After a failed attack on the rebellious island of
Naxos in
c.
501 BC (on behalf of the
Persians),
Aristagoras, tyrant of
Miletus, to save himself from the
wrath of Persia, plans a revolt with the Milesians and the other Ionians. With the encouragement of
Histiaeus (his father-in-law and former tyrant of Miletus), Aristagoras induces the Ionian cities of
Asia Minor to revolt against Persia, thus instigating the
Ionian Revolt and beginning the
Greco-Persian Wars between
Greece and Persia.[1][2] The pro-Persian tyrant of
Mytilene is stoned to death.
Athens and
Eretria respond to the
Ionianplea for help against
Persia and send troops. An
Athenian and
Eretrian fleet transports Athenian troops to
Ephesus. There they are joined by a force of Ionians and march upon
Sardis, the capital of
Artaphernes (the
satrap of
Lydia and brother to
Darius I of
Persia). Artaphernes, who has sent most of his troops to besiege
Miletus, is taken by surprise. However, Artaphernes is able to retreat to the citadel and
hold it. Although the Greeks are unable to take the citadel, they
pillage the town and set fires that burn Sardis to the ground.
Retreating to the coast, the Greek forces are met by the Persians under Artaphernes and defeated in the
Battle of Ephesus.
Kaunos and
Caria, followed by
Byzantium and towns in the
Hellespont also revolt against the Persians.
Cyprus also joins the rebellion, as
Onesilus removes his pro-Persian brother, Gorgos, from the throne of
Salamis.
Hipparchos, son of
Charmos (a relative of the 6th century BC tyrant
Peisistratus), wins the
archonship of
Athens as leader of the peace party which argues that resistance against the Persians is useless.
Having successfully captured several of the revolting
Greekcity-states, the
Persians under
Artaphernes lay siege to
Miletus. The decisive
Battle of Lade is fought at the island of Lade, near Miletus' port. Although out-numbered, the Greek fleet appears to be winning the battle until the ships from
Samos and
Lesbos retreat. The sudden defection turns the tide of battle, and the remaining Greek fleet is completely destroyed. Miletus surrenders shortly thereafter, and the
Ionian Revolt comes to an end.[9]
The Persian leaders
Artaphernes and
Mardonius grant a degree of autonomy to the Ionian cities. They abstain from financial reprisals and merely exact former levels of tribute. The Persians abolish the Greek tyrannies in
Ionia and permit democracies.
The Phoenician allies of the Persians retaliate fiercely against the Greeks, whom they perceive as pirates, unleashing savage reprisals..
The
Thracians and
Scythians drive
Miltiades the Younger from the
Chersonesos. Miltiades loads five boats with his treasures and makes for Athens. One of the boats, captained by Miltiades' eldest son,
Metiochos is captured. Metiochos is taken as a lifelong prisoner to Persia.[11]
At the end of the military campaigns, the plebs retire to the
Sacred Mountain outside
Rome in the
Secession of the Plebs. To end the secession, the plebeians gain acceptance from the patricians that they may choose two leaders to whom they give the title of
Tribunes. The office of the tribunate is thereby established.
The
aediles, magistrates of ancient Rome who are in charge of the temple and cult of
Ceres, are first established. They are two officials of the plebeians, created at the same time as the tribunes, whose sanctity they share.
The Athenian people elect
Themistocles as
archon, the chief judicial and civilian executive officer in
Athens. He favours resistance against the Persians.
Themistocles starts the construction of a fortified naval base at
Piraeus, the port town of
Athens.
Among the refugees arriving from
Ionia after the collapse of the
Ionian Revolt is a chief named
Miltiades, who has a fine reputation as a soldier. Themistocles makes him a general in the Athenian army.
The Athenian poet
Phrynicus produces a tragedy on the Fall of
Miletus.[13] The Athenian authorities ban the play from further production on the grounds of impiety.
The first expedition of King
Darius I of
Persia against
Greece commences under the leadership of his son-in-law and general,
Mardonius. Darius sends Mardonius to succeed his
satrap (governor) in
Ionia,
Artaphernes, with a special commission to attack
Athens and
Eretria.
The Persians under Mardonius subdue and capture
Thrace and
Macedonia.
Mardonius loses some 300 ships in a storm off
Mount Athos, which forces him to abandon his plans to attack Athens and Eretria.
