Sparta and Her Colonies
Taras (Roman Tarentum; Italian Province of Taranto) was a true colony of Sparta, founded as the result of an official decision of the Lacedaemonians, traditionally in 706 B.C. Relations between Taras and Sparta remained close. There were other areas that are considered colonies of Sparta that Spartan scholar Paul Cartledge describes as settlements abroad (apoikia), rather than true colonies. Kythera, Thera, Melos, and Knidos were considered such settlements in the 5th century B.C. In the 4th century, their number had increased and included Lyktos and Kyrene (a true colony of Thera). In the Roman period, it increased to include Magnesia, Alabanda, Kibyra, Synnada, Salagassos, Selge, and Amblada.
Why Sparta Helped the Samians - Herodotus
Samos was not a Spartan colony or apoikia, yet Sparta responded to the request of exiles to help overthrow the tyrant of Samos, Polykrates (Polycrates). As Cartledge points out, Herodotus 3. 39-60 is the primary source for relations between Sparta and Samos in the Archaic Period. It is likely that Herodotus spent time on Samos after Halicarnassus expelled him and that Herodotus' friends on Samos were the descendants of the Samians who appealed to Sparta. Herodotus fails to name either the Samians or the Spartan archons to whom they appealed. He says the Samians say the Spartans agreed because the Samians had, at an earlier date, helped the Spartans against the Messenians. On the other hand, the ancient historian says the Spartans say they agreed because they had a grudge against the Samians because they had earlier committed acts of piracy against the Spartans.
What Happened to Polykrates?
Polykrates and his two brothers established a tyranny in Samos after Persia conquered Ionia. Polykrates disposed of his brothers and then made Samos a strong naval power. At his court were the poet Anacreon and the Megarian architect Eupalinus, who created an aqueduct to supply the city with spring water. Polykrates' power grew and extended even over some of the Ionian cities under Persia. He formed a close alliance with the pharaoh of Egypt, Amasis, but then he failed to come to his ally's assistance when the Persian Cambyses moved against him. Instead, Bury says, Polykrates sent 40 ships to Persia to help their invasion of Egypt. On these ships, he placed Samians he distrusted. The crew reached the island of Carpathus and then doubled back to try to overthrow Polykrates. When they failed on their own, they looked to Sparta for support. The Spartans sent a fleet, but it failed and returned home. Polykrates met his end shortly thereafter falling into a trap laid for him by a Persian satrap. He was then crucified.
Sources:
"Sparta and Samos: A Special Relationship?" L. H. Jeffery; Paul Cartledge. The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 32, No. 2. (1982), pp. 243-265."The Duration of the Samian Tyranny," T. J. Cadoux. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 76. (1956), pp. 105-106.
Bury, J.B. A History of Greece. pp. 220-222.
