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Pirates once swashbuckled across the ancient Mediterranean
Thousands of years before Blackbeard, these buccaneers raided ships, stole booty—and even kidnapped a young Julius Caesar.
Merchant ships, such as that on the left of this sixth-century B.C. Greek bowl, were targets of pirates in antiquity. Naval warships, such as the one on the right, were periodically deployed to quash piracy. British Museum, London
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