Images

A map illustrating the four voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas between 1492 and 1504 superimposed on a scheme of the predominant ocean currents and winds of the North Atlantic.

An 1846 illustration of the pirate Mary Read (d. 1721) by Alexandre Debelle. (From Histoire des pirates et corsaires de l'Océan et de la Méditerranée depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours, P. Christian, Paris, Cavaillès, 1846)

Ruth and Naomi, oil on canvas painting by Philip Hermogenes Calderon, 1886. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

An artist's impression of how the pirate Mary Read (d. 1721) may have looked. Image from the computer game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag by Ubisoft. © 2013 Ubisoft

Ruth swearing her allegiance to Naomi, oil on canvas painting by Jan Victors, 1653. Private collection.

A Google Earth image of the Scythian territorial expanse. Google Earth (Data: SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO, Image: Landsat / Copernicus)

A late-19th century cigarette card showing the buccaneer turned lieutenant-governor Sir Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688). Produced by Allen & Ginter. Lithographer: George S. Harris & Sons. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

An 18th-century illustration showing the idyllic life of a pirate on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Despite tales of pirate kings living a life of ease on the island, the reality was rather less idyllic with in-fighting between...

A 17th-century illustration of the buccaneer and pirate base of Tortuga, located on the northwest coast of Hispaniola (modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic).

Female terracotta statue from Magna Graecia, made in Medma (modern-day Italy), 480-460 BCE. From the 8th century BCE, the Greeks settled southern Italy (Magna Graecia) and Sicily. Over time, the colonies became independent from their...