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In 75 BCE, a band of pirates on the Aegean Sea kidnapped a young Roman aristocrat. The 25-year-old hostage refused to behave like a captive, demanded to raise his ransom from 20 to 50 talents of silver and commanded them, making them listen to his speeches and poems. He also joined their exercises and games, but he always threatened pirates as subordinates, sometimes even threatening to have them all crucified. Pirates thought he was an overconfident, spoiled brat, and took this as a joke. Unfortunately for them, they were wrong. After the ransom was paid, the young Roman named Julius Caesar, managed to raise a naval force, despite not being a public or military figure. He found and captured pirates and had them crucified. 1)
Caesar's ancestors claimed to be gods' descendants, Iulus, son of Aeneas Prince of Troy, whose mother was said to be Venus herself. 2)
Aeneas was a mythical forefather of Romulus and Remus. 3)
He was governor of Asia, and his sister was married to Gaius Marius, a Roman political titan. 4)
Like his father before him, Aurelia Cotta's father, Lucius Aurelius Cotta, was Consul (the highest position in the Roman Republic). 5)