Polycrates: Difference between revisions

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| image = Polykrates with Pharao Amasis II.jpg

| caption = Polycrates with Pharaoh [[Amasis II]] (19th century illustration).

| reign = {{nowrap|540s -– 522 BC}}

| birth_place = [[Samos]]

| death_date = 522 BC

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|predecessor = [[Aeaces (father of Polycrates)|Aeaces I]]?

| successor = Maeandrus

| house=Aeacids
}}

'''Polycrates''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|l|ɪ|k|r|ə|ˌ|t|iː|z}}; {{lang-langx|grc-gre|Πολυκράτης}}), son of [[Aeaces (father of Polycrates)|Aeaces]], was the [[tyrant]] of [[Samos]] from the 540s BC to 522 BC. He had a reputation as both a fierce warrior and an enlightened tyrant.

== Sources ==

The main source for Polycrates' life and activities is the historian [[Herodotus]], who devotes a large section of book 3 of his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' to the rise and fall of Polycrates (3.39-60, 3.120-126). His account was written in the third quarter of the 5th century BC, nearly a century after Polycrates' death, was based mostly on oral traditions and incorporates many folk-tale elements. Furthermore, Herodotus creatively shaped his account of Polycrates in order to make general moral points and to comment on the imperialism of the [[Athenian empire]] in his own day.<ref>Carty (2005) 109-13</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Irwin |first1=Elizabeth |title=Herodotus and Samos: Personal or Political? |journal=The Classical World |date=2009 |volume=102 |issue=4 |pages=395–416|doi=10.1353/clw.0.0115 |s2cid=154603346 }}</ref> Some poetry from Polycrates' time comments on him in passing and there is a smattering of references to Polycrates in other literary sources ranging in date from the 4th century BC to the [[Roman empireEmpire|Roman Imperial period]]. These sources preserve useful information but tend to assimilate Polycrates to a stereotypical model of the tyrannical ruler, which may be anachronistic.<ref>Carty (2015), 17-21</ref>

==Family==

Polycrates' family background is not clearly known to us. J.P. Barron proposed that Polycrates' ancestors formed a dynasty that ruled Samos from around 600 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barron |first1=John P. |title=The Sixth-Century Tyranny at Samos |journal=The Classical Quarterly |date=1964 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=210–229 |jstor=637725 |doi=10.1017/S0009838800023764 |s2cid=170412189 }}</ref> A shadowy figure, [[Syloson (son of Calliteles)|Syloson, son of Calliteles]] might have been the founder of this dynasty. Barron further proposed that Polycrates' father, [[Aeaces (father of Polycrates)|Aeaces]], ruled Samos around the middle of the sixth century. An inscription survives from this period, in which an individual called Aeaces dedicates some plunder to [[Hera]].<ref>[https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/344333?&bookid=874&___location=167 ''IG'' XII.6.2 561]</ref> Barron's analysis was broadly accepted by [[Graham Shipley]], but has been challenged by Aideen Carty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shipley |first1=Graham J. |title=A History of Samos, 800-188 BC |date=1987 |publisher=Oxford University Press |___location=Oxford |isbn=9780198148685|pages=40–1 & 69}}</ref><ref>Carty (2015) 23-66.</ref>

Polycrates had two brothers, [[Pantagnotus]] and [[Syloson]], who were originally his co-rulers. Syloson ruled Samos again after Polycrates' death, and was succeeded by his own son, [[Aeaces (son of Syloson)|Aeaces]]. Herodotus mentions a daughter in his account of Polycrates' death.

