Battle of Salamis
Straits of Salamis
What happened
The Athenian leader Themistocles guided an allied Greek fleet, officially commanded by the Spartan Eurybiades, against the navy of the Persian King Xerxes I, whose fleet included a squadron led by Queen Artemisia I of Caria. After the Persians took Athens, the Greek fleet waited in the narrow strait beside the island of Salamis. Themistocles sent a servant with a message that tricked Xerxes into sending his ships into the strait. In the cramped water, the large Persian fleet could not move well, and the Greeks won while Xerxes watched from a throne on a nearby hillside.
Why it matters
Result: Greek victory. Leaders: Themistocles / Eurybiades against Xerxes I of Persia / Tetramnestos. Why it matters: It was arguably the largest naval battle of the ancient world and a turning point in the Persian invasion of Greece. After Salamis, southern Greece was safe from conquest, and the Greek cities went on the offensive.
What came next
Xerxes returned to Asia with much of his army, leaving his general Mardonius in Greece. The next year, the Greeks defeated the remaining Persian army at Plataea and the Persian fleet at Mycale.
Did you know?
According to Herodotus, Queen Artemisia advised Xerxes not to fight at sea at all, warning that it was an unnecessary risk.
Timeline
- 482 BCEAthens decides, at Themistocles' urging, to build a large fleet of triremes.
- Autumn 481 BCEGreek city-states meet at Corinth and form an alliance against Persia.
- September 480 BCEThe Persians capture the evacuated city of Athens.
- Late September 480 BCEThe Greek fleet defeats the Persian navy in the strait of Salamis.
- 479 BCEGreek victories at Plataea and Mycale end the invasion.