a district of Asia Minor, extending along the coasts of the Egean Sea about 3450 stadia (4283 miles), according to Strabo, if we include the sinuosities of the coast, though by land the distance was much shorter. To the north its boundary was the cape near which stood the city Phocaea, close to the river Hermus; and to the south the promontory Posidium, in the Milesian territory, on the left bank of the Maeander. It was separated in the interior from the plain of Lydia by a chain of mountains extending from the river Hermus, now Sarabat, to the Cayster, a ridge which was known to the ancients by the celebrated names of Tmolus and Sipylus. A continuation of this ridge, under the name of Messogis, ranged along the rest of the Ionian coast, till it terminated in the promontory of Mycale. The fertility of this small district was only equalled by the excellence of its climate, and every creek furnished excellent harbours for shipping. Its inhabitants rivalled Greece in all the arts and sciences, and in elegance and purity of taste excelled even the mother country. The Ionian temples were remarkable for their grandeur of design and beauty of proportions, and the schools of painting and sculpture were the admiration of the world. Ionia was watered by the river Hermus, now Sarabat, whose waters were said to bring down golden sands; the Cayster, now the Little Mendere; and the Maeander, now the Great Mendere.

We find the Ionians first occupying Attica and that part of the Peloponnesus called Egealos, but afterwards better known as Achaea. From this district they were driven out by the Achaei, and took refuge in Attica, where they found a dispute respecting the succession to the throne of Athens, between Medon and Neleus, the descendants of Codrus. When the oracle of Delphi decided in favour of the former, Neleus determined to abandon this country and seek a settlement elsewhere. He invited the Ionians to join him, and having set sail with a large body of Greeks collected from every part of the country, he, along with several of his brothers, proceeded to the coast of Asia, where they founded cities on that part of the coast which was from them called Ionia. The cities were twelve in number, and, not long after their foundation, united themselves into one political body, called the Ionian confederacy. Their names were Miletus, Myus, and Priene, in the district of Caria; Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Erythrae, Clazomenae, and Phocaea in Lydia; Samos and Chios on the islands adjacent to Lydia. Smyrna was in later times admitted to the privileges of this confederacy. They held their solemn meetings and festivals in a temple called Panionium, dedicated to the Heliconian Neptune, and erected on the promontory of Mycale, opposite to Samos. The government of each state seems to have been monarchical, but they do not appear to have made any vigorous efforts to maintain their independence. We find them first subject to the effeminate Lydians, and afterwards to the more powerful but equally mild sway of the Persians. There were, indeed, some instances of patriotic resistance; but as a nation they showed themselves weak and contemptible. They indeed made one bold effort to throw off the Persian yoke, about 500 B.C., led on by Aristagoras and Histiaeus; but they proved unequal to the task. Though they showed much zeal and ardour in the commencement of the undertaking, they had not perseverance sufficient to insure success in a protracted contest with the power of Persia. The taking and burning of Sardis served only to exasperate the Persians, and they found themselves soon afterwards obliged to give up all resistance by land. (Herodot. v. 98-123.) The contest was still carried on by sea; but here also they were unsuccessful, and they found themselves compelled to acknowledge the superior power of the Persian monarch. (vi. 7-23.) The victories of the Greeks over Darius and Xerxes, B.C. 490 and 480, enabled Ionia for a short time to regain her freedom; but the battle of Mycale transferred her once more to a foreign power. She now became subject to the Athenians, and during the Peloponnesian war, B.C. 431-405, we find them drawing considerable resources from the tribute imposed on the Ionians. When the Athenians were defeated in Sicily, B.C. 413, they made great efforts to preserve Ionia from the united attacks of Sparta and the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. It does not appear that the Ionians themselves felt much interested in the result of the contest, as no city except Miletus took part in the dispute. But the peace of Antalcidas, B.C. 387, replaced the Ionians in their wonted condition of slaves to the Persian monarch; and neither the passage of Alexander through their country, B.C. 333, nor the subsequent disputes of his captains, seem to have made any material change in their condition. From the weak government of Antiochus they passed under the sway of the Romans, and then became merged in the mighty empire of the latter. From this time they can no longer be considered as a distinct people.