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Article: A CLOSE SHAVE FOR THE PERSIANS.(Ionian Revolt)
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- November 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What would you do if you needed to send a top secret message to someone hundreds of miles away? What if you were terrified that the enemy might discover you were plotting a revolt?
Approximately 2,500 years ago, the Greek statesman Histiaios faced such a situation and devised an ingenious solution. Histiaios was the tyrant (ruler) of Miletos, a Greek city on the coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) in an area called Ionia. He had traveled to the court of the Persian king Darius in Susa on political business and left his relative Aristagoras in charge of Miletos. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotos, after Histiaios had assessed the situation in ...