PERSIAN PERIOD

In 546 BC, the Persian army under Cyrus the Great defeated famous Lydian King Croesus in Central Anatolia near Hallys. After the battle, the Persians followed the Lydians to Sardis, capturing the Lydian Kingdom’s capital city. As part of their remarkable campaign in Anatolia, the Persians attacked Caria under General Harpagus and occupied the Caria and Lycia regions.
The Caria region stayed under the Persians’ rule until the arrival of Alexander the Great, and Persian satraps (governors) appointed by the Persian Empire ruled Anatolia.
In 480 BC, after the famous Ionian Revolt, when the Ionian cities rioted against Persian rule, the Persian army under the command of General Dariusus attacked Caria. Being defeated by the Persian army, the Carians retreated to the famous shrine of Carian Zeus at Labranda near present-day Milas. When they got help from Miletus’s city, they fought against the Persians again. The fierce battle occurred near the Cine River (Marsyas River), where the Persian forces killed nearly 10.000 Carians. Although this was a decisive victory for the Persian army, the Carians didn’t give up, and once more, they attacked the Persian army on the way to Pedesa. During this night ambush, the Carians killed many soldiers of the Persian army and General Dariusus. But the tragic end was inevitable; once more, Persians captured the whole Caria and Lycia regions. After this military campaign, the Persians divided these occupied regions into satrapies and appointed military governors (satraps) to rule. Persians did not impose their religions and culture on the local populations and preferred to choose their satraps from Persian nobles. Only in Caria a local figure from the famous Hekatomnid Dynasty was selected as a satrap to rule the region under the Persian Empire’s name. This move was a precaution to prevent local populations from rioting against the Persian empire.
During Darius and his son Xerxes’s rule, the Persian armies crossed the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles straits, captured the Athenian Acropolis, and razed it in 480 BC.