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The islanders

The Greeks of the Cyclades, the islands of the central Aegean, 6th-5th century BCE

In the game: Level 8: The Bay of Marathon

The Cyclades are the ring of islands round Delos in the central Aegean. Naxos, the largest and richest, led them in the late 6th century. Persia's first attack on Greece began there in 499, and in 490 Datis took the islands on his way to Eretria and Marathon.

In the game: The islands are a trade partner at Marathon, under their own emblem beside their name.

Naxos and the siege of 499

Ancient account

Herodotus says Naxos then had 8,000 men under arms and was the strongest of the islands. Exiled Naxian nobles asked Aristagoras of Miletus for help, and he persuaded Artaphernes to send 200 ships under Megabates. The four-month siege failed, and Aristagoras, fearing for his position, began the Ionian Revolt.

Herodotus 5.28-34

Datis among the islands

Ancient account

In 490 the King's fleet sailed straight across the Aegean through the islands. Herodotus says the Naxians fled to the hills and the Persians burned their town and temples, but Datis spared Delos and burned incense to Apollo there. The other islands gave hostages and men.

Herodotus 6.95-99

The emblem beside its name

In the record

The game gives the islands the kantharos, a two-handled wine cup, from Naxos's coins: the island of Dionysus struck it on its silver from the 6th century. It stands for all the islands, which had no shared emblem.

Head, Historia Numorum, Cyclades