Post by Arxileas on Dec 30, 2007 23:37:42 GMT -5
Yaunâ
Yaunâ: The old Persian name for Greeks. It is derived from Iones, which the Greeks used to describe the Greeks living in Asia Minor. It is similar to the Javan mentioned in Genesis 10.1.
The Yaunâ are mentioned for the first time in the catalogue of subject people in the Behistun inscription of the Persian king Darius I the Great. This confirms what we know from the Histories of the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus (fifth century): the Ionians had been subjected by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in the middle of the sixth century. Another confirmation is the precense of Ionian stonemasons at Pasargadae, the capital of Persia. According to Herodotus, the Ionian Greeks were grouped together in one tax district with the Pamphylians, Lycians, Magnesians, Aeolians, Milyans and Carians.
The second half of the sixth century was a period of great prosperity. The Yaunâ, therefore, benefitted from the Persian occupation. After all, the eastern Mediterranean was ruled by one king, which made trade easier.
The Yaunâ in Asia Minor revolted in 499, but they were subjected again. Now, it was clear to the Persian government that the possessions in Asia Minor could be safe only when the Yaunâ in the west were subjected as well. Therefore, general Mardonius was sent out to conquer Macedonia (492).
His navy may have counted 300 ships, the army 20,000 men. Their first victim was Thasos, a Yaunâ island that possessed important mines. It became tributary to the Achaemenid empire. The navy and the army continued to Macedonia, which was added to Darius' kingdom as well. (Herodotus presents this campaign as directed against Greece, but he is mistaken.)
This campaign was important, because Macedonia was a fine base for further conquests in Europe and possessed gold mines. Darius proudly wrote in the inscription on his tomb at Naqš-i Rustam that he had conquered the Yaunâ takabarâ, the 'Greeks with sun hats', a reference to the Macedonian headwear.
Two years later, king Darius sent a new expedition to the west. The commanders were Datis and Artaphernes. Herodotus presents the expedition as a punitive action against Eretria and Athens, who had helped the Ionians during their revolt of 499. But he is almost certainly wrong, because the army was too small to attack Athens. In reality, the aims of the expedition of Datis and Artaphernes were to add the Aegean islands to the empire, and, in doing so, create a buffer zone between Ionia and the Greek mainland. The Persian aims were, therefore, to conquer Naxos and the other islands, and to occupy Euboea (with its capital Eretria). They also tried to bring back the former ruler of Athens, Hippias, to his home town.
The Persians were successful. First, they added Naxos to their empire, the largest island in the Aegean sea, situated in its center. The Yaunâ cult center Delos was seized immediately afterwards; the Greek god Apollo received a giant sacrifice, probably because the Persians identified him with Ahuramazda. A few days later, on 1 September, Datis and Artaphernes took Eretria. Its inhabitants were deported to Elam.
The tomb hill of the Athenians at Marathon (Greece). Photo Jona Lendering.
the Athenian tomb
at Marathon (©**)
On 5 September, the Persians landed at Marathon, some 25 kilometers east of Athens. Although an Athenian army came to block the road to the west, it did not dare to attack the Persians, who were able to plunder the country for five days. Since their enemies refused to offer battle, Datis and Artaphernes decided to leave early in the morning of 10 September. When they were boarding, the Athenians attacked and inflicted heavy losses on the Persian troops.
Herodotus' account of the battle of Marathon is our most important source. (A summary and a comment can be found over here.) He wants us to believe that Marathon was an important victory, but from a Persian point of view this is incorrect. It was a rearguard action, and we know for certain that Artaphernes remained in the king's favor; it is likely that Datis had the same experience. After all, from now on, the Aegean Sea was under Persian control, preventing new Yaunâ attacks on Persian dominions.
In 480, Darius' son and successor Xerxes tried to conquer the Yaunâ mainland. He assembled a large army and personally took charge of the campaign. However, there were troubles in Babylon. In the summer of 481, an important official named Zopyrus had been killed; his son Megabyzus had subdued the rebels, who were commanded by one Bêl-shimanni. Knowing that he had to guard his rear, Xerxes proceeded.
