The ionian revolt itself did not occur in a vacuum but was preceded by other tensions, notably trouble in naxos. Oct 14, 2019 the ionian revolt was the child of a certain aristagoras of miletus, a tyrant who owed his position of privilege to persia. Histories book 5 the ionian revolt summary course hero. This collection of twelve essays by internationally renowned scholars represents an important contribution to scholarship on herodotus and will serve as an essential research tool for all those interested in book 5 of the histories, the interpretation of herodotean narrative, and the historiography of the ionian revolt. Challenged by the ionians, histiaeus falsely claims to have initiated the revolt to prevent darius from resettling all the ionians. This commentary, aimed at undergraduates and sixthformers, is intended to introduce them to the work of one of the most significant and entertaining writers of his day, whose influence on the development of. Blamire, herodotus and histiaeus, cq ix i959 142154. Aristagoras, not content with ruling the wealthy city of miletus, was tempted by prospects of even greater wealth when naxian exiles requested his assistance in being restored to their wealth and positions. He considers this a disaster, caused by the shortsighted and egoistical behavior of several greek proteges of the great king. Histiaeus said he had no idea why it had happened but wanted to get to the bottom of it. It is placed very near the centre of the 9book pedimental structure. The narrative of the ionian revolt, which stretches across books 5 and 6 of the histories, is shaped like a.
Map of the aegean world beginning of the ionian revolt. The dream of hipparchus presages his death in 5143 bc 56. For the ionian revolt, herodotus is our only surviving literary source. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus. The chronology of the events leading to the ionian revolt is controversial, but 499 is a good guess.
How the cities treated their deposed despots leniently, except coes. Ionians, he notes, is less apparent in other parts of the histories which do not deal with the revolt, but in his account of the revolt itself, he has hardly a good. The histories also stands as one of the earliest accounts of the rise of the persian empire, as well as the events and causes of the grecopersian wars between the achaemenid empire and the greek citystates in the 5th century bc. Ostensibly the dominant narrative is the ionian revolt, but herodotus uses the revolt as an occasion for narrating histories of mainland greece, past and present, playing intricate games with geography and temporality as he does so. Histiaeus goes to sardis, where artaphrenes accuses him of being the author of the ionian revolt 1.
Histories book 5 origins of the ionian revolt summary. Herodotus and the beginning of the ionian revolt 5. The ionian revolt prelude to the graecopersian wars. The ionian revolt was the child of a certain aristagoras of miletus, a tyrant who owed his position of privilege to persia. Herodotus book vi of the histories is one of herodotus most varied books, beginning with the final collapse of the ionian revolt and moving on to the athenian triumph at marathon 490 bc. Book v opens with persian operations to get a foothold in macedon and the aegean. The persian wars, 499490 bce the ionian revolt to marathon duration. Reading herodotus is a 2007 text which represented a departure in herodotean scholarship.
Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery the persians on the one hand, and freedom. Books 5 1994 and 6 1998, which contain the story of the ionian revolt, were edited by g. Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by herodotus of halicarnassus. Erato aristagoras, the author of the ionian revolt, perished in the way which i have described. A study of the logoi in book 5 of herodotus histories. The ionian revolt chapter 8 the cambridge ancient history. At the beginning of the histories, herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it. In documents, these names refer to the indogreek kingdoms. Herodotus then turns to the beginnings of the ionian revolt, with aristagoras first supporting persias thrust into the aegean with an attempt to take naxos, but when that failed, deciding to lead a rebellion against persian rulethe beginning of the ionian. Book vi erato the fleeing of histiaeus to chios the training of the ionian fleet by dionysius of phocaea the abandonment of the ionian fleet by the samians during battle the defeat of the ionian fleet by the persians the capture and death of histiaeus by harpagus. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus by. The earliest such documentation is the edicts of ashoka, dated to 250 bc, within 10 or 20 years. Herodotus, the histories, book 6, chapter 33, section 1. Herodotus the histories, book 6, erato 142 end of the ionian revolt.
The ionian revolt spilled over to neighboring areas and byzantium, caria, caunus, and most of cyprus joined the rebels. Herodotuss was the first written account of the revolt, based on oral testimony. The athenian support of the ionian rebellion dovetails to a discussion of the founding of democracy in athens after the tyrant hippias is expelled from the city with the help of the spartans. Herodotus claims to have traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book, almost all of which covers territories of the persian empire. Aristagoras embassy to the greek mainland may have taken place in the winter of 499498. The peoples assembly decides to send a fleet of twenty warships to help the ionian greeks. Ionians appear in indic literature and documents as yavana and yona.
He cannot deceive artaphrenes, who compares him to the maker of a shoe that aristagoras has put on. Jan 12, 2020 book v opens with persian operations to get a foothold in macedon and the aegean. Once he arrived, he spoke with governor artaphernes about the ionian rebellion. Notes on the ionian revolt, ajp lxxxiv i963 1128 but have not.
Ionian revolt anatolian history 499494 bc britannica. Mar 05, 2019 herodotus the histories, book 6, erato 142 end of the ionian revolt. Herodotus covers the empires geography, social structure, and history before describing the events which led to xerxes invasion of greece and the greek citystates uniting to defeat his army. Oct 07, 2019 the ionian revolt was a series of revolts that broke out in asia minor at the beginning of the 5th century bc. When histiaeus was given permission to go and found a city at myrcinus on the north coast of the aegean. The narrative of herodotus history begins to pick up substantially in book five. Classics and the western canon herodotus the histories. On his arrival, being asked by artaphernes, the sardian satrap, what he thought was the reason that the ionians had rebelled, he made answer that he could not conceive, and it had astonished. A translation of the whole commentary into english, a highly desirable project, is being planned. The greeks decide to sail to samos but the persians, learning that the greeks were on the way, retreat to mycale just across a narrow neck of water to the. Book vi of the histories is one of herodotus most varied books, beginning with the final collapse of the ionian revolt and moving on to the athenian triumph at marathon 490 bc. Englishthe histories around 440430 bc, trying to trace the origins of the grecopersian wars, which would still. Histiaeus flees to chios, where he is accepted after initial mistrust 2.
