The source

Ionian Greeks in the Archaic period

Pis, iders, &
solers of for
Archaic Ionia was at the very centre of the early Greek world. The
Ionian Greeks were pioneers in trade and colonization, exploring
every corner of the Mediterranean. Reconstructing early Ionian
overseas ventures, however, is no easy task as the surviving his-
torical sources are scarce. Careful piecing together of scraps of liter-
ary evidence – including poetry, inscriptions, and accounts of later
historians – with the surviving archaeological record reveals an epic
story of Ionian pirates, raiders and soldiers of fortune, who fought
for almost every Near Eastern kingdom.

By Cezary Kucewicz text is difficult to read, it indicates a series of at-

“
tacks on small Phoenician coastal cities carried

T
he first mentions of Ionian military ex-
ploits in the Near East come from the
end of the eighth century BC. By that
time, many Greeks, especially from
the island of Euboea, were regular visitors to the
Levantine coast. Most of them conducted their
business in or around the North Syrian city of Al
Mina, which was the earliest and most impor-
tant of Greek trading posts in the Eastern Medi-
terranean. There are no Greek literary records
dealing with early Ionian activities in the region.
Most of our knowledge comes from royal Assyr-
ian documents that record numerous encounters
with seafaring men from the land of ‘Iauna’.
The term ‘Iauna’ (also Iavani, Iunan), com-
monly translated as ‘Ionia’, most likely referred
initially to the Greeks from Euboea, the Cyclad-
es, and Asia Minor, though one cannot exclude
the possibility that it might have included other
Hellenes from mainland Greece, as it did later.
The first document mentioning the Ionians is a
letter from an Assyrian provincial officer, Qurdi-
Ashur-lamur, to King Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727
BC), dated to around 738–732 BC. Although the
out by Ionian raiding parties:
To the king my lord (from)
your servant Qurdi-Ashur-
lamur. The Ionians came (and) at-
tacked the cities of Samsimuruna,
Harisu, and […]. A cavalryman
came to the city of Dana[bu] (to re-
port this). I gathered up the avail-
able men and went (after them).
(The Ionians) did not get anything.
When they saw my troops, they got An Egyptian sarcophagus from
ca. 600 BC. The inscription makes
into their boats and [disappeared] clear that the parents of Wahi-
into the middle of the sea.” bree-em-akhet (‘Wahibre is the
horizon’) were actually Greeks.
We may deduce from Qurdi-Ashur-lamur’s letter However, his name is a reference
that the incident was not an isolated one and to Psamtik I’s throne name and he
that the Ionian raiders must have already been a was buried according to Egyptian
familiar threat in the Levant by this period. The customs. Currently in the Nation-
Ionian attacks certainly continued during the al Museum of Antiquities, Leiden.
reign of King Sargon II (722–705 BC). From Sar- © Netjer VOF

Ancient Warfare VIII-2 9

AW VIII.2 mei14b.indd 9 29-04-14 18:04

 The source
gon’s royal annals, inscribed on the walls of his
palace in Dur-Sharrukin, we learn that, in 715
BC, the King assembled a large fleet of northern
Syrian ships in order to subdue the Ionians, who
“used to kill the inhabitants of Tyre” and “to in-
terrupt commercial traffic” (117–119).
The annals also repeat Sargon’s subsequent
boast, which came in many variations of which
the most famous reads: “I caught like fishes the
Ionians, who live in the midst of the sea of the
sunset” (15). The text of Sargon’s annals clearly
indicates that the Ionian raiding bands, prob-
ably targeting both ships and coastal settle-
ments, must have severely disrupted the Assyr-
ian trade and commercial traffic in Phoenicia
and Cilicia. The Ionian Greek bases, as Nino
Luraghi suggested, were most likely located
on the coast of western Cilicia, an area that
became legendary for its pirates in the Hel-
lenistic period. This suggestion is confirmed
by the military actions of Sargon’s successor,
Sennacherib (705–681 BC), who conducted an
10 Ancient Warfare VIII-2
AW VIII.2 mei14b.indd 10
extensive campaign in Cilicia in the beginning
of the seventh century BC.
As we learn from the Hellenistic Babylo-
nian historian Berossus, Sennacherib fought
the Greeks in Cilicia around 696 BC. He was
responding to a revolt led by the Assyrian gover-
nor of Cilicia and joined by the Greeks from Tar-
sus. Sennacherib defeated the latter decisively
on land and destroyed the city of Tarsus, as con-
firmed by the level of destruction identified by
modern excavators. Two years later, according
to the royal annals, the Assyrian king overcame
the Ionian Greeks again in a naval battle off the
Cilician coast, taking large numbers of prisoners
and pressing them into service in his army.
Greek mercenaries
Greeks may have served as mercenaries for the
Assyrian kings from the mid-eighth century BC,
as suggested by Luraghi. Their military skills were
certainly valued by Near Eastern rulers and with-
in a few decades of Sennacherib’s victory, we
find traces of Ionian and Carian mercenaries in
the armies of Tyre and the kings of Judah. Small
contingents of them were settled in fortresses in
southern Palestine, including Mesad Hashavya-
hu, Arad, and Tell Kabri. Archaeological exca-
vations at these sites revealed large quantities
of East Greek pottery and weapons. At Arad an
archival document was found which mentioned
the allocation of wine and oil to some seventy-
five Greek warriors. From the seventh century
BC, therefore, Greek mercenaries found continu-
ous employment in the Near Eastern kingdoms,
which in turn might explain why, after the reign
of Sennacherib, there are no further mentions of
Ionian raiding parties on the Levantine coast.
The fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC
seems to have had little effect on the numbers
of Greek mercenaries in the Near East. Their
services were still highly desirable and a num-
ber of them found employment in the army of
the new Neo-Babylonian Empire. Many Ionians
were no doubt involved, but the most famous
of Greek mercenaries in the Babylonian service
was an Aeolian, Antimenidas, brother of the Les-
bian poet Alcaeus. Antimenidas had most likely
distinguished himself in King Nebuchadnez-
zar II’s (r. 605–562 BC) storming of Ashkelon in
604 BC, and perhaps in his Palestine campaign,
which culminated in the famous capture of Je-
rusalem (597 BC). Alcaeus, in a poem celebrat-
ing his brother’s return to Mytilene, praises him
for defeating a Goliath-like champion during his
Babylonian service (fr. 133 Edmonds):
29-04-14 18:04

