Page "Battle of Marathon" Paragraph 14

The Athenians and Eretrians sent a task force of 25 triremes to Asia Minor to aid the revolt.

Whilst there, the Greek army surprised and outmaneuvered Artaphernes, marching to Sardis and burning the lower city.

However, this was as much as the Greeks achieved, and they were then pursued back to the coast by Persian horsemen, losing many men in the process.

Despite the fact that their actions were ultimately fruitless, the Eretrians and in particular the Athenians had earned Darius's lasting enmity, and he vowed to punish both cities.

The Persian naval victory at the Battle of Lade ( 494 BC ) all but ended the Ionian Revolt, and by 493 BC, the last hold-outs were vanquished by the Persian fleet.

The revolt was used as an opportunity by Darius to extend the empire's border to the islands of the eastern Aegean and the Propontis, which had not been part of the Persian dominions before.

The completion of the pacification of Ionia allowed the Persians to begin planning their next moves ; to extinguish the threat to the empire from Greece, and to punish Athens and Eretria.