Ionian Revolt

The Ionian Revolt was a rebellion of several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, running from 499 BC to 493 BC, with related risings in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria. Its roots lay in resentment of the tyrants Persia installed in the Greek cities and in the personal calculations of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras. After a failed joint expedition against Naxos, Aristagoras pushed Ionia into revolt against Darius the Great. With help from Athens and Eretria the rebels burned Sardis in 498 BC but were beaten at Ephesus, and a Persian army was destroyed at Pedasus. The revolt collapsed when the Ionian fleet lost the Battle of Lade and Miletus fell in 494 BC. It was the first major clash between Greece and Persia and opened the Greco-Persian Wars.