“
You have returned from the
ends of the earth, Antimeni-
das, with the gold-bound ivory hilt
of that sword with which, as you
fought for the Babylonians who
dwell in houses of long bricks, you
did a great dead, preserving them
all from evil by killing a fighter
who lacked only a palm of stand-
ing five royal cubits high.”
This is the only Greek literary source referring
to Greek warriors fighting in the Levant. Our
knowledge of Greek military exploits in the re-
gion derives otherwise from non-Greek sources,
supported by archaeological evidence. It has
been plausibly suggested, however, that the ear-
ly Ionian voyages for plunder might have shaped
the narrative material of the Iliad and the Odys-
sey, both composed in Ionia around 750–700
BC. The theme of conquering foreign cities and
raiding by sea features prominently in both po-
ems, reflecting the contemporary reality of the
early Ionian Greeks quite closely indeed.
Ionians in Egypt
The best-known Greek mercenaries of the
Archaic period are without doubt the bronze-
clad warriors enrolled in ca. 664 BC by the
Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik I (r. 664–610 BC).
Our knowledge of their arrival and service in
Egypt derives from the colourful account of
“
Herodotus, who relates the story in the second
book of his Histories (2.152):
Not long afterwards, certain
Carians and Ionians, who
had left their country on a voyage
of plunder, were carried by the
stress of weather to Egypt, where
they disembarked, all equipped
in their brazen armour, and were
seen by the natives, one of whom
carried the tidings to Psamtik,
and, as he had never before seen
men clad in brass, he reported
that brazen men had come from
AW VIII.2 mei14b.indd 11
the sea and were plundering the
plain. Psamtik (…) made friendly
advances to the strangers, and
engaged them, by splendid prom-
ises, to enter into his service.”
With the help of the newly enlisted Ionian and
Carian soldiers, Psamtik was able to reunite
Egypt under his leadership and free the country
from Assyrian influence. The Egyptian Pharaoh
must have been familiar with the superior mili-
tary skills of his new recruits. Carians were the
mercenaries par excellence of the Archaic Med-
iterranean; and by the mid-seventh century BC
the Ionian soldiers had already proven them-
selves in service for the Near Eastern kings.
Interestingly, the annals of the Assyrian King
Ashurbanipal report that the Greek (and Car-
ian) troops were intentionally sent by the Lyd-
ian King Gyges, who wished to support Psamtik
in his struggle against the Assyrians. This theory
has some credibility, as Gyges had a large num-
ber of Ionian and Carian mercenaries at his dis-
posal; and it has been suggested that he was
the first to introduce coinage in both Lydia and
Greece, out of the necessity of supplying his
mercenaries with regular wages.
Whatever their origin, the first Ionian mer-
cenaries in Egypt were rewarded for their ser-
vice with lands in Stratopeda in the eastern
Delta on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and
became a regular contingent in the Egyptian
army. They might have also been instrumental
in the foundation of the Greek trading post of
Naucratis, which within a few decades be-
came the Egyptian equivalent of Al Mina.
Psamtik’s successor Necho (r. 610–595 BC)
relied heavily on Ionian and Carian mercenar-
ies in his Syrian campaigns. After defeating the
Judean army of Josiah at Megiddo in 609 BC,
as Herodotus relates (2.159), he dedicated his
armour to the sanctuary of Apollo at Branchidai-
Didyma (near Miletus), presumably in recogni-
tion of the role of Milesian mercenaries in his
victory, but also, perhaps, to solicit new recruits
for his army. A few years later, Necho’s forces
faced the army of Nebuchadnezzar in a major
battle at Carchemish in North Syria. This time,
Ionian Greeks were most probably present in
both the Egyptian and Babylonian armies. In
fact, the earliest Greek hoplite gear ever recov-
ered from an actual battleground comes from
this very site of Carchemish: excavators found
The source
(Opposite page) The most com-
mon indicator of early Greek
presence in the Levant is pottery.
Decorated pottery, however, can-
not be seen as a reliable indica-
tor of Greek settlement, as vases
were often the object of trade
with native communities. Far
better indicators of permanent
Greek presence are therefore
everyday items, such as cooking
pots and lamps, usually of low
commercial value and of distinct
Greek design and origin. All of
these, accompanied by Eastern
Greek pottery and weapons,
were found in excavations at
the small coastal fortress site of
Mesad Hashavyahu, constructed
around 630 BC at the border of
Judea near Ashdod. It provided a
settlement for Ionian Greek mer-
cenaries employed by King Josiah
of Judah, as suggested by the
Hebrew ostraca found on site. It
was one of the few military for-
tresses where Greek troops were
stationed in the area; others in-
cluded Arad and Tell Kabri. Me-
sad Hashavyahu was abandoned
in 609 BC when the Egyptian
army of Necho II, which itself
included a large number of Ion-
ian and Carian troops, advanced
along the coast, defeating Josiah’s
army at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29;
2 Chronicles 35:20–24).
Ancient Warfare VIII-2 11
29-04-14 18:04
 The source

