I’ve been thinking about how organized crime played a big part in the 20th century, and from what I can tell at least some of the 19th century. I’m wondering- how far back does this go?
Things like organized protection rackets, smuggling and bootlegging, murder for hire services (for purposes pettier than political assassination), etc. I’m aware ancient Rome had a “””fire department””” that was basically an arson protection racket, but I can’t find much more info on that sort of thing.
I wrote a two part answer (with a long follow up post) about the criminal underworld of 14th century England that I think will go some of the way towards answering your question.