Hecataeus , a Greek historian and geographer, born in Miletus about 550 B. C., died about 476. He visited Egypt and other provinces of the Persian empire, Libya, Greece, Italy, and other countries. On his return he found the Ionians generally meditating a revolt against Persia, which in spite of his remonstrances was carried out, and ultimately led to the Persian invasion of Greece. After the suppression of the revolt, Hecataeus, still high in the esteem of his countrymen, was sent as ambassador to the satrap of the great king to solicit mercy for the vanquished, in which he succeeded. He was the author of a geographical work entitled or

and of a historical one entitled or The former contained a description of various countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa; the latter was a prose account of the mythical history of the Greeks. Some fragments of these works are extant, published in various collections of Greek fragments.