Samos

SAMOS, an island in the Aegean sea, separated from the mainland of Asia Minor by a strait of only about a mile in width ; about 27m. in length, by 14 in greatest breadth; occupied by mountains, of which the highest, Mt. Kerkis, near its western end, is 4,725ft. high. This range continues from Mt. Mycale on the mainland. Samos was annexed to Greece in 1912. The capital is at Vathy, in a deep bay on the north coast, a quite modern town, well paved and connected by carriage roads with villages round both sides of the bay, and with Tigani on the south coast, the site of the ancient city. A third port, Carlovasi, further west on the northern coast, serves a separate lowland district. The island is remarkably fertile, and a great portion of it is covered with vineyards. Oil, raisins, silk, cotton and tobacco are also grown, and barges and sailing vessels are built at Tigani, almost wholly from native timber. Cigarette making employs many women and girls, the tobacco coming chiefly from Thrace. The population in 1928 was 70,497. The predominant religion is the Orthodox Greek; the metropolitan district is Samos and Icaria.

History.

At the time of the great migrations, in the uth century B.C., Samos received an Ionian population mainly from Epidaurus in Argolis. By the 7th century B.C. it had become one of the leading commercial centres of Greece through its position near the Maeander and Caster trade-routes from inner Asia Minor. The Samians also traded with the Black sea and with Egypt, and claimed to be the first Greeks to reach the Straits of Gibraltar. Their commerce brought them into close relations with Cyrene, Corinth and Chalcis, but made them bitter rivals of their neighbour, Miletus. The feud involved both cities in the Levantine war (7th century B.c.) when Corinth built triremes for the Samians. The result favoured Miletus, but in the 6th century the insular position of Samos preserved it from mainland aggressions to which Miletus was exposed. About 535 B.C., when its oligarchy was overturned by the tyrant Polycrates (q.v.), Samos reached the height of its prosperity. Its navy "ruled the waves" from its new deep-sea harbour, and blockaded the mainland subjects of Persia; the tunnelled aqueduct (still open) secured copious water, and the great Temple of Hera was built. Polycrates first intrigued, and then quarrelled, with the Persian governor of Lydia, and after his death by treachery, Darius conquered Samos and partly depopulated it. It had regained much when, in 499, it

joined the general revolt of the Ionians against Persia ; but owing to jealousy of Miletus, part of its contingent, at the decisive battle of Lade (494), deserted. In 479, however, following Xerxes' defeats in Greece, Samos betrayed the Persian fleet to the Greeks at Mycale. In the Delian League the Samians held spe cial privilege and remained loyal to Athens until 44o, when a dis pute with Miletus, which the Athenians had decided against them, provoked them to secede. With a fleet of 6o ships they held their own for some time against a large Athenian fleet led by Pericles himself, but after a siege, capitulated and were degraded to a tributary rank. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian war, when Miletus became a Spartan naval base, Samos appears as one of the most loyal dependencies of Athens ; and a temporary home of the Athenian democracy during the revolution of the Four Hundred at Athens (41I B.c.), and in the last stage of the war, it was rewarded with the Athenian franchise. This friendly attitude towards Athens was accompanied by the establishment of democracy. After the downfall of Athens, Samos was besieged by Lysander and again placed under an oligarchy. In 394, when the Spartan navy withdrew, the island declared its independence and re-established a democracy, but by the Peace of Antalcidas (387) it fell under Persian dominion. Recovered by the Athenians in 366, after a siege, it received a body of military settlers. After 322, when Athens was again deprived of Samos, its fate is obscure. For some time (about 275-270 B.c.) it served as a base for the Egyptian fleet, at other periods it recognized the over lordship of Syria; in 189 B.C. it was transferred by the Romans to the kings of Pergamum. Enrolled from 133 in the Roman prov ince of Asia, it revolted to Aristonicus (132) and Mithridates (88), and forfeited its autonomy, but recovered it between the reigns of Augustus and Vespasian, and remained prosperous. Under Byzantine rule Samos became the head of the Aegean theme (military district). After the 13th century it passed through much the same changes as Chios (q.v.), and became the property of the Genoese firm of Giustiniani (1346-1566). At the Turkish conquest it was severely depopulated, and provided with new settlers, partly Albanians.