In Ancient Times, the Cyclades were a bone of contention amongst the various invaders coming in from the Meditteranean. In the beginning they were occupied by the Phoenicians and the Cariens. Next came the Minoan Kingdom of Crete only to fall once again into the hands of the Carians. The Ionians followed, but, were ousted by the Dorians.

When the Persian wars began, the Cyclades were occupied yet again. This continued until the Persian’s second campaign. However, at this time the islands combined with armed forces from Athens. The situation was not stable, however, and during the Pelopponese War the Cyclades sided with the Lacedaemonians. They split from this alliance after the defeat of the Spartans in 375 BC. They were to be occupied by the Macedonians, Romans, Goths, Slavs, Sarakinions and Turks before finally becoming Greek after the 1821 Revolution.