What the heck is up with all the pirates in the ancient world? It sounds like the Romans struggled with piracy a lot, what with Cilicians and Mamettines rowing about; were they shore-raising pirates or did they just take down ships? It seems like the Caribbean age of piracy was a flash in the pan compared to Mediterranean piracy. Anyone got any good material or theories on the Hyksos/nuragics/boat people?
What Hyksos have to do with piracy? They were nomad Semitic tribes from Palestine, IIRC.
Also don't forget Greeks, they were the primal pirate nation in the Mediterranean during their Dark and Archaic ages.
The thing you've got to understand is that these weren't Pirate Pirates in the sense of the golden age of piracy in the early modern period. Most of these dudes were fishermen who lived in coastal communities, piracy was their way of getting stuff they otherwise would have no access to. Rome pacified the mediterranean primarily by invading and conquering the places that were supplying the pirates, not by creating a navy to constantly patrol the sea.
>>1060029
Well that may be cause you are comparing a timespan of thousands of years with other of just centuries.
>>1060029
>What the heck is up with all the pirates in the ancient world?
Fleet sizes even for major empires were generally a few hundred ships, not nearly enough to patrol the whole sea when all a would-be pirate needs is a boat and a bow and arrow.
>>1060029
From what I've read about Greek piracy (at least in the 5th century) was that it was considered an honorable profession and thus wasn't looked down upon. So why wouldn't you be a pirate if it meant glory and loot?
>>1060387
You're forgetting about slave traders, like the dudes who nabbed Diogenes
