Strattis of Chios was an ancient Greek

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

who ruled the Aegean island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

during the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. Strattis was one of a group of Greek tyrants from

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 ...

and the

Hellespont The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

who were vassals of the Persian king

Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...

and accompanied him on his Scythian campaign in 513 BC. The Greeks were ordered to guard the bridge over the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in order to secure it for Darius's return. When a debate arose among the Greeks as to whether or not to destroy the bridge and leave Darius stranded, Strattis supported Histiaeus of

Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...

who convinced the Greeks not to destroy the bridge. When the Persian general Mardonius removed the Ionian tyrants and restored democracy to the region in 492 BC, Strattis of Chios was the only tyrant known to retain his position. This was possibly because of the fierce resistance to the Persians put up by the Chian fleet at the Battle of Lade (494 BC), when Chios had a democratic government. In 480 BC, there was a conspiracy by seven Chians who plotted to kill Strattis, but when one of their number betrayed the plot, the other six fled to

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 referre ...

and

Aegina Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born ...

.Herodotus 8.132

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strattis of Chios Rulers in the Achaemenid Empire Archaic tyrants Ancient Chians 6th-century BC Greek people 5th-century BC Greek people Ancient Greeks from the Achaemenid Empire Military personnel of the Achaemenid Empire