A couple of thousand years ago, pirates attacked Ostia, the port of Rome, and the Romans authorized Pompey to go wipe them out, regardless of the cost in money or power. He succeeded handily, which led some to wonder whether the pirates were ever much of a threat.

But it was too late to raise such questions. By the oldest trick in the political book — the whipping up of a panic, in which any dissenting voice could be dismissed as “soft” or even “traitorous” — powers had been ceded by the people that would never be returned. Pompey stayed in the Middle East for six years, establishing puppet regimes throughout the region, and turning himself into the richest man in the empire.

Pirates of the Mediterranean, By ROBERT HARRIS, New York Times, Published: September 30, 2006

What’s this got to do with the modern world, the Internet, or anything? Continue reading →