Ionia was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified stat
Mount Mycale, site of the Panionium
Gorgone with serpent, Ionia, 575-550 BC.
One of the earliest electrum coins struck in Ephesus, 620–600 BC. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.
Ionian soldier of the Achaemenid army, c. 480 BCE.
The Greco-Persian Wars, also called the Persian Wars, were a series of armed conflicts involving various Greek city-states and the Achaemenid Empire from 499 BC to 449 BC. The precipitating collision
Ionia
…first assisted by the Athenians and Eretria, with whose aid they penetrated into the interior and burnt Sardis, an event which ultimately led to the Persian invasion of Greece. But the fleet of the Ionians was defeated off the island of Lade, and the destruction of Miletus after a protracted siege was followed by the reconquest…
Combat between a Persian soldier (left) and a Greek hoplite (right) depicted on a kylix displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Herodotus, the main historical source for this conflict
Thucydides continued Herodotus's narrative
Persian and Median Immortals in ceremonial dress, bas-relief in Persepolis