The history of the Greeks for many centuries had been uneventful--a history of their uninterrupted expansion over barbarian lands. But now the time was approaching when the independent and isolated Greek communities must meet the attack of the great despotic empires of Asia. The Greek cities of Asia Minor were the first part of the Hellenic world to be involved. Their conquest by the Lydian king, Croesus, about the middle of the sixth century B.C., showed how grave was the danger to Greek independence from the ambitious designs of Oriental monarchs. CONQUESTS OF CYRUS AND CAMBYSES As we have already learned, Croesus himself soon had to submit to a foreign overlord, in the person of Cyrus the Great. The subjugation of Lydia and the Greek seaboard by Cyrus extended the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean. The conquest of Phoenicia and Cyprus by Cambyses added the Phoenician navy to the resources of the mighty empire. Persia had now become a sea power, able to cope with the Greeks on their own element. The subjection of Egypt by the same king led naturally to the annexation of the Greek colonies on the north African shore. The entire coast of the eastern Mediterranean had now come under the control of a new, powerful, and hostile state. [Illustration: CROESUS ON THE PYRE Painting on an Athenian vase of about 490 B.C. According to the legend Cyrus the Great, having made Croesus prisoner, intended to burn him on a pyre. But the god Apollo, to whose oracle at Delphi Croesus had sent rich gifts, put out the blaze by a sudden shower of rain. The vase painting represents the Lydian king sitting enthroned upon the pyre, with a laurel wreath on his head and a scepter in one hand. With the other hand he pours a libation. He seems to be performing a religious rite, not to be suffering an ignominious death.] [Illustration: PERSIAN ARCHERS (Louvre, Paris) A frieze of enameled brick from the royal palace at Susa. It is a masterpiece of Persian art and shows the influence of both Assyrian and Greek design. Each archer carries a spear, in addition to the bow over the left shoulder and the quiver on the back. These soldiers probably served as palace guards, hence the fine robes worn by them.] CONQUESTS OF DARIUS The accession of Darius to the Persian throne only increased the dangers that overshadowed Hellas. He aimed to complete the work of Cyrus and Cambyses by extending the empire wherever a natural frontier had not been reached. Accordingly, about 512 B.C., Darius invaded Europe with a large army, annexed the Greek colonies on the Hellespont (the modern Dardanelles), and subdued the wild tribes of Thrace and Macedonia. The Persian dominions now touched those of the Greeks. [2] [Illustration: Map, GREECE at opening of the PERSIAN WARS 400 B.C.] THE IONIAN REVOLT, 499-493 B.C.