The Ionian Revolt and the Burning of Sardis
Greek cities on the Anatolian coast rebel against Persian rule, and their one real victory sets the wars with Greece in motion
Quick facts
- Instigator
- Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus
- Key event
- Burning of Sardis, 498 BCE
- Greek allies
- Athens and Eretria
- Revolt suppressed by
- 493 BCE
What happened
The Ionian Revolt began in 499 BCE when Aristagoras, the Persian-installed tyrant of Miletus, launched a failed joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes against Naxos. Facing removal from power over the debacle, Aristagoras chose instead to incite the Greek cities of Ionia into open revolt against Darius. In 498 BCE, Ionian rebels supported by troops from Athens and Eretria marched inland and burned the lower town of Sardis, the regional Persian capital, though Artaphernes held out in the city's citadel. According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, the burning of Sardis destroyed a temple of the goddess Cybele, an act later used to justify harsh Persian reprisals, and it was the rebellion's only real military success. Persian forces caught the retreating Ionians and Athenians and defeated them decisively at Ephesus, after which the rebels were mostly on the defensive until the revolt was fully suppressed by 493 BCE.
Why it matters
Athens and Eretria's involvement in burning Sardis gave Darius a specific grievance against mainland Greek cities that had never been under Persian rule, and Herodotus says Darius had a servant remind him three times daily, "Master, remember the Athenians." The Ionian Revolt is the direct cause of the two Persian invasions of Greece that follow.
How we know
Herodotus provides the main narrative, and the Encyclopaedia Iranica's modern scholarly account draws on Herodotus alongside archaeological evidence for the destruction layer at Sardis.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica. Ionian Revolt · General sourceiranicaonline.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Sardis · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- Ancient Greece → · The Greek city-states whose involvement at Sardis triggered the Persian invasions that followed