Popular culture of today maintains its interest in the pirate costume helped along by films on release with the actor Johny Depp as the hero. These have helped maintain the thirst for the pirate costume. The true stories of pirates is fascinating. He would ply his craft through piracy and would use a variety of weapons as the tools of his trade. So guns and swords were as important to him as the treasure itself, and were the tools on which his life would depend.
Vikings, on the other hand, an earlier pirate from the Northern countries, used weapons which usually included a battle axe. The Greeks used a short sword called a kopis. Buccaneers used cutlasses and muskets. The easiest weapons to use on board were pistols and daggers as they were the smallest and easiest to handle at close quarters.
In the 1500s pirate ships started using cannons to fire at enemy ships. But the gunpowder was very dangerous and caused many self inflicted casualties
When pirates sailed close up to a ship they proceeded to jump on board and then fight on deck. If they won the fight they would steal anything they found. Sometimes they would even steal the ship as well.
Stretching back further back in time, lived the Barbary pirates, who came from the north coast of Africa. These followed the faith of Islam and were known as corsairs. They usually confined themselves to attacking Christian ships in the Mediterranean ocean and captured these followers of Christ and would then sell them as slaves. If they came across an important person they would hold them for ransom. The Corsairs ensured their captives rowed their ships, through various forms of brutality