Cilician pirates dominated the Mediterranean Sea from the 2nd century BC until their speedy suppression by Pompey in 67-66 BC. Although there were notorious pirate strongholds in Cilicia, Cilician had long been a generic term for pirates.
The next major infestation of and danger from pirates came from Cilicia, located between present-day Syria and Armenia. Since the pirates supplied much needed slaves, many Roman ports welcomed the Cilicians and their plunder. The demand for slaves became so great that small piratical bands began to work together to supply captives of all ages and sexes. Finally, the towns from which these citizens were taken offered to pay the pirates to protect against such raids. The Cilicians often accepted the money, but didn’t always cease their attacks.
Tarkondimotos was a feared Cilician pirate before being made dynast by Pompey and crowned king by Marc Antony in 39 BC (hence the added name of Philantonius). He died in the sea battle of Actium.
Pirates were the scourge of the ancient Mediterranean and the Lycian coast justly gained the reputation as the "Pirate Coast". This coast is dotted with many strategically placed coves and islands where the sea-raiders would hide themselves and pounce upon the many heavily-laden merchant ships sailing by. Numerous efforts were continually necessary to clean up the coast from as early as 1194 BC until it was cleared in the 19th century.
The most famous pirates of the ancient world were the Cilician pirates, based on what is now the southeast coast of Turkey. The Cilicians managed to control much of the eastern Mediterranean during the first century BC, a time when the Roman republic was wracked by civil war.
The main trade of the pirates was slavery. Roman merchants bought the most slaves. Roman land owners held large plantations worked by slaves. Sicily was notorious for its slave plantations owned by Romans.
By the 1st century BC, what began as a nuisance became a plague on the Mediterranean commerce. The Cilician pirates roamed across the entire Mediterranean, and began to attack the towns of Italy itself. In fact, even Ostia was plundered.
Eventually, Rome took action. In 75 BC, P. Servilius Isauricus led a campaign over land against the pirate bases in Cilicia and against their allies the Isauri. But this was only a temporary relief.
Finally, after heated debate, Pompey was granted extraordinary powers to eliminate the Cilician pirates. Pompey divided the Mediterranean into thirteen districts, to each of which he assigned a fleet and a commander. Pompey then swept through the western Mediterranean with his own powerful fleet, driving the pirates out or into the paths of his other commanders. By keeping vigilance over all the sea at the same time (and at great cost), there was nowhere to run or hide. Those Cilician pirates that did escape fled to the eastern Mediterranean. Pompey completed this first part of his campaign in 40 days.
Pompey then turned to the eastern Mediterranean. He gave mild terms to those pirates who surrendered to him personally, as opposed to his other commanders. Some pirates surrendered their ships, their families and themselves up to Pompey. From these, he learned about where others were hiding. Many pirates retreated to their strongholds of Asia Minor, where they gathered and waited for Pompey to attack them. At Coracesium Pompey won a decisive victory and blockaded the town. The Cilician pirates surrendered all their harbors and fortified islands. The Romans took the wealth the pirates had collected, and released many of their prisoners, whom the pirates intended to ransom; other prisoners were sold into slavery. Strabo writes that Pompey destroyed 1300 pirate vessels of all sizes.
Pompey spared numerous Cilician pirates who had been taken prisoner, realizing that many had been driven to such recourse by desperation. Those who surrendered were settled in various parts of the southern coast of Asia Minor, where the population was sparse. Settlements were created at Mallus, Adana, and Epiphaneia in Cilicia. Many were settled at Soli, which was thereafter called Pompeiopolis.
The eastern campaign lasted 49 days. In total, Pompey's campaign removed the Cilician pirates, who had held a stranglehold on Mediterranean commerce and threatened Rome with famine, in a mere 89 days, the summer of 66 BC.
