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The Fleet as the Basis for Polycrates of Samos’ Thalassocracy

Publication date: 2020

ELECTRUM, 2020, Volume 27, pp. 45 - 66

https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.20.003.12793

Authors

Jakub Kuciak
Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9072-3031 Orcid
All publications →

Titles

The Fleet as the Basis for Polycrates of Samos’ Thalassocracy

Abstract

Described most exhaustively in Herodotus’ Histories, the navy commanded by tyrant Polycrates of Samos was allegedly one of the greatest in archaic Greece, but the extant sources provide conflicting information about its history of use, structure and role in Polycrates’grand strategy. The paper analyses the available evidence to throw light on selected unknowns regarding Polycrates’naval power. Considered matters include numbers and types of ships found in Polycrates’ navy: penteconters, triremes and samainae, the invention of the latter type traditionally ascribed to Polycrates. Relevantly to this article, the Greek historiographic tradition frequently ascribes famous inventions to famous personages: within this text, I attempt to untangle this association to test whether it holds true for Polycrates. Finally, I examine how the tyrant obtained funds to maintain his sizeable fleet, investigating whether Polycrates might have resorted to pillaging and privateering to pay for his navy’s upkeep.

Additional information

* This paper was written thanks to support from the Polish National Science Centre (UMO-2012/07/B/HS3/03455). This text is an updated and revised version of an article published in Polish, see Kuciak 2015.

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Information

Information: ELECTRUM, 2020, Volume 27, pp. 45 - 66

Article type: Original article

Authors

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9072-3031

Jakub Kuciak
Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9072-3031 Orcid
All publications →

Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków, Poland

Published at: 2020

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND  licence icon

Article financing:

* This paper was written thanks to support from the Polish National Science Centre (UMO-2012/07/B/HS3/03455). This text is an updated and revised version of an article published in Polish, see Kuciak 2015.

Percentage share of authors:

Jakub Kuciak (Author) - 100%

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English