Origin of Pirates Many historians say that pirates had begun ever since men took to the sea. The earliest recording of pirates was during the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (1350 BC) when hieroglyphics showed ships that bore no flag, plundering and raiding ships. Ancient Greeks and Romans faced pirates on the Mediterranean Sea while trying to explore new lands. Plutarch (ancient Greek Historian) is said to have given the first definition of piracy as, “an illegal attack on a ship or coastal town that was not of a warring nature, but for plunder of monetary gain alone.” Roman historian, Polybius (around the mid 100 BC era) used the word 'periato' to describe sea raiders. From the 9th-11th, pirates were known as Vikings and Danes. Chinese pirates ruled the China Sea for 300 years (1368-1668).Chinese Pirates used huge ships that could carry over 300 men; they pillaged the China coastal cities for several centuries. In the Mediterranean region, Barbary pirates were a fearsome group often "hired" by Muslim nations to attack Christian ships. The Golden Age of Pirates (1680 – 1730) was the era where new world maritime adventurers, who movies and books have been made and written about, where myth and truth blur. Some famous examples i.e. Pirate sort of the Caribbean and Peter Pan.