Ancient region, western coast of Aegean Sea .
It consisted of a coastal strip that extended from the mouth of the Hermus River to the Halicarnassus Peninsula, a distance of 100 mi (160 km). In the 8th century BC there were 12 major Greek cities in the region, including Phocaea , Erythrae , Colophon , and Miletus on the mainland, and the islands Chios and Samos . It was very prosperous, and until 500 BC Ionic philosophy and architecture and the Ionic dialect were highly influential in Greece. In the mid-6th century BC it fell to Lydia and then to the Persians. After a brief period of independence beginning in 334 BC, it became part of the {{link=Seleucid dynasty">Seleucid kingdom. In 133 BC it passed to the Romans and became part of the Roman province of Asia. It was devastated during the Turkish conquest of Asia Minor.