looking beyond her shores was relatively content with leaving the majority of naval matters to

Carthage These terms were again ratified in the treaty of 279 BCE when dealing with Pyrrhus

all of which came to an end when Carthage and Rome went to war over the conflict in Sicily

between Syracuse and the Mamertines of Messene 166

Before Rome began building a naval force and at the end of Greek power in the east the

Macedonians would make their mark against piracy in the Mediterranean By the time of Philip

II Athens was no longer able to keep piracy in check on her own167 The islands which had been

cleared during the Peloponnesian War were again occupied by pirates Yet even though piracy

had returned it is unclear how much of this was political propaganda or actually piracy This

episode shows how the Athenians were less concerned with piracy and more with Philip II

Φίλιππος γὰρ ἄρχεται μὲν περὶ Ἁλοννήσου λέγων ὡς ὑμῖν δίδωσιν ἑαυτοῦ οὖσαν

ὑμᾶς δὲ οὔ φησι δικαίως αὐτὸν ἀπαιτεῖν οὐ γὰρ ὑμετέραν οὖσαν οὔτε λαβεῖν οὔτε

νῦν ἔχειν ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοιούτους λόγους ὅτε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπρεσβεύσαμεν

ὡς λῃστὰς ἀφελόμενος ταύτην τὴν νῆσον κτήσαιτο καὶ προσήκειν αὐτὴν ἑαυτοῦ

εἶναι168

Philip begins by saying that he offers you Halonnesus as his own property but that

you have no right to demand it of him because it was not yours when he took it

165 John Serrati ldquoNeptunersquos Altars The Treaties between Rome and Carthage (509-226)rdquo The Classical Quarterly

New Series vol 56 no 1 (May 2006) 114 Lionel Casson The Ancient Mariners Seafarers and Sea Fighters of

the Mediterranean in Ancient Times (New York MacMillan Company 1959) 159 166 Brian Caven The Punic Wars (New York St Martinrsquos Press 1980) 4 167 Demosthenes 7 14-15 168 Demosthenes 7 2

53

and is not yours now that he holds it Moreover when we ambassadors visited

him he used similar language to the effect that he had captured the island from

pirates and that therefore it belonged absolutely to him169

This island strategically located near the Attic coast had been overrun by pirates which Philip

II had captured during a campaign against the pirates An embassy was sent to Philip asking for

the return of the island which rightfully belonged to Athens It is odd that Athens itself did not

attempt to retake the island given that she was previously the main protector against piracy This

would suggest one of two things either Athens had truly grown too weak to clear this island of

piracy or piracy was not as bad as our sources make it out to be and there was little worry about

the pirates on the island If it is the later case then piracy has been exaggerated by our sources in

order to play upon the political gains of counter-piracy campaigns or possibly to mask strategic

and political positioning as a counter-piracy campaign

It is important to note that states which stood against piracy did so in many instances as

a political maneuver As piracy was so terrible a menace any state which stood against piracy

either in word or in deed was seen as the protector of civilization and afforded great honor The

attack on this island by Philip or indeed Philiprsquos entire campaign against piracy may have been

a ploy to increase his own standing in the Greek world and take the place of Athens as the

protector of the seas and therefore the protector of civilization This idea argued by many

modern scholars such as De Souza and Avidov can be applied to many of the states during this

time and therefore holds some merit as will be seen from an analysis of the Hellenistic

169 Translated by JH Vince

54

Period170 The difficulty of such a theory is that it is impossible to determine how much is

political maneuvering and how much is actually practical application against a pirate menace

Part of this political maneuvering was the attempt to name onersquos foe a pirate or at least

accuse them of employing pirates As discussed above pirates were and still are the enemies of

all states By associating a state with piracy that state is undermined politically in both their

image and foreign affairs171 In effect this would isolate them from potential allies who would

not wish to be associated with pirates and it places them in the same category as the worst sort

of enemies In response to the Athenian attacks against Philip for the capture of Halonnesus we

can see this political maneuver tactfully employed

οὓς ἐγὼ μὲν ἐτιμωρησάμην ἐνδεεστέρως ἢ προσῆκεν ἐκεῖνοι δ᾽ εἰρήνης οὔσης

καταλαβόντες Ἁλόννησον οὔτε τὸ χωρίον οὔτε τοὺς φρουροὺς ἀπεδίδοσαν

πέμψαντος ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐμοῦ πολλάκις ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ὧν μὲν ἠδίκησαν ἐμὲ Πεπαρήθιοι

τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν ἐπεσκέψασθε τὴν δὲ τιμωρίαν ἀκριβῶς εἰδότες καίτοι τὴν νῆσον

οὔτ᾽ ἐκείνους οὔθ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἀφειλόμην ἀλλὰ τὸν λῃστὴν Σώστρατον εἰ μὲν οὖν αὐτοί

φατε παραδοῦναι Σωστράτῳ λῃστὰς ὁμολογεῖτε καταπέμπειν εἰ δ᾽ ἀκόντων ὑμῶν

ἐκεῖνος ἐκράτει τί δεινὸν πεπόνθατε λαβόντος ἐμοῦ καὶ τὸν τόπον τοῖς πλέουσιν

ἀσφαλῆ παρέχοντος172

I actually punished them less rigorously than they deserved for they seized

Halonnesus in time of peace and refused to restore either the fortress or the

garrison in spite of my repeated remonstrances But you with full knowledge of

the facts ignored their offences against me and only considered their punishment

Yet I robbed neither them nor you of the island but only the pirate chief Sostratus

Now if you say that you handed it over to Sostratus you admit that you employ

pirates if he captured it against your wishes why this indignation against me for

taking it and making the district safe for traders173

170 Demosthenes 7 14-15 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 134-135 Avidov 23 Catherine A

McPherson The First Illyrian War A Study in Roman Imperialism (MA Thesis McGill Univeristy 2012) 76 171 Demosthenes 16 34 Demosthenes often called Philip ldquothe Pirate of the Greeksrdquo as a means of attacking Philip

during his speeches 172 Demosthenes 12 12-13 173 Translated by JH Vince

55

This is just one example of the many bouts that will be seen below when dealing with the

Romans The importance of this runs into the severity of piracy and therefore the knowledge of

the people about pirate activity If the people of a nation are led to believe that piracy is far more

of a threat than it is then this misled fear and insecurity could be used to pass laws which

otherwise would not have been in the best interests of the political figure in question

Yet as mentioned above piracy was often employed by states as a method of reprisals174

funding future campaigns175 forcing others to declare war and weakening states which one

plans on waging war with

καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Πύλου Ἀθηναῖοι Λακεδαιμονίων πολλὴν λείαν ἔλαβον καὶ

Λακεδαιμόνιοι δι᾽ αὐτὸ τὰς μὲν σπονδὰς οὐδ᾽ ὣς ἀφέντες ἐπολέμουν αὐτοῖς

ἐκήρυξαν δὲ εἴ τις βούλεται παρὰ σφῶν Ἀθηναίους λῄζεσθαι176

Meanwhile the Athenians at Pylos took so much plunder from the Lacedaemonians

that the latter although they still refrained from breaking off the treaty and going

to war with Athens yet proclaimed that any of their people that chose might

plunder the Athenians177

This was a method used during the Peloponnesian War and it continued to be used during the

Hellenistic Period Obviously each side would use piracy as a means of plausible deniability so

as to seem the innocent party should war begin This similar ldquoprivateeringrdquo continued during the

peace between Athens and Macedon in the fourth century BCE178

174 Ormerod 62 175 Aristotle Politics 11256a Plato Laws 7 823 Ormerod 69 According to some ancient authors piracy is

viewed as a method of production similar to war farming mining etc Due to this perspective it is understandable

why nations would employ it and why some cultures did not see it as deplorable but rather an acceptable and

sometimes honorable profession 176 Thucydides 5 115 2 177 Translated by JM Dent 178 Ormerod 118 Each side often accuses the other of piracy as a means of legitimizing their own attacks upon the

otherrsquos shipping Bradford 25-26

56

The son of Philip II Alexander III known more widely as Alexander the Great also

ordered an anti-piracy campaign in the Mediterranean in 331 BCE commanded by admiral

Amphoterus179 Since Alexander fought the majority of his campaign in the interior of the

Persian empire it is far less likely that he worried about his political image as a maritime power

but rather did it out of tactical and logistical necessity While the great conqueror was away he

needed a steady line of supply which would have been threatened by pirates that sprang up when

Persia was in such a weakened state We know from the accounts of naval activity in that region

that piracy was still feared and that mistaken identity was still a concern

XII triremes cum suo milite ac remige praetor eas XXX inanes et L piratici lembi

Graecorumque III milia a Persis mercede conducta His in supplementum

copiarum suarum distributis piratisque supplicio affectis captivos remiges

adiecere classi suae180

Twelve triremes with their soldiers and oarsmen and besides these thirty ships

without crews and fifty piratical boats and 3000 Greeks serving as mercenaries

with the Persians These last were distributed as a reinforcement of the

Macedonian forces the pirates were put to death and the captured oarsmen were

enrolled in the fleet181

The account by Curtius continues with another detachment of lembi arriving in the night not

realizing that the city and port had been taken by the enemy and being taken prisoner by the

guards of the port It is unclear whether these men were pirates under the employ of Persia or if

they were legitimate forces The lembus was a popular pirate vessel during this time that made its

way into the naval forces of many nations including Philip II himself182 This would suggest that

Alexander had lembi in his fleet during this juncture but the association of the lembus with

179 Quintus Curtius 4 8 15 This is also confirmed by Arrian Anabasis 3 3 4 180 Quintus Curtius 4 5 18 181 Translated by JC Rolfe 182 Polybius 16 4 8-15 Lionel Casson Ships and Seamanship in The Ancient World (Baltimore Maryland The

Johns Hopkins University Press 1995) 127

57

piracy would still have been very strong This may have simply been the case of assuming that

any person sailing in a lembus was a pirate More detail on the lembus will be discussed later on

when examining the Hellenistic Period Ultimately Alexander died and his empire crumbled

being torn apart by his generals in a bid for power Any headway into diminishing the pirates

under his reign would have been reversed as conflicts increased among his successors which led

to near constant warfare in the subsequent years until the rise of Rome

58

Chapter Four Hellenistic Piracy

As the Diadochi struggled against one another in an effort to control the entirety of

Alexanderrsquos empire each Hellenistic Kingdom employed all means and methods to overcome

the other Piracy was one of the many tools used to weaken opposing states Hellenic rulers

would often form alliances with pirates to attack their opponents indirectly thereby not officially

breaking any treaties between the two kingdoms183 One example of this is an agreement

between Demetrius of Macedon and King Agron around 233-232 BCE the event being

described by Polybius as part of the reason for Romersquos first entry into Greek affairs

Ἄγρων ὁ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν βασιλεὺς ἦν μὲν υἱὸς Πλευράτου δύναμιν δὲ πεζὴν καὶ

ναυτικὴν μεγίστην ἔσχε τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ βεβασιλευκότων ἐν Ἰλλυριοῖς οὗτος ὑπὸ

Δημητρίου τοῦ Φιλίππου πατρὸς πεισθεὶς χρήμασιν ὑπέσχετο βοηθήσειν Μεδιωνίοις

ὑπ᾽ Αἰτωλῶν πολιορκουμένοις Αἰτωλοὶ γὰρ οὐδαμῶς δυνάμενοι πεῖσαι Μεδιωνίους

μετέχειν σφίσι τῆς αὐτῆς πολιτείας ἐπεβάλοντο κατὰ κράτος ἑλεῖν αὐτούς184

The circumstances which decided them to cross were as follows Agron king of

Illyria was the son of Pleuratus and was master of stronger land and sea forces

than any king of Illyria before him Demetrius the father of Philip V had induced

him by a bribe to go to the assistance of the town of Medion which the Aetolians

were besieging The Aetolians being unable to persuade the Medionians to join

their league determined to reduce them by force185

While it is uncertain if Demetrius did in fact make that deal with Agron or if this is a fabricated

scenario it would not be an implausible scenario given that Macedon was weakened at this time

and would not have wished for the Aetolians who were their enemies to grow stronger and pose

a threat to her interests Although the forces employed by Agron at Medion were soldiers this

does not mean that they did not participate in acts of piracy before and after the events in

183 Diodorus 20 110 Polybius 4 16 Livy 31 22 34 35-36 37 11 Egypt and Seleucia often hire pirates to harass

one another during and in-between wars 184 Polybius 2 2 4-6 185 Translated by WR Paton

59

question Agronrsquos queen Teuta when she came to power escalated Illyrian piracy From this it

can be understood that piracy was a common among the Illyrians and therefore was practiced

under the reign of Agron It is likely that Demetrius knew that he was employing pirates as well

as soldiers to weaken his foes

Other instances where Hellenistic Kingdoms employed piracy shows that these kingdoms

sometimes financed piracy in the first place giving them the vessels with which to plunder and

not merely going to already established pirates In this passage Philip V of Macedon arms

pirates against his enemies

Ὅτι Φίλιππος ὁ τῶν Μακεδόνων βασιλεὺς Δικαίαρχον τὸν Αἰτωλόν ἄνδρα

τολμηρόν πείσας πειρατεύειν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ναῦς εἴκοσιmiddot προσέταξε δὲ τὰς μὲν

νήσους φορολογεῖν τοῖς δὲ Κρησὶ παραβοηθεῖν ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ῥοδίους πολέμῳ Οὗτος

δὲ κατὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοὺς μὲν ἐμπόρους ἐλῄστευε τὰς δὲ νήσους λεηλατῶν ἀργύριον

εἰσεπράττετο186

Philip the king of the Macedonians induced Dicaearchus of Aetolia a bold

adventurer to engage in piracy and gave him twenty ships He ordered him to

levy tribute on the islands and to support the Cretans in their war against the

Rhodians Obedient to these commands Dicaearchus harried commercial shipping

and by marauding raids exacted money from the islands187

The primary difficulty with passages such as this is the authenticity of the authorrsquos account No

state would ever make a record of their dealings with pirates What is more difficult is judging

whether or not these were pirates or mercenaries in the employ of Philip which would make

their attacks legitimate acts of war Even in this period the difference between piracy and warfare

is blurred at times Yet each of the respective Hellenic Kingdoms although they employed

piracy sought equally to limit piracy in their own realms188

186 Diodorus 28 1 1 187 Translated by CH Oldfather 188 IG 12 3 1291 650 15-16

60

Only one Hellenic state at this time actively fought against piracy never employing it

against its enemies ndash Rhodes Rhodesrsquo reputation as a bulwark against the pirates is

acknowledged by all in contemporary times and from an early period even before the

Hellenistic Period189 It is easy to see why Rhodes would have taken this position Rhodes as an

island state was ideally situated at the gateway of trade between the Lavant and the rest of the

Mediterranean All grain which came from Egypt went through Rhodesrsquo trade port190 This

meant that the majority of her revenues came through trade with other nations Relying on trade

for her prosperity Rhodes would have greatly desired to limit piracy not only in her local

waters but throughout the Mediterranean191 To this end Rhodes provided both escorts for

merchant ships regular patrols of trade routes and often performed anti-piracy campaigns192

