Piracy as a disequilibrium factor in the Eastern Mediterranean seapower balance: the Cilician example during the Archaic and Classical times

Abstract

Since ancient times, it has been considered that the high point of Cilician piracy took place in the second half of the 2nd century BCE and the first half of the following. The main object of this paper is to demonstrate that the link between the Cilicians and the practice of piracy derives from earlier ages. Therefore, in the period that we have just defined, what we find is only an uncontrolled expansion of Cilician activities all over the Mediterranean Sea. The reason why this phenomenon did not happen before is that the highest powers in the area were well aware, over several centuries, of the warlike and maritime skills of the inhabitants of Cilicia, and tried to use them for their own profit. In order to do so, they enlisted them in their troops, thus taking advantage of their maritime expertise, and establishing a pattern of behaviour that would keep on happening during later historical periods. The main subject of this work is, therefore, to explain how the Eastern Mediterranean seapowers realised about the benefits of ruling over these seasoned mariners. We will see that ruling over the seas is not only a matter of a high naval power level, but piracy (in this case, Cilician) was also considered by Mediterranean States as a factor that could modify the balance of seapower. And this is what happened indeed with the Cilicians within the Archaic and Classical times, or even before.