Now the Naxians had no suspicion at all that it was they who were to be attacked by that force. However, when they learned the truth, they immediately brought inside their walls all that was in their fields, stored both meat and drink in case of a siege, and strengthened their walls. The Naxians, then, made all preparations to face the onset of war. When their enemies had brought their ships over from Chios to Naxos, it was a fortified city that they attacked, and for four months they besieged it. When the Persians had exhausted all the money with which they had come, and Aristagoras himself had spent much beside, they built a stronghold for the banished Naxians, and went off to the mainland in poor spirits since still more money was needed for the siege.