"The Chian Hath Bought Himself a Master."

This proverb commemorates an event, and is a sarcasm upon Statecraft. Chios is one of the largest and most famous islands of the Aegean Sea. It was colonized by Ionians, and remained an independent and powerful maritime State until the great naval defeat of the Ionian Greeks by the Persians. The Persians had at that time laid waste the island of Chios, and made the Chians their subjects, in 494 B. C. In 479 B. C., the Chians attempted to throw off the Persian yoke by becoming the allies of the Athenians. The Athenians in turn made them their subjects, and sold them into slavery, which gave rise to the above proverb.