only his own ship to attack vessels, he was considered a pirate. But
because Alexander used a mighty army and navy for similar purposes,
he was hailed as a great leader. Diomedes concluded by saying that
he didn’t know which of the two men was the greater criminal but
that if he had Alexander’s resources, he would be an emperor as well.
Alexander was allegedly so impressed by the pirate’s boldness that he
let Diomedes go.
TARGET ROME
Pirates also preyed on ancient Rome, based in what became modern-
day Italy. In the early 60s BCE, a band of pirates from Cilicia (an
ancient kingdom in what became modern-day Turkey) began hijacking
Cilician cargo ships, especially slow-moving ships filled with grain
bound for Rome. In 67 BCE, they set fire to the Roman port of Ostia
and looted inland villages. Roman leaders were alarmed and demanded
a counterattack.
The Roman Senate directed General Gnaeus Pompeius (known
as Pompey) to lead the charge against the pirates. Securing Rome’s
grain supply—a major source of food for the empire—was
Pompey’s first priority. He concentrated his naval forces in the
western Mediterranean, in areas that provided Rome with much of
its grain and other food sources. Pompey’s forces surrounded the
Cilician pirates and easily captured them in just a few months.
After the Roman Empire fell in the fifth century CE, overseas trade
declined on the Mediterranean Sea. Piracy declined there as well.
PILLAGERS FROM THE NORTH
From the late 700s to about 1100, sailors from Scandinavia
(modern-day Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) traveled around
Europe via rivers and seas. Known in modern times as Vikings, they
conquered territory; raided villages; and stole silver, gold, and other
valuables from ships.
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SCOURGE OF THE SEAS