When
Camarina, a Syracusan colony, rebels,
Hippocrates, the
tyrant of
Gela, intervenes to wage war against
Syracuse. After defeating the Syracusan army at the
Heloros River, he besieges the city. However, he is persuaded by the intervention of forces from the Greek mainland city of
Corinth to retreat in exchange for the possession of Camarina.
Rome
Following the conclusion of the
secession of the plebs, a famine strikes Rome. The consuls avert the crisis by obtaining grain from
Etruria.
War with the
Volsci is
averted because a pestilence affects the Volsci. Rome sends additional colonists to
Velitrae and establishes a new
colony in
Norba.
Darius I sends envoys to all Greek cities, demanding "earth and water for vassalage" which
Athens and
Sparta refuse.[15]
The Greek city of
Aegina, fearing the loss of trade, submits to
Persia. The
Spartan king,
Cleomenes I tries to punish Aegina for its submission to the Persians, but the other Spartan king,
Demaratus, thwarts him.
Cleomenes I engineers the deposing of Spartan co-ruler Demaratus (and his replacement by Cleomenes’ cousin
Leotychidas) by bribing the
oracle at
Delphi to announce that this action was divine will. The two Spartan kings successfully capture the Persian collaborators in Aegina.
Sicily
Hippocrates,
tyrant of
Gela, loses his life in a battle against the
Siculi, the native Sicilian people. He is succeeded as Tyrant of Gela by
Gelo, who had been his commander of cavalry.[16]
Roman Republic
During this year there was a
famine in Rome. General
Gais Marcius Coriolanus suggested that people should not receive grains unless they agree to abolish the Office of
Tribune. Because of this, the Tribunes had him exiled. In response, Coriolanus takes refuge with the leader of the
Volsci, eventually leading the Volscian army in a war against Rome. It was only due to entreaties from his mother and wife that he abandoned his war against Rome.[17]
Darius I sends an expedition, under
Artaphernes and
Datis the Mede, across the
Aegean to attack the Athenians and the Eretrians.
Hippias, the aged ex-tyrant of Athens, is on one of the Persian ships in the hope of being restored to power in Athens.
When the Ionian Greeks in
Asia Minor rebelled against
Persia in
499 BC,
Eretria joined
Athens in sending aid to the rebels. As a result, Darius makes a point of punishing Eretria during his invasion of Greece. The city is sacked and burned and its inhabitants are enslaved. He intends the same fate for Athens.
September 12 – The
Battle of Marathon takes place as a Persian army of more than 20,000 men is advised by Hippias to land in the Bay of
Marathon, where they meet the Athenians supported by the
Plataeans. The Persians are repulsed by 11,500 Greeks under the leadership of
Callimachus and
Miltiades. Some 6,400 Persians are killed at a cost of 192 Athenian dead. Callimachus, the war-archon of Athens, is killed in the battle. After the battle, the Persians return home.
Before the Battle of Marathon, the Athenians send a runner,
Pheidippides, to seek help from
Sparta. However, the Spartans delay sending troops to Marathon because religious requirements (the
Carneia) mean they must wait for the full moon.
The Greek historian
Herodotus, the main source for the
Greco-Persian Wars, mentions Pheidippides as the messenger who runs from
Athens to
Sparta asking for help, and then runs back, a distance of over 240 kilometres[22] each way.[23] After the battle, he runs back to Athens to spread the news and raise the spirits. It is claimed that his last words before collapsing and dying in Athens are "Chairete, nikomen" ("Rejoice, we are victorious").
Hippias dies at
Lemnos on the journey back to
Sardis after the Persian defeat.
Cleomenes I is forced to flee
Sparta when his plot against
Demaratus is discovered, but the Spartans allow him to return when he begins gathering an army in the surrounding territories. However, by this time he has become insane, and the Spartans put him in prison. Shortly after, he commits suicide. He is succeeded as King of Sparta by a member of the
Agiad house, his half-brother,
Leonidas.
Europe
Carthaginian navigator
Himilco is the first known explorer from the Mediterranean Sea to reach the northwestern shores of Europe (approximate date).
By topic
Architecture
The Athenians begin the building of a temple to
Athena Parthenos (approximate date).
Stelae are once again allowed in Athenian cemeteries, having been banned since
510 BC.
^Edwards, Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen; Gadd, Cyril John; Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière; Boardman, John; Lewis, David Malcolm; Walbank, Frank William; Astin, A. E.; Crook, John Anthony; Lintott, Andrew William (1970).
The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. p. 485.
ISBN978-0-521-22804-6.