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== Reign ==

=== Establishment of his power ===

In the mid-sixth century BCE, there seemswas to have beenapparently a period of civil strife in Samos. This strifeconflict is mentioned by Herodotus in the context of Polycrates' rise to power.<ref name="H339">Herodotus ''Histories'' 3.39</ref> [[John Boardman (art historian)|John Boardman]] and Graham Shipley proposedhave that there wascited archaeological evidence for serious disruption in this period. Around 550 BC, they say, funerary stele were shattered and aristocratic burials in the West Cemetery at Samos cease, while the first great [[Heraion of Samos|temple of Hera]], known as the Rhoikos temple, was destroyed - only a decade after it had beenwas built.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1017/S0003581500083128| title=Chian and Early Ionic architecture| journal=The Antiquaries Journal| volume=39| issue=3–4| pages=170–218| year=1959| last1=Boardman| first1=John| s2cid=164059218}}</ref><ref>Shipley (1987) 79</ref> However, more recent archaeological research has challenged this picture, showing that the destruction of the Rhoikos temple was a structural failure resulting from subsidence under the foundations, and that the West Cemetery fell out of use gradually over the course of the second half of the sixth century.<ref>Carty (2005) 92-93 & 102-105</ref> Aideen Carty argues that shifts in the deposition of [[Laconian vase painting|Laconian pottery]] on Samos suggest the development of pro- and anti-Spartan factions on the island, the one faction associated with the Heraion and the other with the Samian Artemision of Samos.<ref>Carty (2005) 94-102</ref>

Herodotus reports that Polycrates took power with his brothers Pantagnotus and Syloson and a force of only fifteen men.<ref>Herodotus ''Histories'' 3.39 & 3.120.</ref> This coup seems to have taken place in 540 BC or slightly earlier.<ref>Carty (2015) 75-89. [[Eusebius]] ''Chronicon'' puts this event in 533 BC, but this is generally agreed to be too late: White (1954), Cadoux (1956). Carty moves it back to c. 550 BC.</ref> Initially, Polycrates ruled along with his brothers., Butbut soon he had Pantagnotus killed and then exiled Syloson to take full control for himself.<ref name="H339"/> According to thea Roman-period author, [[Polyaenus]], there was a religious procession of the Samians in armour out of the city of Samos to the Heraion, led by Pantagnotus and Syloson. When the procession was over, the Samians removed their armour to sacrifice, and Pantagnotus and Syloson seized the chance to murder their enemies. At the same time, Polycrates seized Astypalaea, the citadel of the city of Samos, called Astypalaea. The tyrant of [[Naxos]], [[Lygdamis of Naxos|Lygdamis]], invaded with a force to support Polycrates.<ref>[http://www.attalus.org/translate/polyaenus1A.html#23.1 Polyaenus 1.23].</ref> ItHowever, it is uncertain whether Polyaenus' account describes Polycrates' initial seizure of power or the conflict with his brothers which left him as sole ruler.<ref>Carty (2005)117-20</ref>

===Thalassocracy===

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Few specifics of Polycrates' naval activities and conquests are preserved. Herodotus refers to an attack on [[Miletus]], in which the [[Lesbos|Lesbians]] came to the aid of Miletos and Polycrates won a great naval victory, capturing and enslaving large numbers of Lesbian sailors.<ref>Herodotus 3.39</ref> The Milesians had become key Persian allies and this victory is probably identical with a victory over Persian navy mentioned in Thucydides and some other historians.<ref>Thucydides 1.13.6; Carty (2005), 133</ref> Thucydides emphasises his conquest of Delos, the key religious centre of the Aegean.<ref name="Thucydides 1.13, 3.104">Thucydides 1.13, 3.104</ref> Polycrates formed an alliance with King [[Amasis II|Amasis]] of [[Egypt]] and A. Carty suggests that Polycrates assisted Amasis in the conquest of Cyprus.<ref name="C131"/> In general, though, the ancient sources stress not specific campaigns, but wide-ranging raiding, which may have been more like [[piracy]] than campaigns of conquest. Herodotus says that he "raided everyone without any discrimination. For he said that a friend would be more appreciative if what was taken from him was returned than if it had not first been snatched away."<ref>Herodotus 3.39, [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheke'' 10.16.1; P. de Souza, ''Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World'' (1999), 25</ref> Aideen Carty argues that the focus of this raiding was the acquisition of slaves whom he exported to Egypt to serve as mercenaries in Amasis' army.<ref>Carty (2005) 144-8</ref>

