Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates and INSISTED they ask for a HIGHER ransom!

A 25 year old Julius Caesar was sailing the Aegean Sea when he was kidnapped by Sicilian pirates. The pirates who captured him initially demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver (which is about 620kg or silver or $600,000 by today's prices). According to Plutarch, instead of immediately sending his associates off to gather the said silver, Caesar laughed at the pirates and demanded they ask for 50 (1550 kg of silver, or approximately $1,500,00), as he considered the 20 talents of silver too small of a ransom for himself. The pirates, of course, agreed and so Caesar sent some of his associates off to gather the silver, which took 38 full days to accomplish.

Now he was left nearly alone with the pirates with only 2 servants and a friend still standing by his side. Rather than cower, he started treating them like they were his subordinates, even going as far as to demand they stay quiet whenever he decided to take a nap or wanted to concentrate. He spent a great deal of that time with the pirates composing and reciting poetry, writing speeches and playing various games; generally acting like he wasn't a prisoner but rather their leader. Their relationship quickly took a turn compared to what they originally had in mind, they grew closer to him and soon enough he had their respect and freedom to do as he pleased around their island and ships.

While he was friendly with them, he didn't appreciate being held captive and so he sworn to them that he would hunt them down one by one and have them crucified , once the ransom was paid. Despite the fact that at the time he didn't have a rank and was acting as a private citizen, once he was free, he quickly raised a mall fleet which took him back to the pirates' island . Apparently they hadn't taken his threats seriously since they were still there when he arrived. He kept his promise, capturing them one by one and taking back his 50 talents of silver, along with all their possessions. He then had tham crucified under his own authority, despite the disagreement of the proconsul of the religion.