And now Histiæus came down from Susa to Sardis. When he was come to Sardis, Artaphernes, the governor, inquired of him the cause why the Ionians had rebelled, and when Histiæus said that he could not tell, Artaphernes said, for indeed he knew the whole matter, “The matter stands thus, Histiæus. Thou hast stitched the shoe and Aristagoras has put it on.” When Histiæus heard this, and perceived that the thing was known, he fled to the coast. And first he went to Chios, where the people cast him into prison, but finding that he had rebelled against the King set him at liberty; and from Chios he went to Miletus; but the men of Miletus, being rid of one lord, even Aristagoras, were not minded to take to themselves another, and when he sought to make an entrance by night, they fought against him and wounded him in the thigh. After this, having got ships from the Lesbians, he laid wait at the Hellespont and seized all the ships that came forth from the Black Sea unless they would take service with him.
Now the Persians had gathered together a great host and a fleet also against Miletus; and the men of Miletus sent deputies to the Great Ionian Council. And the council resolved that they would