Histiaeus in the context of "Electrum"

Aristagoras of Miletus (Ancient Greek: Ἀρισταγόρας ὁ Μιλήσιος), d. 497/496 BC, was the tyrant of the Ionian city of Miletus in the late 6th century BC and early 5th century BC. He acted as one of the instigators of the Ionian Revolt against the Persian Achaemenid Empire. He was the son-in-law of Histiaeus and was granted the tyranny of Miletus from him.

The Greeks had won the coast of Asia Minor from the preceding Hittite Empire during the Bronze Age, and thanks to their victory at Troy had kept it during the fall of the empire and retirement of the Hittites to Syria. They shared the coast with the Phrygians (proto-Armenians) coming in from the Balkans, but neither were prepared for the armed invasion of their lands by the Persians during the late 6th-century BC. The Ionian Greeks appealed to the mainland Greeks for assistance and not receiving it were forced to capitulate, becoming subjects of the new Achaemenid Empire. However, as long as they paid their taxes and were no threat to the rule of the Persians, the latter were willing to allow them self-rule under the Greek tyrants. The entire region, however, including those tyrants, held a smoldering resentment against the Persian Empire.

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 dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras. The cities of Ionia had been conquered by Persia around 540 BC, and thereafter were ruled by native tyrants, nominated by the Persian satrap in Sardis. In 499 BC, the tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos, in an attempt to bolster his position. The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king Darius the Great.

In 498 BC, supported by troops from Athens and Eretria, the Ionians marched on, captured, and burnt Sardis. However, on their return journey to Ionia, they were followed by Persian troops, and decisively beaten at the Battle of Ephesus. This campaign was the only offensive action by the Ionians, who subsequently went on the defensive. The Persians responded in 497 BC with a three-pronged attack aimed at recapturing the outlying areas of the rebellion, but the spread of the revolt to Caria meant that the largest army, under Daurises, relocated there. While initially campaigning successfully in Caria, this army was annihilated in an ambush at the Battle of Pedasus. This battle had started a stalemate for the rest of 496 BC and 495 BC.

Atarneus (/əˈtɑːrniəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἀταρνεύς), also known as Atarna (Ἄταρνα) and Atarneites (Ἀταρνείτης), was an ancient Greek city in the region of Aeolis, Asia Minor. It lies on the mainland opposite the island of Lesbos. It was on the road from Adramyttium to the plain of the Caicus. Its territory was called the Atarneitis.

Atarneus seems to be the genuine original name, though Atarna, or Atarnea, and Aterne may have prevailed afterwards. Stephanus of Byzantium, who only gives the name Atarna, consistently makes the ethnic name Atarneus. Herodotus tells a story of the city and its territory, both of which were named Atarneus, being given to the Chians by Cyrus the Great, for their having surrendered to him Pactyes the Lydian. Stephanus and other ancient authorities consider Atarneus to be the Tarne written of in the Iliad by Homer; but perhaps incorrectly. The territory was a good corn country. Histiaeus the Milesian was defeated by the Persians at Malene in the Atarneitis, and taken prisoner. The place was occupied at a later time by some exiles from Chios, who from this strong position sallied out and plundered Ionia. Dercylidas besieged the city for eight months and at the end the citizens of the city accepted his terms. He appointed Dracon of Pellene in charge of the city.

Malene (Ancient Greek: Μαλήνη or Μαληνή) was a town of ancient Aeolis in the Atarneitis. At Malene, Histiaeus was defeated by the Persians.

Its site is located near Bahçeli, Asiatic Turkey.