Cultures > Cilician Pirates

Cilician Pirates

Background

The Cilician Pirates were notorious maritime raiders who operated in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in the region of Cilicia on the southern coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), during the late Hellenistic period and early Roman era. Their activities had significant economic, political, and social impacts on the ancient Mediterranean world.

Origins and Geography

Cilicia:

• Cilicia is a region in southeastern Asia Minor, bordered by the Taurus Mountains to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its rugged coastline, with numerous hidden coves and inlets, provided ideal conditions for piracy.

Rise of Piracy:

• The decline of strong central powers in the region, such as the Hellenistic kingdoms, and the increasing instability during the late Hellenistic period created an environment conducive to piracy. Cilicia became a base for various pirate groups.

Activities and Impact

Pirate Operations:

• The Cilician Pirates engaged in extensive maritime raids, targeting merchant ships, coastal towns, and islands throughout the eastern Mediterranean. They captured ships, looted cargo, and took hostages for ransom.
• They also engaged in slave trading, capturing people during their raids and selling them in slave markets. This was a highly lucrative aspect of their operations.

Economic Disruption:

• The pirates' activities severely disrupted trade routes and economic stability in the region. They preyed on the rich commercial traffic between major trading hubs like Rome, Alexandria, and the cities of Asia Minor and the Levant.

Political and Social Influence:

• The Cilician Pirates became powerful enough to influence local politics. They formed alliances with various regional powers, including local rulers and even some Roman officials who benefitted from their activities.
• Their operations contributed to widespread insecurity and instability in the Mediterranean, leading to increased calls for intervention and control.

Roman Response

Early Roman Efforts:

• The Roman Republic initially struggled to control the pirate menace. Efforts to suppress piracy were sporadic and often ineffective, partly due to the complexity of the political situation and the pirates' formidable naval capabilities.

Pompey’s Campaign:

• The most decisive action against the Cilician Pirates came under the command of the Roman general Pompey the Great. In 67 BCE, the Lex Gabinia granted Pompey extraordinary powers to combat the pirates.
• Pompey organized a large-scale, systematic campaign, dividing the Mediterranean into sectors and deploying a fleet to each area. Within three months, he had significantly reduced pirate activity, capturing or destroying many pirate ships and fortresses.
• Pompey also offered clemency to captured pirates, resettling them in inland areas where they could become productive citizens, which helped to undermine the pirate network.

Legacy

End of Major Pirate Threat:

• Pompey’s successful campaign effectively ended the large-scale threat posed by the Cilician Pirates, restoring security to Mediterranean trade routes and enhancing Rome's control over the region.

Historical Significance:

• The campaign against the Cilician Pirates is often cited as a key moment in the consolidation of Roman naval power and control over the Mediterranean, which the Romans referred to as "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea).
• The suppression of piracy also facilitated the expansion and stabilization of the Roman Empire, allowing for greater economic integration and the movement of goods, people, and ideas.

Cultural Impact:

• The Cilician Pirates have been depicted in various historical and literary works, illustrating the perennial struggle between maritime lawlessness and state control in ancient times. Their story highlights the challenges of maintaining security and order in the complex and interconnected world of the ancient Mediterranean.

The Cilician Pirates, through their audacious activities and the subsequent Roman response, played a significant role in shaping the political and economic landscape of the Mediterranean during a critical period of transition from the Hellenistic world to the Roman Empire.

Sources

Plutarch, Vita Pompeii 24.7-8., 24.5.

R. Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire, Blackwell, 1996; pp. 201–203

The History of Rome, Book IV by Theodor Mommsen

The Decline of the Roman Republic, by George Long

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.

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.