Hostage

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A hostage is an entity which is held by a captor in order to compel another party to act or refrain from acting in a particular way. Frequently the entity held is a person. Hostage taking is often politically motivated or motivated by a desire for ransom.

Taking hostages is today considered a crime and/or terrorist act; however, it has a history of military use dating back thousands of years. The criminal activity is known as kidnapping

Famous hostages include

Terry Anderson
Terry Waite
Theodoric the Great
Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote
Polybius, Greek historian