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SAMOS

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 117 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SAMOS , one of the See also:

principal and most fertile of the islands in the See also:Aegean See also:Sea that closely adjoin the mainland of See also:Asia See also:Minor, from which it is separated by a strait of only about a mile in width. It is about 27 M. in length, by about 14 in its greatest breadth, and is occupied throughout the greater See also:part of its extent by a range of mountains, of which the highest See also:summit, near its western extremity, called See also:Mount Kerkis, is 4725 ft. high. This range is in fact a continuation of that of Mount Mycale on the mainland, of which the promontory of Trogilium, immediately opposite to the See also:city of Samos, formed the extreme point. Samos is tributary to See also:Turkey in the sum of f,2700 annually, but other-See also:wise is practically an See also:independent principality, governed by a See also:prince of See also:Greek See also:nationality nominated by the See also:Porte. As See also:chief of the executive See also:power the prince is assisted by a See also:senate of fourmembers, chosen by him out of eight candidates nominated by the four districts of the See also:island—Vathy, Chora, Marathocumbo and Carlovasi. The legislative power belongs to a chamber of 36 deputies, presided over by the See also:metropolitan. The seat of the See also:government is Vathy (6000). There is a See also:telephone service. The island is remarkably fertile, and a See also:great portion of it is covered with vineyards, the See also:wine from the Vathy grapes enjoying a specially high reputation. There are three ports: Vathy, Tegani and Carlovasi. The See also:population in 19o0 was about 54,830, not comprising 15,000 natives of Samos inhabiting the adjoining coasts. The predominant See also:religion is the Orthodox Greek, the metropolitan See also:district including Samos and Icaria.

In too() there were 634 foreigners on the island (523 Hellenes, 13 Germans, 29 See also:

French, 28 Austrians and 24 of other nationalities). See also:History.—Concerning the earliest history of Samos See also:literary tradition is singularly defective. At the See also:time of the great migrations it received an Ionian population which traced its origin to See also:Epidaurus in Argolis. By the 7th See also:century B.C. it had become one of the leading commercial centres of See also:Greece. This See also:early prosperity of the Samians seems largely due to the island's position near the end of the Maeander and Caster See also:trade-routes, which facilitated the importation of textiles from inner Asia Minor. But the Samians also See also:developed an extensive oversea See also:commerce. They helped to open up trade with the See also:Black Sea and with See also:Egypt, and were credited with having been the first Greeks to reach the Straits of See also:Gibraltar. Their commerce brought them into See also:close relations with See also:Cyrene, and probably also with See also:Corinth and See also:Chalcis, but made them See also:bitter rivals of their neighbours of See also:Miletus. The See also:feud between these two states See also:broke out into open strife during the Lelantine See also:War (7th century B.c.), with which we may connect a Samian innovation in Greek See also:naval warfare, the use of the trireme. The result of this conflict was to confirm the supremacy of the Milesians in eastern See also:waters for the time being; but in the 6th century the insular position of Samos preserved it from those aggressions at the hands of See also:Asiatic See also:kings to which Miletus was henceforth exposed. About 535 B.C., when the existing See also:oligarchy was overturned by the See also:tyrant See also:Polycrates (q.v.), Samos reached the height of its prosperity. Its See also:navy See also:riot only protected it from invasion, but ruled supreme in Aegean waters.

The city was beautified with public See also:

works, and its school of sculptors, See also:metal-workers and See also:engineers achieved high repute (see below). After Polycrates' See also:death Samos suffered a severe See also:blow when the Persians conquered and partly depopulated the island. It had regained much of its power when in 499 it joined the See also:general revolt of the See also:Ionians against See also:Persia; but owing to its See also:long-See also:standing See also:jealousy of Miletus it rendered indifferent service, and at the decisive See also:battle of Lade (494) part of its contingent of sixty See also:ships was guilty of downright treachery. In 479 the Samians led the revolt against Persia. In the Delian See also:League they held a position of See also:special See also:privilege and remained actively loyal to See also:Athens until 440, when a dispute with Miletus, which the Athenians had decided against them, induced them to secede. With a See also:fleet of sixty ships they held their own for some time against a large Athenian fleet led by See also:Pericles himself, but after a protracted See also:siege were forced to capitulate and degraded to the See also:rank of tributary See also:state. At the end of the Peloponnesian War Samos appears as one of the most loyal dependencies of Athens; it served as a See also:base for the naval war against the Peloponnesians, and as a temporary See also:home of the Athenian See also:democracy during the revolution of the Four See also:Hundred at Athens (411 B.c.), and in the last See also:stage of the war was rewarded with the Athenian See also:franchise. This friendly attitude towards Athens was the result of a See also:series of See also:political revolutions which ended in the See also:establishment of a democracy., After the downfall of Athens Samos was besieged by See also:Lysander and again placed under an oligarchy. In 394 the withdrawal of the Spartan navy induced the island to declare its See also:independence and re-establish a democracy, but by the See also:peace of See also:Antalcidas (387) it See also:fell again under See also:Persian dominion. It was recovered by the Athenians in 366 after a siege of eleven months, and received a strong See also:body of military settlers. After the Samian War (322), when Athens was deprived of Samos, the vicissitudes of the island can no longer be followed. For some time (about 275–270 B.C.) it served as a base for the See also:Egyptian fleet, at other periods it recognized the overlordship of See also:Syria; in 189 B.C. it was transferred by the See also:Romans to the kings of See also:Pergamum.

