page_title: Classical Anatolia
section_title: The subjugation of Ionia and the Ionian Revolt (500–493 BC)
hierarchical_section_title: Classical Anatolia / Persian rule / The subjugation of Ionia and the Ionian Revolt (500–493 BC)
caption_attribution_description: English: Bathymetric/Topographical map of the Aegean area in c.500 BC, showing major events of the Ionian Revolt. UTM projection; WGS84 datum&#160;; shaded relief Scales: Topography: 1:608,000 (precision 152 m) Bathymetry: 1:7,512,000 (precision 1,878 m)
context_page_description: Anatolia in Classical Antiquity was first divided into several Iron Age kingdom, most notably Lydia in the west, Phrygia in the center and Urartu in the east. Anatolia fell under Achaemenid Persian rule c. 550 BC. In the aftermath of the Greco-Persian Wars, all of Anatolia remained under Persian control except for the Aegean coast, which was incorporated in the Delian League in the 470s BC. Alexander the Great finally wrested control of the whole region from Persia in the 330s BC. After Alexander's death, his conquests were split amongst several of his trusted generals, but were under constant threat of invasion from both the Gauls and other powerful rulers in Pergamon, Pontus, and Egypt.
  The Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexander's territories, and which included Anatolia, became involved in a disastrous war with Rome culminating in the battles of Thermopylae and Magnesia. The resulting Treaty of Apamea in saw the Seleucids retreat from Anatolia. The Kingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes, Rome's allies in the war, were granted the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia.
context_section_description: Cyrus had initially unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Aeolian and Ionian cities to rebel against Lydia. At the time of the fall of Sardis, only one city, Miletus, had made terms with Cyrus. According to Herodotus, when Lydia fell to Cyrus, the Greek cities begged him to allow them to exist within the former Lydian territories on similar terms to those they had earlier enjoyed, Cyrus pointed out that they were too late, and they started building defensive structures. They appealed to Sparta for help, but Sparta refused, instead warning Cyrus not to threaten the Greeks. Cyrus was unimpressed, but nevertheless headed east without bothering them further. This account seems somewhat conjectural.
  Following the defeat of the Lydian revolt, Mazares began to reduce the other cities in the Lydian lands one by one, starting with Priene and Magnesia. However, Mazares died, and was replaced by another Mede, Harpagus (544–530 BC), who completed the subduing of Asia Minor. Some communities, rather than face a siege, chose exile, including Phocaea to Corsica and Teos to Abdera in Thrace. Although our principal source for this period, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, implies this was a swift process, it is more likely that it took four years to subdue the region completely, and the Ionian colonies on the coastal islands remained largely untouched.
  According to Herodotus (Histories V, VI) around 500 BC Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus approached Artaphernes, satrap of Lydia (c. 492 – 480), for assistance in aiding some citizens of Naxos who had been forced to flee (C. 502 BC) and seek his help. He planned to annex not only Naxos but also the Cyclades and Euboea. With the permission of Darius he gathered a force to invade Naxos, but the expedition was a failure. Motivated by fear of the wrath of Darius he prevailed upon those in the expedition to mount an insurrection and subsequently went to Sparta (unsuccessfully) and Athens (successfully) for help. The Ionians attacked Sardis in approximately 499 BC, but Artarphernes managed to hold the acropolis, although the lower city was burnt. The Ionians retreated but were defeated by pursuing Persians at Ephesus in 498 BC, whereupon the Athenian ships withdrew. However, over the next two years open rebellion broke out from Byzantium to Caria and Cyprus. Eventually Aristagoras realized the futility of the exercise, as Artaphernes won a number of victories, and fled. Miletus fell to the Persian forces in 494 BC, following the Battle of Lade, who wreaked vengeance. The last pockets of resistance were obliterated by 493 BC. Herodotus depicts these events as the catalyst to the Graeco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC).
  However, Herodotus, as is so often our only source, had an agenda in his imprecise accounts, which do not fit well with what is known of the period. It is likely that the affair in Naxos represented a democratic revolt against the tyrants.
caption: The Aegean in 500 BC showing main events of the Ionian Revolt
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