Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/73

* PIRACY. 53 rules of international law provide that the penal- ty upon conviction may be death. But piracy jure gentium, or piracy as defined by international law, and piracy as described by the municipal law of a particular State, must be distinfruished. Three requirements are necessary to constitute an act of piracy jure ijeutium : First, it must be an act of adequate violence. It need not w neces- sarily an act of depredation. While the pirate is generally merely a robber, acts done by unau- thorized persons for political ends have been deemed piratical, though the animus furandi, the intent, was wanting and there was no purpose of indiscriminate aggression upon the vessels of all nations. Thus a single act of violence is suffi- cient, as the successful revolt of a sliip's crew against its officers. If they gain control of the ship, they are pirates; if their attempt fails and lawful authority is never superseded, the act is one of mutiny only, not piracy. Sec- ond, it must be an act done outside the terri- torial jurisdiction of a civilized State. Some authorities have held that an invasion from the sea upon the coast of a civilized State to ravage and destroy without national authoriza- tion is piracy. Hut being done within the terri- torial jurisdiction of the State, it is subject to the municipal law thereof and is outside the juris- diction of the international code. Yet an act of similar character against an iniappropriated isl- and and the robbing of civilized persons there en- gaged in trade, or missionary work, would be piracy. Third, the perpetrators of the act must be without the authority of any recognized political conununity. Acts which when done under national authorization are lawful acts of war are, hence, piracy when not so authorized, and the possession of two or more incompatible commissions is deemed to have the same effect as the absence of any. So if in time of war a privateer procures letters from each belligerent and preys upon the conuuerce of both, she is a pirate; but if a cruiser having a lawful commission exceeds her authority in making captures, she is not a pirate, for the State authorizing her originally is held responsible for her acts. For purposes of author- ization recognition of independence is not re- quired; but recognition of belligerency is suffi- cient to validate a commission authorizing acts of violence for belligerent cruisers; but if such a comnuinity ceases to exist as a political unit, the eonmiission is no longer valid. Attempts have been made to bring acts done by vessels under cimimissions from a revolted com- munity, which has not obtained recognition of belligerency, under the protection of this rule. Several instances have occurred where a dis- position has been shown to treat as pirates per- sons guilty of accepting letters of marque and reprisal from one of two belligerents when the other was at peace with the nation of which the privateer was a subject, but such an attitude is at variance with the general visage of nations. Piracy is piniishablc by any State which cap- tures the perpetrators, that is. a Slate has juris- diction to try and punish all pirates seized by its vessels. One of the attributes of an independent State is the power to regulate its own criminal code, and it may declare certain ofTenses to be piracy not so regarded by international law. Such are acts of piracy as defined by nuinicipal statute. These laws can have bindina force only in the jurisdiction creating them ; and. while sim- piR.a;us. ilar regulations may be adopted by other States, in the absence of special agreement between them the olficcrs of one may not arrest or punish sub- jects of the other for oH'enscs conuuitted beyond its jurisdiction, even though such acts are de- fined as olVenses by the laws of the State to which the offender belongs. Thus, while the slave trade is declared to be piracy only by virtue of munici- pal law. efforts have been made to bring it under international jurisdiction by agreement between the powers. This has not been etTectually done, although after much international dilHcuity and dispute as to the right of search, etc., an inter- national convention was finally reached in 1800 as a result of the conference of the civilized States, called at the instance of the King of Bel- gium, which |)rovided for a complicated system of measures of repression. See such titles as High Sea ; M.be Cr,Ar.srM ; MiTiXY; Slavery, etc. Consult the authorities referred to under Ixternatioxal Law; Crim- inal Law, etc. PIRiE'US ( Lat., from Gk. n«pai«Js. Peiraieus, Utipafits, /'< iraeus). The port of Athens, situated on a rocky peninsula about 5 miles south- west of the city (ilap: Greece, B 6). The nearest point in the shore line to .Athens is the long sandy beach of Fhalerum, bounded on the east by Cape Colias and on the west by a rocky peninsula, with two princi|)al summits, one. ilunychia. at the northeast, close to the bay of Phalcruni, the other. .Acte, at the southern end of the cape. In this promontory are three harbors. The smallest is on the ea.st side of ^Munychia ; the next in size is southwest of Jluny- chia and northeast of Acte; the third and largest is on the west side of the peninsula, north of Acte, and is a large basin with two smaller bays at each side, almost landlocked between Acte and a tongue of land projecting from Eetionea, on the Attic coast. This harbor is supplied with modern docks and a portion of it is used by the Greek na^'y. Over one-half of the foreign com- merce of Greece passes through Pira-us. which is also a considerable manufacturing centre, pro- ducing mainly textiles, brandy, leather, paper, and macaroni. The population in 1890 was 42.1fi!), nuiking Piraeus the second largest city of Greece. The earliest port of Athens was Phalerum. and the advantages of the Pir;eus were first observed by Themistocles ( B.C. 4!l3-492 ) . who began to fortify it. It was not till after the Persian Wars that the peninsula was surrounded with lofty and strong walls, the months of the harbors narrowed by moles so that they could be easily closed by chains, and the whole connected with the city by the Long Walls. The city' was laid out by the famous architect Hippodamus of Miletus, prob- ably in the time of Pericles, in a regvilar system of broad straight streets crossing one another at right angles and broken by frequent open squares. Wharves, warehouses, ami porticoes were built along the harborside and a merchants' ex- change was provided for the display of samples. The great harbor was the scene of mercantile activity, the smaller harbors being reserved for the Athenian navy, and the remains of the ship- hotises in which the triremes were hauled up can still be traced. With the decline and ruin of .thcns during the Middle .Ages the Pira-us natu- rally was abandoned, and the present city has been built since Athens became the capital of