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The Lesbians

Greek islanders of Lesbos, with cities such as Mytilene, in the Ionian Revolt, 494 BCE

In the game: Level 7: Sardis Burns

The Lesbians were the Greek inhabitants of Lesbos, an island off the coast of Asia Minor with cities such as Mytilene and Methymna. Their island lay within the Persian sphere after the conquest of western Asia Minor. They are best known for the naval battle of Lade in 494 BCE, where Herodotus says they followed the Samians and left the line.

In the game: The game names the Lesbians in the Chronicle, the decrees or the field briefings about Lade, where most of the Samians sail away and the Lesbians follow. They have no mechanic of their own beyond what these texts show.

An island of Aeolian Greeks

Ancient account

Herodotus counts Lesbos among the Aeolian Greek communities of the eastern Aegean. He says the islanders did not come under the same pressure as the mainland Ionians once Cyrus's commander Harpagus had taken the coast cities. How and when Lesbos itself came under Persian authority he does not set out clearly here.

Herodotus 1.151-152

Coes of Mytilene at the Ister

Ancient account

Herodotus says Coes of Mytilene, a commander in Darius's Scythian expedition, spoke at the bridge over the Ister and afterwards received the tyranny of his city from the King. This is the Greek writer's report of a Persian practice of backing friendly local rulers in the coastal Greek cities.

Herodotus 4.97 and 5.11

Lesbian ships at Lade

Ancient account

Herodotus says the Lesbians brought seventy ships to the Ionian fleet at Lade in 494 BCE. He gives the Persian fleet as six hundred ships, with Phoenician, Cypriot, Cilician and Egyptian crews, a figure that may be inflated. He also says the Ionians grew tired of the hard training of Dionysius of Phocaea.

Herodotus 6.8-12

The flight at Lade

Ancient account

Herodotus says that when the fleets met, most of the Samian ships hoisted sail and left, and the Lesbians, seeing them go, did the same. The Chians fought on, kept breaking the enemy line and lost most of their ships. Miletus was then taken by siege and mining.

Herodotus 6.13-15

Treachery or panic?

Disputed

Herodotus blames the Samian captains for a bargain with the Persians, and the flight of the Lesbians follows from theirs in his telling. Modern historians point out that Herodotus is hostile to the Samians in this passage and that panic or fear of defeat could explain the departures. The sources do not allow a firm answer.

Herodotus 6.13-14

After Lade

Ancient account

Herodotus says that after Miletus fell, the Persians went on to take the islands off the coast. What this meant for Lesbos in detail is not given in a passage that can be cited with confidence here.

Herodotus 6.31