The Ionian revolt was the first major Persian war. Ionians were residents of cities that were dependent upon Lydia, which lay along the coast of Anatolia. During 539 BC when Cyrus the great who ruled Persia and most of west Asia captured Lydia, the Ionian cities become helpless and were also conquered by him. Later when Darius the grandson of Cyrus become king, he attacked Scythians but lost the battle. When Persia decided to attack Naxos, Aristagoras was appointed to lead the battle but the Persians lost again. Seeing that strong Persian rulers could lose two consecutive battles, the Persian occupied Greek cities deciding to revolt leading to the Ionian revolt which lasted about half a decade, the Ionian were defeated in the battle of the lade in 494 BC.