Ancient Piracy (315 BCE – 197 CE)

• Mediterranean Pirates (Illyrians, Cilicians, Greeks, Romans)
• Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea Piracy
• Chinese and Southeast Asian Maritime Raiders

Medieval Piracy (400 – 1585)

• Viking Raiders (800–1100)
• Muslim Corsairs and Barbary Pirates (9th–16th Century)
• Hanseatic Pirates (Vitalienbrüder, Likedeelers)
• East Asian Piracy (Wokou and Ryukyuan Pirates)

The Rise of European Privateers (1560 – 1650)

• English Sea Dogs (Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh)
• Dutch Corsairs and Privateers
• Spanish Treasure Fleets and Privateering Warfare
• Early Caribbean Piracy

The Age of the Buccaneers (1650 – 1690)

• The Brethren of the Coast
• Caribbean Privateers (Tortuga, Port Royal, Nassau)
• French, Dutch, and English Buccaneers

The Golden Age of Piracy (1690 – 1730)

• The Pirate Republic of Nassau
• Notorious Pirates (Blackbeard, Bartholomew Roberts, Anne Bonny, Mary Read)
• The Royal Navy’s Crackdown on Piracy

The Decline of Classic Piracy (1730 – 1885)

• The War Against Piracy (Royal Navy, European Powers)
• West African and Indian Ocean Piracy
• American Revolution and Privateers
• South China Sea and River Pirates

Renegades of the West Indies (1820 – 1830)

• The Last of the Caribbean Pirates
• Latin American Privateers and Rebel Corsairs
• The Pirate Havens of Cuba and Puerto Rico

Piracy in East and Southeast Asia (1400 – 1860)

• The Rise of Wokou Pirates (Japan and China)
• The Zheng Family Pirate Empire (Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong)
• Chinese Junk Pirates and Smugglers
• British and Dutch Naval Encounters

Blackbirders, Shanghaiers, Crimps, and Slave Traders (1860 – 1900)

• Pacific Blackbirding and the Kidnapping of Indigenous Peoples
• Shanghaiing and Forced Labor in American and British Ports
• African Slave Traders and Their Pirate Fleets
• Opium Smuggling and Piracy

Modern Piracy (1901 – Present)

• 20th Century Smuggling and Piracy (Prohibition, WWII Raiders)
• The Rise of Somali Pirates and West African Piracy
• Southeast Asian Piracy in the Malacca Strait