Samos: Aegean Naval Power from Polycrates to Persian Wars & Athenian Rivalry

Samos is a mountainous island two miles off the coast of western Asia Minor, at Cape Mycale in the southern part of Ionia. The original inhabitants of this twenty- seven-mile by fourteen-mile island were Carians from the mainland. Around the year 1000, immigrants from Epidaurus under Procles in the Argolid fled the Dorians, landing and establishing a Greek colony with the four usual Ionian tribes and the addition of two Carian tribes. Having six tribes instead of the traditional four probably represents the situation where the native population was assimilated peacefully, with the Greek colonists cohabiting and mingling freely. The Greeks established themselves on the southern part of the island at a circular, all-season harbor. The island formed one of the twelve Ionian cities. The region was fertile, and the aristocratic elements ruled.

The island soon became a mercantile powerhouse due to its favorable harbor and location. It soon developed an historical rivalry with the city of Miletus, since it was able to divert much of the sea and overland trade to its realm. During the seventh century, it had ties with Sparta and imported Laconian pottery and goods, more than any other city. An example of Samos’s commercial power came from its trade with the west. In 640, a Samian merchant named Colaeus was blown off course, sailing to Egypt and Libya and through the Straits of Gibraltar. He landed at the Baetis River on the Atlantic coast at Tartessus, a non-Greek settlement in Spain, and established trade relations. This relationship allowed Samos to receive tin from England and silver from Spain.

Samos also took the lead in establishing colonies, most notably tied to its mother city Epidaurus, throughout the Aegean. They also settled colonists in Egypt at Naucratis to help create a multinational emporium. They erected there a temple to Hera, which through successive iterations became an important shire and example of Greek architecture and art.

Although it was briefly ruled by a dictator, Demoteles, in 600, the island continued to be run by an oligarchy based upon wealth. This government was then overthrown around 540 by the tyrant Polycrates, who established a powerful state at Samos. He not only had mercenaries but also recruited a force of 1,000 Samian archers, as well as a fleet with over 100 penteconters and 40 triremes, a new style of warship that he made the bulwark of his navy. He used this new navy to attack the traditional Samian enemy Miletus, which was now under Persian control. Polycrates understood the importance of a navy and how it could shape the balance of power in a region. He was able to thwart the ambitions of other powers, notably Persia, Phoenicia, and Egypt, keeping them all at bay. By selectively aligning himself to one or another, he could prevent all of them from taking Samos.

Polycrates also developed ties with other islands, establishing control over Siphnos, with its rich silver mines, and Rhenia, near Delos, so as to control the Delphic festival. He increased the domestic economy by importing Milesian sheep, noted for its quality, as well as enhancing the agricultural base of the island. He had built a tunnel over 1,000 yards long in order to bring fresh water to the city and enhance the harbor. Polycrates believed that Oroetes, the Persian satrap at Sardis, would help him in his ambition of naval power, but he was tricked—when he arrived, he was seized, mutilated, and executed.

The Persians conquered the island after the death of Polycrates in 522. They depopulated part of the island and resettled it with some inhabitants from Asia Minor. During the next generation, the population and power of Samos increased. The Samians participated in the Ionian Revolt in 499, having recovered their strength. While they initially participated in the rebellion, their long-standing distrust and hatred of Miletus prompted them to withdraw from the Ionian fleet during the decisive Battle of Lade in 495.

When the Persian fleet had been destroyed at Salamis in 480, Xerxes fled Greece and returned home. The Greek army assembled to fight Persia at Plataea, while their navy assembled off Samos at Mycale. The Samians joined in the battle, rebelling against Persia. With the victory at Mycale, the Greeks created the Delian League, in which Samos was one of the primary members contributing ships. Samos was ultimately only one of three cities that supplied ships instead of money to Athens, giving it a degree of independence. As part of this independence, it could pursue its own policies, so long as it did not go against Athens and its mission. In 440, Samos defeated Miletus, also a member of the Athenian Empire that had previously rebelled against Athens and had been disarmed by the Athenians. Miletus now asked Athens to intervene and help it, since Samos was attacking a fellow member-state. Under Pericles, Athens sent a fleet of forty triremes and successfully overturned the oligarchic government and established a democracy. Pericles then took 100 hostages, presumably from the wealthy oligarchic families, and sailed away.

The oligarchs now returned and retook the city with the help of the Persian satrap. The Samians prepared for war and with a series of other Athenian subjects in rebellion, Samos made ready. Pericles returned with a fleet and successfully defeated the Samian fleet and began to blockade and besiege the city. For the next nine months, Samos withstood the siege but finally was forced to surrender. It gave up its fleet, tore down its walls, and paid an indemnity of over 1,000 talents during the next two decades. It appears that Sparta was ready to go to war against Athens in 440 to help Samos, but Corinth, with its necessary fleet, refused. Crucially, only a few years later it was Corinth demanding that Sparta go to war.

During the Peloponnesian War, Samos remained loyal to Athens and allowed its fleet to use Samos as a port and staging ground. When the oligarchic revolution took place in Athens in 411, the democratic elements of Athens, mainly the fleet, transferred its base to Samos. This prompted Athens to give Samos citizenship. The Spartan admiral Lysander arrived at the end of the year and besieged the city, taking it over and establishing an oligarchy. When the Spartans abandoned the area in 394, the Samians declared their independence, which lasted until Persia conquered it and held it by 387 with the Peace of Antalcidas, which gave Persia control. The Athenians, during their Second Delian League, retook Samos in 366, and it remained in the Athenian sphere of influence until Alexander the Great.