Diodorus describes Rhodes as taking piracy on by herself193

Rhodes had a clear economic motivation for her stance on piracy This is not better

displayed than when Rhodes entered into a war with Byzantium over imposed shipping tolls

through the Hellespont Many nations requested Rhodesrsquo aid in this matter but her involvement

was most likely in the best interest of her personal gain194 Rhodersquos fleet was well funded and

effective being primarily designed as an anti-pirate fleet195 Many small islands sought her

protection and offered honors to Rhodes such as one inscription from Delos concerning three

189 Strabo 14 2 190 Diodorius 20 81 4 191 In one instance Rhodes with some of her allies led campaigns against Tyrrhenian pirates This meant that

Rhodes went as far as Italy to supress piracy Although she did not focus on the Western Mediterranean Rhodes did

see pirates from that area as a threat to be dealt with whenever they made incursions into the east 192 Diodorus 20 82 2 193 Diodorus 20 81 3 194 Polybius 4 47 1 195 RM Berthold Rhodes in the Hellenistic Age (Ithaca 1984) 98 This is because Rhodes used many different

kinds of ships in her fleet She made the best use out of the trihemiolia a decked warship with one bank of oars

which was faster than a trireme Since most pirate vessels were designed to be swifter than warships Rhodes being

the naval power checking piracy would require many smaller faster vessels to deal with pirates

61

trierarchs ldquoappointed by the people of the Rhodians for the protection of the islands and the

safety of the Greeksrdquo196 But naval operations were expensive A ten ship expedition cost roughly

40 talents to maintain 90 talents to purchase rations and 90 talents to pay the soldiers and

crews197 To this effect Rhodes had a toll to pay for her fleet All those who wished for her

protection paid this fee when trading in her port198 a price which many would have gladly paid

Of all the different pirates in the Mediterranean three groups were the chief amongst

them Cilicians Cretans and Tyrrhenians199 The Tyrrhenians were pirates most likely from the

Italian coast and Tyrrhenian Sea hence their name It is never clear which peoples these pirates

come from possibly being a term to suggest any pirate that comes from that area which would

include Etruscans Romans Greeks and Carthaginians200 The cruellest and vicious of the three

were the Tyrrhenian pirates201 The most effective of the three were the Cilician pirates202 which

will be discussed in more detail later on The majority of Rhodes anti-pirate campaigns were

directed toward Crete possibly one of the longest lasting pirate islands in the Mediterranean As

one saying holds ldquowho has ever heard of an honest man in Crete They have always practiced

piracy theft and deceitrdquo203 Their reputation for piracy dates back even to the time when the

Odyssey was written According to this epic Odysseus proclaims himself to be a Cretan and

gained his experience and wealth from performing what appears to be pirate raids on others

196 Rhodes received many other inscriptions honoring them for their actions against pirates and protecting Greece

and her commerce here are just a few SIG 582 IG 11 4 596 197 Bradford 27 198 Bradford 30-31 199 Ormerod 127 200 Ormerod 128-129 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 52 Strabo 10 479 suggests that the name

Tyrrhenian was almost synonymous with any pirate one came across 201 Valerius Maximus 9 2 10 202 Ormerod 127 203 Anthologia Palatina 7 654

62

before the Achaeans attacked Troy204 This is obviously a lie something which Odysseus did

frequently in this tale but he chose to be called a Cretan for their fearsome reputation Even

Alexanderrsquos admiral when he had been ordered to clear the Mediterranean of piracy first

attacked Crete to fulfill this mandate205

It becomes no small wonder that Rhodes would focus on this island for many of her

campaigns being the champions of trade and protection for Greece206 The geography of Crete

breeds a population of warriors good at guerrilla warfare and piracy207 Their skills were highly

sought after and were often employed as mercenaries when they were not actively going about as

pirates208 Cretan piracy had at one point gotten so bad that the trading world appealed to Rhodes

for aid leading to the First Cretan War (206-203 BCE)209 The Rhodians won this war as

indicated by the treaty drawn up afterwards This treaty showed a particular interest in Cretan

based piracy and in trying to reduce it by reducing aid to the pirates from the cities of Crete210

Although Rhodes would always remain in reputation as the protectors of trade against pirates

their power and position in such regards would wane with the rise of the greatest power in the

Mediterranean ndash Rome

This city on the Italian Peninsula would expand till it controlled the entirety of the

Mediterranean No other power before or since has ever achieved such a feat After taking Italy

Rome entered into a war with the greatest naval power of the Western Mediterranean the

204 Homer Odyssey 14 199 205 Curtius 4 8 15 206 Diodorus 20 81-822 Polybius 4 471 207 Polybius 4 8 46 Aristotle Politics 1271b 208 Polybius 5 65 SIG 581 209 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 80 Diodorus 27 3 This is possibly due to the promptings of

Philip V who had given them ships for the very purpose of committing piracy to fund his campaign and weaken his

foes Polybius 13 4-5 18 54 Diodorus 28 1 210 SIG 581

63

Carthaginians The Carthaginians were a Phoenician people whose empire was based on trade

and so it is with little surprise that Carthage set about protecting the seas from pirates211 Romersquos

exploits at sea and her tactics at facing pirates have been discussed previously Needless to say

Rome was ill equipped to face any foe on the sea let alone the greatest naval power in the west

and arguably in the whole of the Mediterranean The First Punic War showed Rome how

necessary a navy was for her expansion After defeating her foe Rome was left with the

responsibility of protecting the seas from pirates even if she did not want the task212 Rome

relied heavily upon her naval allies mostly consisting of Greek cities which fell under her

influence in Magna Graecia to patrol the seas and protect the Italian coast against piracy But as

Romersquos power grew the power of the states around her diminished further increasing Romersquos

position in protecting her own shores

The first campaign which Rome undertook against pirates was just before the Second

Punic War against the Illyrians In the second half of the third century after the might of both

Macedon and Epiros had diminished a power vacuum was left in northern Greece This hole was

filled by King Agron of the Ardiaei a tribe of Illyrians or so everyone dwelling northwest of the

Greeks were called213 who began raiding and conquering territory along the eastern coast of the

Adriatic214 The political chaos which had allowed the Ardiaei to grow almost unhindered

ended when Epirusrsquo royal succession was concluded215 Yet the Illyrian tribe had grown too

powerful to be supressed by Epirus who was also dealing with attacks from the Aetolians Upon

first unsuccessfully eliciting aid from Demetrios II of Macedon for their campaign against the

211 Polybius 3 24 212 Ormerod 162-163 213 Appian 3 3 6 Strabo 7 5 Pliny 3-6 214 Polybius 2 7 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 76 Bradford 35 Ormerod 171 215 Dell 353

64

Aetolians the Epirotes were forced to turn to the Ardiaei for help216 Agron replied by sending

100 lembi carrying 5000 soldiers217 The succeeding battle at Medion against the Aetolians was

a huge success for the Ardiaeans who had now proven themselves an equal to even the mightiest

of the Grecian leagues218 It was shortly after this great victory that the Illyrian king died Teuta

Agronrsquos wife and queen of the Ardiaei took her husbandrsquos place and continued her kingdomrsquos

expansion Under queen Teuta the Ardiaei began widespread piracy in the Adriatic219

It was during the reign of Teuta that Rome was drawn into the Eastern Mediterranean and

first introduced into Greek politics The pirate attacks by the Ardiaei were so successful that the

Greeks called on Rome for aid220 Rome herself was being attacked at this time and it was most

likely these attacks along the Italian coast and upon her own shipping which spurred Rome into

action221 Some scholars have argued that Romersquos attack against the Ardiaei was motivated

primarily for political reasons222 Although there is some merit to this argument Romersquos action

was not solely for this reason The Ardiaei had taken the city of Phoenice the capitol of Epirus

216 Philip V was unable to send aid due to his own conflict with the Achaeans 217 Polybius 2 2 218 Polybius 2 3 219 Dell 353 220 Polybius 2 5 8 9 Pausanias 4 35 Dio fr 49 Appian Illyria 7 Scholars have debated whether the Issians

had actually went to Rome to plead for aid against the Illyrians The argument against this stems from both the

inaction of the Romans at releaving Issa from siege and the inconsistency between Polybius who does not mention

the Issians and Appian concerning these events Most scholars consider Appianrsquos account to be the more

trustworthy although Polybiusrsquo account is the more detailed It is impossible to determine which is the more

accurate account It is likely that the Issians approached the Romans but it may have been for reasons other than

receiving aid against the Illyrians Regardless of the Issian controversy Rome was approached by both Greek and

Roman merchants and officials to deal with this problem For more information on the Issian Contraversy see PS

Derow ldquoKleemporosrdquo Phoenix vol 27 no 2 (Summer 1973) 118-134 221 Polybius 2 2 222 McPherson 75-77 Gabrielsen 390-391 Pritchett 317 One of the theories I have discussed previously in this

work The idea that those who protect the sea from pirates have the most political power and increase their standing

amongst other nations is given as one reason for Romersquos willingness to enter into this war It may have introduced

them into Greek politics and began their image as protectors of the Mediterranean but the risks to Romersquos trade

routes cannot be overlooked This combined with the fact that the Greeks were recently defeated at sea by the

Illyrians both at Medion and Paxos meant that only Rome was powerful enough to deal with the Ardiaei at the

time It is plausible that Rome who had left patrolling the seas to her allies would have done nothing had another

state been able to challenge Illyrian hostility

65

which lay very close to the trading routes of the Romans from Brundisium If the Ardiaei were to

overtake that region they could seriously inhibit Romersquos trade with Greece most likely a great

source of wealth for her since she was not on good terms with Carthage in the West Whatever

the reason Rome became involved in the conflict and dealt with it accordingly

According to Polybius Rome first sent two ambassadors to Teuta in an attempt to resolve

the situation by halting Illyrian pirate attacks on Rome and her allies through diplomatic means

Although the accounts between Polybius and Arrian differ for this event both have the same

result Romersquos envoys were killed at the hands of Illyrian pirates This blatant attack on Roman

delegates was all the excuse that Rome needed to declare war and In 229 BCE Rome did just

that While Teutarsquos forces besieged Corcyca and Epidamnus Rome sent a fleet of 200 warships

under the command of the Roman consul Gnaeus Fulvius along with a contingent of 20000

infantry and 2000 cavalry commanded by co-consul Aulus Postumius223 After subjugating three

Illyrian tribes liberating the Greek cities and capturing the bulk of the Illyrian pirate vessels

Teuta capitulated and the bulk of her territory was divided amongst Romersquos allies224

Possibly one of the most significant gains from this war was the ships used by the

Illyrians The Illyrian pirates used the lembus known for its speed and maneuverability Rome

incorporated this ship into her fleet in a similar fashion to Philip II over a century before The

lembus was used in its original form and also in a modified form called the bireme by the

Romans making it a more effective warship The significance of such a vessel will be dealt with

later on It is sufficient to say at this time that Romersquos first expansion into the East was in no

223 Polybius 2 11 224 Polybius 2 12

66

small way due to piracy making a name for herself politically as the defender of the seas As

Rome continued to expand her mission to police the waters also expanded

In the subsequent centuries it would be Rome not Rhodes which would stand against

the growing tide of piracy Rome would prove this by launching campaigns against the Balearic

Islands225 Crete and Pontus Rome expanded throughout the Eastern Mediterranean subjugating

many of the Hellenistic Kingdoms along the way Romersquos power was almost absolute by this

point Possibly the most poignant example of this power is an anecdote from the Sixth Syrian

War

ὅτι τοῦ Ἀντιόχου πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον ἕνεκεν τοῦ Πηλούσιον κατασχεῖν ἀφικομένου ὁ

Ποπίλιος ὁ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατηγός τοῦ βασιλέως πόρρωθεν ἀσπαζομένου διὰ τῆς

φωνῆς καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν προτείνοντος πρόχειρον ἔχων τὸ δελτάριον ἐν ᾧ τὸ τῆς

συγκλήτου δόγμα κατετέτακτο προύτεινεν αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐκέλευσε πρῶτον

ἀναγνῶναι τὸν Ἀντίοχον ὡς μὲν ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ μὴ πρότερον ἀξιώσας τὸ τῆς φιλίας

σύνθημα ποιεῖν πρὶν ἢ τὴν προαίρεσιν ἐπιγνῶναι τοῦ δεξιουμένου πότερα φίλιος ἢ

πολέμιός ἐστιν ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀναγνοὺς ἔφη βούλεσθαι μεταδοῦναι τοῖς φίλοις

ὑπὲρ τῶν προσπεπτωκότων ἀκούσας ὁ Ποπίλιος ἐποίησε πρᾶγμα βαρὺ μὲν δοκοῦν

εἶναι καὶ τελέως ὑπερήφανον ἔχων γὰρ πρόχειρον ἀμπελίνην βακτηρίαν περιέγραφε

τῷ κλήματι τὸν Ἀντίοχον ἐν τούτῳ τε τῷ γύρῳ τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἐκέλευσε δοῦναι περὶ

τῶν γεγραμμένων ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ξενισθεὶς τὸ γινόμενον καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχήν βραχὺν

χρόνον ἐναπορήσας ἔφη ποιήσειν πᾶν τὸ παρακαλούμενον ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων οἱ δὲ περὶ

τὸν Ποπίλιον τότε τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ λαμβάνοντες ἅμα πάντες ἠσπάζοντο

φιλοφρόνως ἦν δὲ τὰ γεγραμμένα λύειν ἐξ αὐτῆς τὸν πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον πόλεμον διὸ

καὶ δοθεισῶν αὐτῷ τακτῶν ἡμερῶν οὗτος μὲν ἀπῆγε τὰς δυνάμεις εἰς τὴν Συρίαν

βαρυνόμενος καὶ στένων εἴκων δὲ τοῖς καιροῖς κατὰ τὸ παρόν226

When Antiochus had advanced to attack Ptolemy in order to possess himself of

Pelusium he was met by the Roman commander Gaius Popilius Laenas Upon the

king greeting him from some distance and holding out his right hand to him

Popilius answered by holding out the tablets which contained the decree of the

Senate and bade Antiochus read that first not thinking it right I suppose to give

the usual sign of friendship until he knew the mind of the recipient whether he

were to be regarded as a friend or foe On the king after reading the despatch

saying that he desired to consult with his friends on the situation Popilius did a

225 Strabo 3 167 Diodorus 5 17 18 Ormerod 166 226 Polybius 29 27

67

thing which was looked upon as exceedingly overbearing and insolent Happening

to have a vine stick in his hand he drew a circle round Antiochus with it and

ordered him to give his answer to the letter before he stepped out of that

circumference The king was taken aback by this haughty proceeding After a brief

interval of embarrassed silence he replied that he would do whatever the Romans

demanded Then Popilius and his colleagues shook him by the hand and one and

all greeted him with warmth The contents of the despatch was an order to put an

end to the war with Ptolemy at once Accordingly a stated number of days was

allowed him within which he withdrew his army into Syria in high dudgeon

indeed and groaning in spirit but yielding to the necessities of the time227

The final kingdom to oppose Rome was Pontus led by the warrior king Mithridates In a series

of wars as the Romans always seemed to fight wars in threes Mithridates was eventually

defeated Yet the rise of piracy is often attributed to the conflict between Rome and Mithridates

