Roma vs Bandele de Piratii !

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The Pirate Queen

While Rome was busying itself contesting Sicily with the Carthaginians, the small state opposite them was flourishing. The coastal Greek colonies were well used to suffered raids from the Illyrians (modern day Albania), but the military expansionism under Agron saw them follow up these raids with land incursions to occupy and annex cities. The king invaded parts of Epirus, Corcyra, Epidamnos and Pharos in swift succession, with fleets of up to 5,000 men on 100 fast rowing ‘lembus’ ships. Illyria’s success continued under Agron’s widow Teuta, who encouraged privateering and granted her individual ships licence to universal plunder. Her troops would occupy Phoenice, a major city of Epirus, only to soon return to quell and internal rebellion.

Illyrian piracy was soon becoming more than a headache for the Romans. Having advanced from the agrarian society that began the First Punic War, the republic was rapidly becoming a trading economy, with cross-Adriatic trade vital – and being severely disrupted by the Illyrians. A colony of Romans was settled at Brundisium to observe the Adriatic before the war with Carthage, and were witness to the seemingly free rein of the Illyrian fleet (with the Roman fleet focussed in the south west, against Carthage and Sicily). The Illyrians prospered from their piracy, with the Greeks happy to be consumers of goods stolen from the Romans, who they considered to be barbarians. Rome sent envoys to complain to Teuta of Illyrian piracy, and though she said they would come to no harm, she said that she was powerless to end the privateering. Outraged by the this, one of the ambassadors lost his temper, and the queen arranged for his murder on the voyage home. Shocked by such a violation of honour, Rome began mobilising its legions for war.

Piracy at the time was a hugely profitable business, with not only goods and commodities available for theft, but humans themselves – as slaves. Slavery in antiquity was not race related, as it is often assumed to be (as with the Trans-Atlantic slave trade where, once the Pope forbade having Christians as slaves, Europeans soon began looking further afield, settling on Africa as a fruitful source of pagans), and people from all places and walks of life could be enslaved. On land, defeated armies and captured cities provided a bountiful supply of slaves, while at sea, any unguarded ships would be prey to pirates. The crew could then be enslaved as oarsmen, or sold for other purposes – as gladiators, prostitutes, farm workers, miners, and even as scribes and administrators for those who were educated and literate. There was no fairness or justice for slaves, and no recourse – many ended up condemned to such a life by a cruel twist of fate, such as their ship being captured by pirates. Important people, such as senators, could be ransomed, while marble, silk, dye, olives and more would be among the exquisite items ripe for capturing. Even grain shipments could be hugely important, with the increasingly urban population of Italy relying more and more in imports.

Paying little heed to the Romans, Teuta organised a fresh expedition to Corcyra, which sought assistance from the other Greek city states. Ten Achaean ships attacked the Illyrian fleet, though Teuta’s navy outmanoeuvred them, sinking and capturing several. Corcyra surrendered, and Illyria garrisoned the city, led by Demetrius of Pharos. The Illyrians now controlled the western coast of Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth, including the sea lanes to Italy and Sicily.

The Roman Consul Centumalus had been corresponding with Demetrius, and when his 200 ships arrived at Corcyra, the garrison was expelled, and the legions welcomed. The Co-Consul Postumius crossed with four legions and 2,000 cavalry to Apollonia, which joined the Roman alliance against Illyria. Arriving at Epidamnos, the Illyrians were forced to abandon their siege and retreat. Numerous cities and tribes began offering their friendship to Rome as the legions marched into the interior, and Teuta was in full retreat with her forces dissolving. With opposition stiffening as they marched inland, the consuls decided their objectives had been met, and agreed peace with Demetrius installed as King of Illyria.

Arriving in Rome, Teuta agreed to abandon rule of Illyria (save for a few cities), pay an indemnity, and not to sail south with more than two ships. The Pirate Queen was now confined to the interior, while Rome gained control of the strategic ports of Corcyra, Apollonia and Epidamnos. Rome had its foothold across the Adriatic, and now had direct access to the Greek peninsular. Many of the interior tribes had declared for Rome, and the more troublesome ones were cut off from their land access to Macedon in the east, their chief ally and protector. The neutering of Illyria was well received by the Greeks, who despite being consumers of the pirated goods, also suffered from the piracy. The Romans had assured them their intervention in the east was only to rid the Adriatic of the plague of the Illyrians, and now that had been accomplished, the legions would return west, to Italy. But Rome had no intention of retreating west, and as the implications of its occupation of Illyria became clear, it would soon be brought into conflict with the other great power of the Mediterranean – Macedon, the kingdom of Philip and of Alexander, the Greek juggernaut that had conquered the world’s greatest empire less than a century earlier.