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Fire is sacred to the Persians:
in fire, they see the light and truth of their supreme god, Ahuramazda.
So imagine their horror,
as they watched the holy shrines of Sardis go up in flames;
imagine their fear, as they fought the pitiless blaze;
imagine their anger, as Aristagoras fled the city with his Greek marauders.
Whether it was arson or accident,
the burning of Sardis would spark untold horrors for both the Greeks and Persians —
invasions, massacres, slaughters, sieges. All these things I will relate to you, in good time.
Artaphernes had no notion of what great and terrible events were to come —
he was focused purely on bringing the treacherous Aristagoras to justice.
His face still blackened with ash,
Artaphernes gathered his swiftest riders and rode out after the rebels at a furious gallop.