History of the Cyclades hoped to control the entire archipelago after taking this island. On the way there, Aristagoras quarreled with the admiral Megabetes, who betrayed the force by informing Naxos of the fleet's approach. The Persians temporarily renounced their ambitions in the Cyclades due to the Ionian revolt. When Darius launched his expedition against Greece, he ordered Datis and Artaphernes to take the Cyclades. They sacked Naxos, Delos was spared for religious reasons while Sifnos, Serifos and Milos preferred to submit and give up hostages. Thus the islands passed under Persian control. After Marathon, Miltiades set out to reconquer the archipelago, but he
History of the Cyclades a great counter-attack in 1656 that allowed them to close off the Dardanelles efficiently. Thus the Ottoman navy was unable to protect the Cyclades, which were systematically exploited by the Venetians for a dozen years. The Cycladic proverb, “Better to be massacred by the Turk than be given as fodder to the Venetian” seems to date to the period of these exactions. When the Ottoman navy managed to break the Venetian blockade and the Westerners were forced to retreat, the latter ravaged the islands; forests and olive groves were destroyed and all livestock was stolen. Once again the Cycladic economy