CHAPTER I
THE EARLIEST PIRATES
I suppose there are few words in use which at once
suggest so much romantic adventure as the words
pirate and piracy. You instantly conjure up in your
mind a wealth of excitement, a clashing of lawless wills,
and there pass before your eyes a number of desperate dare-*devils
whose life and occupation are inseparably connected
with the sea.
The very meaning of the word, as you will find on referring to a Greek dictionary, indicates one who attempts to rob. In classical times there was a species of Mediterranean craft which was a light, swift vessel called a myoparo because it was chiefly used by pirates. Since the Greek verb peirao means literally "to attempt," so it had the secondary meaning of "to try one's fortune in thieving on sea." Hence a peirates (in Greek) and pirata (in Latin) signified afloat the counterpart of a brigand or highwayman on land. To many minds piracy conjures up visions that go back no further than the seventeenth century: but though it is true that during that period piracy attained unheard-of heights in certain seas, yet the avocation of sea-robbery dates back very much further.
