It is hard to imagine when you stare across the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coastline at the many islands dotted around that the area was once controlled by a ruthless bunch of pirates over 2,000 years ago.

According to Plutarch, the Greek philosopher, historian, biographer and essayist, the small Aegean Island of Pharmacusa (now modern-day Farmakonisi, Greece), south-west of Miletus, was where Julius Caesar, then a Roman nobleman, was held captive by these pirates for 38 days.

The Cilician pirates operated in much of the Mediterranean with large armaments and numerous small vessels. Caesar’s captives did not know who he was and were, I imagine, a little dumbfounded when he demanded his ransom be more than doubled the value, they had placed on him, which he considered, an embarrassment to a man of his standing. A somewhat narcissistic attitude from a 25-year-old!

‘How dare you consider my worth to be 20 talents of silver instead of 50!’ He exclaimed. A single talent would have been equivalent to the salary of a labourer for many years during this era.

There are diverging stories as to why Caesars was in this area. According to Plutarch, Caesar had visited King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia in the eponymous realm’s capital, to which he was Ambassador. The realm spanned what we now call the Black Sea coast, stretching from the Sakarya river in the east as far as the Sea of Marmara.

Another tale is that Caesar was headed to the Greek city of Rhodes to study oratory when Pirates seized his vessel in 75 BCE, kidnapped Caesar and held him for ransom.

During his 38 days in captivity on Pharmacusa, Caesar acted more like the leader of the pirates, rather than a captive. He shared in their sports and exercise and would practice his poetry and speeches on them. He would insult anyone who did not appreciate or understand his work, so they assumed his vow to return and crucify them all was a joke, as a strong bond had grown between them.

In one version the author and rhetorician Polyaenus in his "Stratagems of War" claimed that upon arrival at Miletus the servant Epicrates was dispatched and ordered by Caesar to not simply just lend him the required sum but to also bring everything needed for a magnificent feast, a water-pot filled with swords and also amphoras full of wine with the poisonous plant mandrake steeped inside.

When the ransom arrived, Caesar prepared the banquet, the pirates dined and imbibed the poisonous elixir and were soon asleep, Caesar then carried out his revenge, ordering them all to be slain and repaid the silver talents back to the Milesian’s.

In another version, Caesar headed to Miletus where, with funding from King Nicomedes IV, raised a naval force to pursue the pirates. He found them at anchor off the island of Pharmacusa. They were captured and taken to Pergamum to be imprisoned.

Legend has it they were brought before the Roman Governor of Asia, who wanted to sell them into slavery. However, Caesar had different ideas and fulfilled his vow by having the pirates crucified. This was claimed by Plutarch and other research carried out over the centuries seems to back up his version of events.

Pharmacusa is now the uninhabited island of Farmakonisi, that can be viewed from Didm’s coastline, and it is intriguing to know that it once hosted one of history’s most important and controversial characters, Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman.