Biography:
Following the conquest of
Samos in 517 by the Persians and the islands de-population, the
Persian, Otanes, repopulated it only a couple of
years later and one of the new citizens
was Athenagoras of Ephosus, an artisan who made shoes. He
was married to Apollonia and shortly after arriving, in 512 bc.,
they had a son, Andros.
Andros was taught the family trade
by his father, but struggled to attain the
same skill level and it would be fair to say that
his attempts were more functional than desirable.
In 499 B.C., when Andros was just
13 years of age, Samos joined the Ionian revolt and
in the race to build up their navy and prepare
its men, there was a great demand for equipment and Andros began
making linothorax armour. A skill where
functionality of build became an advantage and
where there were riches to be made. Over
the next couple of years he became very skilled in this trade
and by early 495 B.C., when he was just 17 years of age, he
was living a very comfy lifestyle.
Indeed, so comfy that he could afford
to take a pilgrimage to Delphi, where he was struck by one of
the old legends on the wall in ancient Doric. This
read, ‘Alongside a pledge often comes disaster’ and
this had a great impression on young Andros,
who saw this as a timely message from the gods
telling him to be very careful about what
he committed himself to.
When he returned to Samos he took
up arms and, thinking that fighting on land was a sure route to
personal harm if a battle was to ensue,
contrived to serve as a marine aboard the Zeus, a trireme with
a compliment of 170 oarsmen 12 marines and
4 archers, hired from Scythia. His skill in armour making ensuring
him a position, despite his young age. This
seemed to be a good move until, just one year later in 494 B.C.,
he found himself with the Samian fleet alongside Ionian allies,
just off the island of Lade .
The Ionians had amassed 353 vessels
from the various Ionian states and this was, indeed, a mighty
fleet. However they faced some 600 Persian
vessels (although not all were war ships) and the mood amongst
the Ionians was not good.
Morale was particularly bad on the
ships from Samos and the feeling was strong that this would be
a one sided battle. and they were on the
wrong side! The Persians made offers of quarter if ships withdrew
and after consideration and discussion amongst
the various ships captains, influenced, no doubt, by the expressions
of concern amongst the crew (of which Andros
was not backward in voicing his opinion) the Samos fleet decided
to withdraw. Signalling a mass withdrawal
by first the Lesbos fleet and then a string of other vessels.
For Andros, however, this did not quite go to plan. 11 of the
Samian triremes elected to honour their pledge to fight, stay
and close for battle. The Zeus was one of those triremes and as
most of the Samian ships sailed out into the Aegean, Andros
could be seen taking up position with his fellow marines, heading
at ramming speed towards the nearest Persian ship. No
doubt with the Delphic words ringing in his head.
The Zeus fought well and the young
Andros discovered that he was as capable as the next in the art
of fighting, but the battle was short and
after attacking and sinking the first Persian ship, they were
less fortunate with the second. A short time later he found himself
clinging to a floating piece of wreckage heading for the deserted
island shore.
Together with a handful of other survivors they recovered some
wreckage and eventually made it to the mainland, where
they planned to make for home and so headed north. They subsequently
discovered along the way that Samos had
surrendered to the Persians and had made the traditional gift
of earth and water. So they decided to head for Zankle instead,
deep in the Mediterranean where they had heard that a number of
fellow citizens had already fled to exile.
Their route back down south took them
via Naxos and they arrived there in 490 B.C only two days ahead
of the Persian army. Being destitute by
this time and unable to get off the island they offered their
services and thus fought alongside the Naxians as
the Persians landed and pressed forward into the hills. Once again
though, this did not go well and Andros was lucky to
escape enslavement when he boarded a fishing vessel heading back
north for Eretria with some of his colleagues.
This had seemed a good idea at the time but history again repeated
itself. The Persians were following closely behind in a rush
to invade the mainland. He then fought alongside
the Eretrians in a tough and ultimately costly 6 day campaign
and again escaped, this time to mainland Greece . Tired, confused
and virtually poverty stricken.
Together with a motley collection of escapees, including both
those of Greek and Scythian descent, the only real way forward
was to offer their martial services and
the next 10 years were spent wandering the Greek mainland, fighting
for whoever would pay in petty squabbles between states.
By 480 though, the Persian army was again on the march and Andros,
now 32, together with a few of his remaining colleagues
found himself in Magara as they were preparing
their fleet for war. Enlisting again as a marine he very quickly
found himself facing the Persian fleet at
the battle of Artemesium and, one month later, at Salamis . This
time his ship did not sink and Andros served
with some distinction. On one occasion being the first aboard
a rammed Persian ship.
As fortune would have it, his ship
was also one of those that crossed the Aegean with the Athenian
fleet a short time later in 479 B.C., in
pursuit of the retreating Persians with the objective of recovering
Samos . Finding that the Persians had fled
the island they sailed to the mainland and found them prepared
for battle at Mycale . Andros was landed alongside the
Athenian hoplites and once again found himself in a land battle,
but this time fighting for his home and promoted to ouragos
in reflection of his experience.
Victory ensued and after the battle
Andros settled once again in Samos and tried to make a living
by following his old trade. Sadly his building
skills had not improved and after so many years of adventure he
found it difficult to settle down.
With the infighting taking place within the Delian League states
there was a lot of work for professional soldiers and Andros eventually
returned to his old trade, travelling around the Aegean . He was
fighting with Thasos in 465/4 B.C. and in 458 B.C. at
the ripe old age of 54, with a pronounced limp and more aches
and scars than he would care to discuss, found himself at
Megara fighting for the Athenians against the Corinthians as one
of the army composed of those too young or old for
regular military service
Andros then took a role for the Athenian
navy, to help train marines, and found himself back at Salamis
in 450 B.C., aged 62 and once again facing
the Persians. A resounding victory for Athens but an engagement
that left Andros with yet more scars and
a realisation that war was a young persons profession.
Returning to Samos he had just enough
booty to live a comfortable if not frugal life when Samos itself
revolted against Athens in 440 B.C. At the
age of 72, Andros finally made a commitment and offered his services.
He was never heard of again. His only legacy
being a monument raised in Samos following the battle of Lade
in 494 B.C., honouring citizens who did
not run at the sight of the Persian fleet.
