DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT AN ANCIENT GREEK SCHOLAR. FOR THE FULL DISCLAIMER, READ HERE
Buy my newest book None Escapes Life's Coils: My Journey Through the Plays of Sophocles. Kindle and Paperback versions available.
“Our affairs, men of Ionian, stand on the edge of a razor, whether to be free men or slaves, and runaway slaves at that. If you now consent to endure hardships, you will have toil for the present time, but it will be in your power to overcome your enemies and gain freedom; but if you will be weak and disorderly, I see nothing that can save you from paying the penalty to the king for your rebellion.”
HERODOTUS, HISTORIES, 6.11; A. D. GODLEY TRANSLATION
Summary
Histiaeus, the former tyrant of Miletus and the mastermind of the Ionian revolt against the Persian empire, had been sent from Susa by King Darius to stop the revolt. Recall that Histiaeus ordered Aristagoras, who was ruling Miletus in Histiaeus’ place, to revolt because Darius had effectively made Histiaeus a prisoner in Susa and he figured Darius would let him go if a revolt occurred.
While heading back to Miletus, Histiaeus made a stop in Sardis to see if he could secretly get support for the revolt there. Artaphrenes, the governor of Sardis, made it clear he knew Histiaeus was the mastermind of the Ionian revolt. Histiaeus, terrified, fled Sardis in the middle of the night and made his way to the island of Chios. The Chians detained him, but let him go when they were convinced by him that he wasn’t in league with Persia. When asked why he told Ionia to revolt, he lied and said it was because he heard Darius was going to give the Phoenicians Ionia while the Ionians would be sent to Phoenicia. Histiaeus said this in order to scare the Ionians into continuing the revolt.
Histiaeus then sent a messenger to Sardis to some of the Persians he had talked to about supporting the revolt, but the messenger went to Artaphrenes instead. Artaphrenes told the messenger to carry out his task, but to report to him the other Persians’ response before going back to Histiaeus. In this way, Artaphrenes rooted out traitors within Sardis.
Histiaeus tried returning to Miletus, but they refused him entry because they didn’t want to be under a tyranny anymore—especially after Aristagoras’ disastrous rule. Histiaeus tried sneaking back into the city in the middle of the night, but he was wounded and he fled back to Chios. The Chians refused to help him get back into Miletus, so he went to Mytilene who agreed to help. Histiaeus then used the ships Mytilene gave him to seize Milesian ships and refuse to let them go unless they agreed to join him.
Meanwhile, multiple Persian generals combined their forces together and descended upon Miletus and the rest of Ionia. Concerned about the Ionian fleet, they implored all the former tyrants of Ionia (the ones Aristagoras had helped drive out in order to get the revolt going) to reach out to their people. Any cities that stopped revolting and brought themselves under Persian rule again would be safe, but any who refused would be punished harshly. However, most of the Ionian cities refused to stop revolting because they didn’t know that the message had been sent to all of the cities.
The Persians attacked Ionia and the revolt quickly fell apart. The Ionians lacked discipline to do what was necessary to protect their cities, and when their allies realized this, they abandoned them. The revolt ended, six years after it started, with the capture of Miletus. True to the Persians’ word, they were punished harshly: the men and women were enslaved, the boys turned into eunuchs, and the girls sold off to foreigners. Additionally, the temple in Miletus was burned down in revenge for the burning of Sardis.
Histiaeus, when he found out about Miletus, fled back to Chios. They refused him, so he besieged them and took over since they were weakened by the failed revolt. After a series of failed campaigns elsewhere, Histiaeus was captured and sent to Sardis where Artaphrenes executed him. Darius, however, was unhappy with this and ordered Histiaeus’ severed head to be brought to Susa where he would be given a proper funeral.
Having crushed the revolt, Darius had the army continue to subdue cities in the Hellespont and other places and sent heralds throughout the rest of the Greek world to surrender to Persia. Most refused, but the Aeginetans agreed to surrender. Athens, who had a longstanding feud with Aegina, accused them of betrayal. This eventually led to a war between the two and Athens prevailed.
During this time, however, Darius decided it was time to go after Athens for their role in the Ionian revolt. He appointed new generals and they began conquering island after island, making their way to mainland Greece. They then attacked and subdued Eretria after two notable Eretrians betrayed the city. It was plundered, its temples burned down, and its people were enslaved and transferred elsewhere.
Next, the Persian army marched into Attica where they congregated at Marathon because it was the best place for their cavalry to ride. Athens, along with their allies the Plateans, lined up opposite the Persians. Sparta was asked to help, but they were celebrating a festival and only arrived after the battle had taken place. The most influential of the ten generals of the Athenian army was Miltiades, an Athenian whose ancestors had been rulers elsewhere. Miltiades had fled back to Athens after the Persians and Scythians threatened the area he was ruling and made a reputation for himself. Miltiades was instrumental in convincing the Greeks to attack the Persian army right there at Marathon rather than flee.
