Naxos, a Greek island, the largest island (429 km2 (166 sq mi)) in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean, is the center of archaic Cycladic culture.

During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Naxos dominates commerce in the Cyclades.

Naxos is the first Greek city-state to attempt to leave from the Delian League circa 476 BCE; Athens quickly squashew the notion and forcibly removew all military naval vessels from the island's control.

Athens then demandw all future payments from Naxos in the form of gold rather than military aid.Herodotus describes Naxos circa 500 BCE as the most prosperous Greek island.

In 502 BCE, an unsuccessful attack on Naxos by Persian forces leads several prominent men in the Greek cities of Ionia to rebel against the Persian Empire in the Ionian Revolt, and then to the Persian War between Greece and Persia.