This seems most unlikely as piracy clearly existed before this time but the greatest pirate threat

in some ways stemmed from these conflicts One theory that has arisen to explain the sudden

growth in pirate activity is the relationship pirates and the slave trade With Romersquos expansion

came an ever increasing demand for slaves readily available during the many wars throughout

the Mediterranean Since some evidence suggests that pirates dealt in the slave trade it has been

assumed that Rome was tolerant of pirate activity because it fed its need for slaves This

connection will be covered in greater detail below

Rhodes an ally of Rome at this time and still the ever vigilant protector of the seas was

struggling under the pressure of piracy Though she could cope with this menace in times past

the fall of all other naval powers the constant warfare which disrupts trade and breeds piracy

and the unwillingness of Rome to support her in this duty made it impossible for Rhodes to keep

this menace at bay This was proven in one of the last Cretan Wars 155-154 BCE where Rhodes

227 Translated by WR Paton

68

was unable to defeat them and called for aid from Romans and Greeks alike228 Part of this

decline in power is often attributed to Romersquos mistreatment of Rhodes after Pydna in the Third

Macedonian War Rome angered at Rhodesrsquo unsolicited interference made Delos a free trade

port The extant of the damage to Rhodesrsquo economy can be seen in this passage of Polybius

where Rhodes sends delegates to protest their ill treatment at Roman hands

μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα προσκαλεσαμένη τοὺς Ῥοδίους διήκουε τούτων ὁ δ᾽ Ἀστυμήδης

εἰσελθὼν μετρίως ἔστη καὶ βέλτιον ἢ κατὰ τὴν πρὸ ταύτης πρεσβείαν [hellip] καὶ

προσθέμενος ἐξηγεῖτο τὰς ἐλαττώσεις κεφαλαιωδῶς διεξιών πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι

Λυκίαν καὶ Καρίαν ἀπολωλέκασιν εἰς ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν ἐδαπάνησαν χρημάτων

ἱκανὸν πλῆθος τριττοὺς πολέμους ἀναγκασθέντες πολεμεῖν αὐτοῖς νυνὶ δὲ

προσόδων ἐστέρηνται πολλῶν ὧν ἐλάμβανον παρὰ τῶν προειρημένων ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως

ἔφη ταῦτα μὲν ἔχει λόγον καὶ γὰρ ἐδώκαθ᾽ ὑμεῖς αὐτὰ τῷ δήμῳ μετὰ χάριτος διὰ

τὴν εὔνοιαν καὶ ἀφανίζοντες αὐτὰ κατὰ λόγον ἐδοκεῖτε τοῦτο πράττειν ἐμπεσούσης

τινὸς ὑποψίας καὶ διαφορᾶς ὑμῖν ἀλλὰ Καῦνον δήπου διακοσίων ταλάντων

ἐξηγοράσαμεν παρὰ τῶν Πτολεμαίου στρατηγῶν καὶ Στρατονίκειαν ἐλάβομεν ἐν

μεγάλῃ χάριτι παρ᾽ Ἀντιόχου τοῦ Σελεύκου καὶ παρὰ τούτων τῶν πόλεων

ἀμφοτέρων ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι τάλαντα τῷ δήμῳ πρόσοδος ἔπιπτε καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἔτος

τούτων ἁπασῶν ἐστερήμεθα τῶν προσόδων θέλοντες πειθαρχεῖν τοῖς ὑμετέροις

προστάγμασιν ἐξ ὧν μείζονα φόρον ἐπιτεθείκατε τοῖς Ῥοδίοις τῆς ἀγνοίας ἢ

Μακεδόσι τοῖς διὰ παντὸς πολεμίοις ὑμῖν ὑπάρξασι τὸ δὲ μέγιστον σύμπτωμα τῆς

πόλεως καταλέλυται γὰρ ἡ τοῦ λιμένος πρόσοδος ὑμῶν Δῆλον μὲν ἀτελῆ

πεποιηκότων ἀφῃρημένων δὲ τὴν τοῦ δήμου παρρησίαν δι᾽ ἧς καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν

λιμένα καὶ τἄλλα πάντα τῆς πόλεως ἐτύγχανε τῆς ἁρμοζούσης προστασίας ὅτι δὲ

τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἀληθὲς οὐ δυσχερὲς καταμαθεῖν τοῦ γὰρ ἐλλιμενίου κατὰ τοὺς ἀνώτερον

χρόνους εὑρίσκοντος ἑκατὸν μυριάδας δραχμῶν νῦν ἀφῃρήκατε πεντεκαίδεκα

μυριάδας ὥστε καὶ λίαν ὦ ἄνδρες Ῥωμαῖοι τὴν ὑμετέραν ὀργὴν ἧφθαι τῶν κυρίων

πόρων τῆς πόλεως229

After this the senate summoned the Rhodians and gave them a hearing Asymedes

on entering took up a more moderate and better position than on his last embassy

[hellip] He then proceeded to sum up the losses which Rhodes had suffered

mentioning first of all that of Lycia and Caria on which provinces they had spent

from the outset a considerable sum having been compelled to undertake three

wars against them and now they were deprived of the large revenue derived from

them ldquobut perhapsrdquo he said ldquoin this you are justified for it is true that you gave

these districts to our people as a favor and token of good will and in revoking your

228 Polybius 33 4 13 15-16 Diodorus 31 38 43 45 229 Polybius 30 31

69

gift now that we incur your suspicion and hostility you may seem to have acted

reasonably But as for Caunus you will confess that we bought it from Ptolemyrsquos

generals for two hundred talents and that Stratoniceia was given us as a great

favor by Antiochus and Seleucus From these two towns our state derived an

annual revenue of a hundred and twenty talents We have lost the whole of this

revenue through our ready compliance with your orders From this you see that

you have imposed a heavier tribute on the Rhodians for a single mistake than on

the Macedonians who had always been your foes But the greatest calamity

inflicted on our town is this The revenue we drew from our harbor has ceased

owing to your having made Delos a free port and deprived our people of that

liberty by which our rights as regards our harbor and all the other rights of our city

were properly guarded It is not difficult to convince you of the truth of this For

while the harbor dues in former times were farmed for a million drachmae they

now fetch only a hundred and fifty thousand so that your displeasure men of

Rome has only too heavily visited the vital resources of the state230

This severe diminishment of Rhodesrsquo income would definitely have made it more difficult to

maintain a sufficient fleet to combat the ever rising wave of piracy at this time Although some

scholars argue against the significance of these losses there is little evidence to support their

claims while the losses stated above cannot be considered anything less than catastrophic to an

economy

It is not long after this that the Rhodians seemed unable to compete with the pirates Due

to this Rome subsequently waged anti-piracy campaigns against the largest pirate threat to ever

face the ancient world ndash the Cilicians Serious piracy in Cilicia began under Diodotus Tryphon in

the mid 2nd century BCE who desired to wrestle control of Syria from the Seleucids The pirate

forces he commissioned were already well established having been funded by the Hellenisitc

Kingdoms to attack their rivals especially in the case of the Ptolemies who were employing

pirates to harass the Seleucids Tryphon had managed to unite many of the local tribes into a

pirate force After his defeat the kingdom split apart leaving the area in political turmoil but


70

piracy remained intact This political disorder gave the opportunity for these pirate groups to

create their own pirate states The speciality of these Cilician pirate kingdoms was slavery

something which the Romans had a demand for and something which these Hellenic Kingdoms

including Rhodes could not stop As mentioned above these kingdoms had been weakened by

Roman expansion in the previous decades231

The region of Cilicia was ideal for piracy Although there were few islands the coast was

jagged with many inlets ravines rivers cliffs and mountains which made defending the coast

easy while still making surprise attacks on shipping feasible The area offered few resources but

the one abundant resource to be found was timber ideal for shipbuilding232 With all the timber to

build their fleets and the necessity of surviving off raiding due to lack of other resources Cilicia

was the perfect breeding ground for pirate activity Pirate opportunities were further increased

with the Mithridatic Wars fought in neighboring regions It is during this time that Rome

attempted to subdue the Cilician pirates

Before going into detail on the Roman campaigns I will address the subject of the rise of

Cilician pirates with the Mithridatic Wars According to Appian and others Mithridates helped

to set up piracy and is directly responsible for their rise from local pirates to large and organized

groups

Μιθριδάτης ὅτε πρῶτον Ῥωμαίοις ἐπολέμει καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐκράτει Σύλλα περὶ τὴν

Ἑλλάδα πονουμένου ἡγούμενος οὐκ ἐς πολὺ καθέξειν τῆς Ἀσίας τά τε ἄλλα ὥς μοι

προείρηται πάντα ἐλυμαίνετο καὶ ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν πειρατὰς καθῆκεν233

231 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 98-99 Bradford 38-39 The raids by these pirates were so

successful that Appian along with a few other ancient authors began to refer to them as tyrants and kings Appian

Mithridates 92 117 Strabo 14 5 7 Cicero Verres 2 5 77 This success was permitted because it aided some

Hellenistic Kingdoms in hurting their rivals Strabo 14 5 2 232 Bradford 38-39 233 Appian Mithridates 92

71

When Mithridates first went to war with the Romans and subdued the province of

Asia (Sulla being then in difficulties respecting Greece) he thought that he should

not hold the province long and accordingly plundered it in all sorts of ways as I

have mentioned above and sent out pirates on the sea234

Whether or not this is true is debatable235 It is entirely possible that Mithridates hired pirates to

raid his enemies as this was a common tactic among the Hellenistic Kingdoms236 How much

this would have affected the growth of piracy in the area is less certain The many wars which

ravaged the region would certainly have promoted piracy but it may not have grown to the

extent it did without Mithridatesrsquo backing of how much we cannot be certain In either case the

pirates continued to grow even after the war was over

οἳ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὀλίγοις σκάφεσι καὶ μικροῖς οἷα λῃσταὶ περιπλέοντες ἐλύπουν ὡς

δὲ ὁ πόλεμος ἐμηκύνετο πλέονες ἐγίγνοντο καὶ ναυσὶ μεγάλαις ἐπέπλεον γευσάμενοι

δὲ κερδῶν μεγάλων οὐδ᾽ ἡττωμένου καὶ σπενδομένου τοῦ Μιθριδάτου καὶ

ἀναχωροῦντος ἔτι ἐπαύοντο οἱ γὰρ βίου καὶ πατρίδων διὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἀφῃρημένοι

καὶ ἐς ἀπορίαν ἐμπεσόντες ἀθρόαν ἀντὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκαρποῦντο τὴν θάλασσαν

μυοπάρωσι πρῶτον καὶ ἡμιολίαις εἶτα δικρότοις καὶ τριήρεσι κατὰ μέρη

περιπλέοντες ἡγουμένων λῃστάρχων οἷα πολέμου στρατηγῶν237

In the beginning they prowled around with a few small boats worrying the

inhabitants like robbers As the war lengthened they became more numerous and

navigated larger ships Relishing their large gains they did not desist when

Mithridates was defeated made peace and retired Having lost both livelihood and

country by reason of the war and fallen into extreme destitution they harvested the

sea instead of the land at first with pinnaces and hemiolii then with two-bank and

three-bank ships sailing in squadrons under pirate chiefs who were like generals

of an army238

The two and three banked ships would most certainly have included lembi and even triremes

Although not as large as other military vessels they were still effective in combat and still

234 Translated by Horace White 235 According to Dio 36 20 1-2 piracy is pandemic and not caused because of just one conflict But further in his

account he does agree that the constant warfare during that time allowed piracy to grow beyond local venues and

become a multinational threat that spanned a larger area 236 Strabo 14 5 2 Cicero De Domo 22 65 Pro Sest 60 D Avidov 30 237 Appian Mithridates 92 238 Translated by Horace White

72

permitted the use of pirate tactics We know that their numbers strength and even the size of

their vessels had grown significantly by the feats they were able to accomplish even after the war

was concluded

ἔς τε ἀτειχίστους πόλεις ἐμπίπτοντες καὶ ἑτέρων τὰ τείχη διορύττοντες ἢ κόπτοντες ἢ

πολιορκίᾳ λαμβάνοντες ἐσύλων καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας οἷς τι πλέον εἴη ἐς ναυλοχίαν ἐπὶ

λύτροις ἀπῆγον καὶ τάδε τὰ λήμματα ἀδοξοῦντες ἤδη τὸ τῶν λῃστῶν ὄνομα

μισθοὺς ἐκάλουν στρατιωτικούς χειροτέχνας τε εἶχον ἐπ᾽ ἔργοις δεδεμένους καὶ

ὕλην ξύλου καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου συμφέροντες οὔποτε ἐπαύοντο ἐπαιρόμενοι γὰρ

ὑπὸ τοῦ κέρδους καὶ τὸ λῃστεύειν οὐκ ἐγνωκότες ἔτι μεθεῖναι βασιλεῦσι δ᾽ ἤδη καὶ

τυράννοις ἢ στρατοπέδοις μεγάλοις ἑαυτοὺς ὁμοιοῦντες καὶ νομίζοντες ὅτε

συνέλθοιεν ἐς τὸ αὐτὸ πάντες ἄμαχοι γενήσεσθαι ναῦς τε καὶ ὅπλα πάντα

ἐτεκταίνοντο μάλιστα περὶ τὴν τραχεῖαν λεγομένην Κιλικίαν ἣν κοινὸν σφῶν

ὕφορμον ἢ στρατόπεδον ἐτίθεντο εἶναι φρούρια μὲν καὶ ἄκρας καὶ νήσους ἐρήμους

καὶ ναυλοχίας ἔχοντες πολλαχοῦ κυριωτάτας δὲ ἀφέσεις ἡγούμενοι τὰς περὶ τήνδε

τὴν Κιλικίαν τραχεῖάν τε καὶ ἀλίμενον οὖσαν καὶ κορυφαῖς μεγάλαις ἐξέχουσαν239

They fell upon unfortified towns They undermined or battered down the walls of

others or captured them by regular siege and plundered 85 of them They carried

off the wealthier citizens to their haven of refuge and held them for ransom They

scorned the name of robbers and called their takings the prize of warfare They had

artisans chained to their tasks and were continually bringing in materials of timber

brass and iron Being elated by their gains and determined not to change their

mode of life yet they likened themselves to kings rulers and great armies and

thought that if they should all come together in the same place they would be

invincible They built ships and made all kinds of arms Their chief seat was at a

place called the Crags in Cilicia which they had chosen as their common

anchorage and encampment They had castles and towers and desert islands and

retreats everywhere They chose for their principal rendezvous the coast of Cilicia

where it was rough and harborless and rose in high mountain peaks for which

reason they were all called by the common name of Cilicians 240

The fact that so many settlements even fortified ones designed no doubt to ward off pirates

were falling before pirate forces is significant All the safety measures which these states would

have had in place including early warning signals (such as fire signals towers and dogs)

patrols fortifications and mutual protection treaties were all but useless before the onslaught

239 Appian Mithridates 92 240 Translated by Horace White

73

Some scholars have viewed this scale of warfare as described in the passage above as proof that

the Cilicians were in fact a political kingdom and not pirates at all suggesting that the name

pirate was attributed to them as a means of attacking them and undermining them politically241

Possibly the most interesting nature of this piracy was the multiculturalism that it displayed

