maximus otter
Recovering policeman
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
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I thought the story with Julius Caesar and pirates was that his captors were going to ask for 20 talents of silver to release him, and he said ask for 50 talents as my family is very rich.It doesn't matter anyway as I'll get all the money back afterwards when I hunt you all down and crucify you. The pirates laughed at this big talk from a gangly teenager and released him when his family paid the ransom. Caesar then hired a ship and did indeed hunt them all down and kill them.
“In chapter 2 of his Life of Julius Caesar, Greek author Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-c.120) describes what happened when Caesar encountered the pirates. The translation below was made by Robin Seager.
“[2.5] However, the ransom arrived from Miletus and, as soon as he had paid it and been set free, he immediately manned some ships and set sail from the harbor of Miletus against the pirates. He found them still there, lying at anchor off the island, and he captured nearly all of them.
[2.6] He took their property as spoils of war and put the men themselves into the prison at Pergamon. He then went in person to [Marcus] Junius, the governor of Asia, thinking it proper that he, as praetor in charge of the province, should see to the punishment of the prisoners.
[2.7] Junius, however, cast longing eyes at the money, which came to a considerable sum, and kept saying that he needed time to look into the case. Caesar paid no further attention to him. He went to Pergamon, took the pirates out of prison and crucified the lot of them, just as he had often told them he would do when he was on the island and they imagined that he was joking.”
https://www.livius.org/sources/content/plutarch/plutarchs-caesar/caesar-and-the-pirates/
maximus otter