Editing Piracy (section)

====Antiquity====

{{Further|Ancient Mediterranean piracy}}
[[File:Romtrireme.jpg|thumb|A [[mosaic]] of a [[Trireme|Roman trireme]] in Tunisia]]
The earliest documented instances of piracy are the exploits of the [[Sea People]]s who threatened the ships sailing in the Aegean and Mediterranean waters in the 14th century BC. In [[classical antiquity]], the [[Phoenicia]]ns, [[Illyrians]] and [[Tyrrhenians]] were known as pirates. In the pre-classical era, the [[ancient Greeks]] condoned piracy as a viable profession; it apparently was widespread and "regarded as an entirely honourable way of making a living".<ref name=mol>Møller, Bjørn. "Piracy, Maritime Terrorism and Naval Strategy." Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, November 16, 2008. 10.</ref> References are made to its perfectly normal occurrence in many texts including in Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'', and abduction of women and children to be sold into slavery was common. By the era of [[Classical Greece]], piracy was looked upon as a "disgrace" to have as a profession.<ref name=mol/><ref>[[Thucydides]] wrote: "For in early times the Hellenes and the barbarians of the coast and islands, as communication by sea became more common, were tempted to turn pirate...indeed, this came to be the main source of their livelihood, no disgrace being yet attached to such an achievement, but even some glory."</ref>

In the 3rd century BC, pirate attacks on [[Olympus (Lycia)|Olympus]] in [[Lycia]] brought impoverishment. Among some of the most famous ancient pirateering peoples were the Illyrians, a people populating the western Balkan peninsula. Constantly raiding the [[Adriatic Sea]], the Illyrians caused many conflicts with the [[Roman Republic]]. It was not until 229 BC when the Romans decisively beat the Illyrian fleets that their threat was ended.<ref name="WardHeichelheim2016">{{cite book|author1=Allen M. Ward|author2=Fritz M. Heichelheim|author3=Cedric A. Yeo|title=History of the Roman People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Q83DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|date= 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-51120-7|page=100}}</ref> During the 1st century BC, there were pirate states along the Anatolian coast, threatening the commerce of the [[Roman Empire]] in the eastern Mediterranean. On one voyage across the [[Aegean Sea]] in 75&nbsp;BC,<ref>Again, according to Suetonius's chronology (''Julius'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#4 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226081027/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius%2A.html#4 |date=December 26, 2022 }}). Plutarch (''Caesar'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#1.8 1.8–2] {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20180213130122/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/caesar%2A.html#1.8 |date=February 13, 2018 }}) says this happened earlier, on his return from Nicomedes's court. Velleius Paterculus (''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2B*.html#41.3 2:41.3–42] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731043323/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2B%2A.html#41.3 |date=July 31, 2022 }} says merely that it happened when he was a young man.</ref> [[Julius Caesar]] was kidnapped and briefly held by [[Cilician]] pirates and held prisoner in the [[Dodecanese]] islet of [[Pharmacusa]].<ref>Plutarch, ''Caesar'' 1–2.</ref> The Senate invested the general [[Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]] with powers to deal with piracy in 67&nbsp;BC (the ''[[Lex Gabinia]]''), and Pompey, after three months of naval warfare, [[Pompey#Campaign against the pirates|managed to suppress the threat]].

As early as 258&nbsp;AD, the [[Goths|Gothic]]-[[Heruli]]c fleet ravaged towns on the coasts of the [[Black Sea]] and [[Sea of Marmara]]. The Aegean coast suffered similar attacks a few years later. In 264, the Goths reached [[Galatia]] and [[Cappadocia]], and Gothic pirates landed on Cyprus and [[Crete]]. In the process, the Goths seized enormous booty and took thousands into captivity.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} In 286&nbsp;AD, [[Carausius]], a Roman military commander of Gaulish origins, was appointed to command the ''[[Classis Britannica]]'', and given the responsibility of eliminating [[Franks|Frankish]] and [[Saxon]] pirates who had been raiding the coasts of [[Armorica]] and Belgic [[Gaul]]. In the Roman province of Britannia, [[Saint Patrick]] was captured and enslaved by Irish pirates.