Enrolled from 133 in the See also:

Roman See also:province of Asia, it sided with See also:Aristonicus (132) and See also:Mithradates (88) against its overlord, and consequently forfeited its See also:autonomy, which it only temporarily recovered between the reigns of See also:Augustus and See also:Vespasian. Nevertheless, Samos remained comparatively flourishing, and was able to contest with See also:Smyrna and See also:Ephesus the See also:title " first city of See also:Ionia "; it was chiefly noted as a See also:health resort and for the manufacture of pottery (see below). Under See also:Byzantine See also:rule Samos became the See also:head of the Aegean theme (military district). After the 13th century it passed through much the same changes of government as See also:Chios (q.v.), and, like the latter island, became the See also:property of the Genoese See also:firm of See also:Giustiniani (1346–1566). At the time of theTurkish See also:conquest it was severely depopulated, and had to be provided with new settlers, partly Albanians. During the Greek War of Independence Samos See also:bore a conspicuous part, and it was in the strait between the island and Mount Mycale that Canaris set See also:fire to and blew up a See also:Turkish See also:frigate, in the presence of the See also:army that had been assembled for the invasion of the island, a success that led to the See also:abandonment of the enterprise, and Samos held its own to the very end of the war. On the conclusion of peace the island was indeed again handed over to the See also:Turks, but since 1835 has held an exceptionally advantageous position, being in fact self-governed, though tributary to the Turkish See also:empire, and ruled by a Greek See also:governor nominated by the Porte, who bears the title of " Prince of Samos," but is supported and controlled by a Greek See also:council and See also:assembly. The prosperity of the island bears See also:witness to the See also:wisdom of this arrangement. Its principal See also:article of export is its wine, which was celebrated in See also:ancient times, and still enjoys a high reputation in the See also:Levant. It exports also See also:silk, oil, raisins and other dried fruits. The ancient See also:capital, which bore the name of the island, was situated on the S. See also:coast at the See also:modern Tigani, directly opposite to the promontory of Mycale, the See also:town itself adjoining the sea and having a large artificial See also:port, the remains of which are still visible, as are the ancient walls that surrounded the summit of a See also:hill which rises immediately above it, and now bears the name of Astypalaea. This formed the See also:acropolis of the ancient city, which in its flourishing times covered the slopes of Mount Ampelus down to the See also:shore.

The See also:

aqueduct cut through the hill by Polycretes may still be seen. From this city a road led See also:direct to the far famed See also:temple of See also:Hera, which was situated close to the shore, whew its site is still marked by a single See also:column, but even that bereft of its capital. This fragment, which has given to the neighbouring headland the name of See also:Capo See also:Colonna, is all that remains standing of the temple that was extolled by See also:Herodotus as the largest he had ever seen, and which vied in splendour as well as in celebrity with that of See also:Diana at Ephesus. Though so little of the temple remains, the See also:plan of it has been ascertained, and its dimensions found fully to verify the assertion of Herodotus, as compared with all other Greek temples existing in his time, though it was afterwards surpassed by the later temple at Ephesus. The modern capital of the island was, until recently, at a See also:place called Khora, about 2 M. from the sea and from the site of the ancient city; but since the See also:change in the political See also:condition of Samos the capital has been transferred to Vathy, situated at the head of a deep See also:bay on the N. coast, which has become the See also:residence of the prince and the seat of government. Here a new town has grown up, well built and paved, with a convenient See also:harbour. Samos was celebrated in ancient times as the See also:birth-place of See also:Pythagoras. His name and figure are found on coins of the city of imperial date. It was also conspicuous in the history of See also:art, having produced in early times a school of sculptors, commencing with See also:Rhoecus and See also:Theodorus, who are said to have invented the art of casting statues in See also:bronze. Rhoecus was also the architect of the temple of Hera. The vases of Samos are among the most characteristic products of Ionian pottery in the 6th century. The name Samian See also:ware, often given to a See also:kind of red pottery found wherever there are Roman settlements, has no scientific value.

It is derived from a passage in See also:

Pliny, N.H. See also:xxxv. 16o sqq. Another famous Samian sculptor was Pythagoras, who migrated to Rhegium. See Herodotus, especially See also:book iii.; See also:Thucydides, especially books i. and viii.; See also:Xenophon, Hellenica, books i. ii.; See also:Strabo xiv. pp. 636-639; L. E. See also:Hicks and G. F. Hill, Greek See also:Historical See also:Inscriptions (See also:Oxford, 1901), No. 81; B. V. Head, Historia Numorum (Oxford, 1887), pp.

515-518; Panofka, Res Samiorum (See also:

Berlin, 1822); See also:Curtius, Urkunden zur Geschichte von Samos (See also:Wesel, 1873) ; H. F. Tozer, Islands of the Aegean (See also:London, 189o); J. Boshlan, Aus ionischen and ttalischen Nekropolen. (E. H. B.; M. O. B. C.; E.

End of Article: SAMOS

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