Piracy is the term for robbery at sea, a scourge that most likely arose as soon as humankind took to the water in boats and ships. It has existed since antiquity and continues right into the modern age. What began as coastal piracy spread ever further as maritime trade grew. What's truly disturbing is that piracy wasn't driven only by individual greed — ruling houses actively encouraged or even ordered it as a matter of state policy. Letters of marque gave privateers legal cover for robbery and murder at sea. The English crown in particular lived off this practice well into the modern era. Pirates filled state coffers and were sometimes even knighted for it — Sir Francis Drake being a famous example — and are still celebrated as folk heroes today.

As a parallel to the grim history of the United States, which drove a continent's indigenous peoples from their land and yet turns that history into heroic, even lighthearted westerns on the big screen, piracy too gets packaged for children and romanticised into pure adventure.

Even so, let's allow ourselves to be swept away into the world of pirates, and reflect on justice and humanity within this bit of role-play. Either way, the "good guys" will win in the end...

Always a favourite: Pirate Family Sunday at the International Maritime Museum Hamburg: "Pirates Ahoy!"