Polykrates (1)Polycrates

The tyrant of the island of Samos.

Polykrates ruled Samos from 532 BCE until his death circa 515 BCE; he was a man of great ambition and skill; originally, he took control of the island and shared the governance with his two brothers, Pantagnotus and Syloson, but he had Pantagnotus killed and Syloson was banished.

Polykrates amassed a large fleet of ships and assembled an army capable of dominating all who opposed him; from the island of Samos he was in an excellent strategic position to capture and defend the Aegean coast of Asia Minor as well as the islands of the Aegean Sea.

There are several interesting stories relating to Polykrates in the Histories by Herodotus:

Polykrates had cultivated a friendship with the king of Egypt, Amasis; the two monarchs had exchanged gifts and advice with one another because both men feared the ambitions of the Persian king, Kambyses (Cambyses); Amasis was concerned that Polykrates was too successful and a bit too proud so he advised him to take something that was very important to him and cast it away; Amasis explained that all lives must be checkered with happiness and sorrow and that unless Polykrates endured some degree of hardship his life would end in utter tragedy; Polykrates acted on Amasis’ advice and took his most prized possession, an emerald ring, and threw it into the sea; several days later, a fisherman brought Polykrates an extraordinary fish as a tribute; when the fish was cut open the emerald ring was inside; Polykrates took this as an omen from the gods that his good fortune would continue indefinitely; when he informed Amasis of the event, Amasis broke off all relations with Polykrates saying that the return of the ring was the worst possible omen and that Polykrates’ fate would be one of abject misery and sorrow; Polykrates did not appreciate Amasis’ advice and immediately tried to form an alliance with the Persian king, Kambyses.

Kambyses was preparing to invade Egypt so Polykrates offered to assist the Persian king by giving Kambyses fifty warships; Polykrates manned the ships with dissidents so that he could earn the good will of the powerful and ambitious Kambyses and, at the same time, rid himself of any rebels who might want to threaten his power; Kambyses was not as good an ally as Polykrates might have imagined; Kambyses had insurmountable problems that threatened his empire; according to Herodotus, Kambyses was clearly a madman and could only be trusted to act irrationally and violently towards friend and foe alike.

At this same time, the Spartans were preparing an attack on the island of Samos and Polykrates needed reliable friends who would help defend his growing empire; the Persian satrap of Sardis, Oroetes, devised a plan by which he could defeat Polykrates with nothing more than a messenger and a believable lie; Oroetes informed Polykrates that he was fearful of Kambyses and that he had the funds to make Polykrates the most powerful Greek tyrant who ever existed; Polykrates was intrigued but moved with caution; he sent a messenger to Oroetes to arrange further negotiations but Oroetes was too sly for the messenger; he filled chests with stones and then put a covering of gold coins on top; he showed the chests of gold to the hapless messenger who reported to Polykrates that Oroetes did indeed have immense wealth; Polykrates’ advisors and diviners were not as quick to trust Oroetes and cautioned him to not meet with the Persian; Polykrates’ daughter had a nightmare in which her father was lifted into the air, washed by Zeus and anointed by Helios (the Sun); Polykrates would not listen to any of their warnings and sailed off with a large entourage to meet his doom; Oroetes wasted no time, he took Polykrates and most of his company prisoner; Polykrates was murdered in a cruel way and then his body was crucified; Amasis’ warning and his daughters dream had come true; Polykrates had come to a bitter end; he was hung in the air to be washed by the rain of Zeus and was anointed by the touch of Helios.

• Histories, book 3, chapters 39-46 and 121-125); (Thukydides, book 1, chapter 13