ABSTRACT
Piracy was a common phenomenon across the Mediterranean throughout most of the ancient period. This was no less true in the era of Greek settlement throughout the central and western parts of the basin. In this chapter, Hall argues that piracy was one of the defining experiences of this expansion of the Greek world. Hellenic traders and settlers were on both the receiving and delivering end of piracy. This helped determine where settlements developed and how settlers behaved. Piracy also helped shape the relationship between Greeks and other peoples, including indigenous civilizations and the Phoenician settlers who had already spread throughout the central and western Mediterranean. By taking a relatively comprehensive approach to studying piracy in this region, a clearer picture of its effects on the Greek experience is created, and its importance in understanding Greek colonization abroad is underscored.
