Cilician pirates
Encyclopedia
The Cilicia
n pirates
dominated the Mediterranean Sea
from the 2nd century BC up until their speedy suppression by Pompey
(67-66
BC). Although there were notorious pirate strongholds in Cilicia, Cilician had long been a term for pirates.
, and Ptolemaic Egypt
on the wane, there was no strong naval power left in the Mediterranean. Rome was the only major Mediterranean power left, but by this time her navy was reduced and Rome relied on hiring ships as necessity required. Rome only protected the Tyrrhenian
and Adriatic seas, on account of their proximity, with expeditions sent against the pirate bases on the Liguria
n and Illyria
n coast. The Balearic Isles were cleared in 120 BC for the same purpose.
As a result, the pirates became consolidated and organized. The smaller communities of the Greek and African waters were left to make their own arrangements. Communities unable to fend off the pirate incursions were forced to make an understanding with the pirates, and thus became havens.
Crete
at this time was still an independent Greek territory. Civil wars had devastated the land, and much of the population turned to piracy. Crete became a major haven for piracy, with its strategic position in the midst of the Mediterranean and because it did not fall under the control of any of the Mediterranean empires.
Cilicia
was the other major pirate refuge. Like Crete, Cilicia enjoyed excellent natural harbor
s which geography rendered easily defensible. The Seleucids were too weak to suppress them, and Diodotus Tryphon
, king of the Seleucid Empire from 142
-138 BC
, actually supported them, in order to strengthen his position.
Around 140 BC
, Rome sent Scipio Aemilianus to assess the situation. Scipio Aemilianus reported that the governments of the region were too weak or unwilling to settle the issue. Rome at this time was unwilling to spend the effort needed to reduce the Cilician pirates, perhaps because of the benefits piracy afforded the Romans.
Consequently, the pirates remained the only considerable naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean. They eventually had bases all throughout the Mediterranean.
. Roman merchants bought the most slaves. Roman land owners held large plantation
s worked by slaves. Sicily was notorious for its slave plantations owned by Romans.
Delos
became the center of the Mediterranean slave market; other markets included those of Rhodes
and Alexandria
. At its heyday, a 100,000 slaves passed through its markets in a single day. With the plantations came a harsher system of slavery and greater demand. Western Asia
was the main supply, and was reduced by piracy and Roman tax farmers.
Eventually, Rome took action. In 75 BC
, P. Servilius Isauricus led a campaign over land against the pirate bases in Cilicia and against their allies the Isauri. But this was only a temporary relief.
Finally, after heated debate, Pompey was granted extraordinary powers to eliminate the Cilician pirates. Pompey divided the Mediterranean into thirteen districts, to each of which he assigned a fleet and a commander. Pompey then swept through the western Mediterranean with his own powerful fleet, driving the pirates out or into the paths of his other commanders. By keeping vigilance over all the sea at the same time (and at great cost), there was nowhere to run or hide. Those Cilician pirates that did escape fled to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey completed this first part of his campaign in 40 days.
Pompey then turned to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey gave mild terms to those pirates who surrendered to him personally, as opposed to his other commanders. Some pirates surrendered their ships, and their families and themselves up to Pompey. From these, Pompey learned about where others were hiding. Many pirates retreated to their strongholds of Asia Minor. The pirates gathered and waited for Pompey to attack them at Coracesium. Pompey won a decisive victory and blockaded the town. The Cilician pirates surrendered all their harbors and fortified islands. The Romans took the wealth the pirates had collected, and released many of their prisoners, whom the pirates intended to ransom, other prisoners were sold into slavery. Strabo
writes that Pompey destroyed 1300 pirate vessels of all sizes.
Pompey spared numerous Cilician pirates who had been taken prisoner, realizing many had been driven to such recourse by desperation. Those who surrendered were settled into various parts of the southern coast of Asia Minor, where the population was sparse. Settlements were created at Mallus
, Adana
, and Epiphaneia in Cilicia
. Many were settled at Soli
, which was thereafter called Pompeiopolis.
The eastern campaign lasted 49 days. In total, Pompey's campaign removed the Cilician pirates, who had held a stranglehold on Mediterranean commerce and imperiled Rome with famine
, in a mere 89 days, the summer of 66 BC
.
, the renegade Roman general, was driven from Hispania
, he fell in with Cilician pirates who were using the Balearic Islands
as a base. After they were driven out by a Roman fleet, Sertorius went to Africa and fought against them, where they were helping to reinstall a tyrant to the throne of Tingis
.
