494 BC · Aegean Sea (off Miletus) Theater
494 BC
The naval Battle of Lade crushed the Ionian Revolt that had ignited the Persian Wars. The Greek Ionian fleet of some 353 triremes faced a Persian armada of 600 ships off the island of Lade near Miletus. After weeks of training under the Phocaean captain Dionysios, discipline in the Ionian ranks collapsed — the Samians and others, bribed or despairing, deserted. The remaining ships fought bravely but were overwhelmed. Miletus fell, its population enslaved or deported to Mesopotamia, and the revolt ended.
Commanders