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Ancient Mediterranean piracy
Piracy in the ancient Mediterranean has a long documented history, from the Late Bronze Age. The classical historian Janice Gabbert proclaimed “The eastern Mediterranean has been plagued by piracy since the first dawn of history.”〔Gabbert, Janice J. "Piracy in the Early Hellenistic Period: A Career Open to Talents", ''Greece & Rome'' 33.2) (October 1986)): 156-63.〕 Though its prehistory is ambiguously differentiated from trade, this period in history marked the earliest documented wave of piracy.
==Origins==
The roots of the word “piracy” come from the ancient Greek πειράομαι, or ''peiráomai'', meaning “attempt;” i.e. an attempt to rob for personal gain. This morphed into πειρατής, or ''peiratēs'', meaning “brigand,” and from that to the Latin ''pirata'', where we get the modern English word ''pirate''.〔DeSouza, Philip. ''Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.〕
A number of geographic and economic characteristics of the classical world produced an environment practically necessitating piracy. First of all, “The coasts of the Mediterranean are particularly favourable to the development of piracy.”〔Ormerod, Henry Arderne. ''Piracy in the ancient world: an essay in Mediterranean history''. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.〕 The barren, rocky shoreline was not suitable for large scale agriculture and could not support a large population. Therefore, most villages were small and of humble means. Being coastal villages, the primary method of support came from fishing, so most of the able-bodied men had boats, seafaring skills, and navigational knowledge. When fishing wasn’t enough, many men turned to highway robbery and raids of nearby territories to support themselves. However, land trade routes were few and far between, given mountainous obstacles and few rivers. Therefore, most nations deemed “the principal lines of communication should be by sea, and the bulk of commerce should be carried by the same routes.”〔Ormerod, 15.〕
In the early days of maritime navigation, most trade vessels hugged the coasts. “Traffic was restricted to fixed lanes in a way impossible on the open ocean.”〔Semple, Ellen Churchill. '"Pirate Coasts of the Mediterranean Sea". ''Geographical Review'' 2.2 (August 1916): 134-51. 135.〕 The ''naukleroi'', or ship-owning merchantmen, moved slowly along established trade routes with their heavy burdens weighing them down. Imagine a fisherman-raider seeing treasure-laden trade ships passing the shores he knows like no one else, day after day. With the motivation and the means to do so, it wasn’t hard for coastal natives to apply themselves to sea-robbery. They brought a thief’s mindset to the sea and simply changing their method of thievery. “The pirate was the robber of the sea highways: and the highways of the Mediterranean were well-defined and well-traveled.”〔Semple, 135.〕
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