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He was a brother of the
Achaemenid king of Persia, Darius I, satrap of Lydia
from the capital of Sardis, and a Persian general. During his time there the
Greek cities in Ionia revolted. In 507 the Athenians sent ambassadors to seek
his assistance agaisnt Sparta. He demanded in exchange the standard ritual of
submission - "Earth and Water", which they refused. He also insisted
that they recall the exiled tyrant, Hippias. In 499 the Millesian tyrant,
Aristagoras, attempted
to conquer Naxos island an enerprise that Artaphernes has supported with 200
triremes under the command of Megabates. After this
failure Aristagoras began an effort in 499 by his and other Ionian cities to
revolt from Persian control. He apparently thought that by this he could escape
punishment from the Persians for his failure at Naxos. Artaphernes was
besieging Miletus but had to retreat to Sardis when the Athenians and allied
Greeks arrived to support the revolt, where he held the citadel as the invading
Athenians and Ionian Greeks sacked and fired his capital. He then led the
Persian counter attack which drove the Greeks back to Ephesus where they were
defeated. The Athenians promptly returned home. Artaphernes then returned to
his siege to Miletus. This brought on a sea battle at
Lade near Miletus in
494. The Greeks at first were winning until the contingent fleets from
Samos and
Lesbos retired. With the
Greek fleet destroyed, Miletus was forced to surrender. Artaphernes then
reorganized the Ionian cities and their tributes but was lenient. Another
instigator of the revolt was
Histaieus. He was captured by the Persian general, Harpagus in 493 and was
executed by Artaphernes. Artaphernes was replaced as satrap by Mardonius in
492.
Historians consider that this episode, the Ionian revolt and Athenian support
brought on the Greek-Persian War. But I note that already Darius had campaigned
into Scythia and gained control of Thrace.
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