The nature of Polycrates' navy is debated. Some scholars have conceived of his pentekonterspenteconters as powerful warships in a state navy which owned, crewed and operated them in accordance with Polycrates' command.<ref>L. Casson ''Ships and Seafaring in Ancient Times'' (1994) 51-3; L. Scott "Were there Polis Navies in Archaic Greece?" in G. J. Oliver et al., ''The Sea in Antiquity'' (2000) 108</ref> Other scholars consider this picture anachronistic; they present the pentekonterspenteconters as trading and raiding vessels that were owned privately by individual Samian aristocrats, who were essentially autonomous pirates only loosely constrained by Polycrates and the Samian state.<ref>de Souza, (1999), 284; Carty (2015) 139-41.</ref> In addition to these ships, Polycrates is said to have commissioned a new type of ship called the Samaina, a decked ship with two banks of oars, apparently a merchant galley designed for the rapid transport of goods or troops.<ref>[[Photius]] ''Lexicon'' sv. Σαμίων ὁ δῆμός; Plutarch, ''Pericles'' 26; Wallinga (1993) 95-7; De Souza (1998) 283; Carty (2005) 141-4</ref>

=== Rebellion and Spartan attack ===

[[File:Samos, Temple of Hera, Statue of a warrior 530 BCE.jpg|thumb|Samos, Temple of Hera, Statue of a warrior, 530 BC]]

[[File:Polycrates leaving his daughter to encounter Oroetus.jpg|thumb|Polycrates leaving his daughter to encounter Oroetus.]]

Herodotus states that Polycrates later established a fleet of 40 [[trireme]]s, probably becoming the first Greek state with a fleet of such ships, which he crewed with sailors he considered to be politically dangerous, and sent to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] king [[Cambyses II|Cambyses]] with instructions to put the crews to death.<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'' 3.39</ref> Modern scholars consider this story unlikely.<ref>Carty (2005) 136</ref> The dispatch of these ships is usually connected with the [[Battle of Pelusium (525 BC)|Persian invasion of Egypt]] in 525 BC. HermannHerman Wallinga argues that the ships were built at Amasis' expense, crewed by Polycrates, and sent by him to fight against the Persians.<ref>H. T. Wallinga, ''Ships and Sea-Power before the Great Persian War'' (1993), 88 and 117.</ref> By contrast, [[Hans Van Wees]] thinks that this fleet was a gift from the Persians, crewed by Polycrates, in order to assist the Persians ''against'' Amasis.<ref>H. Van Wees, ''Greek Warfare'' (2004), 306 n. 19</ref>

The naval detachment turned back to attack Polycrates. They defeated him at sea but could not take the island. The rebels then sailed to mainland [[Greece]] and allied with [[Sparta]] and [[Corinth, Greece|Corinth]]. Sparta and Corinth invaded the island of Samos in support of the Samian rebels around 520 BC. After 40 days they withdrew their unsuccessful siege.<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=John |title=Herodotus and Greek History (Routledge Revivals) |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317678373 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPVQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88 |language=en}}</ref>

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===Persian invasion and death===

Herodotus also tells the story of Polycrates' death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/student/archives/herodotus_polycrates/|title=Herodotus (Polycrates)|website=global.oup.com|access-date=2018-04-14|archive-date=2018-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730110548/https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/student/archives/herodotus_polycrates/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Near the end of the reign of Cambyses (around 522 BC), the [[satrap]] of [[Sardis]], [[Oroetes]], planned to kill Polycrates, either because he had been unable to add Samos to Persia's territory, or because Polycrates had snubbed a Persian ambassador. Prior to this, according to Diodorus Siculus, some Lydians fleeing Oroestes' domineering rule sought sanctuary on Samos. Polycrates at first received them, but then put them to the sword and confiscated the possessions that they had brought (Diodorus Siculus, Library 10.16.4). Polycrates was invited to [[Magnesia on the Maeander|Magnesia]], where Oroetes lived. Oroetes claimed that he wanted a promise of refuge on Samos in the event that Cambyses turned on him and that in return he would give Polycrates a large amount of money. Polycrates was convinced and went to Magnesia, where he was assassinated. Herodotus is vague about the manner of Polycrates' death, saying only that it was an undignified end for a glorious ruler; he may have been [[impalement|impaled]] and his dead body was [[crucifixion|crucified]].<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'' 3.125.3</ref> Herodotus claims that Polycrates' daughter warned him not to go to Magnesia, reporting a prophetic dream that she had had of him hanging in the air, being washed by [[Zeus]] and anointed by the sun god [[Helios]]. His death fulfilled this prophecy as when it rained he was 'washed by Zeus' and when the sun shone he was 'anointed by Helios', as the moisture was sweated from him.<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'' 3.126</ref>

