Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...

, known in

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

as Yauna ( 𐎹𐎢𐎴), was a region within the satrapy of Lydia, with its capital at

Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...

, within the First Persian Empire. The first mention of the Yauna is at the Behistun inscription.

History

Achaemenid conquest (c. 546 – 479 BC) In the mid-6th century BC, the Ionians were conquered by

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

and according to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

, they were placed in the same tax district (the first) as the Pamphylians,

Lycians Lycians is the name of various peoples who lived, at different times, in Lycia, a geopolitical area in Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). History The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the '' Solymoi'' (or ''Solymi''), also kno ...

Magnesians Magnesia ( el, Μαγνησία, ''Magnisía'', , Ancient Greek: ''Magnēsía'', deriving from the tribe name ''Magnetes'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly. Its capital is the city of Volos. About 70% o ...

Aeolians The Aeolians (; el, Αἰολεῖς) were one of the four major tribes in which Greeks divided themselves in the ancient period (along with the Achaeans, Dorians and Ionians).. Name Their name mythologically derives from Aeolus, the mythical ...

, Milyans, and

Carians The Carians (; grc, Κᾶρες, ''Kares'', plural of , ''Kar'') were the ancient inhabitants of Caria in southwest Anatolia. Historical accounts Karkisa It is not clear when the Carians enter into history. The definition is dependent on c ...

. It is unclear to what extent the Yauna were advantaged or disadvantaged by Persian rule, and what caused the

Ionian Revolt The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfa ...

which broke out in c. 499 BC and lasted until 494 BC. The main source,

, puts it down to the personal ambitions of two men of Miletus, Histiaeus and Aristagoras; modern scholars debate what the underlying reasons may have been; arguments for economic and political causes are variously put forward, but there are no clear sources which can give a definitive answer. Meeting of the Ionian fleet and the Persian army

Meeting of the Ionian fleet and the Persian army

After the revolt was put down, the Ionian cities were subdued by some pragmatic and enlightened measures by the Persian satrap of Sardis, Artaphrenes. The Ionians are reported to have served with the Persian forces which were defeated at Marathon by the Athenians and Plataeans in 490, while they also fought on the Persian side during Xerxes' great

Second Persian invasion of Greece The second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC) occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion ...

of 480–479. Autonomy (479–387 BC) IONIA, Phokaia

It was only after the Persians were defeated at Battle of Plataea in 479 that the Ionian cities had the confidence to revolt again, defeating the Persian forces at the

Battle of Mycale The Battle of Mycale ( grc, Μάχη τῆς Μυκάλης; ''Machē tēs Mykalēs'') was one of the two major battles (the other being the Battle of Plataea) that ended the second Persian invasion of Greece during the Greco-Persian Wars. It ...

in the same year. IONIA, Achaemenid Period

Soon afterwards, they signed up to a common defence league led by Athens, known today as the

Delian League The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...

. However, these cities soon came under the domination of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. Renewed Achaemenid control (387–334 BC) IONIA, Achaemenid Period

After the Peloponnesian War and the destruction of Athenian power,

Sparta Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

ceded Ionia back to Persia in the 387 BC with the Peace of Antalcidas. Ionia remained under Persian rule until the campaigns of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

in 334 BC. Apart from Yaunas '' of the plain and sea'', there are also mentioned Yauna paradraya (Ionians beyond or across the sea such as

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ...

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...

and Byzantium) as well the

Yauna takabara The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios in the northeastern part of mainland Greece. Essentially an ancient Greek people, ...

( Greeks with sunhats, the Macedonians) in Skudra satrapy.

Satraps

1st Achaemenid period: * Tabalus (546–545 BC) * Mazares (545–c. 544 BC) *

Harpagus Harpagus, also known as Harpagos or Hypargus (Ancient Greek Ἅρπαγος; Akkadian: ''Arbaku''), was a Median general from the 6th century BC, credited by Herodotus as having put Cyrus the Great on the throne through his defection during the b ...

(c. 544 BC) *

Oroetus Oroetus, or Oroetes ( Old Iranian: ''Arvita'', Ancient Greek: ''Ὀροίτης''), was a Persian Satrap of Lydia (c. 530-520 BC), during the reigns of Cyrus the Great, Cambyses and Darius the Great, succeeding Harpagus, and being followed by ...

(before 530–c. 520 BC) * Bagaeus (c. 520 BC) * Otanes (517 BC) *

Artaphernes I Artaphernes ( el, Ἀρταφέρνης, Old Persian: Artafarna, from Median ''Rtafarnah''), flourished circa 513–492 BC, was a brother of the Achaemenid king of Persia, Darius I, satrap of Lydia from the capital of Sardis, and a Persian genera ...

(513–492 BC) * Artaphernes II (492–after 480 BC) 2nd Achaemenid period: *

Tissaphernes Tissaphernes ( peo, *Ciçafarnāʰ; grc-gre, Τισσαφέρνης; xlc, 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 , ; 445395 BC) was a Persian soldier and statesman, Satrap of Lydia and Ionia. His life is mostly known from the works of Thuc ...

(413–395 BC) * Tiribazus * Autophradates (c. 365 BC) * Spithridates (died before 334 BC)

Notes

References

Sources

*Ernst Herzfeld, Gerold Walser ''The Persian Empire: Studies in Geography and Ethnography of the Ancient Near East'', 1968, p. 345. {{Achaemenid Provinces Achaemenid satrapies

History

Satraps

See also

Notes

References

Sources