In the summer of 480, the Persians invaded Thessaly. The Yaunâ army that guarded the Tempe ravine, evacuated the road before the enemy arrived. Not much later, Thessaly surrendered. The Yaunâ navy was defeated at Artemisium (more) and a Yaunâ elite army consisting of Spartans was annihilated at Thermopylae after a three days' fight (more). Boeotia and Delphi were added to the Achaemenid empire, and in September, Athens fell, the largest city of the Yaunâ.
There was one setback, however: the Persian navy was attacked by the Yaunâ and suffered heavily (more). It was not the humiliating defeat that Herodotus thinks it was. In spite of the losses at Salamis, Xerxes could truthfully state in the Daiva inscription that, by the favor of Ahuramazda, he ruled all the Yaunâ, those who dwell on this side of the sea and those who dwell across the sea.
Why the Persian attack was not renewed, is still a mystery. Mardonius remained among the Yaunâ who dwelt across the sea with a smaller but more effective army. He had to defend the newly conquered territories and was probably ordered to conquer the Peloponnese. What is strange, however, is that the Persian marines returned home. A plausible solution to the puzzle is that the Babylonians were again revolting: the name of their king was Šamaš-eriba. The marines had more important things to do than fighting already defeated barbarians.
Whatever the reason, the Persian forces in Europe were not strong enough and Mardonius was defeated in the summer of 479 (battle of Plataea). A Yaunâ naval expedition to the east liberated the Ionian towns in Asia Minor.
Seal of a Persian king, showing a victory over the Yauna. From P. Briant, Histoire de l' empire Perse (1995).
Seal of a Persian king,
showing a victory
over the Yaunâ (from P.
Briant, Histoire de l' empire
Perse, 1995; ©!!!)
Although there was to be more fighting in the fifth century, the spheres of influence were clear. Yaunâ pirates sometimes looted ports in the Achaemenid empire and the Athenians on several occasions attacked Cyprus and Egypt, but these attacks never really changed the balance of power. The status quo was recognized by the Athenians and the Persian king Artaxerxes I Makrocheir (465-424) in a formal peace treaty (449/448, Peace of Callias). The details of this treaty, however, are obscure.
During the Peloponnesian war (431-404), the Athenians and Spartans were at each others throats. In 421, the Athenians seemed to have won the war, and they felt strong enough to interfere in the Persian zone of influence again. When a certain Amorges, son of Pissuthnes, revolted, he received Athenian support (414). The Persian king Darius II Nothus retaliated by supporting Sparta. In the treaty that his satrap Tissaphernes concluded with the Spartans, the latter allowed the Persians to reoccupy Ionia.
However, when Sparta had won the war, its king Agesilaos invaded the Achaemenid empire (396-394). He was recalled when the Persian king Artaxerxes II Mnemon started to support Athens and gave it a new navy. When Athens became too powerful, the Persians started to pay the Spartans again. Finally, in 387, the Persian king dictated peace conditions to all the Yaunâ. Those 'who dwelt on this side of the sea' remained Persian subjects, and 'those who dwelt across the sea' were to be controlled by Sparta.
This treaty regulated the relations between the Persians and Yaunâ for half a century. It is interesting to note that many Yaunâ were fighting for the Persian king. They had a special status. From Babylonian sources (the so-called Marašû-archive from Nippur), it is clear that the Persian army contingents were recruited from several nationalities. We find Carians, Tyrians, Arabs, Indians, Phrygians and Lydians, who were probably deportees or their descendants. They received a piece of land in exchange for their service in the Persian army. On the other hand, the Yaunâ were not fief holders, but mercenaries who had volunteered in exchange for a payment in money.
In 336, a king of the Yaunâ takabarâ named Philip II stood up against the Persians. However, he was killed before he could attack them in Asia. That was left to his son, who invaded Persia in 334: Alexander the Great.