After the murder of Polycrates by Oroetes, Samos was ruled by [[Maeandrius]].<ref name="Routledge"/> After some time, [[Syloson]], the brother of Polycrates, was installed as governor of [[Samos]] by [[Achaemenid]] ruler [[Darius I]], receiving the help of general [[Otanes]] to expel the imposterimpostor who had taken control after Oroetes.<ref>Herodotus, iii.142-144.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Dandamaev|first1=M. A.|author-link1=Muhammad Dandamayev|title=A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire|date=1989|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004091726|page=148|quote=The island was plundered and incorporated into the Achaemenid empire. Syloson was appointed as its vassal ruler.}}</ref>

==Samos under Polycrates==

===Construction projects===

[[File:GR_Samos_Heraion_05_asb_16-08-2002.jpg|left|thumb|334x334px|Heraion, Samos]]

Under Polycrates the Samians developed an engineering and technological expertise to a level unusual in ancient Greece.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The rise of the Greeks|last=Grant|first=Michael|publisher=Scribners|edition=1st American|___location=New York|pages=153–156}}</ref> In the midst of his account of Polycrates, Herodotus presents three astounding engineering works of the Samians. The first of these is an aqueduct in the form of a tunnel {{convert|1036|m|ft}} long which can still be seen and which is known as the [[Tunnel of Eupalinos]]. The tunnel was constructed by two teams tunnelingtunnelling from opposite sides of a ridge who met in the middle with an error of only a few metres — a remarkable engineering feat for the time, and one which probably reflects the practical geometry skills which the Samians had learned from the Egyptians. Polycrates also sponsored construction of a large temple of [[Hera]], the [[Heraion of Samos|Heraion]], to which Amasis dedicated many gifts, and which at {{convert|346|ft|m}} long was one of the three largest temples in the Greek world, and he upgraded the [[Ancient harbour of Samos|harborharbour]] of his capital city (modern [[Pythagoreion|Pythagorion]]), ordering the construction of a deep-water mole nearly a quarter mile long, which is still used to shelter Greek fishing boats today.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The lyric age of Greece|last=Burn|first=A. R.|publisher=Minerva|year=1968|___location=St. Martin's Press|pages=314–318}}</ref> Although these projects are often associated with Polycrates on the strength of the passage of Herodotus, he is actually very vague about when these projects were carried out and what - if anything - they had to do with Polycrates.<ref>Carty (2015) 15</ref> Archaeological work has made the picture more complicated, suggesting that the Tunnel of Eupalinos may have been dug before his reign and that Polycrates continued projects that were already in course at the Heraion.

=== Religious and cultural activities ===

One use to which Polycrates put his powerful navy was controlling the island of [[Delos]], one of the most important religious centerscentres in Greece, control of which would bolster Polycrates' claim to be the leader of the [[Ionians|Ionian]] Greeks.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of Greece to the death of Alexander the Great|lastlast1=Bury|firstfirst1=J. B.|last2=Mieggs|first2=Russell|publisher=Macmillan|year=1956|edition=3|___location=London|pages=232–234}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> [[Thucydides]] reports that Polycrates chained Delos to the neighbouring island of [[Rhenaia]].<ref name="Thucydides 1.13, 3.104"/> In 522 BC Polycrates celebrated an unusual double festival in honour of the god [[Apollo]] of [[Delos]] and of [[Delphi]]; it has been suggested that the ''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn]] to Apollo'', sometimes attributed to [[Cynaethus]] of Chios, was composed for this occasion.<ref>[[SoudaSuda]] sv Pythia kai Delia</ref><ref>[[Walter Burkert]], 'Kynaithos, Polycrates and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo' in ''Arktouros: Hellenic studies presented to B. M. W. Knox'' ed. G. W. Bowersock, W. Burkert, M. C. J. Putnam (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1979), pp. 53–62.</ref>

