Battles & Campaigns · 479 BCE
Battle of Mycale
Mount Mycale (Dilek Peninsula), Aydın, Turkey
What happened
The Persian fleet pulled its ships onto the shore at Mycale, across from the island of Samos, and built a fortified camp. The Greeks landed and attacked. The Persian line broke, Ionian Greeks in the Persian army changed sides, and the Greeks burned the Persian ships and camp.
Why it matters
Together with Plataea, fought the same day, it ended the second Persian invasion of Greece. It destroyed what was left of the Persian navy, so the Greeks could move freely at sea.
What came next
The Greeks went on the offensive, and Chios, Lesbos and Samos joined the Greek alliance.
Did you know?
According to the Roman engineer Vitruvius, timbers from captured Persian ships were used in the roof of the Odeon of Pericles in Athens.
Timeline
- 480 BCEBattle of Salamis.
- 479 BCEBattles of Plataea and Mycale on the same day.
- 479 BCEAthens besieges Sestos.