 Herodotus wrote that Minos, the legendary king of Knossos, established a thalassocracy (sea empire).Thucydides accepted the tradition and added that Minos cleared the sea of pirates, increased the flow of trade and colonised many Aegean islands.Archaeological evidence supports the tradition because Minoan pottery is widespread, having been found in Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Rhodes, the Cyclades, Sicily, and mainland Greece.