Free Download Pirates of Greece by Helfried Hermann
English | June 8, 2023 | ISBN: N/A | ASIN: B0C7LSCL48 | 205 pages | EPUB | 43 Mb
Greece. 13676 miles of coastline. Several thousand beautiful islands. Picturesque white villages under the bright sun.
But there was a darker aspect of life on Greek coasts and islands. Many small villages nestle on steep mountainsides just inland, out of sight and escaping the notice of ships out here on the blue waters.
Every ship on the horizon was suspicious. Too often it was not bringing lucrative trade, but marauding pirates intent on slaughter and enslavement. Their weapons evolved over centuries: clashing swords, humming crossbow bolts, cracking muskets and even heavy ordnance. But the aims of piracy stayed the same: poor men could become wealthy, perhaps even become a king of a pirate island, notorious for debauchery , with Greek wine, gambling and prostitutes.
But when pirates’ luck ran out their end was violent; they were hanged on the gallows of European port cities, or they met a worse fate, as befitted "the enemies of mankind". Pirates could be punished by decapitation, flogging to death, or burnt alive.
This book tells the story of piracy over 3,000 years and describes the historic events which enabled it to flourish until the 1830s.