Polycrates lived amid great luxury and spectacle and was a patron of the poets [[Anacreon]] and [[Ibycus]].<ref>[[Athenaeus]], ''Deipnosophistae'' 12.540c-d</ref><ref>See papyrus fragment of a poem by Ibycus that mentions Polycrates at [http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk/POxy/VExhibition/finds/ibycus.html Oxyrhynchus Online]: ‘With them you too, Polycrates, shall have immortal fame for beauty as long as my song and fame endure.’</ref> The philosopher [[Pythagoras]] was also on Samos during his reign but left for Croton about 531 BC, perhaps out of dissatisfaction with his dictatorship.<ref>[[Aristoxenus]] F16</ref><ref name=":0" /> He also attracted to his court, sometimes by offering generous subsidies, an array of prominent craftsmen and professionals from throughout the Greek world, including Eupalinos, the architect of the Tunnel, who was originally from [[Megara, Greece|Megara]], the famous physician Demodocus of Croton, Rhoikos the architect of the [[Heraion of Samos|Heraion]], and the master metal-worker Theodoros, who had made a famous silver bowl which [[Croesus]] dedicated at [[Delphi]] and which is described by Herodotus, and who also made the ring which was Polycrates' most treasured personal possession. Polycrates established a library on Samos, and showed a sophisticated approach to economic development, importing improved breeds of sheep, goats, and dogs from elsewhere in the Greek world.<ref name=":1" />

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=== Cultural legacy ===

''Polycrates' Ring'' (German: ''[[Der Ring des Polykrates (poem)|Der Ring des Polykrates]]'') is a lyrical ballad written in June 1797 by [[Friedrich Schiller]] and first published in his 1798 Musen-Almanach annual. It is about how the greatest success gives reason to fear disaster. Schiller relied on the accounts of the fate of Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, in Herodotus' Histories, Book III.

The early 20th century opera ''[[Der Ring des Polykrates (opera)|Der Ring des Polykrates]]'' by [[Erich Wolfgang Korngold]] retells the story of Polycrates as a modern fable.

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*{{cite book |last1=Carty |first1=Aideen |title=Polycrates, Tyrant of Samos: New Light on Archaic Greece |date=2015 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |___location=Stuttgart |isbn=9783515108980}}

*{{cite book |last1=Shipley |first1=Graham |title=A History of Samos: 800-188 BC |date=1987}}

*{{cite journal |last1=Cadoux |first1=T. J. |title=The Duration of the Samian Tyranny |journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies |date=1956 |volume=76 |pages=1–99105–106|doi=10.2307/629559 |jstor=629559 |s2cid=163184237 }}

*{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=M. |title=The Duration of the Samian Tyranny |journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies |date=1954 |volume=74 |pages=36–43|doi=10.2307/627553 |jstor=627553 |s2cid=161276674 }}

==Further reading==

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==External links==

* [http://www.livius.org Livius], [https://www.livius.org/pn-po/polycrates/polycrates.html Polycrates of Samos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227013039/http://www.livius.org/pn-po/polycrates/polycrates.html |date=2013-02-27 }} by Jona Lendering

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:6th-century BC Greek people]]

[[Category:Ancient Samians]]

[[Category:Ancient Greek rulersmonarchs]]

[[Category:People executed by crucifixion]]

[[Category:Executed ancient Greek people]]

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[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]

[[Category:ATU 700-749]]

[[Category:520s BC deaths]]