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{{Short description|6th century BC tyrant of Samos}}
{{Other people}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Polycrates
|
| title = [[Tyrant|Tyrant of Samos]]
| image = Polykrates with Pharao Amasis II.jpg
| caption = Polycrates with Pharaoh [[Amasis II]] (19th century illustration).
| reign = {{nowrap|540s
| 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}}; {{
== 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
==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
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
===Thalassocracy===
[[File:ISLANDS off IONIA, Samos. Circa 530-528 BC.jpg|thumb|Coinage of Samos at the time of Polycrates. Circa 530-528 BC.]]
[[File:ISLANDS off IONIA, Samos. Circa 526-522 BC.jpg|thumb|Coinage of Samos at the time of Polycrates. Forepart of winged boar with lion scalp facing in dotted square within incuse square. Circa 526-522 BC.]]
Polycrates recruited an army of 1,000 [[archery|archers]] and assembled a navy of 100 [[Penteconter (ship)|penteconters]], which became the most powerful navy in the Greek world –– [[Herodotus]] says that Polycrates was the first Greek ruler to understand the importance of sea power and Thucydides includes him in his list of [[thalassocracy|thalassocracies]] in the Aegean.<ref>Herodotus 3.122; [[Thucydides]] 1.13.6</ref> With these forces he implemented a plan to bring all the Greek islands and cities of [[Ionia]] under his rule. Polycrates' rise to power took place in the period when the [[Achaemenid empire]] under [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] conquered western Anatolia. In theory, the Aegean islanders had accepted Persian overlordship after Cyrus conquered [[Lydia]] in 546 BC, but in practice the political situation in the Aegean was complicated. This confusion may have contributed to Polycrates' success in projecting his power.<ref name="C131">Carty (2005), 131-5</ref>
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
=== 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
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>
"It's said that Polycrates was one of the earliest known coin counterfeiters. Herodotus wrote that Polycrates bought off the besieging Spartans in 525/4 B.C. with counterfeit Samian coins. Some of these fakes still exist and are described in Spink's coin catalogue."<ref>The Counterfeit Coin Storey by Ken Peters ISBN 0-9543487-0-2</ref>
===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
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
==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
=== 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
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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:A tyrant; but our masters then
:Were still, at least, our countrymen.
In modern folkloristics, the tale of Polycrates' Ring originated the [[Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index|Aarne–Thompson–Uther]] tale type ATU 736A, named after this episode. The story is acknowledged by scholarship as "widespread"<ref>Brockington, Mary. "Discovery in the Morrois: Antecedents and Analogues." ''The Modern Language Review'' 93, no. 1 (1998): 1-15. doi:10.2307/3733618.</ref> and "attested in numerous literatures and languages".<ref>Parsons, Ben. "‘I Was Beaten and I Beat’: Responding to Discipline." In: Punishment and Medieval Education, 165-206. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK; Rochester, NY, USA: Boydell & Brewer, 2018. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1qv17q.10.</ref>
== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Salvator Rosa - Polycrates' Crucifixion - 1942.292 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg|The crucifixion of Polycrates by [[Oroetes]].
File:The crucifixion of Polycrates the tyrant after his capture by the Persians MET DP837539.jpg|The crucifixion of Polycrates the tyrant after his capture by the Persians.
File:Polykrates by M.Kozlovsky (1790, GRM) 01.jpg|The crucifixion of Polycrates by [[Achaemenid]] [[Satrap]] [[Oroetes]]. ''Polykrates'' by [[Mikhail Kozlovsky|M. Kozlovsky]] (1790, Russian museum).
</gallery>
== See also ==
* [[Piracy]]
* ''[[Metiochus and Parthenope]]''
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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=
*{{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}}
[[Category:6th-century BC Greek people]]
[[Category:Ancient Samians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek
[[Category:People executed by crucifixion]]
[[Category:Executed ancient Greek people]]
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[[Category:People executed by the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:ATU 700-749]]
[[Category:520s BC deaths]]
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