TY - JOUR
TI - The Fleet as the Basis for Polycrates of Samos’ Thalassocracy
AU - Kuciak, Jakub
TI - The Fleet as the Basis for Polycrates of Samos’ Thalassocracy
AB - 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.
VL - 2020
IS - Volume 27
PY - 2020
SN - 1897-3426
C1 - 2084-3909
SP - 45
EP - 66
DO - 10.4467/20800909EL.20.003.12793
UR - https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/electrum/article/the-fleet-as-the-basis-for-polycrates-of-samos-thalassocracy
KW - Polycrates
KW - Samos
KW - fleet
KW - Herodotus
KW - samaina