«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

Piracy, Privateering and Maritime Violent Actions m 61 n understood without taking into consideration the decisive role of place and time. The two cases brought forward in the discussion, that of the taifa of Deina on the one hand, and on the other hand the Arab violent maritime actions in the Eastern Mediterranean against the Byzantine islands and coastline in the 9 th –11 th centuries, are two glaring examples clearly demonstrating the importance of the two above mentioned factors. The first case concerns a small Arab state, the taifa of Denia, which emerged from the disintegrated Cordovan Caliphate, and supported its economy on maritime plundering raids against Pisa and Genoa in the 11 th century. The poor economy of this little state was heavily enhanced by such actions. The second case deals with the so-called Arab piratical actions in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 7 th –11 th centuries. These activities were labeled piratical in a number of Byzantine sources, mainly hagiographical, and in a number of modern works. In contrast, most of these activities were part of the naval warfare between Byzantines and the Arabs at this period. We should not confuse those actions with the chaotic situation which prevailed in the Aegean in the 13 th –17 th centuries in which unruly sea raids were committed by various forces 1 . There is no doubt that excessive maritime violence was practiced by the Arabs as well as by the Byzantines, but it was applied as part of war actions at the time of hostilities. Finally, it should be repeated that in contrast to a large number of privateering activities in the 18 th century which were often considered commercial rather than military, most of the so-called piratical Arab activities in the 9 th –11 th centuries were part of naval warfare and rarely commercially profitable 2 . Likewise, taking into consideration the transitory nature of privateering, even the privateering practiced in the 18 th century was not deprived of political cause 3 . . 1 Cf. notes 1 and 39 above. 2 For the British privateering in the 18 th century see: Starkey D. J., British Privateering Enterprise in the Eighteenth Century , Exeter Maritime Studies No. 4, Exeter, Devon 1990. 3 See the review of David J. Starkey’s book (cf. note 43) by Faye Kert in: The American Neptune 51.4 (1991