, Julius Caesar
returned to Rome as a lawyer, prosecuted Sulla's supporters, and headed to the Greek town of Rhodes
to study oratory. Pirates seized control of the vessel in 75 BC
, kidnapped Caesar, and held him for ransom
. Caesar was insulted at the ransom demand, which was insultingly low, and promised to crucify
the pirates after he was free. At his insistence, the pirates raised the ransom demand to a level in accordance with his station: his friends quickly raised the sum. After his freedom was purchased, he assembled a small army, which captured the pirates and crucified them.
According to Plutarch
, the Cilician pirates were the first to celebrate the mysteries of Mithras. When some of these were resettled in Apulia
by Pompey, they might have brought the religion with them, thus sowing the seeds of what would in the latter part of the 1st century AD blossom into Roman Mithraism
. (See R. Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire, Blackwell, 1996; pages 201-203.)
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
n pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
dominated the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
from the 2nd century BC up until their speedy suppression by Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
(67-66
66
Year 66 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Telesinus and Paullinus...
BC). Although there were notorious pirate strongholds in Cilicia, Cilician had long been a term for pirates.
Rise of piracy
With the destruction of the Ancient Carthage, the demise of the Seleucid EmpireSeleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
, and Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter invaded Egypt and declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to...
on the wane, there was no strong naval power left in the Mediterranean. Rome was the only major Mediterranean power left, but by this time her navy was reduced and Rome relied on hiring ships as necessity required. Rome only protected the Tyrrhenian
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
and Adriatic seas, on account of their proximity, with expeditions sent against the pirate bases on the Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
n and Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
n coast. The Balearic Isles were cleared in 120 BC for the same purpose.
As a result, the pirates became consolidated and organized. The smaller communities of the Greek and African waters were left to make their own arrangements. Communities unable to fend off the pirate incursions were forced to make an understanding with the pirates, and thus became havens.
Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
at this time was still an independent Greek territory. Civil wars had devastated the land, and much of the population turned to piracy. Crete became a major haven for piracy, with its strategic position in the midst of the Mediterranean and because it did not fall under the control of any of the Mediterranean empires.
Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
was the other major pirate refuge. Like Crete, Cilicia enjoyed excellent natural harbor
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
s which geography rendered easily defensible. The Seleucids were too weak to suppress them, and Diodotus Tryphon
Diodotus Tryphon
Diodotus Tryphon was king of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom. As a general of the army, he promoted the claims of Antiochus VI Dionysus, the infant son of Alexander Balas, in Antioch after Alexander's death, but then in 142 deposed the child and himself seized power in Coele-Syria where Demetrius...
, king of the Seleucid Empire from 142
142 BC
Year 142 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvus and Servilianus...
-138 BC
138 BC
Year 138 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Serapio and Callaicus...
, actually supported them, in order to strengthen his position.
Around 140 BC
140 BC
Year 140 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sapiens and Caepio...
, Rome sent Scipio Aemilianus to assess the situation. Scipio Aemilianus reported that the governments of the region were too weak or unwilling to settle the issue. Rome at this time was unwilling to spend the effort needed to reduce the Cilician pirates, perhaps because of the benefits piracy afforded the Romans.
Consequently, the pirates remained the only considerable naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean. They eventually had bases all throughout the Mediterranean.
Slave trade
The main trade of the pirates was slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. Roman merchants bought the most slaves. Roman land owners held large plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s worked by slaves. Sicily was notorious for its slave plantations owned by Romans.
Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
became the center of the Mediterranean slave market; other markets included those of Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
and Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. At its heyday, a 100,000 slaves passed through its markets in a single day. With the plantations came a harsher system of slavery and greater demand. Western Asia
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
was the main supply, and was reduced by piracy and Roman tax farmers.
Rome and the pirates
By the 1st century BC, what began as a trickle was a plague on the Mediterranean commerce. The Cilician pirates roamed across the entire Mediterranean, and began to attack the towns of Italy itself. In fact, even Ostia was plundered.Eventually, Rome took action. In 75 BC
75 BC
Year 75 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Cotta...
, P. Servilius Isauricus led a campaign over land against the pirate bases in Cilicia and against their allies the Isauri. But this was only a temporary relief.
Finally, after heated debate, Pompey was granted extraordinary powers to eliminate the Cilician pirates. Pompey divided the Mediterranean into thirteen districts, to each of which he assigned a fleet and a commander. Pompey then swept through the western Mediterranean with his own powerful fleet, driving the pirates out or into the paths of his other commanders. By keeping vigilance over all the sea at the same time (and at great cost), there was nowhere to run or hide. Those Cilician pirates that did escape fled to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey completed this first part of his campaign in 40 days.
