Pompey and the Pirates

Between 167-67 BCE, the Pirates of Cilicia had become a sea power in the Mediterranean and were menacing the coasts of Italy.
In 67 BCE, the Senate finally authorised Pompey to conduct a war against the Pirates and eliminate the threat.

The Pirates had achieved complete mastery of the Mediterranean Sea from their Base in Cilicia. They were allies of Mithridates VI of Pontus.

In 74 BCE, Aulus Gabinius proposed a Law which would empower a Consul for three years to conduct a war against the pirates. But the Senate refused to vote it in, according to Cassius Dio in Roman History, 36.23-4.
Instead, the Praetor Mark Antony Creticus was instructed to clear the Mediterranean of Pirates, but his campaign in the west resulted in Provinces such as Sicily being ransacked.
No further permission was given, as the Senate feared giving a Consul such powers more than they feared the Pirates. The Pirates then went on to the offensive.
By 70 BCE, the Pirates were kidnapping and ransoming wealthy Italian Nobles along the Via Appia, where it parallels the coast.
In 69 BCE, Delos was sacked by the Cilician Pirates, and it’s population sold as slaves. The Roman Treasury on Delos was plundered.
In 68 BCE the Pirates sacked Ostia, the Port of Rome. The Republican Naval Fleet was burnt, the Port buildings set ablaze and two Roman Senators kidnapped and the price of Grain in Rome rose to unprecedented levels.

Finally, in 67 BCE, the Lex Gabinia was proposed by the Tribune Aulus Gabinius, and this time it was voted in by the Roman Senate.
This granted temporary dictatorial powers to one man for three years to crush the Pirates of Cilicia.
Gnaeus Pompey was allocated a large budget, 20 Legions and 500 ships, plus the same authority as a Provincial Governor up to 45 miles inland.

In 67 BCE Pompey divided the Mediterranean into 13 Sectors, with a Legate (Assistant) for each.
This organisation was to form the basis for the future Provincial Squadrons of a later standing Roman Navy.
The use of Legates was to be copied by Julius Caesar during his Gallic Wars and by Augustus under the Empire.
Starting from the Straits of Gibraltar, he sailed east with 60 vessels, driving the Pirates into each Legate’s waiting fleet and army. He cleared the western Mediterranean in 40 days. The escaping Pirates fled back to Cilicia.

Pompey conducts a final showdown at the naval battle of Coracesium.
He surrounded the Pirate Fleet, despite being heavily outnumbered, according to Plutarch, and the defeated sailors retreated into the citadel of Coracesium (The Crow’s Nest), which was then besieged and captured.
By occupying surrounding Cilicia, he then rounded up all the remaining Pirates over a period of three months, capturing 677 vessels.
The Pirates were generously spared and resettled inland, away from the sea.

In 66 BCE, Pompey was made Commander of the East, permitting him to conduct and win the Third Mithridatic War against the Pirates’ Ally, Mithridates VI of Pontus.
After this he invaded Judaea, and captured Jerusalem, before returning via Crete.
Pompey annexed four new Provinces for the Roman Republic, Pontus et Bithynia, Syria, Cilicia and Crete.
Armenia also became a Roman Client Kingdom.

Coracesium