When Julius Caesar Was Kidnapped By Pirates, He Demanded They Increase His Ransom

In 75 BCE, Julius Caesar was captured by Cilician pirates, who infested the Mediterranean sea. The Romans had never sent a navy against them, because the pirates offered the Roman senators slaves, which they needed for their plantations in Italy. As a consequence, piracy was common.While the Romans were collecting money, Caesar played games with the pirates, read poems to them, sang songs, and treated them as his subjects. However, despite such a friendly attitude, he warned them that once he was free, he would return to punish them. It seems that the pirates didn’t believe him but Caesar kept his word — when he was bought out, he gathered his fleet, came back to the island he was kept at, executed the pirates, and took his silver and the other treasures the pirates had.