Zu Kriegshäfen in Milet

Abstract

Military Harbours in Miletus
In the Battle of Lade (494 BC), the decisive action of the Ionian Revolt against Ionia’s Persian overlord,
Miletus sent into battle 80 warships of the trieres (trireme) type. The paper discusses whether they could
have been housed in shipsheds in the Lion and Theatre Harbours that naturally formed perfect naval bases.
When considering the inlets’ topography, one can conclude that they probably held no more than ca. 55
shipsheds.
It could be that some »Milesian« warships at the Battle of Lade had been sent to the aid of their mother
city by Milesian colonies in the Black Sea area, thus not needing to be housed in shipsheds after their arrival
in Miletus. The model suggests that Miletus had asked her colonies for support at the first notion of the
impending Persian naval offensive and that they responded in time for their contingents to be present when
the Persian fleet gave battle at Lade.