<P> Struggling to rule the independent - minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed local tyrants to rule each of them . This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike . 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 taken 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 rebellious territory, but the spread of the revolt to Caria meant the largest army, under Darius, moved there instead . While at first campaigning successfully in Caria, this army was wiped out in an ambush at the Battle of Pedasus . This resulted in a stalemate for the rest of 496 and 495 BC . </P> <P> By 494 BC the Persian army and navy had regrouped, and they made straight for the epicentre of the rebellion at Miletus . The Ionian fleet sought to defend Miletus by sea, but was defeated decisively at the Battle of Lade, after the Samians had defected . Miletus was then besieged, captured, and its population was enslaved . This double defeat effectively ended the revolt, and the Carians surrendered to the Persians as a result . The Persians spent 493 BC reducing the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement on Ionia that was considered to be both just and fair . </P> <P> The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire and represents the first phase of the Greco - Persian Wars . Asia Minor had been brought back into the Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the revolt . Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all Greece . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> First Persian invasion of Greece </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> Lindos </Li> <Li> Naxos </Li> <Li> Karystos </Li> <Li> Eretria </Li> <Li> Marathon </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What led to conflict between the greek city-states and the persian empire