Ancient pirates were awesome. If you haven't read much about it, check out my post from yesterday.
Plutarch tells that, in 75 B.C.E., a 25-years-old Julius Caesar was captured by Cilician pirates, and they demanded a ramson of 20 talents (1,300 pounds) of silver for his release. Caesar, by then a private citizen, complained that this amount wasn't high enough (!) and insisted that the pirates double their demand. As you might have guessed, they happily agreed to.
The sum took 38 days to arrive and, during this time, Caesar seemed to enjoy his time with the pirates: he joined their games, wrote poetry and threatened to hang and have them crucified - but the men assumed it was a joke. But it wasn't. Soon after his release, Caesar came back with a Roman fleet and fought against the pirates, who were, in the end, crucified.
So what do we learn from this? That you don't mess with a future Roman emperor. He doesn't know "parley"!
Plutarch tells that, in 75 B.C.E., a 25-years-old Julius Caesar was captured by Cilician pirates, and they demanded a ramson of 20 talents (1,300 pounds) of silver for his release. Caesar, by then a private citizen, complained that this amount wasn't high enough (!) and insisted that the pirates double their demand. As you might have guessed, they happily agreed to.
The sum took 38 days to arrive and, during this time, Caesar seemed to enjoy his time with the pirates: he joined their games, wrote poetry and threatened to hang and have them crucified - but the men assumed it was a joke. But it wasn't. Soon after his release, Caesar came back with a Roman fleet and fought against the pirates, who were, in the end, crucified.
So what do we learn from this? That you don't mess with a future Roman emperor. He doesn't know "parley"!
~Ally