‎/Julius Caesar Crucified Traffickers

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Julius Caesar Was Kidnapped by Lēstai - Human-Plundering Traffickers - and Crucified Them

Here we'll show an example of what crime the punishment of Crucifixion was for.
Crucifixion wasn't used for any crime.
Only the most heinous of crimes.
Like Lestes / Human-Plundering Traffickers.

Key Points from the Account:

Kidnapping by Pirates: Around 75 BC, a 25-year-old Caesar was captured by Cilician pirates near the island of Pharmacusa (now Farmakonisi). During his captivity, he reportedly maintained a confident demeanor, promising to have them crucified upon his release.

The Ransom: The pirates demanded 20 talents of silver. Caesar, insulted by the low amount, demanded they raise it to 50 talents, asserting he was worth more.

The Captivity: While waiting 38 days for the ransom to be gathered, Caesar wrote speeches and poems and treated the pirates as subordinates. He frequently joked that he would hunt them down and crucify them.

The Crucifixion: Once released, Caesar raised a fleet, tracked the pirates down, and had them crucified. Both sources mention that, as a gesture of mercy because they had treated him well, Caesar ordered that their throats be slit before they were crucified.

Crucifixion is punishment reserved for traffickers

And Caesar is particularly valuable evidence because Plutarch himself moves between the categories.
The people introduced as πειραταί are subsequently:

Plutarch, Life of Caesar 2.7 (Vita Caesaris 2.7)

καὶ προαγαγὼν τοὺς λῃστὰς ἅπαντας ἀνεσταύρωσεν

and bringing out all the lēstai, he crucified them all.

Caesar himself is the human booty: they seize him bodily, hold him, assign a monetary price to his release, receive payment for him, and release him. Whatever English noun we choose for Lestai (λῃσταί), the activity demonstrated in this particular narrative is unquestionably kidnapping a human being for profit (trafficking).

This gives us evidence that the punishment for that crime is then crucifixion.

Plutarch uses Peiratai and Lestai interchangably

Plutarch, Life of Caesar 1.8

εἶτ’ ἀποπλέων, ἁλίσκεται περὶ τὴν Φαρμακοῦσσαν νῆσον ὑπὸ πειρατῶν, ἤδη τότε στόλοις μεγάλοις καὶ σκάφεσιν ἀπλέτοις κατεχόντων τὴν θάλατταν.

Then, sailing away, he is captured near the island of Pharmacussa by peiratai, who already at that time were controlling the sea with great fleets and innumerable vessels.

Then, after Caesar pays the ransom and is released, Plutarch calls the same men λῃσταί:

Plutarch, Life of Caesar 2.5

ὡς δ’ ἧκον ἐκ Μιλήτου τὰ λύτρα καὶ δοὺς ἀφείθη, πλοῖα πληρώσας εὐθὺς ἐκ τοῦ Μιλησίων λιμένος ἐπὶ τοὺς λῃστὰς ἀνήγετο […]

When the ransom came from Miletus and, having paid it, he was released, immediately manning ships from the harbor of the Milesians, he sailed against the lēstai

And finally, after capturing them, Plutarch again calls them λῃσταί:

Plutarch, Life of Caesar 2.7

καὶ προαγαγὼν τοὺς λῃστὰς ἅπαντας ἀνεσταύρωσεν, ὥσπερ αὐτοῖς δοκῶν παίζειν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ προειρήκει πολλάκις.

And bringing forth all the lēstai, he crucified them, just as he had often told them beforehand on the island, when they thought he was joking.

Lestes equals Pirate - Trafficker of Souls

Hesychius Lexicon from ~400CE points out that Perates == Peirates

Perates περάτης — crosser, one passing beyond/across a boundary
↓
Peirates πειρατής — pirate/raider
↓ Hesychius
Lestes λῃστής — plunderer, one who violently takes booty/prey
↓ actual practice
human beings as booty → kidnapping → ransom / enslavement / sale

Hesychius will tell you, that the lack of an iota “I” on perates doesn’t mean it isn’t a pirate.

Hesychius of Alexandria, a 5th–6th century CE Greek lexicographer who compiled Lexicon, an important work that explains rare and obscure Greek words. So, if Hesychius commented on περάτης (peratēs) and its relation to πειρατής (peiratēs), that would be found in his Lexicon

https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/Γλώσσαι/Π

Here highlighted πείρατα (peirata) vs πέρατα (perata) below, as well as λῃστεύων / λῃσταί / λῃστῶν (Lestes Λεστες) below.

Hesychius Lexicon (an ancient lexicon):

<πέρατα>
τὰ τέλη <--- telos (τέλος) mentioned below for πείρατα

τὰ → "the" (neuter plural definite article)
τέλη → "ends," "goals," "purposes," or "taxes" (neuter plural of τέλος)

[<πείρω>
πέρας]

<πειράζων>
ἐνεδρεύων. λῃστεύων

<Πειραΐδαο>
Πειραίου παιδός

*<πειδαίρουσα>
δέρουσα

<πεῖραι>
πειρατ(ε)ῖαι. δόλοι

<πειρᾶν>
πειράζειν ......

<πεῖραν ποιούμενος>
πειράζων

<πείραντες>
ἐκκεντήσαντες

<πείρατα>
πέρατα. τέλος <-- perata without the 'i', same telos mentioned above

πέρατα → "boundaries," "limits," or "extremities" (neuter plural of πέρας)
τέλος → "end," "completion," "goal," or "final outcome" (singular noun)

<πειραταί>
κακοῦργοι, λῃσταί. θηρευταὶ ἐν ὕδασι

κακοῦργοι - evil doers
λῃσταί - plunderers of human souls (traffickers)

<πειρᾶται>
πεῖραν λαμβάνει, πειράζει. ἐπὶ δὲ λῃστῶν, πειρατεύεται

<τέλος>
τάγμα. πέρας. καὶ τὸ καταβαλλόμενον τοῖς τελώναις

τάγμα: Order, arrangement, or classification. This refers to the proper organization or final arrangement of something, the completion of a structure or process.
πέρας: Boundary, limit, or end. This is the most direct meaning, referring to the end point or boundary of something—both literal (like the edge of a territory) and abstract (like the end of a process).
καὶ τὸ καταβαλλόμενον τοῖς τελώναις: And what is paid to the tax collectors (i.e., taxes). This shows another common meaning of τέλος in the context of taxes or dues, referring to the obligatory payments to the state or authority

Unpacking “Hesychius will tell you the lack of an iota ‘I’ on perates doesn’t mean it isn’t a pirate.”...

Hesychius defines πέρατα in his lexicon as τὰ τέλη → "the ends, goals, purposes", and is plural form of τέλος, meaning "the multiple ends," "goals," or "boundaries", reinforcing the idea of boundaries or extremities. Hesychius also defines πείρατα (pirate) as both πέρατα (the end / goal) and τέλος (the limit at the end or boundary of something). Hesychius doesn’t differentiate, but defines both πέρατα and πείρατα in terms of each other.

Hesychius was 5th 6th CE. So. Peirates == Perates was still true even after Septuagint and GNT was Written.

Sources

Plutarch: The Greek historian details the event in his Life of Caesar (specifically, Chapter 2). Plutarch notes that after being freed, Caesar captured the pirates, took them to Pergamon, and crucified them.
- Plutarch explicitly switches vocabulary from πειρατής (peiratēs) to λῃστής (lēstēs) when Caesar goes after the men and crucifies them. Interchangeable terms.
- Plutarch says Caesar crucified them