Greek island in the Aegean just off mainland western Asia Minor. There is evidence of Early Neolithic occupancy on the south coast, near Tigáni. About the 11th century BC, the Ionians appeared and by the 7th century BC the island was one of the leading commercial centers of Greece. The tyrant Polycrates ruled from c 540 BC, in what was perhaps the golden age of Samos. He ruled in alliance with the Egyptian pharaoh and had a powerful fleet that blockaded the Persian-controlled mainland until his death c 522 BC. Samos was part of Delian league of Aegean states and then eclipsed by Rhodes in Hellenistic times. Ruins include the late 5th-century BC Temple of Hera and sanctuary and an aqueduct tunnel about 3/4 mi. (1 km) long. Samos was the birthplace of the mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras.