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Explanation: In his youth, Julius Caesar was captured by pirates on the Mediterranean sea. This was not uncommon at the time, as the piracy problem in the Mediterranean would not be solved for another decade. Caesar, however, showed his… unusual character throughout his captivity.
First, when he heard how much money they were demanding for him (20 Talents), he told them to ask for more (50 Talents). This is actually not as senseless as it seems - by having a higher ransom paid for his release, Caesar becomes more notable and valuable for the sacrifice made on his behalf (assuming, of course, that the ransom IS paid). 20 Talents of silver is around 620 kg/1370 pounds of silver. 50 Talents, thus, is around 1550 kg/3417 lbs. Quite a sum!
Second, during his captivity he actually befriended the pirates, joking with them, bossing them around as a Roman nobleman might boss around subordinates, demanding they be quiet as he tried to sleep, and composed speeches and poetry which he demanded they listen to (and called them uncultured when they failed to fully appreciate it). The pirates, rather than being upset at this behavior, found it amusing, which speaks, I think, to the odd charisma of Caesar’s character, and the value of being bold.
Third, one of the ‘jokes’ he made with the pirates was that when it was all done and over with, he promised to have them all crucified - the usual punishment for piracy. They found this very amusing, as Caesar was, at the time, just a young man from a wealthy family, not a notable soldier or politician. The thing is, after his ransom was paid and he was released, Caesar raised a force, captured the pirates, and then promptly had them crucified. However, as they had indulged him during his captivity, he had their throats cut first (a very quick and merciful death compared to dying on a cross), so really the crucifixion was just a formality to fulfill his promise.
The story is a very strange mix of brilliance, charisma, and arrogance. It fits Caesar very well, I think.
TIL a Talent is actually a lot.
Sad to say I don’t have any talents :(
If I had even a single talent, my life would be much easier
They told the bible through vegetables. They made dogs talk in secular movies. Why is there no bible through dogs movie? ( I say this, because PugJesus would be so funny in a movie)
Don’t worry I gotchu https://youtu.be/3dYb3CCpp1o
I’d known the rest of this story already, but the slitting their throats first is new info to me. That actually makes the whole thing comparatively less fucked up.
Reciprocity was a big value in the Classical world - it’s likely that Caesar felt the need to show some form of mercy to the pirates, despite his promise to punish them, since they had humored him during his captivity.
I didn’t know the pirate part lol. Love this community!
In ancient Greek these pirates/human traffickers were known as the Leistic tribes, oddly enough the same accusation of being a Leistes was made of Jesus when he was captured in the Garden of Gesthemene with that 9-12 year old boy, who ran away from the scene naked. Mark 14:51-52
More TIL! Thank you!
Yup he did this on Xena, except for the throat cutting part. Instead he had her legs broken to increase her suffering on the cross.
Typically, having one’s legs broken on a cross was something done by impatient soldiers. While generally getting put on the cross will kill you even if you’re taken down quickly, guards were sometimes posted to make sure no one tried to take them down. Having one’s legs broken stops one from pushing up for air, leading the victim to die considerably faster.
This was generally against the point of crucifixion (a slow and painful death), but soldiers who didn’t want to hang around would often do it to speed up the process.
