An. 504.

Darius 18.

A sedition happening in Naxus, the chief island of the Cyclades in the Egean sea, now called the Archipelago, and the better sort being therein overpowered by the greater number, many of the wealthiest of the inhabitants were expelled the island, and driven into banishment; whereon retiring to Miletus, they there begged the assistance of Aristagoras, for the restoring of them again to their country. This Aristagoras then governed that city as deputy to Hestiæus, whose nephew and son-in-law he was; Hestiæus being then absent at Susa in Persia: for Darius, on his return to Sardis, after his unfortunate expedition against the Scythians, being thoroughly informed, that he owed the safety of himself and all his army to Hestiæus, in that he persuaded the Ionians not to desert him at the Danube, sent for him to come to him, and, having acknowledged his service, bid him ask his reward: whereon he desired of him the Edonian Myrcinus, a territory on the river Strymon in Thrace, in order to build a city there; and, having obtained his request, immediately on his return to Miletus, he equipped a fleet, and sailed for Thrace, and, having there taken possession of the territory granted him, did forthwith set himself on the enterprise of building his intended city in the place projected. Megabyzus, being then governour of Thrace for Darius, soon saw what danger this might create to the king's affairs, in those parts: for he considered that the new-built city stood upon a navigable river; that the country thereabout afforded abund, ance of timber for the building of ships; that it was inhabited by several nations both of Greeks and barbarians, which could furnish a great multitude of men fit for military service both by sea and land; that, if these should get such a crafty and enterprising person as Hestiæus at the head of them, they might soon grow to a power both by sea and land, too hard for the king to master; and that especially since, from their silver and gold mines, of which there were many in that country, they might be furnished with means.

Herodotus, lib. 5..

enough to carry on any enterprise they should undertake. All this, on his return to Sardis, he represented unto the king, who being thereby made fully sensible of the error he had committed, for the remedying of it sent a messenger to Myrcinus to call Hestiæus to Sardis to him, under pretence, that having great matters in design, he wanted his counsel and advice concerning them, by which means having gotten him into his power, he carried him with him to Susa, pretending, that he needed such an able counsellor and so faithful a friend to be always about him, to advise with on all occasions that might happen; and that he would make him so far a partaker of his fortunes by his royal bounty to him in Persia, that he should have no reason any more to think either of Myrcinus or Miletus. Hestiæus, hereon seeing himself under a necessity of obeying, accompanied Darius to Susa, and appointed Aristagoras to govern at Miletus in his absence, and to him the banished Naxians applied for relief. As soon as Aristagoras understood from them their case, he entertained a design of improving this opportunity to the making of himself master of Naxus, and therefore readily promised them all the relief and assistance which they desired: but not being strong enough of himself to accomplish what he intended, he went to Sardis, and communicated the matter to Artaphernes, telling him, that this was an opportunity offered for the putting of a rich and fertile island into the king's hands; that, if he had that, all the rest of the Cyclades would of course fall under his power also; and that then Euboea, an island as big as Cyprus, lying next, would be an easy conquest, from whence he would have an open passage into Greece, for the bringing of all that country under his obedience; and that one hundred ships would be sufficient to accomplish this enterprise. Artaphernes, on the hearing of the proposal, was so much pleased with it, that, instead of one hundred ships, which Aristagoras demanded, he promised him two hundred, provided the king liked hereof: and accordingly, on his writing to him, having received his answer of approbation, he sent him the next spring, to Miletus,

Darius 19.

An. 503.

