After the conquest of Asia Minor (546 BC) by Darius the Great left Ionian Greeks under Persian control, Persian authorities installed tyrants in most Ionian cities and forced the Greeks to pay taxes to their new rulers. This didn't sit well with the Ionians, especially since the other Greeks were still free. In 499 BC, Aristagoras of Miletus instigated an Ionian Revolt and the Persian tyrants were thrown out. The resulting series of conflicts, which involved most of the Greek world pitted against the Persian Empire and lasted more than fifty years, came to be known as the Persian Wars.