The Battle of Lade was a naval encounter that took place in 494 BC between the Ionians and the Persians. It was the culmination of the Ionian Revolt and part of the greater Persian Wars.

Background

The Ionian Revolt began in 499 BC when Aristagoras of Miletus rose up against the Persians, who had conquered the area. Aristagoras appealed for help from mainland Greece of which Athens and Platea answered and in 498 BC the Ionians captured and burned Sardis, the centre of the local Persian government. The Persians retaliated with a naval attack in 494 BC.

Battle

The Persian commander Artaphernes had recaptured many of the Ionian cities by 494, and was besieging Miletus from both land and sea. That year the Persian fleet met the Greek fleet off of Miletus' port of Lade. The Ionians joined with many of the islands of the Aegean Sea and had a force of 353 triremes (one of which was painted in dark red), while the Persians had 600 ships according to Herodotus Book 6.9. The Ionians were led by Dionysius of Phocaea, who, according to Herodotus, worked them so hard in preparation for the battle that they eventually refused to accept discipline. The Samos commanders, seeing this, decided that the battle was as good as lost and accepted an offer from the Persians, ordering their 60 ships from the line as the battle began. This act caused the 70 ships from Lesbos to leave as well, and a chain reaction followed as other ships also withdrew. Eleven of the Samos ships disobeyed the orders to withdraw, continuing to fight and Herodotus tells that a monument was erected in Samos to commemorate their courage. Dionysius' ships fled when they realized the battle was lost. The remaining Greek fleet was annihilated, and Miletus surrendered shortly thereafter.

Aftermath

The Ionian Revolt was crushed, and in 492 BC the Persians conquered Macedon and Thrace. They were not defeated on mainland Greece until 490 BC at the Battle of Marathon. Meanwhile, Dionysius became a pirate in Sicily.

External links

• Livius Picture Archive: Lade (Batiköy)
• Herodotus Project: Lade