the number of ships which he had promised, under the command of Megabates, a noble Persian of the Archæmenian or royal family. But his commission being to obey the orders of Aristagoras, and the haughty Persian not brooking to be under the command of an Ionian, this created a dissension between the two generals, which was carried on so far, that Megabates, to be revenged on Aristagoras, betrayed the design to the Naxians: whereon they provided so fully for their defence, that, after the Persians had, in the siege of the chief city of the island, spent four months, and all their provisions, they were forced to retire, for want wherewith there any longer to subsist, and so the whole plot miscarried; the blame whereof being, by Megabates, all laid upon Aristagoras, and the false accusations of the one being more favourably, heard than the just defence of the other, Artaphernes charged on him all the expenses of the expedition: and it was given him to understand, that they would be exacted of him to the utmost penny, which being more than he was able to pay, he foresaw that this must end not only in the loss of his government, but also in his utter ruin; and therefore being driven into extremities by the desperateness of his case, he entertained thoughts of rebelling against the king, as the only way left him for the extricating of himself out of this difficulty; and while he had this under consideration, came a message to him from Hestiæus, which advised the same thing; for Hestiæus after several years continuance at the Persian court, being weary of their manners, and exceeding desirous of being again in his own country, sent this advice unto Aristagoras, as the likeliest means to accomplish his aim herein; for he concluded, that if there were any combustions raised in Ionia, he should easily prevail with Darius to send him thither to appease them, as it accordingly came to pass. Aristagoras therefore finding his own inclinations backed with the order of Hestiæus, communicated the matter to the chief of the Ionians, and finding them all ready to join with him in what he proposed, he fixed his resolutions for a revolt, and immediately set himself

to make all manner of preparations to put them in execution.

The Tyrians, after the taking of their city by Nebuchadnezzar, having been reduced to a state of servitude, continued under the pressure of it full seventy years but these being now expired, they were again, according to the P prophecy of Isaiah, restored to their former privileges, and were allowed to have a king again of their own; and accordingly had so till the time of Alexander. This favour seems to have been granted them by Darius, in consideration of their usefulness to him in his naval wars, and especially at this time when he needed them and their shipping so much for the reducing of the Ionians again to their obedience to him. Hereon they soon recovered their former prosperity, and, by the means of their traffic, whereby they had made their city the chief mart of all the East, they soon grew to that greatness, both of power and riches, as enabled them, on Alexander's invading the East, to make a greater stand against him than all the Persian empire besides; for they stopped the progress of his whole army full seven months, before they could be reduced, as will be hereafter shewn. This grant was made them by Darius in the nineteenth year of his reign.

Darius 20.

The next year after, Aristagoras, to engage the Ionians the more firmly to stick to him, An. 502. restored to them all their liberties: for, beginning first with himself at Miletus, he there abolished his own authority, and reinstated the people in the government; and then, going round Ionia, forced all the other tyrants (as the Greeks then called them) in every city to do the same; by which, having united them into one common league, and gotten himself to be made the head of it, he openly declared his revolt from the king, and armed both by sea and land to make war against him. This was done in the twentieth year of the reign of Darius.

Aristagoras, to strengthen himself the more against the Persians in this war, which he had begun against q Herodotus, lib. 5.

p Isa. xxiii, 15, 17.

An. 501.

Darius 21.

them, went in the beginning of the following year to Lacedæmon, to engage that city in his interest, and gain their assistance. But being there rejected, he came to Athens, where he had a much more favourable reception: for he had the good fortune to come thither at a time when he found the Athenians in a thorough disposition to close with any proposal against the Persians that should be offered to them, they being then in the highest degree exasperated against them on this occasion. Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, having been expelled thence about ten years before, after he had in vain tried several other ways for his restoration, at length applied himself to Artaphernes at Sardis; and, having there insinuated himself a great way into his favour, was well heard in all that he had to say against the Athenians, and he spared not to do all that he could to set Artaphernes against them; which the Athenians having advice of, sent an embassy to Sardis, to make friendship with Artaphernes, and to desire him not to give ear to their exiles against them. The answer which Artaphernes gave them was, that they must reeeive Hippias again, if they would be safe. Which haughty message being brought back to Athens, did set the whole city into a rage against the Persians; and in this juncture Aristagoras coming thither, easily obtained from them all that he desired; and accordingly they ordered a fleet of twenty ships for his

assistance.

Darius 22.

In the third year of the war, the Ionians having gotten all their forces together, and being assisted with twenty ships from Athens, and Anno. 500. five from Eretria, a city in the island of Euboea, they sailed to Ephesus; and, having there laid up their ships, resolved on an attempt upon Sardis ; and accordingly marched thither, and took the place. But Sardis being built most of cane, and their houses being therefore very combustible, one of them being accidentally set on fire, did spread the flame to all the rest, and the whole city was burned down, excepting

r Herodotus, lib. 5: