Читать книгу The Herodotus Encyclopedia - Группа авторов - Страница 843

In 499, ARISTAGORAS (1) of MILETUS instigated a revolt of several Ionian Greek cities under Persian control (Hdt. 5.35–38). The Athenians agreed to send twenty ships to help the Milesians, whom they regarded as kin (5.50–51, 97). The combined forces captured SARDIS, the wealthy capital of LYDIA, but the city caught FIRE during the attack, destroying a temple of CYBELE. This concluded Athenian involvement in the IONIAN REVOLT, which ended in defeat for the IONIANS at the Battle of LADE in 494 (6.11–15).

In 490, the Persian king DARIUS I launched an invasion against Attica in retaliation for the sacrilegious destruction of the temple. Accompanying this invasion was none other than Hippias, the now‐elderly former tyrant of Athens, who had agreed to help Darius in exchange for becoming ruler of Athens once it became a province of PERSIA. Under the leadership of the general MILTIADES THE YOUNGER, the Athenians achieved an astonishing victory at the plain of MARATHON, with only 192 Athenian lives lost to several thousand Persians (6.102–17).

In 483/2, the Athenians struck a particularly rich vein of SILVER at their mines at LAURIUM. Themistocles convinced the Athenians to invest the MONEY into building a fleet of state‐of‐the‐art TRIREMES, ostensibly to prosecute war against rival AEGINA but likely (also) with an eye toward defending against possible Persian reprisals (Hdt. 7.144; Thuc. 1.14.2; Plut. Them. 4.1). This proved prescient when XERXES, Darius’ successor, vowed a second invasion to avenge his father’s humiliation at the hands of the Athenians.

In 480, Xerxes’ army marched through THRACE and central Greece, forcing Greek poleis to give EARTH AND WATER, the traditional Persian symbol of submission. The Athenians fled their city in the face of the advancing Persians, who sacked and occupied Athens between 480 and 479. The handful of Greek city‐states who had allied against the Persians, known as the HELLENIC LEAGUE, were divided over whether to stand their ground or retreat. Themistocles forced their hand by tricking Xerxes into attacking the Greek fleet in the narrows between the island of SALAMIS and the mainland, where Athens and its highly trained navy played the key role in winning the battle (Hdt. 8.74–93; Plut. Them. 12–14). After the defeat of the Persian general MARDONIUS at PLATAEA in 479, the Greeks cleared the Aegean of Persian ships in a naval battle at MYCALE on the same day (Hdt. 9.58–69, 101). Soon after this the Spartans recalled PAUSANIAS, the leader of the Hellenic League, because the other members of the alliance accused him of plotting intrigues with Xerxes (Hdt. 8.3; Plut. Arist. 23; Thuc. 1.95–96).