| ANDROS
OF SAMOS
(Andros of Samos)
Andros of Samos
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 wringing
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.
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