Tom Holland

We should have a democracy.

I am a friend of the people.

And what's more, let's export this revolution.

I, as leader of the Milesian democracy, I urge all the other cities of Ionia to get rid of their tyrants as well, their tyrannoi.

And so this is like, you know, throwing a match onto a kindling box.

And we love a match thrown onto a kindling box and the rest is history.

It explodes.

All the other Milesian tyrannoi are expelled.

Some of them get stoned to death.

Those who aren't run fleeing to the Persian satrap in Sardis.

And Aristagoras, basically, you know, he might as well hang for a sheep as a lamb.

He now proclaims a kind of general revolt against Persian rule.

So he's all in.

Such a big call from him.

Because against the greatest empire in the world, could he hope to defy it?

Well, I think he has two plans.

And the first of these is very cunning because he knows that the Persian fleet is not far from Miletus and there are lots of Ionian squadrons there.

He sends an officer down to the Persian fleet and this officer is pretending to be loyal to the Persians.

And this officer arrives and he then kind of passes secret communications to all the various Ionian admirals and says, look, why don't you just upship?

We'll capture all the Persian ships and we will make off and, you know, we'll have captured the Persian fleet.