The Ring Of Polycrates
Near the coast of Asia Minor lies the bright and beautiful island of
Samos, one of the choicest gems of the AEgean archipelago. This island
was, somewhere about the year 530 B.C., seized by a political adventurer
named Polycrates. He accomplished this by the aid of his two brothers,
but of these he afterwards killed one and banished the other,--Syloson
by name,--so that he became sole ruler and despot of the island.
This island kingdom of Polycrates was a small one, about eighty miles in
circumference, but it was richly fertile, and had the honor of being the
birthplace of many illustrious Greeks, among whom we may name
Pythagoras, the famous philosopher. The city of Samos became, under
Polycrates, "the first of all cities, Greek or barbarian." It was
adorned with magnificent buildings and costly works of art; was supplied
with water by a great aqueduct, tunnelled for nearly a mile through a
mountain; had a great breakwater to protect the harbor, and a vast and
magnificent temple to Juno: all of which seem to have been partly or
wholly constructed by Polycrates.
But this despot did not content himself with ruling the island and
adorning the city which he had seized. He was ambitious and
unscrupulous, and aspired to become master of all the islands of the
AEgean Sea, and of Ionia in Asia Minor. He conquered several of these
islands and a number of towns in the mainland, defeated the Lesbian
fleet that came against him during his war with Miletus, got together a
hundred armed ships and hired a thousand bowmen, and went forward with
his designs with a fortune that never seemed to desert him. His naval
power became the greatest in the world of Greece, and it seemed as if he
would succeed in all his ambitious designs. But a dreadful fate awaited
the tyrant. Like Croesus, he was to learn that good fortune is apt to
be followed by disaster. The remainder of his story is part history and
part legend, and we give it as told by old Herodotus, who has preserved
so many interesting tales of ancient Greece.
At, that time Persia, whose king Cyrus had overcome Croesus, was the
greatest empire in the world. All western Asia lay in its grasp; Asia
Minor was overrun; and Cambyses, the king who had succeeded Cyrus, was
about to invade the ancient land of Egypt. The king of this country,
Amasis by name, was in alliance with Polycrates, rich gifts had passed
between them, and they seemed the best of friends. But Amasis had his
superstitions, and the constant good fortune of Polycrates seemed to him
so different from the ordinary lot of kings that he feared that some
misfortune must follow it. He perhaps had heard the story of Solon and
Croesus. Amasis accordingly wrote a warning letter to his friend.
The great prosperity of his friend and ally, he said, caused him
foreboding instead of joy, for he knew that the gods were envious, and
he desired for those he loved alternate good and ill fortune. He had
never heard of any one who was successful in all his enterprises that
did not meet with calamity in the end. He therefore counselled
Polycrates to do what the gods had not yet done, and bring some
misfortune on himself. His advice was that he should select the treasure
he most valued and could least bear to part with, and throw it away so
that it should never be seen again. By this voluntary sacrifice he might
avert involuntary loss and suffering.
This advice seemed wise to the despot, and he began to consider which of
his possessions he could least bear to lose. He settled at length on his
signet-ring, an emerald set in gold, which he highly valued. This he
determined to throw away where it could never be recovered. So, having
one of his fifty-oared vessels manned, he put to sea, and when he had
gone a long distance from the coast he took the ring from his finger
and, in the presence of all the sailors, tossed it into the waters.
This was not done without deep grief to Polycrates. He valued the ring
more highly than ever, now that it lay on the bottom of the sea,
irretrievably lost to him, as he thought; and he grieved for days
thereafter, feeling that he had endured a real misfortune, which he
hoped the gods might accept as a compensation for his good luck.
But destiny is not so easily to be disarmed. Several days afterwards a
Samian fisherman had the fortune to catch a fish so large and beautiful
that he esteemed it worthy to be offered as a present to the king. He
accordingly went with it to the palace gates and asked to see
Polycrates. The guards, learning his purpose, admitted him. On coming
into the king's presence, the fisherman said that, though he was a poor
man who lived by his labor, he could not let himself offer such a prize
in the public market.
"I said to myself," he continued, "'It is worthy of Polycrates and his
greatness;' and so I brought it here to give it to you."
The compliment and the gift so pleased the tyrant that he not only
thanked the fisherman warmly, but invited him to sup with him on the
fish.
But a wonder happened in the king's kitchen. On the cook's cutting open
the fish to prepare it for the table, to his surprise he found within it
the signet-ring of the king. With joy he hastened to Polycrates with
his strangely recovered treasure, the story of whose loss had gone
abroad, and told in what a remarkable way it had been restored.
As for Polycrates, the return of the ring brought him some joy but more
grief. The fates, it appeared, were not so lightly to be appeased. He
wrote to Amasis, telling what he had done and with what result. The
letter came to the Egyptian king like a prognostic of evil. That there
would be an ill end to the career of Polycrates he now felt sure; and,
not wishing to be involved in it himself, he sent a herald to Samos and
informed his late friend and ally that the alliance between them was at
an end.
It cannot be said that Amasis profited much by this act. Soon afterwards
his own country was overrun and conquered by Cambyses, the Persian king,
and his reign came to a disastrous termination.
Whether there is any historical basis for this story of the ring may be
questioned. But this we do know, that the friendship between Amasis and
Polycrates was broken, and that Polycrates offered to help Cambyses in
his invasion, and sent forty ships to the Nile for this purpose. On
these were some Samians whom the tyrant wished to get rid of, and whom
he secretly asked the Persian king not to let return.