ὅθεν δὴ καὶ πάντες ὀνόματι κοινῷ Κίλικες ἐκαλοῦντο ἀρξαμένου μὲν ἴσως τοῦ

κακοῦ παρὰ τῶν Τραχεωτῶν Κιλίκων συνεπιλαβόντων δὲ Σύρων τε καὶ Κυπρίων

καὶ Παμφύλων καὶ τῶν Ποντικῶν καὶ σχεδὸν ἁπάντων τῶν ἑῴων ἐθνῶν οἳ πολλοῦ

καὶ χρονίου σφίσιν ὄντος τοῦ Μιθριδατείου πολέμου δρᾶν τι μᾶλλον ἢ πάσχειν

αἱρούμενοι τὴν θάλασσαν ἀντὶ τῆς γῆς ἐπελέγοντο242

Perhaps this evil had its beginning among the men of the Crags of Cilicia but

thither also men of Syrian Cyprian Pamphylian and Pontic origin and those of

almost all the Eastern nations had congregated who on account of the long

continuance of the Mithridatic war preferred to do wrong rather than to suffer it

and for this purpose chose the sea instead of the land243

There was never a time when pirates had banded together across so many different nations to act

as a single entity This was the danger Rome faced a danger which would bring the

Mediterranean to its very knees Compounding this problem was Romersquos diminishment of

Seleucia after Apamea in 188 BCE Rome had done to the Seleucids what she had done to all of

her previously defeated enemies that is dismantled her fleet

ἀποδότω δὲ καὶ τὰς ναῦς τὰς μακρὰς καὶ τὰ ἐκ τούτων ἄρμενα καὶ τὰ σκεύη καὶ

μηκέτι ἐχέτω πλὴν δέκα καταφράκτων μηδὲ λέμβον πλείοσι τριάκοντα κωπῶν

ἐχέτω ἐλαυνόμενον μηδὲ μονήρη πολέμου ἕνεκεν οὗ αὐτὸς κατάρχει μηδὲ

πλείτωσαν ἐπὶ τάδε τοῦ Καλυκάδνου καὶ Σαρπηδονίου ἀκρωτηρίου244

241 Avidov is one of the main protagonists of this view In a paper entitled ldquoWere the Cilicians a Nation of Piratesrdquo

he argues that they could actually have been a nation which allied with Mithridates against a common foe Rome He

argues that it was an anti-Roman bloc which worked with many of the eastern nations in a bid to repel Roman

expansion into the east This is not the popular view and does have a few problems with it although it does make a

few interesting points 242 Appian Mithridates 92 243 Translated by Horace White 244 Polybius 21 43

74

He shall surrender his long ships with their gear and tackle and in future he shall

not possess more than ten undecked ships of war of which none is rowed by more

than thirty oars and those not for a war in which he is the aggressor his ships shall

not sail beyond the Calycadnus and the Sarpedonian promontory245

This weakening of the Seleucid fleet would have greatly diminished her ability to subdue pirates

in the region Since neither Egypt nor Seleucia could supress this area Cilicia was allowed to go

unchecked Rome as always after she had eliminated opposing naval forces took no thought for

subduing piracy in the local regions But as piracy grew to unmanageable proportions so too did

the call to Rome from her allies to deal with this menace

In 102 BCE Rome sent Marcus Antonius (the grandfather of the famous Marc Antony)

to deal with this growing threat246 This was primarily under the pressure of Romersquos allies in the

east who had been directly attacked by these pirate kingdoms Although there are almost no

details concerning the campaign we know that it was successful enough to get Antonius a

triumph when he returned247 Whether or not he truly supressed piracy in that region is another

matter Within two years of that war piracy had run rampant again It is clear that whatever

Antonius did during his campaign in 102 BCE it had no lasting effects248 Yet this period did not

permit the Romans to focus on eliminating piracy from the Mediterranean instead being

preoccupied with the social war civil wars and Mithridatic wars

The Lex de Provinciis Praetoriis of 100 BCE designated Cilicia a praetorian province

We know that the law had some focus on piracy as the beginning outlined provisions for the

safety of navigation for Romans Latins and Romersquos allies on the seas It was also this law that

245 Translated by WR Paton 246 IG Rome 4 1116 247 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 107 248 Diodorus 36 3 The fact that only a couple of years later we read of accounts where the inhabitants are

complaining about piracy and taxes is evidence that the problem was not dealt with

75

declared all pirates enemies of Rome The most significant detail in this law was the provision of

how to deal with pirates

ὁμοίως τ]ε καὶ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τὸν ἐν τ[ῇ ν]ήσῳ Κύπρωι βασιλεύοντα καὶ πρὸς

τὸν βασιλ[έα τὸν ἐν Ἀλε]-|ξανδρείαι καὶ Αἰγύπ[τωι βασιλεύοντα καὶ πρὸς τὸν

βασιλέα τὸν ἐπὶ Κυ]ρήνῃ βασιλεύοντα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς βασιλεῖς τοὺς ἐν

Συρίαι βασιλεύον[τας πρὸς οὓς] | φιλία καὶ συμμαχία ἐ[στὶ τῶι δήμωι τῶι

Ῥωμαίων γράμματα ἀποστελλέ]τω καὶ ὅτι δίκαιόν ἐστ[ιν αὐ]τοὺς φροντίσαι μὴ ἐκ

τῆς βασιλείας αὐτ[ῶν μήτε] τῆ[ς] | χώρας ἢ ὁρίων πειρατὴ[ς μηδεὶς ὁρμήσῃ μηδὲ

οἱ ἄρχοντες ἢ φρούραρχοι οὓς κ]αταστήσουσιν τοὺ[ς] πειρατὰς ὑποδέξωνται καὶ

φροντίσαι ὅσον [ἐν αὐ]τοῖς ἐσ[τι] | τοῦτο ὁ δῆμος ὁ Ῥωμαίω[ν ἵνrsquo εἰς τὴν ἁπάντων

σωτηρίαν συνεργοὺς ἔχῃ249

And likewise] to the king ruling in the island of Cyprus and to the king [ruling at]

Alexandrea and in Egypt [and to the king] ruling in Cyrene and to the kings ruling

in Syria [who have] friendship and alliance [with the Roman people he is to send

letters] to the effect that it is also right for them to see that [no] pirate [use as a

base of operations] their kingdom [or] land or territories [and that no officials or

garrison commanders whom] they shall appoint harbour the pirates and to see that

insofar as [it shall be possible] the Roman people [have (them as) contributors to

the safety of allhellip]250

The implications of this section of the law applies not only to attacking bases inside allied

territory but also to the practice of working with pirates for military and economic gain This

may have been the greatest concern for the Romans when dealing with piracy As stated above

piracy can be seen as an economic activity In the case of Malta located 100 km off the coast of

Sicily piracy was a welcome guest Isolated from the rest of the Mediterranean and from any of

the main trading routes during Antiquity the Maltese would have benefitted from both the

protection and increased trade that the pirates would have offered protection from the pirates

because they would not have attacked the place where they both trade and receive shelter and

protection from other pirates who may attack the island Economically the pirates could have

249 Roman Statues In Two Volumes Translated by MH Crawford (London 1996) 253-257 Cnidos Copy col II

lines 6-11 250 Translated by MH Crawford

76

acted as a go-between Malta and Sicily where the poor inhabitants of Malta were unable to do so

themselves251 In this case and in many others piracy could be a mutually beneficial

arrangement

Sullarsquos campaign of 92 BCE against the Cilicians was similarly ineffective It was

Murena Sullarsquos successor for the campaign who had modest success By the end of his tour he

had annexed some territory for Rome and removed Moagetes a local ruler He did so by

attacking by land in the north and by sea in the south in the hopes of taking the pirate bases and

pirate fleets at the same time Murena was recalled in 81 BCE Another campaign was waged in

77 BCE under Servilius and lasted till 75 BCE Again there is very little detail on any of these

campaigns and therefore it is difficult to gauge how successful they were Historians of the

time focused on the conflicts with Mithridates not surprisingly more than on the pirate

campaigns We do know that the invasion led by Servilius focused primarily on Lycia and

Pamphylia two kingdoms which had very little association with the Cilician pirates It can be

assumed that since the campaign was on the edge of Cilician territory Serviliusrsquo campaign had

little effect on supressing piracy in the area252

One final campaign would be waged in Cilicia before the third Mithridatic War led by

Marcus Antonius in 74 BCE253 Marcus was given a three-year command to clear the

Mediterranean Sea of piracy Unfortunately for him due to the outbreak of the Third Mithridatic

War land operations were indefinitely cancelled due to manpower demand in Asia Minor254

Without the ability to attack the pirate bases on land Marcus would not have been capable of

251 Ayse Devrim Atauz Trade Piracy and Naval Warfare in the Central Mediterranean The Maritime History and

Archaeology of Malta Dissertation (Texas AampM Univeristy 2004) 59-61 252 Ormerod 220 253 Sallust Fragments 3 8 254 Ormerod 219

77

supressing piracy in the Mediterranean In 72 BCE Marcus invaded Crete earning him the

cognomen Creticus but the campaign was a complete failure255 Likewise Marcus abused his

powers and used it for extortion and personal profit similar to the case of Verres around the

same time256 By this point the shores of Italy and Sicily were declared not safe by Cotta consul

in 75 BCE257 Verresrsquo successor Lucius Metellus drove the pirates from Sicily and would later

lead a campaign against them in Crete while Pompey led a campaign against the Cilician

pirates258

255 Dio Fragments 108 Diodorus 40 1 Livy Ep 97 Velleius 2 34 Appian Sicily 6 Florus 3 7 256 Ormerod 224-225 257 Sallust Fragments 3 47 7 Appian Mithridates 93 Florus 3 6 258 Orosius 6 3

78

Chapter Five Pompey and the Pirates

The series of pirate campaigns waged from 102 BCE till 67 BCE in addition to the

Second and Third Mithridatic Wars culminated in the most famous anti-piracy campaign in the

ancient world War had disrupted economic and political stability in all of the surrounding areas

allowing piracy to thrive even against the strongest powers of the Mediterranean Although

maius imperium infinitum (infinitely greater command) had been granted to others before in

order to supress piracy such as the case of Marcus Antonius in 74 BCE259 the level of power

which would be granted to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus was beyond anything which had been

bestowed in the past260 The conditions which led to this unusual bestowal of command caused

even the people of Rome to clamour for what the senate might have called unconstitutional laws

Fear and insecurity has the effect of making people do what they would not have even

considered in normal circumstances The greater the fear and insecurity the more willing a

person or a people is to give up freedoms to attain that security One such time was the decade

preceding Pompeyrsquos pirate campaign According to our sources entire towns cities and islands

were deserted and as many as 400 cities both fortified and unfortified were said to have been

sacked Piracy had been allowed to run with such impunity that even the Appian Way Romersquos

oldest highway located less than 30 km from the western shore of Italy could not be used

259 Ormerod 219 Maius imperium infinitum was not an official term used by the Roman Senate terms such as

imperium aequum and imperium maius quam are the most commonly used Maius imperium infinitum is more of a

description used in somewhat exaggerated manner by men such as Cicero to describe the type of command that

men such as Pompey were being given which to many would have seemed like unlimited power For more on the

imperium of Pompey and its legal definitions see Shelach Jameson ldquoPompeyrsquos Imperium in 67 Some

Constitutional Fictionsrdquo Historia Zeitschrift fuumlr Alte Geschichte Bd 19 H 5 (December 1970) 539-560 260 The position of dictator in Rome an official office which was conferred in Romersquos direst need granted the

elected individual unlimited power for a short period of time which power was to be relinquished upon completion

of the task appointed by the senate Pompey Magnus was given an almost equal power but his term of appointment

was far longer than was ever awarded to any previous dictator in Roman history

79

safely261 The terror employed by the pirates created widespread fear and panic Our sources

describe this as a time where pirates attacked everywhere throughout the Mediterranean262

working together as a massive cohesive organization insomuch that Cilician pirates became the

general term for all pirates across the Mediterranean263

It has been argued that Rome did not intervene because she was not directly affected by

these pirate attacks but this was not the case in the decade preceeding Pompeyrsquos appointment

We have literary evidence of the attacks on Rome and her citizens which would have made the

threat pirates posed all the more potent Pirates kidnapped many Roman citizens during this time

including both the daughter of Marcus Antonius264 and Julius Caesar himself265 Beyond this

two Roman praetors were also kidnapped along with their lictors In addition many places such

as Caieta Claros Epidauros and the temple of Juno Lacinia to name just a few were sacked

while under Roman supervision Closer to Rome Ostia Romersquos main harbour and link to the

sea was attacked and a consular fleet was overcome the bulk of its vessels being either

destroyed or captured by pirates266 It is possible that pirates attacked Roman territory due to the

abundant riches along the Italian coast or due to the wish to spread terror in order for the pirates

to move more freely against Romersquos provincial territories267

261 Appian Mithridates 93 Plutarch Pompey 24 Dio 36 20-22 Cicero de imperio Gnaei Pompei 31-33 Cicero

Verres 2 5 42 and Ormerod Piracy in the Ancient World 227-228 262 Appian Mithridates 92 Plutarch Pompey 24 Dio 36 20-22 Zonaras 10 3 Plutarch Sertorius 7 Plutarch

Crassus 10 263 Ormerod 222 264 Plutarch Pompey 24 Cicero de imperio Gnaei Pompei 32 The irony can be seen in the fact that this is the

same Marcus Antonius who led the anti-pirate campaign of 102 BCE His daughter along with a number of other

Roman ladies was kidnapped from Misenum located just under 30km from the city of Naples 265 Plutarch Julius 2 Plutarch Crassus 7 Suetonius Julius 4 174 Suetonius Velleius 2 41 266 Cicero de imperio Gnaei Pompei 32 Dio 36 22 Appian Mithridates 92 Florus 3 6 Velleius 31 2 267 Ormerod 231 The specific targeting and treatment of Roman citizens can be seen in passages from both

Plutarch Pompey 24 and Zonaras 10 3 In different examples they make Roman citizens walk the plank and treat

them worse than non-Roman captives

80

Greece was hit the hardest in 69 BCE only a few years before Pompeyrsquos appointment It

is in this year that many Greek towns and temples were sacked Aegina was overrun and Delos

was sacked a second time by pirates268 One inscription from Tenos situated in the Cyclades

paints the grimmest picture for us The inscription describes the island as being devastated from

continual attacks by pirates and economically broken due to insurmountable debt269 Possibly the

most threatening aspect to Rome was the diminishment of trade Rome was finally spurred into

action when trade upon the sea was nearly closed Since no Roman fleet dared to venture beyond

Brundisium except in the dead of winter trade was almost at a standstill270 Rome relied upon

trade to provide the city with grain With the grain trade halted Rome was faced with famine271

Confronted with starvation extraordinary measures were put into place

It was tribune Gabinius who first proposed that a special command be given to save

Rome from this menace The senate of Rome opposed this proposal maintaining that this

admonition would lead to a revival of the ancient monarchy and the amount of imperium which

would be bestowed would make the candidate more powerful than any other man in the western

world272 According to Plutarch all save Caesar ldquovehemently attacked Pompeyrdquo273 As the senate

was striving to limit the power of Pompey by giving him a colleague that would co-command the

expedition the people were outraged and shouted down the opposition to Pompey The people of

Rome were so set on Pompey being the leader of this expedition that when one of the consuls

268 IG 4 2 2 Cicero Legibus Manilius 55 FGrHist 257 Fr 12 13 SEG 1 no 355 269 IG 12 5 860 270 Plutarch Pompey 25 Dio 36 23 271 Livy 49 Dio 36 31 272 Plutarch Pompey 25 Dio 36 25-36 Cicero On the Manilian Law 56 273 Plutarch Pompey 25 4