Herodotus descriptions of the ionian revolt, its implications of athens and sparta, give the reader a greater insight into his own political views and how this influenced his history. The spartans are com the persians arethe athenians crossing the line. Messengers from samos urge the greeks to travel to their island to attack the persians and ignite an ionian revolt. All ionia is now in revolt against the king, and you have the power to win back safely to your own p121 country. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. Herodotus book also contains ethnographic descriptions of the peoples that the. Here at this books windup, pause to stopstart what we are doing, halfway between reading and reflection no mans land. The ionian revolt was a series of revolts that broke out in asia minor at the beginning of the 5th century bc. Insofar as this volume comments on book 5, it does so in discursive mode. The fourth dorian invasion and the ionian revolt 5. Herodotus picture of histiaeus may be a shade too dark. Meanwhile histiaeus, tyrant of miletus, who had been allowed by darius to leave susa, came down to sardis.
Doc herodotus on the causes of the ionian revolt oliver. While his account may be entirely true, it does not explain why the ionian people themselves were willing to fight. The ionian revolt 499493 bc was a major uprising of the greek cities of asia minor against persian rule, and is said to have either delayed an inevitable persian invasion of mainland greece, or made that invasion more likely grecopersian wars. This was the end of aristagoras, after he had brought about the ionian revolt. In 490, he sent an expeditionary force to punish both eretria and athens for the impudence of fostering rebellion in ionia. Herodotus the histories, book 6, erato 142 end of the ionian.
The immediate cause of the ionian revolt lay in the failure of the persian attack on naxos. Herodotus on the ionian revolt hugh bowden flashcards. Darius i of persia used athenss involvement as a pretext for his. The king had made no such plan, but histiaeus wanted to frighten the ionians. Ionian revolt 499 in book 5 herodotus maps out the persian and greek conflict with the cause of evils as athenian ships sent to help the milesians revolt. The greeks had sailed to delos under the command of the spartan leotychidas. The ionians were greeks who had settled in that part of asia minor around the end of.
Each chapter studies a separate logos in book 5 and pursues two closely related lines of inquiry. Herodotus and the beginning of the ionian revolt works. At the beginning of the last logos of book five, herodotus returns to the point where he had started the preceding logos. The athenian support of the ionian rebellion dovetails to a discussion of the founding of democracy in athens after the tyrant hippias is. The sixth book of herodotus covers the history of greece in the first decade of the fifth century bc, including such momentous events as the ionian revolt and the marathon campaign. This post covers book nine from paragraph 90 through the end of the work, covering the battle of mycale, the siege of sestos, and the final anecdotes. As for its content the buildup to the fanfare of 5. Political betrayal in the ionian revolt herodotus youtube. Aristagoras of miletus asks athens for help against the persians. Practically the only primary source for the ionian revolt is the greek historian herodotus. The ionian revolt 499493 bc was a major uprising of the greek cities of asia minor against persian rule, and is said to have either delayed an inevitable persian invasion of mainland greece, or made that invasion more likely. Written in 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in western asia, northern. Doc herodotus and the ionian revolt james a s evans. Find a summary of this and each chapter of histories.
When they saw how bad the milesian land was but saw how well some farms ran, they wrote down the farmers names. The central part of the regions west coast was known as ionia. Chapter summary for herodotuss histories, book 5 origins of the ionian revolt summary. Remarks on the phoenician origins of the clan to which the tyrannicides belonged 57. Chapter summary for herodotuss histories, book 5 the ionian revolt summary. In a rupturous moment that pulls drastically away from its narrated event so as to oblige attention to the project of narration, find a passage that lies at the heart of the histories in. Herodotus on the ionian revolt hugh bowden flashcards quizlet. Herodotus and the ionian revolt it has been remarked many times that herodotus gives his readers a jaundiced view of the ionian revolt.
Herodotus, after the event, wrote how and wells,1 endorsed the shallow view that the revolt was a blunder, if not a crime. Digressions in book 5 is where herodotus provides his explanation for the ionian catastrophe what example illustrates this story of revolt. Book 5 describes the revolt of the ionian cities against the persians. It was the revolt in cyprus, led by onesilus, the king of salamis, that alarmed darius the most. The cities deposed their own tyrants and, with help from athens, tried unsuccessfully to throw off persian domination. Herodotus on the causes of the ionian revolt taken at face value, herodotus account of the ionian revolt against the persians in 499 bc does not provide satisfactory social causes for the uprising. Aristagoras institutes democracy at miletus and throughout ionia to get the people on his side, get rid of darius quislings 37.
In book 5 herodotus maps out the persian and greek conflict with the cause of evils as athenian ships sent to help the milesians revolt. Ionian revolt, uprising 499494 bce of some of the ionian cities of asia minor against their persian overlords. Herodotus, who has been called the father of history, was born in 484 bc in halicarnassus, asia minor then under persian overlordship. The greek cities of ionian and aeolia on the coast of asia minor had fallen into persian hands in the aftermath of the persian conquest of lydia.