The Athenians and Plateans ran right at the Persians and the battle began. The Persians broke through the Greeks’ center, where it was weakest, but the left and right wings of the Greeks’ army prevailed and they circled back onto the Persians in the center. The Persians fled back to their ships with the Greeks in hot pursuit. As the Persians tried to get away, the Athenians attempted to hold their ships in place in order to burn them. Seven ships were taken, but the remaining sailed around in order to attack Athens itself. The Athenians fled back to Athens and managed to get there before the Persians. Eventually, the Persian army sailed back to Asia, defeated. 6400 Persians were killed in the Battle of Marathon, but only 192 Athenians died. It was a complete victory for Athens.
Miltiades, meanwhile, became one of the most influential men in Athens. However, he squandered that goodwill in a hasty and failed campaign against Paros. He claimed it was because they helped the Persians in Marathon, but the real reason was he had a personal grudge against some of their prominent men. The failed campaign resulted in an injury that got infected and led to his death.
Making Yourself Available For Opportunities
Herodotus spent a good deal of time talking about Miltiades’ family background. His ancestor, Miltiades (whom he was named after), became ruler of Caria when he invited some foreigners into his house for hospitality.
These foreigners, who were kings, were told by the oracle of Delphi to recruit as their leader the first man who gave them hospitality. They traveled through multiple lands, but no one invited them until they reached Athens. Miltiades happened to be sitting outside on his porch when the kings passed by and he invited them in. After they told him their mission, he agreed and eventually established his family as rulers of Caria.
Miltiades was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—all because he made himself available for it. It’s not clear to me if Miltiades was sitting on his porch precisely so he could show hospitality to a passing traveler, but regardless, he didn’t pass it up. How history would have been different if he had decided not to sit on his porch or had let the travelers go by without inviting them in.
This is one thing that is probably being lost in our increasingly atomized society. Talking to a stranger. Inviting a stranger to share a meal with you. Watching an event unfold and stepping in—even something as innocuous as someone struggling with getting their groceries to their car. What opportunities would open up for someone if they kept to themselves a little less?
How many opportunities have I passed on because I preferred to keep to myself? How many connections have I missed out on because I don’t socialize a lot?
The Deadliness of Undiscipline
During the Ionian revolt, a Phocaean general named Dionysius requested to be placed in charge of the revolt and the Ionians agreed. He then told them he was going to put them through a harsh regiment in order to get them ready to take on the mighty Persian army. For seven days he pushed them hard, but on the eighth day the Ionians complained and refused to listen to Dionysius any longer. This is what they said:
“Against what god have we sinned that we have to fulfill this task? We have lost our minds and launched out into folly, committing ourselves into the hands of this Phocaean braggart, who brings but three ships; and having got us he afflicts us with afflictions incurable. Many of us have fallen sick already, and many are likely to suffer the same thing; instead of these ills, it would be better for us to suffer anything, and endure this coming slavery, whatever it will be, rather than be oppressed by that which is now upon us. Come, let us obey him no longer!”
Herodotus, Histories, Book 6.12; A. D. Godley translation
“It would be better for us to… endure the coming slavery, whatever it will be, rather than be oppressed by that which is upon us now.”
Remember: the Persians told the Ionians exactly what would happen to them if they continued the revolt: their men and women would be enslaved, their boys would be turned into eunuchs, and their girls sent off to Darius or other foreigners.
The Ionians knew exactly what was at stake. And yet, they couldn’t handle a harsh regiment, which would have been temporary and could have saved their lives and their families’ lives. They instead chose to abandon themselves to a worse, more permanent fate.
Their undiscipline became their downfall. When their allies saw this, they abandoned the Ionians. Dionysius saw the revolt as a lost cause and eventually established himself in Sicily where he became a pirate who terrorized the Phoenicians.
Temporary hardship for long term security. Or, temporary security for long term hardship. That was the choice the Ionians faced—and they chose the latter.
I strongly suspect we are also facing this choice today.
What are we going to choose? What am I going to choose?
“Freedom is not static but dynamic; not a vested interest, but a prize continually to be won. The moment man stops and resigns himself, he becomes subject to determinism. He is most enslaved when he thinks he is comfortably settled in freedom.”
Jacques Ellul, from the Forward to the Revised American edition of THE TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
That's all for the Histories, Book 6.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos Anodos
Kindle and paperback versions available.
Find me on social media!
The books list I am going through.
Thumbnail: The Battle of Marathon by Georges Rochegrosse, 1859. Public domain