Shows Lydia (on right) and Sparta (on left) 560-546 BCThe war consisted of three Major regions, Greece, Lydia and Persia, over who takes what part of Greece and Asia minor (western tip of Asia) Shown on (Pic.1) —›In The Lydians (western minor Asia) were the first nation to conquer The city states of Asiatic (Asian) Greece and Western Asia minor. Persia attacked and took over Lydia and all its city-states. The Persians controlled their new subject-states very closely; they appointed individuals to rule the states as tyrants. They also required citizens to serve in the Persian army and to pay fairly steep taxes. Not all of Greece was controlled by Persia or Lydia there are independent city states.
Battle Of Marathon
The tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, began a democratic rebellion in 499 BC. Aristagoras was an opportunist. He had been placed in power by the Persians, but when he persuaded the Persians to launch a failed expedition against Naxos, he began to fear for his life. So he fomented a popular rebellion against the Persians and went to the Greek mainland for support. He went first to the Spartans, since they were the most powerful state in Greece, but the Spartans seem to have seen right through him. When he approached the Athenians, they promised him twenty ships. In 498 BC, the Athenians conquered and burned Sardis, which was the capital of Lydia, and all the Greek cities in Asia Minor joined the revolt. The Athenians, however, lost interest and went home; by 495 BC, the Persians, under king Darius I (521-486 BC), had restored control over the rebellious Greek cities.The Athens had gotten the attention of the Persians, who desired that Athens be punished for the role it played in the destruction of Sardis. The Persians also had Hippias, the tyrant of Athens who had been deposed by Cleisthenes in 508 BC. So in 490 BC, the Persians launched an expedition against Athens. They were met, however, by one of their former soldiers. He had been an outstanding soldier in the Persian army, but he took to his heels when he angered Darius. Unlike other Athenians, he knew the Persian army and he knew its tactics. The two armies, with the Athenians led by Miltiades, met at Marathon in Attica and the Athenians roundly defeated the invading army. This battle was the Battle of Marathon. (490 BC) There were 6400 dead Persian bodies dead and only 192 Athenians, plus Athenians alliance Plataean who had 420 dead soldiers.