have been as high as the staggering 30,000

suggested by Herodotus (2.163). A large num-
ber of them served until the conquest of Egypt
by the Persian king Cambyses in 525 BC.

Closing remarks
The story of early Ionian warriors is one of many
sources. From the royal Assyrian annals we
know them as pirates and raiders, “who live in
the midst of the sea of the sunset”. In Herodo-
tus, they appear as “brazen men”, responsible
for setting up a new Egyptian dynasty. As Greek
poets tell us, they were leading soldiers in the
army of the Babylonians, “who dwell in houses
of long bricks”. Their weapons are found on
major Near Eastern battlefields and their names
are scratched on monuments in Nubia.
All these sources taken together tell a story
of elite warriors whose activities and exploits
shaped the history of early Greece and the Near
Eastern empires. Their overseas campaigns,
therefore, as John Hale has recently remarked,
constituted the main event of Archaic Greek
military history. And the Ionian soldiers were
without doubt the most famous Greek soldiers
in the Archaic Mediterranean. 0

Cezary Kucewicz is a postgraduate re-

searcher at the Department of History at
University College London.

A view of the magnificent tem-
ple of Ramesses the Great (r.
1279–1212 BC) at Abu Simbel.
Ionian Greek mercenaries van-
dalized one of the giant statues
in the early sixth century BC by
carving an inscription near its
left knee using an axe.
© Public domain
one bronze greave and a shield with concentric
animal friezes and a central gorgon’s head. Both
pieces of equipment are unmistakably Greek
and date to late seventh century BC. It has been
suggested that they belonged to the Greeks –
and most likely Ionians – fighting for Necho,
who was decisively defeated by the Babylonians
in 605 BC, despite Greek support.
The Ionian mercenaries appear again dur-
ing the reign of Psamtik II (r. 595–589 BC).
Continuing the tradition of his predeces-
sors, Psamtik II took an extensive contingent
of Greek soldiers with him on his expedition
against the Nubian kingdom in 591 BC. This
time we learn of Greek involvement from in-
scriptions scratched by soldiers on the legs of a
giant statue of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, some
700 miles up the Nile. A few of them were Ion-
ians, including a certain Elesibius of Teos, and
Pabis of Colophon. By the time of Psamtik II’s
successors, Apries (r. 589–570 BC) and Ama-
sis (r. 570–526 BC), the number of Ionian and
Carian mercenaries in the Egyptian army might
Further reading
• Josho Brouwers, Henchmen of Ares:
Warriors and Warfare in Early Greece
(Rotterdam 2013).
• John R. Hale, ‘Not patriots, not farmers,
not amateurs: Greek soldiers of fortune
and the origins of hoplite warfare’, in Don-
ald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano (eds.),
Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient
Greece (Princeton 2013), pp. 176–193.
• Nino Luraghi, ‘Traders, pirates, warriors:
the proto-history of Greek mercenary
soldiers in the Eastern Mediterranean’,
Phoenix 60 (2006), pp. 21–47.
• Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, ‘Archaic
Greeks in the Orient: textual and ar-
chaeological evidence’, Bulletin of the
American School of Oriental Research
322 (2001), pp. 11–32.

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