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Cyrus the Great came to power in Persia in 559 B.C.E. and set about unifying and expanding his territory. For almost a century, starting around 550 B.C.E. and continuing into the mid-5th century B.C.E., Greece faced intermittent military challenges from the Persian Empire. After Lydia came under Persian rule in 546 B.C.E., the Ionian Greeks sought military assistance from first the Spartans (who refused to get involved) and then the Athenians, who in 498 B.C.E. helped them in a short-lived revolt. Over the next two decades Athens, Sparta, and a few of the other Greek states resisted the Persians, and eventually the Persians withdrew from the Aegean Sea and Ionia.
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