When Was Caesar Kidnapped By Pirates?

Question

When Was Caesar Kidnapped By Pirates?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

Julius Caesar (100 BC-44 BC) in his early days in the times of the Roman Republic which was then dominated by Lucius Cornelius Sulla who had earlier defeated the party led by Caesar's uncle Gaius Marius, had to struggle to establish himself in the political circles.

To develop his gifts of oratory which helped him a lot in his later dealings Caesar decided to travel to the Greek island of Rhodes in 75 BC to study philosophy and oratory under the famous tutor Apollonius Molon who had earlier been the tutor of the celebrated Latin poet and philosopher Cicero. It was while traversing the Aegean Sea that Caesar was captured by pirates from Asia Minor who demanded a considerable amount of gold as ransom for his release.

According to accounts Caesar never lost his poise in captivity and warned the pirates of the consequences. Later on after he was released the pirates were captured and punished severely the proceedings being overseen by Caesar himself.

Answer 2

It was in 79 BCE when Caesar was about 21 years old. He was kidnapped by Sicilian Pirates who treated him very well. In Caesars own account he said he wrote poems, laughed and even played games with them, and when Caesar was tired he would literally tell them to stop talking so he could sleep. This all happened because Caesar conducted himself with the same demeanor and attitude befitting of a soon-to-be-ruler. At first the pirates were to request 20 talents of Gold, then Caesar laughed. He said to them they weren't aware of how important he was, and insisted he was worth 50 talents. The ransom was paid by Caesar himself, as he sent out a friend (who'd also been kidnapped) into town to raise the 50 talents. Caesar was in captivity for about 30 days and after the friend returned with the money they released Caesar.

Immediately after Caesar returned home he amassed a small fleet and returned to capture the pirates, which turned out to be very easy since they were at the same place Caesar was released from. The pirates were taken to prison at Pergamon and talks of how they should punished commenced. Asia's governor Marcus Junctus wouldn't allow them to be executed, instead he wanted them to be sold as slaves. Caesar returned to Pergamon and used his authority and clout to have all of the pirates crucified, just as he had told them he would (although they thought he was joking).