ABOUT PIRATES

Pirates, are those who committed robbery at the sea, or sometimes on shore without commission from a nation.

The English " pirate" is derived from the Latin word pirata and that from Greek (peirates) " brigand", 1. ultimately from peira " attempt experiance" 2. implicitly to find luck on the sea. The word is also cognate to peril. In the 17th and 18th century sources the word is often rendered "pyrate". However, the term does not exclusively relate to robbery committed at sea, as other similar origins have a broader definition.

according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, consists of any criminal acts of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passenger of any a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on the board a ship or aircraft. Piracy can also be committed against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state.

One of the oldest documents describing pirates dates back to Pharo Echnaton (1350 BC). The report mentions notorious free lance Mediterranean shipping attacks in North Africa.

Greek merchants who were trading with ports in Phoenicia and Anatolia occasionally allude in to piracy, a classic by-product of such trading activity. There is epigraphic evidence for piracy as well.

: In the 340s Athens honored Cleomis, tyrant of Athenians captured by pirates.

: The Aethiopica one of the ancient Greek novel by Heliodorus of Emesa (3rd century AD) tells the story of an Ethipioan princess and a Thessalian prince who undergo a series of perils (battles, voyages, piracy, abductions, robbery, and torture) before their eventual happy marriage in the heroine's homeland.

: Polycrates (Greek tyrant) seized control of the city of Samos during a celebration of a festival of Hera outside the city walls. After eliminating his established despotism, and ships from his 100-vessel fleet committed acts of piracy that made him notorious.