As was natural, the kings of Lydia made many attempts to possess themselves of Miletus. In the reign of Alyattes, however, the Lydian and Milesian quarrel was, for the time, made up, the Lydian king having been supposed to have incurred the wrath of the gods, as his troops had burnt a temple dedicated to Minerva at Assessos. Some of the rulers of the town were men of historic note, especially Thrasybulus, the friend of the Corinthian Periander. Somewhat later, the Milesians made a treaty with Crœsus, and, what was of more importance to them, secured its maintenance by Cyrus; hence, their town was spared much of the misery inflicted on the other Ionian states in the first war with the Persians (Herod. i. 141, 143). But if Miletus had been previously fortunate, this good luck deserted her during the great Græco-Persian war; nor could she indeed complain, as the chief promoter of this rebellion was her “tyrannus” Histiæus. As will be remembered, it was mainly through Histiæus and his kinsman Aristagoras, that Ionia revolted against the Persians; and, further, that, to the instigations of the latter, was due the needless burning of the great western capital of the Persians, Sardes. An immediate attack on Miletus by the Persian satraps was the natural reply to this treachery; and the city was eventually taken by storm, with all the horrors consequent thereon.[26] It may be doubted, whether after this fall, Miletus ever again recovered her former glory. Footnote 26: Herodotus, vi. 18-21, states that the Athenians were so much distressed at the fall of Miletus, that they fined the poet Phrynichus 1,000 drachmæ for putting on the stage a drama entitled “The Capture of Miletus.” Subsequently, Miletus made many spasmodic efforts to regain her freedom, but with little avail, though it still existed till the decline of the Byzantine empire—its Church being under the direction of bishops who ranked as Metropolitans of Caria (Hierocl.).[27] A pestilential swamp now covers the birthplace of Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes.[28] Footnote 27: At Miletus, St. Luke tells us that St. Paul sent to his chief disciples at Ephesus (distant about thirty miles) to come to see him. This was their last opportunity, as he was then on his final journey to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 17). Footnote 28: A proverb cited by Athenæus from Aristotle may refer to the condition of the Milesians after the capture of their city by the Persians:— Πάλαι ποτ’ ἦσαν ἄλκιμοι Μιλήσιοι.