THE LARGER CONTEXT

Placed at the very centre of Herodotus' work (5.28–6.42), the Ionian Revolt of 499–494 bc plays a pivotal role, both chronologically and causally, linking the Persians' Eastern campaigns to their invasions of Greece. It also represents a crucial moment in Herodotus' history of the Ionians, which spans the whole work from beginning to end. The Ionians jump-start the Histories, one might say, and they do so because they find themselves at the receiving end of the first known Eastern aggressions against Greeks (1.5.3, 6.2–3). Croesus of Lydia completes ‘the first subjection of Ionia’, as the narrator summarizes at the end of the Croesus logos. The second is called ‘enslavement’, when Cyrus defeats Croesus and conquers his possessions. And so is the third, which occurs after the failure of the revolt we are examining:

The Ionians become free from Persian domination after the Greek victory at the time of Xerxes' invasion. But the 1–2–3 count in the statement above proleptically alludes to a fourth subjection, beyond the chronological range of the Histories and not explicitly mentioned in our text. At the time of narration the Ionians are the tributary subjects of Athens.

Herodotus' history of the Ionians is a narrative about being conquered.