Pompey then turned to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey gave mild terms to those pirates who surrendered to him personally, as opposed to his other commanders. Some pirates surrendered their ships, and their families and themselves up to Pompey. From these, Pompey learned about where others were hiding. Many pirates retreated to their strongholds of Asia Minor. The pirates gathered and waited for Pompey to attack them at Coracesium. Pompey won a decisive victory and blockaded the town. The Cilician pirates surrendered all their harbors and fortified islands. The Romans took the wealth the pirates had collected, and released many of their prisoners, whom the pirates intended to ransom, other prisoners were sold into slavery. Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
writes that Pompey destroyed 1300 pirate vessels of all sizes.
Pompey spared numerous Cilician pirates who had been taken prisoner, realizing many had been driven to such recourse by desperation. Those who surrendered were settled into various parts of the southern coast of Asia Minor, where the population was sparse. Settlements were created at Mallus
Mallus
Mallus or Mallos was an ancient city of Cilicia Campestris lying near the mouth of the Pyramus river, in Anatolia. In ancient times, the city was situated at the mouth of the Pyramus , on a hill opposite Magarsus which served as its port. The district was called from it, Mallotis...
, Adana
Adana
Adana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
, and Epiphaneia in Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
. Many were settled at Soli
Soli
Soli can refer to:* Soli, Cyprus, an ancient city on the island of Cyprus.* Soli, Cilicia, an ancient city in Cilicia, later renamed Pompeiopolis.* Soli, a 10th century name for Tuzla, a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina....
, which was thereafter called Pompeiopolis.
The eastern campaign lasted 49 days. In total, Pompey's campaign removed the Cilician pirates, who had held a stranglehold on Mediterranean commerce and imperiled Rome with famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
, in a mere 89 days, the summer of 66 BC
66 BC
Year 66 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Tullus...
.
Quintus Sertorius
When Quintus SertoriusQuintus Sertorius
Quintus Sertorius was a Roman statesman and general, born in Nursia, in Sabine territory. His brilliance as a military commander was shown most clearly in his battles against Rome for control of Hispania...
, the renegade Roman general, was driven from Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
, he fell in with Cilician pirates who were using the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
as a base. After they were driven out by a Roman fleet, Sertorius went to Africa and fought against them, where they were helping to reinstall a tyrant to the throne of Tingis
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
.
Julius Caesar
When Sulla died in 78 BC78 BC
Year 78 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Catulus...
, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
returned to Rome as a lawyer, prosecuted Sulla's supporters, and headed to the Greek town of Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
to study oratory. Pirates seized control of the vessel in 75 BC
75 BC
Year 75 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Cotta...
, kidnapped Caesar, and held him for ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
. Caesar was insulted at the ransom demand, which was insultingly low, and promised to crucify
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
the pirates after he was free. At his insistence, the pirates raised the ransom demand to a level in accordance with his station: his friends quickly raised the sum. After his freedom was purchased, he assembled a small army, which captured the pirates and crucified them.
Pirate culture
Plutarch recounts a particular custom of the Cilician pirates. When a prisoner of theirs called out he was Roman, the pirates would pretend to be scared and beg for mercy. If the prisoner took the pirate's mockery in earnest, they would dress him in Greek athletic shoes and a toga, that they might not repeat the mistake. After they were satisfied mocking him, they would lower a ladder into the sea, and, wishing him a fortuitous journey, invite him to step off. If the man wouldn't go of his own accord, they would push him overboard.According to Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, the Cilician pirates were the first to celebrate the mysteries of Mithras. When some of these were resettled in Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
by Pompey, they might have brought the religion with them, thus sowing the seeds of what would in the latter part of the 1st century AD blossom into Roman Mithraism
Mithraism
The Mithraic Mysteries were a mystery religion practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to 4th centuries AD. The name of the Persian god Mithra, adapted into Greek as Mithras, was linked to a new and distinctive imagery...
. (See R. Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire, Blackwell, 1996; pages 201-203.)
Further reading
- de Souza, Philip. Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World. Cambridge University Press, 2002. Limited preview online.
- Mattingly, Harold B. "C. Verres and the Pirates." Reprinted in From Coins to History: Selected Numismatic Studies. University of Michigan Press, 2004. Limited preview online.
- Ormerod, H.A. "The Campaigns of Servilius Isauricus against the Pirates." Journal of Roman Studies 12 (1922) 35–56.
- Ward, Allen M. "Caesar and the Pirates." Classical Philology 70 (1975) 267–268.