Who were the great Romans who sailed this coast, now Turkey?

A . Julius Caesar, who as a young man, was captured and ransomed by pirates on the coast. When he came to power he pursued them and hanged them from the yardarm.

B. Hadrian. He re-organised the grain trade on the coast, as Rome and Athens were in danger of starving and losing trade. See large granaries at Patara and Andriace.

C. Pompey the Great commanded the largest army and navy ever assembled anywhere at any time to wipe out all the pirates, who endangered Rome. He succeeded brilliantly.

D. Brutus, the honourable man, so said Mark Anthony. He slaughtered the native populace at Xanthus, capital of Lycian in pursuit of money to resist Octavian, Julius Caesar's successor.

M/S ‘Odysseus' sails the whole coast and stops where the great Romans stopped. Do join us.

Filed 20 November 2008