Painting of an actor on the interior wall of the Hellenistic villa, used as an Imperialpalace during Roman times. the mountain of the city measuring 235 meters in height; a sea wall in the south; and a wall around the harbor which was much larger during antiquity. These three parts of the wall total almost 6.5 kilometers in length, enclosing an area of approximately 1.2 square kilometers. The city wall must already have been built before 525-524 b.c. because the historian Herodotus, who spent several years on the island around 460 b.c. investigating the local history and monuments, recounts the following: a group of Samians who were in opposition to the famous tyrant Polycrates and waited to overthrow him asked Sparta for help in their endeavor. The Spartans besieged the well fortified city for 40 days but could not overcome the city wall and returned to Sparta in 524 b.c. with their mission not accomplished. This account is found in a longer report on Court of the north peristyleoverlookingMykalePeninsula during excavation. 7