Ancient Greece, Early Archaic Period: Cyclades; Paros, Delos

Naxos is the largest island (430 km²) in the Cyclades. It colonised Amorgos c.900 BC and joined Chalcis in founding Sicilian Naxus in 734 BC. Naxos was governed by nobles and then by oligarchs until disputes about their increasing wealth incited one of their number, Lygdamis (r.c.545-c.524 BC), to seize power as tyrant with the help of his ally Pisistratus of Athens (r.c.561*527 BC). At the peak of its power, following the overthrow of Lygdamis by a Spartan army, Naxos dominated the Cyclades, including its enemy Paros, allegedly with 8000 hoplite infantry and a formidable fleet.

In c.502 BC aristocrats exiled from Naxos by a rising of the people, persuaded Aristagoras (r.c.505-496 BC), the deputy tyrant of Miletus, to promote an expedition, with Persian support, against Naxos. In 499 BC the Naxians withstood the Persian siege. Fear of the consequences of his failure led Aristagoras to raise the Ionian revolt (499-494 BC).

In 490 BC the Persians sacked Naxos for its part in the Ionian revolt. In 480 BC Naxian triremes defected to the Greek fleet at the Battle of Salamis. In c.467 BC Naxos was the first to revolt from the Delian League (478-454 BC), but was subsequently reduced to tributary status. Later, in 450 BC, an Athenian cleruchy was imposed.

Paros

Paros is the second largest island (195 km²) in the Cyclades. It lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about five miles (≈eight km) wide. It was settled by Ionians in the tenth century BC. In the seventh century BC it colonised Thasos. Frequently at odds with Naxos, in 490 BC Paros provided the Persians with a trireme, and when the Athenian general Miltiades (c.550-489 BC) led a retaliatory expedition the island resisted successfully. After the Battle of Salamis the islanders were subjected to a heavy indemnity.

Delos

Delos is a small island (3.43 km²) in the Cyclades. Its pre-Hellenic inhabitants were displaced by colonists from continental Greece before c.1000 BC. Traditionally the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, Delos eventually became the second greatest sanctuary of Apollo, after Delphi. In an attempt to assert Athenian leadership over the Ionians, Pisistratus purified the sanctuary in 543 BC by removing the surrounding tombs, and Polycrates of Samos (c.546-522 BC) held public ceremonies there. After the Persian wars (499-449 BC) it was the natural place for placing the treasury of the Delian League (478-454 BC), until it was removed by Athens in 454 BC.