81

openly opposed Pompey ldquohe was near being torn in pieces by the multituderdquo274 This is a perfect

instance where the fear and insecurity of the people prevailed to create a law that met extreme

measures for after this Pompey was awarded not only the conditions originally set forth for the

campaign but up to double the armaments which he expected275

It was clearly the flow of grain that troubled Rome the most This can be seen in both our

literary sources as the purpose for the creation of this law and in the first stages of the campaign

itself According to Plutarch ldquothis was what most of all inclined the Romans who were hard put

to it to get provisions and expected a great scarcity to send out Pompey with a commission to

take the sea away from the piratesrdquo276 This statement is supported by the fact that at the

beginning of Pompeyrsquos campaign he focused his efforts on clearing the seas around the Adriatic

As stated by Cicero

atque haec qua celeritate gesta sint quamquam videtis tamen a me in dicendo

praetereunda non sunt quis enim umquam aut obeundi negoti aut consequendi

quaestus studio tam brevi tempore tot loca adire tantos cursus conficere potuit

quam celeriter Cn Pompeio duce tanti belli impetus navigavit qui nondum

tempestivo ad navigandum mari Siciliam adiit Africam exploravit inde Sardiniam

cum classe venit atque haec tria frumentaria subsidia rei publicae firmissimis

praesidiis classibusque munivit277

For who however eager for the transaction of business or the pursuit of gain has

ever succeeded in visiting so many places in so short a time or in accomplishing

such long journeys at the same speed with which under the leadership of

Pompeius that mighty armament swept over the seas Pompeius though the sea

was still unfit for navigation visited Sicily explored Africa sailed to Sardinia and

by means of strong garrisons and fleets made secure those three sources of our

countryrsquos corn supply278

274 Plutarch Pompey 25 4 275 Plutarch Pompey 25-26 276 Plutarch Pompey 25 1-2 277 Cicero On the Manilian Law 34 278 Translated by HG Hodge

82

We see in the early stages of the campaign even before the sailing season had arrived that

Pompey was fixated on securing Romersquos grain supply279 This suggests that the pirates had

indeed brought trade in the Mediterranean to almost a standstill insofar as it affected the flow of

grain to Rome in the Western Mediterranean and it was for this reason that Rome used such

extraordinary measures in the creation of the Gabinian law

Some scholars have argued against this motivation in contemporary sources The fact that

maritime loans continued to be employed in Asia Minor at this time suggests that the risks were

not as great as they are made out to be and therefore piracy was not as bad as we are led to

believe To support this claim we can determine the state of emergency based on the price of

grain Looking at the price of grain would be the most important factor as it is the scarcity of

grain that supposedly pushed Rome into action against the pirates Between the years 130 and 50

BCE there was never a dramatic change in the price of grain suggesting that the grain was never

in jeopardy of running out as is stated280 Yet it is still possible that Rome knowing that grain

would become scarce pre-emptively fixed the prices of grain to ensure that the citizens were

taken care of and that there was no profiteering during times of hardship This was made even

more available in 123 BCE after the Lex Sempronia was passed by Gaius Gracchus281 In either

case there was never a scarcity of grain since Pompey had a very successful campaign

It is also important to realize the economics of such numbers in the grand scheme of

things Piracy thrives off of trade even if it is just in slave merchandise There comes a point

279 Plutarch Pompey 26 4 Also mentions these same locations and the seas which were cleared first claiming it

was done inside 40 days Appian Mithridates 93 Other sources that offer this as the main purpose for the

commission are Dio 36 23 2 Appian Mithridates 93 Livy Per 99 280 PDA Garnsey and D Rathbone ldquoThe Background to the Grain Law of Gaius Gracchusrdquo Journal of Roman

Studies vol 75 (1985) 21 281 Appian Civil Wars 1 8

83

where too much piracy becomes counter productive There is always in economics the risk

versus profit margin for any venture During this time when according to our sources piracy

had nearly halted trade over the whole of the Mediterranean piracy would have been counter

productive and actually hurt itself With no shipping or trade there could be very little activity

for pirates282 It is true that pirates raided settlements but unless there were places to trade the

goods and captives taken then the attacks would have had little to no profit If Delos which the

pirates sacked could not buy slaves from the pirates then they could not sell them either

Likewise once enough settlements had been raided only the stronger settlements would have

remained and made it impossible for pirates to make a profit The cost of running ships

especially as many as the pirates possessed would have been enormous as stated previously For

these reasons some scholars believe that piracy was not as bad as the literary sources suggest

The difference as stated above was that pirates began attacking Rome directly

Now that Pompey was commissioned ldquoto take the sea away from the piratesrdquo there was

much planning and preparations to be made for such a large undertaking According to the law

Pompey was given a total of three years to accomplish this goal To aid in this endeavour

Pompey was also given 15 legates although Gabinius originally proposed 25 legates for the

commission283 The legates would be placed in charge of both ground and naval forces and were

given pro-praetor powers The exact numbers of soldiers ships and funds given to Pompey

differs slightly depending on which account is read Appian suggests that 12 legions were

assembled totalling around 120000 infantry 4000 cavalry and 270 ships Plutarch offers the

same number of infantry for the campaign but states that Pompey was given 5000 cavalry and

282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84

only 200 ships The estimates are close enough that either account could be correct or perhaps

somewhere in-between In either case Pompey was awarded 6000 talents of silver to raise these

forces and was given concurrent authority with all governors 50 miles inland this authority

encompassed all client kingdoms who were ordered to cooperate to their fullest We know that

this did not make up the entirety of the forces during this campaign284 According to multiple

sources there were many allies who participated in this campaign especially in the naval aspects

The pirate fleets consisted of up to 10000 vessels which would all come to each otherrsquos aid A

mere 200 ships could never have stood against such a large force Up to 500 ships participated in

the campaign many of which at least half would have been from Romersquos socii navales (naval

allies)285

With all the resources of Rome and her allies at Pompeyrsquos disposal it was only a matter

of planning the campaign The Mediterranean was divided into 13 regions or commands These

13 regions were divided among Pompeyrsquos legates who each commanded a legion inside their

respective territories286 The key to Pompeyrsquos success lay in the coordination and speed in which

the attacks against the pirates would be executed Working together to attack all pirate bases and

fleets simultaneously no one pirate fleet was able to render aid to another By attacking both

land and sea pirate bases were reduced and pirate fleets had to flee further east to find a safe

birth The first stage of the campaign focused on the western Mediterranean took no more than

40 days Pompey along with a contingent of 60 ships to make up his personal fleet drove the

pirates from the pillars of Heracles to the western Mediterranean where the fleets of Metellus

284 Appian Mithridates 94 Plutarch Pompey 26 2 Dio 36 37 1 285 Florus 3 6 8 SIG 749 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 167 and Ormerod 234 286 Florus 3 6 Appian Mithridates 95

85

and Varro both waited to ambush them and blockade Cilicia from sending reinforcements The

speed and coordination of the campaign caught the pirates unawares and placed them into a state

of panic and chaos Any ships that fled to shore were captured by the legions All pirate bases in

the west were captured leaving no safe harbour for pirates fleeing the relentless pursuit of

Pompey With attacks in all directions the pirates were neither able to mass into a coherent force

nor effectively reinforce other pirate fleets who were being engaged287

Overwhelmed by this swift and decisive action pirates began to surrender to Pompey and

his forces In exchange for information on other pirate bases and locations Pompey offered

leniency in order to speed the process of finding other pirates and make surrender more

appealing in the future thus completing the campaign faster and with far less bloodshed This

tactic paid off The second half of the campaign was marked with quick surrenders A few pirate

fortresses such as Tauras in Cilicia attempted to resist As Pompey prepared by both land and

sea to besiege these fortresses the pirates made an unsuccessful attempt to break free off the

coast of Coracesium Shortly after this the remaining pirate forces and fortresses surrendered

The second half of the campaign took only 49 days288 Pompey had cleared the Mediterranean of

piracy in three months something which over 30 years of Roman campaigns had been unable to

accomplish289

The campaign was a huge success Pompey had captured 71 ships in battle with a grand

total of 300 ships surrendering to him He took 120 cities forts refuges and killed up to 10000

287 Livy 99 Appian Mithridates 95 Florus 3 6 Plutarch Pompey 26 Ormerod 235-239 288 Cicero On the Manilian Law 31-36 Livy 99 Strabo 14 3 3 Velleius 2 32 4 Plutarch Pompey 26-28

Appian Mithridates 95-96 Florus 3 6 15 Dio 36 37 Eutropius 6 12 Orosius 6 4 289 Technically it took Pompey four months to complete his campaign The reason for this discrepancy is due to the

period of time that Pompey remained in Italy at the end of the first phase of his campaign which took multiple

weeks He remained in Italy for so long because the governor of Gallia Narbonesis refused to allow Pompey to

recruit in his province in direct violation of the Gabinian Law (Dio 36 37 2)

86

pirates even though he had captured and spared the vast majority of them290 If these numbers

are correct there were a great many pirates active at this time numbering in the tens of

thousands If we are to believe our sources the pirates had controlled up to 10000 ships across

the Mediterranean Given that the average ship would be manned by 100 people this number

including both marines and rowers then the highest estimate would place pirate populations in

the Mediterranean during Pompeyrsquos campaign at roughly one million This number seems a little

excessive Given that Rome only possessed 1000 ships at the height of her naval power291

during the last civil war of the Republic between Antony and Octavian it is difficult to believe

that the pirates were able to amass ten times that number This is made the more implausible as

many of the ships up to half or more that took part in that civil war would have belonged to

Romersquos allies and not Rome herself Rome might only have possessed 400 ships292 With the

bulk of allied nations in both the east and west (those with sufficient naval power anyways)

contributing their fleets there would be few ships other than those meant for trade that would

have remained to be used As is often the case in ancient history the numbers of the captured

enemy vessels may have been exaggerated The number of surrendered captives in Cilicia after

Pompey had won the war was only according to Plutarch 20000 men293 This constituted only

the second half of the campaign and therefore only about half of the combatants If 10000 were

killed in total with 20000 surrendering in Cilicia it would be reasonable to say that another

20000 had surrendered or had been captured in the first half of the campaign This totals about

290 Bradford 51 The bulk of the captured ships would have been redistributed across Romersquos allies and to herself to

bolster their fleets This was a common practice after a major conflict The remaining ships which could not be used

would have either been stripped for parts dismantled for their wood or burned 291 Avidov 17 292 Avidov 17 293 Plutarch Pompey 28

87

50000 pirates If each pirate ship was manned by only a crew of 100 then there would have only

been 500 pirate ships a much more believable number especially if Pompey had captured up to

371 ships This would mean that about 129 ships were sunk Since no exact numbers exist in our

records there can be no precise estimates given but these numbers seem far more logical If the

Roman fleets consist of only 400 ships and piracy was such a problem then 500 pirate ships is

entirely plausible and realistic

Possibly the most interesting aspect of Pompeyrsquos campaign is how he dealt with the

pirates afterwards Pompey acts in a completely opposite manner to all previous and

contemporary methods294 In fact it is this unusual method that brings him in direct conflict with

Metellus who was waging a war against the pirates of Crete Pompey after clearing the

Mediterranean of pirates adopted a program of clemency which marked the attitude of the entire

campaign Pompey instead of killing the pirates as was being done by Metellus and all previous

leaders before him decided to spare and resettle them inland Many scholars both contemporary

and modern have praised Pompey for this maneuver295 Plutarch is possibly the most praising

offering in his opinion the purpose for Pompeyrsquos clemency

κατελύθη μὲν οὖν ὁ πόλεμος καὶ τὰ πανταχοῦ λῃστήρια τῆς θαλάσσης ἐξέπεσεν οὐκ

ἐν πλείονι χρόνῳ τριῶν μηνῶν ναῦς δὲ πολλὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἐνενήκοντα δὲ

χαλκεμβόλους παρέλαβεν αὐτοὺς δὲ δισμυρίων πλείονας γενομένους ἀνελεῖν μὲν

οὐδὲ ἐβουλεύσατο μεθεῖναι δὲ καὶ περιϊδεῖν σκεδασθέντας ἢ συστάντας αὖθις

ἀπόρους καὶ πολεμικοὺς καὶ πολλοὺς1 ὄντας οὐκ ᾤετο καλῶς ἔχειν ἐννοήσας οὖν

294 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 171 295 Plutarch Pompey 28 Appian Mithridates 96 115 Strabo 14 665 Dio 36 37 Florus 3 6 14 EG Saeger

1979 37-38 Leach 1978 66-74 Greenhalgh 1980 91-100 Pohl 1993 278-280 It is interesting to note that some

scholars such as Cicero later criticized Pompey for his leniency against the pirates Cicero Officiis 3 49 This can

be explained possibly through both convenience and topic Cicerorsquos Officiis deal with the proper way in which duty

should be carried out Cicero may have believed that pirates should be dealt with more harshly as an ideal The rise

of Pompey especially during such a turbulent time would have made it more convenient to attach oneself to

whatever actions Pompey undertook at the time Even Julius Caesar Pompeyrsquos primary opponent in the next civil

war supported Pompey and his actions

88

ὅτι φύσει μὲν ἄνθρωπος οὔτε γέγονεν οὔτ᾽ ἔστιν ἀνήμερον ζῷον οὐδ᾽ ἄμικτον ἀλλ᾽

ἐξίσταται τῇ κακίᾳ παρὰ φύσιν χρώμενος ἔθεσι δὲ καὶ τόπων καὶ βίων μεταβολαῖς

ἐξημεροῦται καὶ θηρία δὲ1 διαίτης κοινωνοῦντα πρᾳοτέρας ἐκδύεται τὸ ἄγριον καὶ

χαλεπόν ἔγνω τοὺς ἄνδρας εἰς γῆν μεταφέρειν ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ βίου γεύειν

ἐπιεικοῦς συνεθισθέντας ἐν πόλεσιν οἰκεῖν καὶ γεωργεῖν296

The war was therefore brought to an end and all piracy driven from the sea in less

than three months and besides many other ships Pompey received in surrender

ninety which had brazen beaks The men themselves who were more than twenty

thousand in number he did not once think of putting to death and yet to let them

go and suffer them to disperse or band together again poor warlike and numerous

as they were he thought was not well Reflecting therefore that by nature man

neither is nor becomes a wild or an unsocial creature but is transformed by the

unnatural practice of vice whereas he may be softened by new customs and a

change of place and life also that even wild beasts put off their fierce and savage

ways when they partake of a gentler mode of life he determined to transfer the

men from the sea to land and let them have a taste of gentle life by being

accustomed to dwell in cities and to till the ground297

The passage continues on with the locations of where Pompey placed the pirates for

rehabilitation and why he chose those locations298 This passage would have us believe that

Pompey did not simply want to stop piracy in the immediate but wished for a longer lasting

solution seeing their poverty and vices as the source of their drive towards piracy

This lead to the instance of where Pompey challenged Metellusrsquo jurisdiction over Crete

Metellus waged his pirate campaign against Crete in the typical fashion and then some His

campaign was marked by brutality refusing surrenders from pirates and killing every pirate

captured Even for the Romans he was brutal and unforgiving Due to this policy Metellus gave

296 Plutarch Pompey 28 2-3 297 Translated by Bernadotte Perrin 298 For more sources on Pompeyrsquos relocation program see Appian Mithridates 96 115 Dio 36 37 6 Strabo 8-7

