During the 1st century BC the Romans dominated the Mediterranean, largely due to their extraordinary success in trade. However, sailors must have dreaded the pirates who flourished in equal measure during these years. This scholarly yet accessible study focuses on the Mediterranean at a time when it was transformed from a Hellenistic to a Roman powerbase. Rauh identifies Rome's most important trading centers around the coasts, pirates' coves and strongholds, and the forts that were built by the Romans to counteract them.