In ancient times, there were a group of seamen who robbed ships while at sea. They commited acts of violence and depredation against other vessels on the seas outside the jurisdiction of a state. These were pirates!
Pirates became popular villains of many books and movies alike most especially after the success of the Disney trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean starring Johnny Depp. However, the real pirates of the past were not as suave as Jack Sparrow. They were robbers and terrorists who victimize other sailing ships for goods and even the stealing the vessel itself. They even resort to violence and killing just to get their loot.
The first evidence of piracy in history was a documentation of the exploits of Aegean and Mediterranean pirates in 13th century BC. Eventually these pirates became so powerful that they were able to create their own pirate nation in Cilicia which at present is a part of Turkey. Another powerful group of pirates in earlier times were the Vikings who spread terror along the coastlines of Europe. Subsequently, pirates were defined according to the level of terrorism and destruction they create and the areas where they commit their crimes They are:
- Pirates – robbers who steal from other ships at sea.
- Privateers – captains of ships who attack and capture other ships for their valuables. They were robbers with a license because the government gave them permission to pillage other ships from other nations.
- Corsairs – French privateers who terrorize the South Mediterranean Seas.
- Sea Robbers – do not belong to any group or under any government; they simply capture and rob other ships for themselves.
- Ruthless Robbers – considered as the cruelest pirates of all, they rob and kill all their victims.
- Buccaneers – a group of pirates from Holland, England and France who terrorized the Caribbean seas and used the “boucans,” Indian special knives as weapons.
The Golden Age of Piracy was the time between the years 1519 and 1780 which saw the rise of the most prominent pirates in history. One of these was the infamous “Blackbeard” Edward Teach and his crew who terrorized the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Seas from 1716 to 1718. Other well known pirates in history were Anicetus (first known leader of pirates from Pontus), Samuel Bellamy (captain of the pirate ship Whydah), Thomas Cavendish (first pirate to circumnavigate the globe), William “Captain” Kidd, and “Black Bart” Bartholomew Roberts who was considered to be the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy.
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