5 14 3 1 3 5 8 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 176 notes that none of these settlements were very

far from the sea nor from rivers nor from Cilicia the furthest settlement inland being Epiphaneia only 15 km from

the sea He argues that this was a hasty resettlement and that they could easily have returned to piracy The only

problem with this argument is that Pompey had confiscated all the pirate ships so even if they wanted to return to

piracy they did not have any ships with which to do this It would have taken some time before anyone could afford

to get more ships built and if they did they would not have been as powerful as they were before

89

the pirates no other choice than to resist with all their might Pompey on the other had offered

the Cretans another solution Lasthenes and Panares both decided to surrender to Pompey in the

hopes of receiving clemency as other pirates had and avoiding the eventual slaughter offered by

Metellus Pompey accepted their surrender interfering in Metellusrsquo campaign and jurisdiction299

Some theorize that Pompey wished to end both of the pirate campaigns as quickly as possible in

order to take command in the third war against Mithridates which was passed by the Manilian

Law even though another was already called to oversee it300

After all was accomplished Pompey had plans for the future security of the Republic He

knew that his campaign was only a temporary solution and wished to set up measures to help

prevent piracy from ever getting out of hand again What he proposed was not entirely new just

new for the Romans Rome had relied up to this point on her naval allies to patrol the seas and

defend against pirates As shown above this was not very effective especially as Rome

diminished her allies and refused to take on their responsibilities With Rome as the last

remaining power of any significance in the Mediterranean after the fall of Mithridates Pompey

possibly saw Romersquos place as the protector of the seas He suggested to the senate that fleets be

set up in the east the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian sea costing about 4300000 sesterces to

protect trade against pirates301 This was ultimately refused by the senate and Rome once again

took a back seat in policing the Mediterranean

There are many elements in this campaign which have combined aspects from all

previous methods of dealing with piracy and a few new ones Many of the previous campaigns

299 Dio 36 19 45 Appian Sicily 6 2 Livy Periochae 99 Velleius 2 40 5 Cicero On the Manilian Law 35 300 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 172 176 Manius Aulius Glabrio was supposed to replace

Lucullus in Asian Minor but tribune Gaius Manilius and Marcus Cicero passed a law which handed command over

to Pompey who was already in Cilicia 301 Cicero Flaccus 29-30 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 180 Ormerod 248

90

were unsuccessful or at least only successful to a point Pompeyrsquos campaign is a prime example

of how an anti-piracy campaign should be run Borrowing from previously successful

campaigns Pompey used both a land and sea approach through his entire campaign Since

pirates rely on bases of operation to be successful it is necessary and to a point far more

important to attack piratesrsquo means of selling resupplying and safety in order to truly defeat

them This was further compounded by the fast and coordinated approach which Pompey

incorporated into his strategy By hitting all bases and fleets at once there was no time for the

pirates to warn others of the attacks throwing them into chaos and causing mass surrenders with

the overwhelming force a blitzkrieg if I may use the term Pompey also promoted the use of

leniency in exchange for information a tactic often used by policing forces today as a means of

both accelerating the campaign and decreasing future resistance Pompey then tried to deal with

piracy in the future by trying to solve the base causes of piracy By giving these pirates a new

living and occupation as well as new places to live he hoped to reform them from their old

ways Likewise he suggested regular patrols to limit pirate activity as piracy is never truly

eradicated The last factor to the success of Pompeyrsquos campaign actually took place after the

defeat of Mithridates We have discussed previously one of the causes of piracy being political

instability and war With the fall of Mithridates came the defeat of the last enemy who could

challenge Roman power in the Mediterranean I am not stating that Pompey had this in mind

when he defeated Mithridates but it is one of the reasons why piracy did not flare up again until

the civil wars The only wars which pirates could thrive on after this were those fought between

Romans

Lepidus along with Octavian and Marcus formed the second triumvirate in 43 BCE

after a civil war between the three Sextus Pompey son of Pompey Magnus was raiding Italian

91

shipping and made it difficult to move grain to Rome This prompted the triumvirate to grant

Sextus control over Sicily and position as commander of Romersquos naval forces in the Pact of

Misenum of 39 BCE in exchange for halting his pirate attacks against Rome302 After the pact

was signed Octavian continued to accuse Sextus of committing acts of piracy giving Octavian

cause to invade Sicily and ultimately defeat Sextus along with the opportunity of removing

Lepidus as a political opponent303 Another reason for labelling Sextus a pirate may have been

for legal reasons Acording to Roman law no citizen was required to honor oaths made to

pirates This meant that the Pact of Misenum was nullified and Octavian could attack Sextus

without legal repercussion304

It is not certain if Sextus actually continued to commit acts of piracy against the Roman

state after the signing of the Pact of Misenum It is possible that Octavian had used as was used

in the past the label of pirate as a political tool to attack Sextus and wrestle power from him

Sextus at the time was far more popular than Octavian and presented a major obstacle to his

plans305 On the other hand it is possible that Sextus was still committing acts of piracy or

possibly individuals under his command acting without his knowledge Many of Sextusrsquo naval

commanders may have been pirates His fleet had already shown that they were capable and

efficient at pirate tactics and methods and some passages suggest that the leaders of his naval

302 Dio 48 36 Appian Civil War 5 7d De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 188 Appian suggests that

Sextus had hoped to replace Lepidus as the third member of the triumvirate 303 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 191-193 304 Cicero De Officiis 3 107 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 194 305 Dio 48 31 Appian Civil War 5 67 Labelling Sextus a pirate may have also been a political move by Octavian

to erode Sextusrsquo support in Rome as many had a poor view of pirates especially since the reign of terror in the 60rsquos

and 70rsquos BCE It is interesting that Sextus would be accused of piracy when it was his father who was made famous

for ridding the seas of them Almost every nation employed pirate tactics against their rivals and it was considered

just another form of warfare The key was to make Sextusrsquo ldquowarrdquo seem illegitimate so that he could not claim to be

waging regular warfare Only then could Octavian accuse him of being a pirate This of course is what regularly

happened even between rivals One side accuses the other of piracy but commits the same acts and calls it legal

warfare

92

forces may have been freedmen from his fatherrsquos campaign in 67 BCE306 The two main

commanders in question were Menekrates and Menodoros both of whom had won many naval

battles against Octavian and nearly captured him on one occasion Sextusrsquo ultimate defeat came

when his greatest naval commander Menodoros defected to Octavian307

Only Antony stood in Octavianrsquos way of supreme rule of Rome In a battle that would

decide the fate of Rome Octavian employed the combined fleets of Sextus and himself of which

the majority were lembi and biremes based off of the pirate designs during the Illyrian Wars and

defeated Antony in 31 BCE at Actium From this point on the Roman fleet would never be the

same Now that the Mediterranean was under Roman rule with no challengers to her power

there was no more need for large war vessels The fleets of the Empire now tasked with actively

patrolling the seas in different zones similar to the suggested methods put forward by Pompey at

the end of the Cilician Campaign in 67BCE were comprised of smaller vessels primarily lembi

and other similar vessels in order to carry out anti-piracy patrols Many praise the security of

trade under the Principate Piracy seemed to have reached an all time low308 Although piracy

was not eliminated it was severely diminished never coming back as a true problem until the

Third Century Crisis309 Many of the barbarian tribes employed piracy causing piracy to became

rampant as Rome destabilized 310 Yet before this there was almost 260 years of relative peace

called the Pax Romana when piracy was held in check and the seas were safer than they had

been in centuries

306 Dio 48 46 Velleius 2 73 Appian Civil War 5 79 Strabo 5 243 Lucan 6 421 Florus 4 8 Orosius 6 18

19 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 192 Ormerod 251 307 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 192 308 Strabo 3 2 5 Pliny 2 118 309 IG Rome 4 1057 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 218 Ormerod 91 310 De Souza Piracy in the Greco-Roman World 225-240

93

Why was this time so successful for the suppression of piracy As we have seen piracy

thrives where there are wars political instability insufficient resources to counter piracy poor

economic situations and opportunity The empire brought the whole of the Mediterranean under

the rule and influence of one polity Due to this there were no wars of sufficient size and

geographical placement that could cause political instability harm the economy or make for

opportunity for pirates to grow to a considerable size311 The added resources of the Roman

nation made active and continuous patrolling of trade and suppression of piracy a reality In fact

Rome prospered economically further decreasing the pool for pirate recruits and increasing the

funding for patrols

311 The majority of Romersquos conflicts during the Empire took place inland along the Rhine Danube and Persian

frontiers Although banditry may have been commonplace during these conflicts piracy would not have been as

common

94

Chapter Six Lessons for Today

For as long as there have been ships sailing the seas there have been pirates determined to

take what others possess The complete suppression of piracy has only occurred at rare intervals

and never at the same time across the world As such piracy has always been part of peoplesrsquo

lives As historian Henry A Ormerod has stated ldquoIf we remember that piracy was for centuries a

normal feature of Mediterranean life it will be realised how great has been the influence which it

exercised on the life of the ancient worldrdquo312 This statement can be extended beyond the ancient

world as shown above piracy has left its mark on the modern world as well While it has

evolved in some areas with technology piracy has remained quintessentially the same from

ancient to modern times therefore the core activities of pirates can be compared across all time

periods

Following this logic we can gain helpful insight into modern piracy by the study of

piracy in antiquity This is an aspect that has not been adequately employed by modern analysts

dealing with piracy The Interpectoral Workshop Group (ISWG) of The Dalhousie Marine Piracy

Project (DMPP) ldquobrought together many leading authorities on piracy from the international

legal military commercial shipping academic and NGO [Non-Governmental Organizations]

communitiesrdquo313 but focused only on modern information It is often beneficial to look back on

historical events and use examples from the past to both aid more modern conditions and

sometimes even help predict how certain situations or events will unfold This is not a new

approach and has been practiced by many different nations at various times As one example a

312 Ormerod 13-14 313 Dalhousie University Marine Piracy Project ldquoIntersectoral Working Group Workshoprdquo i

95

private study in the early 2000rsquos sponsored by Donald Rumsfeld who at the time was the

Secretary of Defense under George Bush was commissioned with the study of ancient empires

which included that of the Roman Empire ldquoasking how they maintained their dominance and

what the United States could learn from themrdquo314 Although it is necessary to have experts on

modern aspects of piracy I believe that due to the similarities between ancient and modern

piracy there is much we can incorporate into modern solutions from ancient sources

The aspect of state sponsored piracy in the ancient world makes this connection with the

modern world even more real Although most pirates are not trying to further political or

religious aims being primarily motivated by economic reasons pirates do employ terrorism in

their methods Modern analysis has shown that some pirate groups are directly funded by

terrorist organizations or even states in an effort to spread terror and destabilize entire regions

This seemingly modern approach was frequently employed during antiquity by warring states

Previous examples given above are Mithridates and the competing Hellenistic Kingdoms

Terrorism as we know it today did not truly exist in the ancient world This does not mean that

similar methods were not used only that those in antiquity did not view it in the same way

Regardless of how each era viewed the use of terrorism and for what goals there are many

similarities between them

The goal of piracy has not changed these past few millennia A piratersquos primary goal is to

obtain profit at anotherrsquos expense For this reason most pirates even if they be state sponsored

are normally economicsocial outcasts especially in regions where the local economy struggles

314 Neil Faulkner Rome Empire of the Eagles (New York Routledge 2013) xi

96

These conditions can be caused by lack of employment drought low income and poverty315 As

stated previously many scholars believe that pirates in the ancient world were originally

fisherman who turned to piracy when their trade was insufficient to provide for their needs there

is some evidence for this in todayrsquos piracy Nigerian piracy has tended to be the most violent of

all piratical areas of the world According to some reports piracy has almost destroyed the

Nigerian fishing industry due to fisherman both becoming pirates and to these same individuals

attacking the fishing of other countries who compete in the fishing industry316

I have previously established that many pirate actions are associated with the coast

whether as staging grounds for raids or as the target of raids It is a common misconception that

pirate activity is only a ship to ship occurrence as is portrayed in many romanticized images of

pirates in popular culture and even in modern legal frameworks Only recently has there been a

move to look at piracy as also a land based crime317 That said it should be no surprise that the

capture of ships and cargo are not the main source of profit for pirates The main source of

income for piracy is actually the ransom of ships and personnel318 This follows the same pattern

that we find in ancient sources where pirates primarily kidnapped and ransomed their targets or

sold them into slavery Although slavery is not as widespread today as it was in classical times it

315 Psarros 310 316 Uzer 6-7 317 Jesus 2003 Roach 2004 Murphy 2007 Beckmas 2009 Matison 2009 Kaye 2009 Hong and Ng 2010

Baniela 2010 Psarros 310 318 Uzer 4 Although kidnaping and ransom are the most common and lucrative methods employed by pirates today

and for that matter in antiquity there are other methods of piracy as well The two others which are categorized

today are opportunistic attacks (attacking ships at berth or anchor) and Phantom ships (capturing a ship changing its

identity and using it to sell the goods on board) These last two methods have been generally supressed with more

modern systems of protection and detection In the case of phantom ships electronic security identities for every

ship is required before any trade can be made at ports limiting the ability for profit to be made by stolen vessels and

increasing the chances of being caught by security forces looking for missing ships

97

still exists In the ancient world piracy contributed to many nationsrsquo economies most famously

that of Rome today Somaliarsquos economy has benefitted greatly from the same practice319

Geographically piracy occurs more commonly in parts of the world where there are

chokepoints rugged shorelines or archipelagos This may be due in part to the economies

political situations and even the history of the regions but the most common factor is the

geographical locations themselves The Mediterranean coasts are generally rocky and barren

unable to support large populations320 The difficulty of travel the many islands rivers inlets

and numerous choke points made for easier raiding by pirates both on sea and land The major

areas where pirates are active today are in similar types of locations The Gulf of Aden a choke

point for international shipping has been an area of especially high pirate activity Other main

areas of the world where piracy is the most successful are the Indian Ocean East Africa the

South China Sea West Africa the Malacca Strait South America and the Caribbean All of

these areas are typified by narrow passages archipelagoes and political instability accompanied

by poverty321 Part of the reason for this success lies in the inhibiting of early warning systems

due to the geographical features It has been found that shipping vessels which travel further out

to sea are easier to protect as the early warning systems are far mor effective322

War and political instability have no less bearing on the rise of piracy today as it did in

the ancient world often making piracy easier amid the chaos A modern example of this can be

seen through the rise of Somali piracy in the mid 2000rsquos during a period of war and political

319 According to the FATF report of 2011 page 10 up to 40 of the money obtained through ransoms leaves

Somalia (it is theorized that it is used to fund terrorism) In 2010 over USD 238 million was paid in ransoms to

