HISTIAEUS SHAVES THE HEAD OF HIS SLAVE
For a few years after Histiaeus was summoned to Susa, the Greek cities
in Asia showed no disloyalty.
But about 500 B.C. the people of Naxos, an island in the Ægean Sea,
rose and expelled the nobles from their city. This was the beginning of
a war between Greece and Asia, known as the Ionian revolt.
The nobles, when they were turned out of Naxos, went to Aristagoras,
tyrant of Miletus, to beg him to help them to punish the rebels and to
gain possession of the island.
Aristagoras knew that alone he was not strong enough to regain Naxos
for the nobles, but he said that he would ask Artaphernes, the Persian
ruler in Sardis, to help him.
So Aristagoras went to Sardis and begged Artaphernes to give him a
hundred ships to sail against Naxos, promising if he would do so to
reward him with money and with gifts.
Artaphernes offered, if Darius would consent, to give not only a
hundred, but two hundred ships. The great king bade his brother do as
he thought well, so two hundred ships, under the command of Megabates,
were sent from Sardis to join Aristagoras in his expedition against
Naxos.
The two leaders, Aristagoras and Megabates, had not sailed far together
when they quarrelled, and it was because of this quarrel that the plans
of Aristagoras went awry.
One night Megabates found that no watch had been set on one of the
ships belonging to Aristagoras. He was so angry with the captain for
being careless that he ordered his head to be placed in one of the
oarholes in the side of the vessel. When this was done the unhappy
man could do nothing to set himself free, but with hanging head he was
forced to gaze into the water.
When Aristagoras found what Megabates had done he went at once to ask
him to set the culprit free. This Megabates refused to do, and the
tyrant himself released the captain.
To have his authority flouted in this way made Megabates angry, but
when he would have spoken, Aristagoras proudly bade him be silent,
saying, ‘Did not Artaphernes send you to serve under me?’
Perhaps it would have been wiser to allow the Persian to speak, for now
his anger smouldered in his heart, and he resolved to be revenged on
Aristagoras. So he sent a messenger to Naxos to warn the citizens that
an enemy was at hand.
The Naxians at once strengthened their walls and brought provisions
into their city, so that when Aristagoras arrived, he found to his
astonishment that the citizens had been warned and were ready to resist
an attack.
For four months the Greeks and Persians besieged Naxos, but all their
efforts to take the city were vain. Then, their money and their
provisions having come to an end, Aristagoras was forced to order the
fleets to withdraw.
The tyrant was now in great trouble. He had neither gold nor gifts to
give to Artaphernes as he had promised. He had wasted Persian money on
a useless expedition, and he had made Megabates his enemy. What would
Darius say when he heard these things? Aristagoras was afraid that the
king would no longer allow him to be tyrant of Miletus.
It seemed to Aristagoras that the only way to save himself from
disgrace was to persuade the Greeks in Asia Minor to revolt against
Darius and himself to become their leader.
Now just at this time Histiaeus was more than ever determined to escape
from the court of Susa. He thought if Aristagoras would but incite the
Greeks to rebel, Darius would send him back to Miletus to restore
order to the city.
So while Aristagoras was still hesitating about rousing the citizens,
a slave was shown into his presence. He came from Histiaeus, and said
that his master had bidden him tell Aristagoras to shave off his hair
and look at the message that was branded on his head.
This was a strange way to send a message! But Histiaeus had been unable
to think of any other way to tell Aristagoras what he wished him to do.
So he had himself first shaved the head of his slave, and branded on
it certain signs which meant that the tyrant was to revolt against the
Persians. He had waited only until the slave’s hair had grown again,
when he had at once sent him to Miletus.
When Aristagoras looked at the slave’s head and learned that Histiaeus
encouraged him to revolt, he hesitated no longer. He determined to
rouse the Ionian Greeks, and he began with his own city Miletus. When
he had assembled the citizens he told them that the time had come to
throw off the Persian yoke. He then gave up his position as tyrant that
Miletus might be made into a democracy. The example of Miletus was
quickly followed by many other cities, and the Greeks were soon in open
rebellion against Darius.