The conflict between the Iranian Empire and Greece. (a) Cyrus – II (b) Arrian

(a) Cyrus – II

• Cyrus II conquered Lydia, a Greek state to the north of the Mediterranean Sea, around the mid of 6th-century B.C.E. 
• As a result, the Ionian Greek city-states under the Lydian rule inevitably became part of the Achaemenid empire. 
• The Greeks in Ionia had migrated to Anatolia, that is, the Asian part of Turkey. It is also known as ‘Asia Minor’. 
• During the reign of Daryush I all Ionian city-states got together and rebelled against the Achaemenid rule. 
• The rebellion was subdued completely after a struggle of five years by the Achaemenid army. 
• The effects of this unsuccessful rebellion are important for understanding the interrelationship between Greece and Persia in the ensuing period.

(b) Arrian: 

• Arrian was a Greek historian of the 1stcentury C.E.
• He wrote a book called ‘Anabasis of Alexander. He has referred to the correspondence between Daryush III, the last Achaemenid emperor, and Alexander. 
• Daryush had written to Alexander about the release of his mother, wife, and children. 
• Alexander responded by reminding Daryush of the sorrow inflicted on the Greeks by the earlier invasions of the Achaemenid emperors. 
• Alexander wrote that he had arrived in Russia by crossing the ocean, with the intention of punishing the aggressive Persians.