Somali pirates If 60 stays in country that means over USD 143 million has been poured into the Somali economy

in 2010 320 Ormerod 14 321 Uzer 13 Psarros 310 317 322 Psarros 317

98

chaos323 Somalia has been relatively a stateless society for over 19 years leaving the country

fractured between warring clans and tribes The fact that it controls waters which are near the

ideal energy trade routes between Asian and Europe made piracy almost impossible to avoid

with such a turbulent society which sees piracy as a communal income324 According to one

study by Donna Nincic 2008 98 of pirate attacks occur in the waters of failed or close to

failed states due to opportunity and economy325 Likewise Justin Hastings has concluded that

weak states (ones that are incapable of sufficiently policing their populacewaters) breed more

organized forms of piracy while failed states lead to more opportunistic and less organized

piracy326

Legally piracy takes advantage of both loopholes and the inability of some nations to

inforce anti-piracy laws According to the IMB (International Maritime Bureau) which is the

specialized crime division of the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) created in 1982 in

conjunction with the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas) the

definition of piracy is ldquoany violence detention or act of depredation committed by a person on

board a vessel or aircraft against another person property vessel or aircraft on the high seas or

in an exclusive economic zonerdquo It further defines all similar acts that take place in territorial

waters or harbors to be acts of armed robbery not piracy Since pirates require harbors docks or

landfall to operate this definition does not account for the wide ranging activity of pirates and

adds to the legal hindrances inherent to institutional responses against piracy This problem is

beginning to be addressed as laws such as the United Nations Security Council Resolution

323 Psarros 310 Uzer 7 324 Piazza 2008 Hansen 2009 Dagne 2009 Baniela 2010 325 Bueger ldquoPiracy Studiesrdquo 409 326 Justin Hastings 213

99

(UNSCR) 1816 passed unanimously in 2008 with approval from the Somali Government are

being created and implemented Resolution 1816 stipulates that warships are permitted to combat

pirate vessels within territorial waters These laws however are only regionally applicable327

Pirates from both ancient and modern periods use small light fast and maneuverable

craft which can be transported easily over land The only real difference between modern and

ancient pirate tactics lies in the distance pirates today can strike Modern pirates have the ability

to use ldquoghost shipsrdquo that act as a mother ship for the smaller craft This means that pirates can

strike further than the smaller craft is capable something not required of ships powered by oar

and sail328 This also means that they tend not to engage military vessels Since the presence of

naval vessels in high risk areas has increased the tactics employed by pirates have changed as

well Pirates have begun moving to less defended areas or simply waiting for military vessels to

pass by and attack the next vulnerable target a tactic which ancient pirates utilized as mentioned

above329 The main tactic of these vessels are to board other ships take them over steal their

cargo and ransom the passangers exactly what was done by pirates of old330

One of the final similarities between the modern and ancient lies in dealing with piracy

In both ancient and modern times responses to piracy have varied and have not always been

successful Normally extraordinary action is required to deal with piracy Cyrus Mody states that

327 Douglas Guilfoyle ldquoPiracy of Somalia UN Security Council Resolution 1816 and IMO Regional Counter-Piracy

Effortsrdquo The International and Comparative Law Quarterly vol 57 no 3 (July 2008) 692-698 328 Analysis Examining Modern-Day Piracy Talk of the Nation (Nov 2005) Academic OneFile (May 2016)

httpgogalegroupcomezproxylibucalgarycapsidoid=GALE7CA161881719ampsid=summonampv=21ampu=ucal

garyampit=rampp=AONEampsw=wampasid=8dac82f55dac3128d184be3512e1db54 329 Psarros 329 Percy 2009 Rosenberg 2009 Osler 2010 Matthews 2010 Shortland 2010 330 Dalhousie University Marine Piracy Project ldquoIntersectoral Working Group Workshoprdquo 10

100

when piracy got out of hand historically there was a campaign which solved the problem He

continues by stating that ldquopiracy can be defeated however it requires political willrdquo331

As piracy affects more and more of the world the fear of piracy also grows leading to

more determined action against it This often results in the alteration of existing laws or the

creation of new laws in order to deal with the growing problem One example given above is the

UNSCR 1816 It is the fear of piracy and its effects on every aspect of society that drives the

creation of these laws The most famous example from antiquity is the creation of the Lex

Gabinia which has been discussed in greater depth above As piracy had almost completely

halted trade in the Mediterranean Rome gave extraordinary powers to Gaius Pompeius Magnus

such as was unprecedented at the time and in some ways unconstitutional This was prompted

in no small manner from both the fear instilled in the people and their hungry bellies No trade

meant no grain Yet desperate times called for desperate measures It was no different then as it

is now

Can these ancient models be applied to our modern dilemma In many cases yes and

modern governments and other political entities are beginning to do so although not knowingly

The ideal example of an anti-pirate campaign is Pompey Magnus who carried out possibly the

fastest and most successful campaign in history The pirates he faced and the situation he

overcame have many similarities to our present age He was forced to deal with piracy that was

organized worked with many different states (state sponsored in some cases) and was spread

over a large area An important factor to Pompeyrsquos victory was a unified action across the entire

Mediterranean coordinated and fast employing all of the nations across the Mediterranean to

331 Uzer 1

101

participate This meant that this was the ldquoworldrdquo against the pirates Piracy in South China Sea

and Malacca Strait has decreased since 2003 due to a multinational cooperation between

Malaysia Indonesia and Singapore332 Unfortunately today there is nowhere near the political

cohesion of nations working against piracy focusing instead on local piracy only This is similar

in many ways to the mutual agreements of protection which nations made in the ancient world

and does not aim to reduce piracy over a larger area Since this is a global problem and not just

one that needs to be solved in a particular region the world would need to be unified in this goal

Likewise wars would need to be brought to a minimum or completely ceased in order to

effectively combat piracy and limit its growth Stopping all conflicts across the world or at least

getting all nations across the world to agree to work together to eliminate piracy is a lofty goal

and in many cases unreasonable Many leaders today have realized that piracy can never be

eliminated and have opted to supress it a far sounder goal

The key to Pompeyrsquos success capitilazing on this multi-national cooperation between

states was attacking all the pirates across the entire Mediterranean on both land and sea

simoutaneously Many of our international laws today do not permit the attack of piracy on land

The main problem that faces anti-piracy forces today is the legal inability to attack pirates in

territorial waters and on land As mentioned above in June 2008 the UN Security Council

unanimously adopted the resolution 1816 which in conjunction with the Somali government

states that foreign vessels are permitted to enter Somali territorial waters to combat pirate

332 Uzer 5 Psarros 320

102

activity and later that year in December resolution 1851 was passed which sets out provisions

for land based operations against pirates in the same area333

Since this law has been put in place piracy in Somalia has been decreasing suggesting

that the methods employed in the ancient world actually have merit for combating todayrsquos

pirates334 Although the overall decrease in piracy cannot be attributed solely to this one factor

there can be no doubt that this resolution enbled UN forces to more efficiently combat piracy in

Somalia The main problem with its implementation globally is its multi-national nature The

Romans ruled the entire Mediterranean relatively unopposed when they were able to effectively

supress piracy There is no power today that holds that same position This means that individual

agreements must be made with each individual nation as in the case with Somalia in order to

employ this method of anti-piracy Since there are some nations which profit from this piracy it

is unlikely that they will be easily persuaded to agree to these conditions In addition these laws

could be abused by other nations permitting the potentially hostile forces of another nation to

land on national soil This could lead to attacks on a sovereign power which are disguised as

attacks on piracy False accusations could be used politically as they have been in the past

Piracy was also hindered during the time of the Roman Empire by the economic boom

and security that the Principate offered This is likewise an almost impossible goal to achieve in

our modern age as the constant wars terrorist actions ethnic cleansings etc lead to economic

and political instability Although solving the root causes of piracy would make for the best

solution it may not be possible today Pompey realized that pirates were a product of their

333 Uzer 26 334 Christian Bueger The Decline of Somali Piracy ndash Towards Long Term Solutions (September 1 2013)

wwwpiracystudiesorgthe-decline-of-somali-piracy-towards-long-term-Solutions

103

situations ndash poor and desperate individuals driven to piracy as a means of survival in the

aftermath of war and poverty Pompey gave pirates a livelihood in an effort to fix their economic

situations so they would be less prone to piracy It is not certain if it actually worked but it does

show that even in antiquity they were trying to solve the problem of piracy at its roots Today

especially in our turbulent economic situation it is very difficult to resolve the poverty of so

many across the world Wars and political instability only further exasperates problems making

solving the root issues an almost insurmountable task and one that would require the

cooperation of most nations around the world335

Pompey did not rely on relocation to solve the problem of piracy he well knew that

piracy was impossible to eliminate forever and put forth measures to limit piracy in the future

As mentioned above Pompey advised the creation of permanent fleets whose sole task was to

patrol the seas and defend trade from pirates To do this he suggesting deviding the seas into

multiple regions for more effective distribution and coordination Although this method was

never ratified by the senate it does suggest one more aspect to combating piracy Piracy as a

whole across the globe is increasing but piracy in Somalia has been decreasing When it gets to

an acceptable point it cannot be ignored or forgotten or as stated in a UN security report it will

return again336 Many nations from around the world put money into patrolling pirate waters

This method is not enough to bring piracy down to an acceptable level but it is capable of

keeping piracy under a certin level once it has been adequately reduced

335 ldquoDelegations in Security Council Note Progress in Combatting Piracy But Warn lsquoPirates Will Quickly Be Back

in Their Skiffsrsquo if Attention Divertedrdquo UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases (November 2012)

wwwunorgpressen2012sc10820dochtm 336 ldquoSecurity Council Renews Action to Fight Piracy Off Somali Coast Calling for Delpoyment of Vessels Arms

Military Aricraftrdquo UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases (November 2014)

wwwunorgpressen2014sc11643dochtm

104

Studying piracy in antiquity certainly has application to the present and offers interesting

insights into dealing with piracy in a modern setting The most effective methods of dealing with

piracy in the ancient world were swift and multi-nationally coordinated campaigns in which

pirate fleets and bases where attacked simultaneously This success was only capitalized on when

wars were brought to a minimum the economic and political situation was stabilized and

sufficient resources were allocated to policing the seas That said of all the successful

campaigns the most extreme measures were the most successful but were only used when

piracy had gotten to the point where it threatened a nation or nations In our modern context

where piracy has been increasing in range and intensity across different parts of the world unless

more significant measures are taken it will grow until it reaches a breaking point where extreme

measures will be required to end this threat Some measures have been taken to supress piracy

such as allowing attacks on piratesrsquo bases of operation more could be put into practice which

would further decrease pirate activity

105

Conclusion

From hindsight we can see the struggle of antiquity against the menace of piracy From

the earliest written accounts to the end of the imperial period laws and methods have evolved to

deal with piracy and through written record we can discover the best solutions which have stood

the test of time The early warning systems developed during the archaic and classical periods

although different technologically have been adapted to our needs Now similar to the towers

fortifications signal fires and inland settlements modern systems of radar vessel identification

and conscious distancing from coasts and islands have given modern shipping an early warning

system to avoid encountering pirates or the time to prepare for their coming to increase their

chances of escaperesistance

The patrols and mutual agreements of protection developed in the classical period and

subsequently used in the Hellenistic period are not unlike our modern efforts to patrol the

shipping highways and cooperate between local nations to combat piracy for mutual benefit Yet

similar to the Hellenistic kingdoms state sanctioned piracy used either to attack political

enemies or simply to bolster the economy has both increased the efficiency of piracy and

decreased the effectiveness of these countermeasures This leads to one conclusion like in

antiquity piracy funded and efficient grew to heights beyond what individual nations could

cope with and required massive intervention Before the Romans and before Pompey piracy

was a problem which was combated with relatively little success The world today has followed

this same pattern of dealing with piracy As has been shown above piracy has reached heights

which have not been seen in over a century

106

Yet history has shown a solution one that will work even today Instead of looking to

the past to find answers scholars and polities of today have learned through trial and error what

has been done millennia ago Pompeyrsquos success relied on a massive coordinated multi-national

campaign which employed the strategy of attacking pirates on both land and sea This could be

done quickly given the modern ability at instant global communication if all attacks were to be

coordinated simultaneously This success was capitalized on with the creation of stability the

limiting of wars the prosperity of unhindered trade and the protection of better funded and

properly supported preventative measures Although some of these things have been employed

with successful results on a local scale piracy has become a global concern which requires a

global solution

The single greatest difficulty which impedes full implementation of this ancient model is

the division among the many nations of the world A true multi-national campaign would require

almost unanimous global cooperation to accomplish In the time of Pompey this was

accomplished through the sheer might of one polity which had control or influence over the

entire Mediterranean and for all intent and purposes their known world Today there is no

singular power which has this type of influence but this does not mean that cooperation between

nations cannot be accomplished on this scale As stated previously it will take political will This

cooperation between nations would permit the second hardest aspect to be implemented the

legal ability for international forces to attack pirates by both land and sea which even today has

shown to be among the most effective methods of countering piracy It may be that this will not

occur till there comes a crisis point which presses the issue and requires radical action do deal

with this global crisis The more extreme the situation the more extreme the measures taken to

overcome it

107

The implementation of such a program would have significant global effects both broad

and specific By subduing piracy the costs of shipping would decrease in turn alleviating the

costs of transported goods which would then help stabilize many economies across the globe

The problem with this program is the immensity of its implementation as it requires a significant

change in global politics relations and laws which is made nearly impossible due to the drastic

differences and contentions between states

There are many aspects of how solutions to piracy can be applied today which have not

been covered primarily due to time and space I would call for scholarship to explore the

solutions already created and adapt them to modern situations This applies not only to piracy

but to a plethora of fields and social concerns If solutions already exist it would be better to

refer to these before expending both time and money in developing programs which closely

follow what has already come before This has the advantage of saving time and money as well

as reminding us that our past both shows us who we are and can help us determine who we will

become

108

Appendix

Figure 1 ndash Mediterranean Sea

109

Figure 2 ndash Greece and Asian Minor

110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111

Figure 4 ndash Illyrian Coast in Relation to Italy

112

Bibliography

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Aeschines Speeches CD Adams Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 1919

Anonymous Homeric Hymns and Homerica Translated by Hugh G Evelyn-White Cambridge

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Apollodorus The Library Translated by James G Frazer Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard

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Appian Roman History Foreign Wars Translated by Horace White Cambridge Massachusetts


Appian Roman History Civil Wars Translated by Horace White Cambridge Massachusetts


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Arrian Anabasis Translated by PA Brunt Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University

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Austin Michael The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest A Selection of

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Cicero On Duties Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 1913

113

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Demosthenes Demosthenes Translated by JH Vince Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard


Dio Cassius Roman History ndash in Nine Volumes Translated by E Cary Cambridge


Diodorus Siculus The Library of History CH Oldfather Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard


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Eutropius Abridgement of Roman History Translated by Rev John Selby Watson London

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Homer Odyssey Translated by AT Murray Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University

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Herodotus The Histories Translated by AD Godley Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard


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Livy History of Rome Translated by Evan T Sage Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard


Lucan The Civil War Translated by JD Duff Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University

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Lysias Speeches Translated by WRM Lamb Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University

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Menander Samia Sikyonioi Synaristosai Phasma Unidentified Fragments Translated by WG

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Plato Plato Translated by RG Bury Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press

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Plautus The Comedies of Plautus Translated by Henry Thomas Riley London G Bell and

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The Greek Anthology Translated by WR Paton London William Heinemann 1920

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Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War Translated by CF Smith Cambridge


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Analysis Examining Modern-Day Piracy Talk of the Nation (Nov 2005) Academic OneFile

(May 2016)

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=summonampv=21ampu=ucalgaryampit=rampp=AONEampsw=wampasid=8dac82f55dac3128d184be

3512e1db54

Atauz Ayse Devrim Trade Piracy and Naval Warfare in the Central Mediterranean The

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Ancient Sources in Translation 2nd Ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2011

