The Ionian Revolt: How a rebellion sparked the Greco-Persian Wars

The Ionian Revolt was a conflict that occurred between the years 499 and 494 BC between the Ionian Greeks and the Persians.

The Ionians, who were located in western Asia Minor, had been conquered by the Persians a few years earlier.

When the Persians began to levy heavy taxes on them, the Ionians revolted. 

The Ionian Greeks were a group of Greek city-states that inhabited the central and western coasts of Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey.

They were considered to be Greeks, despite not being located on the Greek mainland because they shared a common culture and language with the mainland Greeks. 

During the Greek Dark Age, Greeks from the mainland had migrated to western Asia Minor and intermingled with the local population, which is how the Ionian Greeks came to be.

The Persians were an Iranian people who had conquered the Medes, another Iranian people.

The Persian Empire was founded in 550 BC by Cyrus the Great. At its height, it extended from Egypt to India and included parts of Europe and Africa. 

Whenever the Persians conquered new regions, they appointed local rulers to govern on their behalf.

These governors were usually Persian officials, known as satraps. The satraps were tasked with collecting taxes and maintaining order.

They were also required to send a portion of the taxes they collected back to the Persian king.

In 546 BC, Cyrus conquered the kingdom of Lydia, which was quickly followed by the conquest of the Ionian Greeks as well.

The Persians were not particularly harsh rulers and allowed the Ionians to maintain their Greek culture.

However, they did levy heavy taxes on them. The satraps also appointed tyrants to govern the Ionain Greek cities on their behalf, ensuring that Persian laws and taxes were consistently administered.

After the new Persian king, Darius I, came to power in 522 BC, he appointed his half-brother, Artaphrenes, as the satrap of Lydia and Ionia. Artaphrenes, met with the other Ionian leaders around 500 BC and made them promise not to fight one another after seeing that many of them wanted greater power and territory. 

He recognized that internal conflict might lead to regional instability.

Artaphrenes was approached by the tyrant of one of the richest Ionian cities, Miletus, called Aristagoras, who offered to conquer the island of Naxos for Persia if he would give him an army and navy to do so. With Darius' permission, Artaphrenes agreed.

Aristagoras launched the attack on Naxos in 499 BC. However, after a four-month siege, he had to admit defeat and returned to Miletus.

Fearing Darius' or Artaphrenes' judgment for wasting their resources and failing to provide the victory he had promised, Aristagoras looked for a way to hold on to power. He incited the other Ionian cities to rebel and overthrow Persian rule. 

Knowing Darius would respond soon, Aristagoras went to Sparta and asked King Cleomenes for aid.

When the Spartan commander was informed of the length of time it would take his army to arrive and help the Ionians, he refused Aristagoras' request for assistance.

The Spartans were not willing to travel too far from Sparta in case their Helot slaves rose up in revolt.

After Sparta's rejection of support, Aristagoras then turned to Athens. Athens was a powerful city-state with a large navy.

He met with the Athenian leaders and convinced him to support the Ionian Revolt. In 499 BC, Athens sent 20 ships and some men to aid the Ionians in their revolt against Persia. The city-state of Eretria also sent 5 ships.

The Ionian Revolt had begun in 499 BC as different Ionian cities attacked Persian garrisons in their regions.

The revolt quickly spread to other cities, including Smyrna, Ephesus, and Byzantium. 

In 498 BC, a combined Ionian force, with their Athenian and Eretrian allies, attacked Sardis, the capital of Lydia and one of the main Persian strongholds in the region.

The Persian defenders put up solid resistance but had to retreat to the central citadel of Sardis where the soldiers were able to hold off the Greek attackers.

Knowing that they couldn't capture the citadel, the Ionian Greeks chose to burn down the city of Sardis instead.

Artaphrenes survived the burning of the city and sent messengers to Darius, informing him of the Ionian rebellion and Sardis' destruction.

He also requested reinforcements to help quell the uprising. Darius was furious when he received the news and vowed to crush the rebels.

He responded quickly to the uprising and sent his army to put down the rebellion. 

In 498 BC, the Persians began their march on Ionia. The first city they attacked was Ephesus.

The Ionians were no match for the Persian army and were quickly defeated. The Persians then continued their march, attacking and conquering several other Ionian cities that had revolted against their rule.

Despite the defeat at Ephesus, the revolt continued to spread to other Ionian cities.

The Persians besieged and captured Miletus, the center of the revolt. The Persian army outnumbered the Greeks and quickly began to drive them back.

The Greeks were forced to retreat to their ships and sailed away. Aristagoras, the leader of the revolt, was forced to flee with them.

The fall of Miletus effectively ended the Ionian revolt, even though parts of the region continued to hold out against the Persians until 494 BC.

The Ionian Revolt had far-reaching consequences. It showed the Greeks that if they could work together, they could achieve genuine military success against the mighty Persian Empire.

It also made the Persians more cautious in their dealings with the Greeks. 

The Ionian Revolt had begun with such promise but ultimately ended in failure. The Persians quelled the uprising and regained control of Ionia.

Darius punished those who had rebelled against him, including the city of Miletus. The Persians also instituted a new policy of tribute and taxes, which made it more difficult for the Greeks to rebel in the future.

Darius was particularly enraged that Athens had supported the revolt and he vowed to take revenge.

In 490 BC, the Persians invaded Greece in an attempt to punish Athens for its role in the Ionian Revolt. This invasion would begin the Greco-Persian Wars.