These exiles, however, suspecting what was in store for them, managed in
some way to escape, and returned to Samos, where they made an attack on
Polycrates. Being driven off by him, they went to Sparta and asked for
assistance, telling so long a story of their misfortunes and sufferings
that the Spartans, who could not bear long speeches, curtly answered,
"We have forgotten the first part of your speech, and the last part we
do not understand." This answer taught the Samians a lesson. The next
day they met the Spartans with an empty wallet, saying, "Our wallet has
no meal in it." "Your wallet is superfluous," said the Spartans; meaning
that the words would have served without it. The aid which the Spartans
thereupon granted the exiles proved of no effect, for it was against
Polycrates, the fortunate. They sent an expedition to Samos, and
besieged the city forty days, but were forced to retire without success.
Then the exiles, thus made homeless, became pirates. They attacked the
weak but rich island of Siphnos, which they ravaged, and forced the
inhabitants to buy them off at a cost of one hundred talents. With this
fund they purchased the island of Hydrea, but in the end went to Crete,
where they captured the city of Cydonia. After they had held this city
for five years the Cretans recaptured it, and the Samian exiles ended
their career by being sold into slavery.
Meanwhile the good fortune of Polycrates continued, and Samos flourished
under his rule. In addition to his great buildings and works of
engineering he became interested in stock-raising, and introduced into
the island the finest breeds of sheep, goats, and pigs. By high wages he
attracted the ablest artisans of Greece to the city, and added to his
popularity by lending his rich hangings and costly plate to those who
wanted them for a wedding feast or a sumptuous banquet. And that none of
his subjects might betray him while he was off upon an extended
expedition, he had the wives and children of all whom he suspected shut
up in the sheds built to shelter his ships, with orders that these
should be burned in case of any rebellious outbreak.
Yet the misfortune that the return of the ring had indicated came at
length. The warning which Solon had given Croesus applied to
Polycrates as well. The prosperous despot had a bitter enemy, Oroetes
by name, the Persian governor of Sardis. As to why he hated Polycrates
two stories are told, but as neither of them is certain we shall not
repeat them. It is enough to say that he hated Polycrates bitterly and
desired his destruction, which he laid a plan to bring about.
Oroetes, residing then at Magnesia, on the Maeander River, in the
vicinity of Samos, and being aware of the ambitious designs of
Polycrates, sent him a message to the effect that he knew that while he
desired to become lord of the isles, he had not the means to carry out
his ambitious project. As for himself, he was aware that Cambyses was
bent on his destruction. He therefore invited Polycrates to come and
take him, with his wealth, offering for his protection gold sufficient
to make him master of the whole of Greece, so far as money would serve
for this.
This welcome offer filled Polycrates with joy. He knew nothing of the
hatred of Oroetes, and at once sent his secretary to Magnesia to see
the Persian and report upon the offer. What he principally wished to
know was in regard to the money offered, and Oroetes prepared to
satisfy him in this particular. He had eight large chests prepared,
filled nearly full of stones, upon which gold was spread. These were
corded, as if ready for instant removal.
This seeming store of gold was shown to the secretary, who hastened back
to Polycrates with a glowing description of the treasure he had seen.
Polycrates, on hearing this story, decided to go at once and bring
Oroetes and his chests of gold to Samos.
Against this action his friends protested, while the soothsayers found
the portents unfavorable. His daughter, also, had a significant dream.
She saw her father hanging high in the air, washed by Zeus, the king of
the gods, and anointed by the sun. Yet in spite of all this the
infatuated king persisted in going. His daughter followed him on the
ship, still begging him to return. His only answer was that if he
returned successfully he would keep her an old maid for years.
"Oh that you may perform your threat!" she answered. "It is far better
for me to be an old maid than to lose my father."
Yet the infatuated king went, despite all warnings and advice, taking
with him a considerable suite. On his arrival at Magnesia grief instead
of gold proved his portion. His enemy seized him, put him to a miserable
death, and hung his dead body on a cross to the mercy of the sun and the
rains. Thus his daughter's dream was fulfilled, for, in the old belief,
to be washed by the rain was to be washed by Zeus, while the sun
anointed him by causing the fat to exude from his body.
A year or two after the death of Polycrates, his banished brother
Syloson came to the throne in a singular way. During his exile he found
himself at Memphis, in Egypt, while Cambyses was there with his
conquering army. Among the guards of the king was Darius, the future
king of Persia, but then a soldier of little note. Syloson wore a
scarlet cloak to which Darius took a fancy and proposed to buy it. By a
sudden impulse Syloson replied, "I cannot for any price sell it; but I
give it you for nothing, if it must be yours."
Darius thanked him for the cloak, and that ended the matter there and
then,--Syloson afterwards holding himself as silly for the impulsive
good nature of his gift.
But at length he learned with surprise that the simple Persian soldier
whom he had benefited was now king of the great Persian empire. He went
to Susa, the capital, and told who he was. Darius had forgotten his
face, but he remembered the incident of the cloak, and offered to pay a
kingly price for the small favor of his humbler days, tendering gold and
silver in profusion to his visitor. Syloson rejected these, but asked
the aid of Darius to make him king of Samos. This the grateful monarch
granted, and sent Syloson an army, with whose aid the island quickly and
quietly fell into his hands.
Yet calamity followed this peaceful conquest. Charilaus, a hot-tempered
and half-mad Samian, who had been given charge of the acropolis, broke
from it at the head of the guards, and murdered many of the Persian
officers who were scattered unguarded throughout the town. The reprisal
was dreadful. The Persian army fell in fury on the Samians and
slaughtered every man and boy in the island, handing over to Syloson a
kingdom of women and infants. Some time afterwards, however, the island
was repeopled by men from without, and Syloson completed his reign in
peace, leaving the sceptre of Samos to his son.
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In all its history only one serious effort has been made to conquer the empire of Japan. It ended in such dire disaster to the invaders that no nation has ever repeated it. During the thirteenth century Asia was thrown into turmoil by the dreadful o...