The History of Piracy and Navigation. Dr. Suk Kyoon Kim
Mediterranean was cleared of pirates for the first time throughout history, and shipping was prosperous again. The Roman marketplaces were full of foods and grains from various regions across the Mediterranean, and the price of goods stabilized. The Mediterranean enjoyed peace and security free from the pirate threat for another four centuries until the collapse of the West Roman Empire. When Pompey returned to Rome in triumph, Romans cheered tremendously for his brilliant campaigns. Pompey became a national hero and this led him to his second consulship.
Julius Caesar and Pirates
Young Caesar worked as a lawyer as well as a prosecutor. Caesar was engaged in the impeachment of a key aide to Sulla (138–78 B.C.), a general as well as politician who had risen to consulship twice and ruled Rome under a dictatorship. Caesar failed to impeach him and consequently he became a target of the Sulla faction. The young Caesar, at the age of 24, opted to go abroad to save himself from the threat. His choice was Rhodes, a Greek island off the Anatolian coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), which was an intellectual capital alongside Athens.
Rhodes at the time was the hub of trade as well. Its wealth and power might be well demonstrated by the Colossus of Rhodes, a gigantic statue erected in commemoration of victory over a battle with Macedonia in 290 B.C. The statue, whose height was up to 34 meters (equivalent of the Statue of Liberty from the feet to the crown), collapsed during the earthquake of 226 B.C. and was taken apart by Saracens who invaded the island in 653. Rhodes also held a significant position in terms of the evolution of the law of the sea. Rhodes was the center in the evolution of the law of the sea, particularly in terms of settling maritime and trade disputes. The early customary law of the sea is called the ‘Rhodesian Sea Law.’ The principle of freedom of navigation today was established through the Rhodesian Sea Law.
Young Caesar sought a refuge in Rhodes, in the name of studying abroad. On the way to Rhodes, the ship that he was aboard was seized by Cilician pirates in 75 B.C. Pompey’s massive counter-pirate campaign was still 10 years away, so piracy was still rampant in the area. When the pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents, the equivalent of annual salaries for 4,300 soldiers at the time, Caesar began to laugh loudly. If he could not afford to pay the ransom, he would have been sold into slavery or been killed. In this midst of this crisis, Caesar came up with a clever ruse. Hoping to buy time, he offered to pay 50 talents, implying that he was worth a much higher ransom if only the pirates could be patient.
The pirates were fascinated by his offer. They thought that there would be nothing to lose for them, except a delay in ransom payment, and besides, they could always execute him if it turned out he wasn’t worth keeping alive. Caesar sent his followers to raise money while he was held hostage with his two servants. The pirates, who believed that they held a son of a wealthy Roman nobleman, were excited about the enormous ransom. During his captivity, Caesar laughingly told them he would have them all crucified once he was released – thinking this a good joke, the pirates laughed along with him.
For 40 days, until his followers came back with the ransom that he had offered, he stalled for time and lived among the pirates. As soon as he paid it and was set free, he rushed to nearby Miletus to prepare attacks on the pirates. Sailing from Miletus, he raided the pirates’ base and captured nearly all of them. Entrusted by the governor of Asia Minor to deal with the pirates, he crucified all of them, as he had promised. After two years in Rhodes, Caesar came back to Roman politics. Caesar’s support for granting imperium to his rival Pompey might have been derived from his bitter firsthand experience with the pirates.
Chapter 3
Mediterranean Pirates After
the Collapse of the Roman Empire
Introduction
This chapter deals with Saracen pirates who dominated the Mediterranean after the collapse of the West Roman Empire, commonly referred to as the Roman Empire. But before discussing the Saracen pirates who looted the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian Peninsula while Muslims ruled the Middle and Near East and North Africa, we first need to know about the late Roman Empire and its decline. Moving straight into the era of Muslims and Saracen pirates without understating the late Roman Empire would only provide a partial understanding of what led to their rise.
Any particular historical event is a result of the interaction of numerous complicated factors throughout a long history. The appearance of Saracen pirates is also a historical event brought by a power vacuum after the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is often considered to be synonymous with ancient European history itself.
Saracen pirates were totally different in nature from previous Mediterranean pirates. Piracy before the collapse of the Roman Empire was an internal problem of the Roman Empire, and in many cases, these were Christian pirates attacking other Christians. However, in the Mediterranean which came under Muslim control, Muslims from North Africa attacked the Italian Peninsula and the Christians under the rule of the Byzantine Empire.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The brilliant history of the Roman Empire over a millennium ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. The Eastern Roman Empire, based in the capital of Constantinople, would continue to exist until the city was captured by Osman Turks in 1453. The Byzantine Empire, built on the Greek Orthodox religion and Byzantine culture, was a totally different empire from the Western Roman Empire. In this sense, the Roman Empire is widely considered to have ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
The territory of the Roman Empire at its height extended to Spain in the west, Asia Minor and the Near East in the east, and North Africa in the south. Extending north into modern-day Europe, the Rhine River to the west and the Danube River to the east had served as the frontlines of the empire over several hundred years. Romans built military posts along the frontlines and stationed troops to defend them. The frontlines were not only defense lines, but also boundary lines which divided the land between what Romans considered ‘civilization’ and the lands inhabited by tribal peoples. The Roman Empire was a civilized society where people enjoyed economic prosperity, academics, and arts flourished, and the value of individuals under the rule of law was highly regarded. By a stark contrast, beyond the frontlines, there was a barbaric world which had remained tribal states and eked out a living from aggressive actions and sackings.
For Romans, it was vital to formulate laws and institutions which could be universally applied to various nations with different cultures, ethnicity and religions under their rule. Besides, it was also essential to build traffic networks to connect Rome with its provinces across several continents. The Roman roads, built initially for military purposes, enabled the rule of the emperor to reach every corner of its territory, and at the same time, any event that happened across the provinces could be reported swiftly to the emperor in Rome. As the saying goes: “all roads lead to Rome.” The Roman roads operated like a body’s nervous system, allowing troops to move swiftly in the event of rebellions in the provinces or the aggressive actions of barbarians across the frontlines.
In the period of the “five good emperors” (96–180), the Roman Empire enjoyed its most majestic days. The political situation remained stable, the economy prospered, and the empire’s territorial reach was at its height. The empire’s defenses were so secure that barbarians could not attempt to cross the frontlines. The values of Rome were regarded as universal. The era of Pax Romana, which meant peace or order established by Romans, was at hand.
Following a period of peace and expansion during the rule of the five good emperors, the Roman Empire entered its so-called ‘Crisis of the Third Century.’ After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (120–180), a number of unqualified rulers ascended to the throne. Throughout this period, several proclaimed themselves emperor simultaneously, setting off a series of assassinations. Concurrently, rebellions in Palmyra (an ancient city in what is now Syria) and Gaul (mainly modern-day France and Belgium) broke out. The Roman Empire was challenged by the largest crisis it had faced since its foundation. Meanwhile,