Avidov A ldquoWere the Cilicians a Nation of Piratesrdquo Mediterranean Historical Review vol 12

no 1 (1997) 5-55

Azubuike L ldquoInternational law regime against piracyrdquo Annual Survey of International amp

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Baikouzis Constantino and Marcelo O Magnasco ldquoIs an Eclipse Described in the Odysseyrdquo

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Barclay Thomas Law and Usage of War A Practical Handbook of the Law and Usage of Land

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Bendall HB ldquoCost of piracy a comparative voyage approachrdquo Maritime Economics amp

Logistics vol 12 (2010) 178ndash195

Benedict Robert D ldquoThe Historical Position of the Rhodian Lawrdquo The Yale Law Journal vol

18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242

Bensassi S and I Martiacutenez-Zarzoso ldquoHow costly is modern maritime piracy to the international

communityrdquo Review of International Economics vol 20 no 5 (2012) 869ndash883

Berthold RM Rhodes in the Hellenistic Age Ithaca 1984

Bradford Alfred Flying the Black Flag A Brief History of Piracy Westport Connecticut

Praeger 2007

Braund D ldquoPiracy Under the Principate and the ideology of Imperial Eradicationrdquo In War and

Society in the Roman World Edited by J Rich and G Shipley London 1993

Bruleacute P La piraterie creacutetoise helleacutenistique Paris 1978

Bueger Christian Piracy Studies ndash a bibliography (2012) httppiracy-studiesorg

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Bueger Christian ldquoPiracy Studies Academic Responses to the Return of an Ancient Menacerdquo

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2007

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Casson Lionel The Ancient Mariners Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in

Ancient Times New York MacMillan Company 1959

Casson Lionel Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World Baltimore Maryland The Johns

Hopkins University Press 1995

Cicero Encyclopaeligdia Britannica (11th ed) Edited by Hugh Chisholm Cambridge University

Press 1911

Coggins B ldquoNothing Fails Like Success Anarchy Piracy and State-building in Somaliardquo

International Relations Working Group Paper Dartmouth College 2010

Craven Brian The Punic Wars New York St Martinrsquos Press 1980

Dell Harry J ldquoThe Origins and Nature of Illyrian Piracyrdquo Historia Zeitschrift Fuumlr Alte

Geschichte Bd 16 H 3 (July 1967) 344-358

Derow PS ldquoKleemporosrdquo Phoenix vol 27 no 2 (Summer 1973) 118-134

De Souza Piracy in the Ancient World from Minos to Mohammed (PhD Dissertation)

University of London Ann Arbor 1993

De Souza Philip Piracy in the Greco-Roman World Cambridge Cambridge University Press

1999

De Souza Philip ldquoRomersquos Contribution to the Development of Piracyrdquo Memoirs of the

American Academy in Rome Supplementary Volumes Vol 6 The Maritime World of

Ancient Rome (2008) 71-96

Ducrey P Le traitement des prisonniers de guerre dans la gregravece antique Des origins a la

conquecircte romaine Paris 1968

Fik Meijer A History of Seafaring in the Classical World London Croom Helm Ltd 1986

119

Financial Action Task Force Report ldquoOrganized Maritime Piracy and Related Kidnapping for

Ransomrdquo (July 2011) wwwfatf-

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ted20kidnapping20for20ransompdf (Last visited on March 17th 2016)

Finley MI The Ancient Economy London 1973

Finley MI Classical Slavery London 1987

Gabbert Janice ldquoPiracy in the Early Hellenistic Period A Career Open to Talentsrdquo Greece amp

Rome vol 33 no 2 (October 1986) 156-163

Garlan Y La Guerre dans lrsquoantiquiteacute Paris 1972

Garlan Y ldquoSignification historique de la piraterie grecquerdquo Dialogues dhistoire ancienne vol

4 (1978) 1-16

Garlan Y ldquoWar Piracy and Slavery in the Greek Worldrdquo In Finley MI Classical Slavery

London 1987

Garlan Y Guerre et eacuteconomie en gregravece ancienne Paris 1989

Gauthier P Symbola Les eacutetrangers et la justice dans les citeacutes grecques Nancy 1972

Germond B and M Smith ldquoRe-thinking European security interests and the ESDP explaining

the EUrsquos anti-piracy operationrdquo Contemporary Security Policy vol 30 no 3 (2009)

573ndash593

Gosse Philip The History of Piracy New York Tudor Publishing 1946

Greenhalgh P Pompey The Roman Alexander London 1980

Grainger John D The Syrian Wars Leiden The Netherlands Brill 2010

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Guilfoyle D ldquoPiracy off Somalia UN Security Council Resolution 1816 and IMO Regional

Counter-Piracy Effortsrdquo The International and Comparative Law Quarterly vol 57 no

3 (July 2008) 690-699

Guilfoyle D ldquoCounter-piracy law enforcement and human rightsrdquo International and

Comparative Law Quarterly vol 59 no1 (2010) 141ndash169

Hansen SJ ldquoPiracy in the Greater Gulf of Aden Myths Misconception and Remediesrdquo Oslo

Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research 2009

Harris William ldquoToward a Study of the Roman Slave Traderdquo Memoirs of the Roman Academy

in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140

Hastings Justin ldquoGeographies of State Failure and Sophistication in Maritime Piracy

Hijackingsrdquo Political Geography vol 28 no 4 (2009) 213-223

Heller-Roazen D The Enemy of All Piracy and the Law of Nations Cambridge Massachusetts

MIT Press 2009

Jackson AH ldquoPrivateers in the Ancient Greek Worldrdquo In Foot M War and Society Historical

Studies in Honour and Memory of JR Western 1928-1971 London 1973

Jackson AH ldquoThe Original Purpose of the Delian Leaguerdquo Historia vol 18 (1969) 12-16

Jakob M O Vanek and M Pechoucek ldquoUsing agents to improve international maritime

transport securityrdquo IEEE Intelligent Systems vol 26 no 1 (2011) 90ndash95

Johnson D and E Pladdet ldquoAn overview of current concerns in piracy studies and new

directions for researchrdquo Paper presented at the People and the Sea II Conference

International Institute for Asian Studies Amsterdam The Netherlands August 2003

Jameson Shelach ldquoPompeyrsquos Imperium in 67 Some Constitutional Fictionsrdquo Historia

Zeitschrift fuumlr Alte Geschichte Bd 19 H 5 (December 1970) 539-560

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Klein A ldquoThe moral economy of Somali piracy Organized criminal business or subsistence

activityrdquo Global Policy vol 4 no 1 (2013) 94ndash100

Kleinman S ldquoTrauma and its Ramifications in Vietnamese Victims of Piracyrdquo Jefferson

Journal of Psychiatry vol 5 no 2 (2011) 4ndash23

Kroll W ldquoSeeraubrdquo In Paulys Real-Encvdopadie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft vol 2

no 21 (1921) 1038-1042

Leach J Pompey the Great London 1978

Leporatti Conny ldquoSupport Intervention for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Resulting from

Piracy Attacks and Maritime Terrorismrdquo 143-147 In Piracy and Maritime Terrorism

Logistics Strategies Scenarios Edited by S Ciotti Galletti Amsterdam NLD IOS

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Magie D Roman Rule in Asia Minor in Two Volumes Princeton 1950

McGing BC The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator King of Pontus Leiden The

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McPherson The First Illyrian War A Study in Roman Imperialism (MA Thesis) McGill

University 2012

Menefee SP and MQ Mejia Jr ldquoA lsquorutter for piracyrsquo in 2012rdquo WMU Journal of Maritime

Affairs vol 11 no 1 (2012) 1ndash13

Menefee SP ldquoThe New lsquoJamaica Disciplinersquo Problems with Piracy Maritime Terrorism and

the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea Connecticut Journal of International Law

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Morrison JS Greek and Roman Oared Vessels Oxford UK The Alden Press 1996

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Murphy Martin Small Boats Weak States Dirty Money The Challenge of Piracy New York

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Modern World C Hurst amp Co Publishers Ltd 2010

Murray William M The Age of Titans The Rise and Fall of the Great Hellenistic Navies

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Nincic D ldquoState failure and the re-emergence of maritime piracyrdquo Paper prepared for

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Ormerod Henry A Piracy in the Ancient World An Essay in Mediterranean History Liverpool

Great Britain The University Press of Liverpool Ltd 1924

Papamarinopoulos St P et al ldquoA New Astronomical Dating of Odysseusrsquo Return to Ithicardquo

Mediterranean Archaeology amp Archaeometry vol 12 no 1 (2012) 117-128

Pitassi Michael Roman Warships Woodbridge UK The Boydell press 2011

Pohl H Die roumlmische Politik und die Piraterie im oumlstlichen Mittelmeer vom 3 Bis zum 1 Jh V

Chr Berlin 1993

Potter DS ldquoAthenian Involvement in the War of Agis IIIrdquo Annual of the British School at

Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235

Pritchett WK The Greek State at War ndash Volume 5 Berkeley University of California Press

1991

Psarros George Ad and Alexander F Christiansen et al ldquoOn the Success Rates of Maritime

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335

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Oxford 1941

Rostovtzeff MI Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire 2nd Edition Oxford 1957

Rouge Jean Ships and Fleets of the Ancient Mediterranean Translated by Susan Frazer

Middletown Connecticut Wesleyan University Press 1975

Samatar AI M Lindberg and B Mahayni ldquoThe dialectics of piracy in Somalia the rich versus

the poorrdquo Third World Quarterly vol 31 no 8 (2010) 1377ndash1394

Sealey R ldquoThe Original Purpose of the Delian Leaguerdquo In Ancient Society and Institutions

Studies Presented to Victor Ehrenberg Oxford 1966

Saeger R Pompey A Political Biography Oxford 1979

Serrati John ldquoNeptunersquos Altars The Treaties between Rome and Carthage (509-226)rdquo The

Classical Quarterly New Series vol 56 no 1 (May 2006) 113-134

Sestier JM La Piraterie dans lrsquoantiquiteacute Paris 1880

Starr Chester G The Roman Imperial Navy 31 BC-AD 324 New York Barnes and Nobles Inc

1960

The Development of the Polis in Archaic Greece Edited by Lynett Mitchell and PJ Rhodes

New York Routledge 2003

Theil JH A History of Roman Sea-Power Before the Second Punic War Amsterdam North-

Holland Publishing Company 1954

Thomson Janice A Mercenaries Pirates and Sovereigns State-Building and Extraterritorial

Violence in Early Modern Europe Princeton NJ Princeton University Press 1994

Treves T ldquoPiracy Law of the Sea and Use of Force Developments off the Coast of Somaliardquo

European Journal of International Law vol 20 no 2 (2009) 399ndash414

124

Uzer FB Maritime Security and Defense against Terrorism Amsterdam NLD IOS Press

2012

Vagg J ldquoRough Seas Contemporary Piracy in South East Asiardquo British Journal of

Criminology vol 35 no 1 (1995) 63ndash80

Vreyuml F ldquoBad Order at Sea from the Gulf of Aden to the Gulf of Guineardquo African Security

Review vol 18 no 3 (2009) 17ndash30

Williamson Hugh ldquoProtection of Canadian Ships Against Piracyrdquo Canadian Naval Review vol

9 no 2 (2013) 17

Workman-Davis Dradley Corvus A Review of the Design and Use of the Roman Boarding

Bridge During The First Punic War 264-241 BC Lulucom 2006

Ziebarth E Beitraumlge zur Geschichte des Seeraubs und Seehandels im alten Griechenland

Hamburg 1929

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY


by

Michael Lee Trimboli

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GREEK AND ROMAN STUDIES

CALGARY ALBERTA

AUGUST 2016

copy Michael Lee Trimboli 2016

ii

Abstract











iii

Acknowledgements





















iv

Dedication



v

Table of Contents


INTRODUCTION 1







CONCLUSION 105

APPENDIX 108

BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

vi



edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist


(1923ndash )

IG

MRR




Suppl 1960)




1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

ii

Abstract











iii

Acknowledgements





















iv

Dedication



v

Table of Contents


INTRODUCTION 1







CONCLUSION 105

APPENDIX 108

BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

vi



edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist


(1923ndash )

IG

MRR




Suppl 1960)




1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

iii

Acknowledgements





















iv

Dedication



v

Table of Contents


INTRODUCTION 1







CONCLUSION 105

APPENDIX 108

BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

vi



edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist


(1923ndash )

IG

MRR




Suppl 1960)




1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

iv

Dedication



v

Table of Contents


INTRODUCTION 1







CONCLUSION 105

APPENDIX 108

BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

vi



edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist


(1923ndash )

IG

MRR




Suppl 1960)




1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

v

Table of Contents


INTRODUCTION 1







CONCLUSION 105

APPENDIX 108

BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

vi



edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist


(1923ndash )

IG

MRR




Suppl 1960)




1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

vi



edn 1923ndash39)

FGrHist


(1923ndash )

IG

MRR




Suppl 1960)




1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

1

Introduction



























2























3














piracy itself










4
























5










6



























7
























8























9























Press 1911

10
























11







propaganda

















12

























13





















14
















terrorism27






15

























groups

16
























17









world














18






















19
















battle41


















20























21



CE



sea





[operating] by sea












22


two
















passage from Nepos











23

























24




















their poverty



25





θάλασσαν60




















26


another





















27

























28










sources















29












own fleets76
















30








































31
























32

















outnumbered them84




Illyrian pirates










33













Mothonaeans86
















34














more valuable cargo








35

















36


























37
























38



















during this period







World 22

39






























40






















41

























42












spring122





aid











laws regarding that

43





Ῥοδίοις124























44

























45




















46























47


























48





















49







warfare154

















50




to pirates




















51




















engagements164



52




















εἶναι168






53






















54





























55

























56


























57







58



























59


























60
























61





















62






















63






















64






























65






















66








War


























67



























68





































69




















economy










70

















groups








71

























of an army238






72



was concluded
































73





























74
























75































76



arrangement




















77







pirates258


78



























79
























80




















81











As stated by Cicero
















82
























83






















282 Avidov 17 283 MRR 2 148-149

84










allies)285












85

















accomplish289








86























87





























88

































89
























90





















Romans



91


























warfare

92



















been in centuries



93









funding for patrols



common

94











periods











95






















96

























97
























98









piracy326













99






















100













is now









331 Uzer 1

101





















102























103

























104














105

Conclusion





















106










global solution













overcome it

107














become

108

Appendix


109


110

Figure 3 - Cilicia

111


112

Bibliography

Primary Sources













Press 1944


Press 1976



2006


113


Press 1967














1999


Press 1998






114




Press 1928


Press 1930










1968


Sons 1912






115





1971







Press 2003


Exchange Ltd 2001









116





Secondary Sources




(May 2016)



3512e1db54



2004




no 1 (1997) 5-55



117








18 no 4 (February 1909) 223-242





Praeger 2007










2007

118






Press 1911










1999







119











4 (1978) 1-16


London 1987





573ndash593




120



3 (July 2008) 690-699






in Rome vol 36 (1980) 117-140




MIT Press 2009











121






no 21 (1921) 1038-1042





Press 2012





University 2012





vol 6 (1990) 127ndash150


122
















Chr Berlin 1993


Athens vol 79 (1984) 229-235


1991



335

123


Oxford 1941













1960









124


2012






9 no 2 (2013) 17




Hamburg 1929

Piracy: Lessons From the Past

Documents

Transcript of Piracy: Lessons From the Past