embracing, in Asia, all that at a later period was contained
in Persia proper and Turkey; in Africa taking in Egypt as far
as Nubia, and the coast of the Mediterranean as far as Barca;
thus stretching from the AEgean Sea to the Indus, and from the
plains of Tartary to the cataracts of the Nile. Such was the
empire against whose united strength a few Grecian communities
were soon to contend for the preservation of their very name
and existence.

* * * * *

I. THE IONIC REVOLT.

Like the Lydians, the Persians ruled the Greek colonies with a
degree of moderation, and permitted them to retain their own
form of government by paying tribute; yet the Greeks seized
every opportunity to deliver themselves from this species of
thraldom, and in 502 B.C. an insurrection broke out in one of
the Ionian states, which soon assumed a formidable character.
Before the Persians could collect sufficient forces to quell
the revolt, the Ionians sought the aid of their Grecian countrymen,
making application first to Sparta, but in vain, and then to
Athens and the islands of the AEgean Sea. The Athenians, regarding
Darius as an avowed enemy, gladly took part with the Ionians,
and, in connection with Euboe'a, furnished them a fleet of
twenty-five vessels. The allied Grecians, though at first
successful, were defeated near Ephesus with great loss. Their
commanders then quarreled, and the Athenians sailed for home,
leaving the Asiatic Greeks (divided among themselves) to contend
alone against the whole power of Persia. Still, the revolt