Studies In Piracy In The Ancient Greek World

Piracy goes through the whole history of ancient Greece, and can be found all over the Mediterranean world. In terms of time and scale, piracy had been a part of the ancient Greek history.Pirates can be defined as armed robbers whose activities normally involves the use of ships. The coasts of the ancient Greek world are peculiarly favourable to the development of piracy, and make the pirates' business to be particularly profitable. Normally, a light build is one of necessities in the pirate boat.In the pro-city-state period, pirating is just a kind of occupation, as same as farmers and fishermen. Pirates are even respected as heroes. This is the distinctive feature of pirate in this period. In the city-state period, pirates are no longer heroes. The scale of piracy becomes wider. Piracy has become a part of warfare and the main way of revenge. Hostiles always rob each other to weaken the other side's strength. During this period, however, suppressing piracy became an important political issue. In the Hellenistic period, there were a great deal more variety among the various pirates. Such as camp followers , slave merchants. And pirates profit from their activities. As the scale of piracy spreads widely, the suppression of piracy also spreads all over the Mediterranean world.