Julius Caesar was kidnapped by heavily armed Cilician pirates in 75 BC who demanded twenty talents of silver for his safe return, which he took as a massive personal insult.

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Julius Caesar was kidnapped by heavily armed Cilician pirates in 75 BC who demanded twenty talents of silver for his safe return, which he took as a massive personal insult. The young Roman politician literally laughed in their faces and insisted they raise the ransom demand to fifty talents, arguing that he was far too important to be ransomed for such a pathetic, bargain-bin price. While waiting for the money to arrive, Caesar bossed the pirates around, read them his terrible poetry, and promised he would eventually come back and crucify every single one of them. True to his word, as soon as the massively inflated ransom was paid and he was freed, he raised a private naval fleet, hunted down the pirates, and executed them all to get his silver back, thereby inventing the ultimate hostile corporate takeover