The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between Greek and Persian forces in the Saronic Gulf in September 480 BCE. The Greeks had recently lost the Battle of Thermopylae, culminating in the naval battle of Artemisium, in August 480 BC, as King Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BC) and his Persian army rampaged through the city. The Greek victory at Salamis was one of the greatest and most important military victories of antiquity. With daring strategy and sheer determination overcoming superior numbers, the Greek coalition won freedom, which would allow for an unprecedented period of artistic and cultural endeavor that would form the foundation of the West. Thousands of years of culture.

Background: The Persian Wars

About 30 Greco-Poles were preparing to counterattack, and the Battle of Salamis would show Xerxes that Greece was far from conquered.

By the first years of the 5th century BC, the Persian Achaemenid Empire under Darius I (522-486 BC) had expanded into continental Europe and conquered Thra Sri Lanka and Macedonia. The next goal is to quell once and for all the potentially troublesome rebel nations on the empire's western borders. In 490 BC, Greek forces led by Athens encountered the Persians at the Battle of Marathon and defeated the invaders. This battle had mythical status among the Greeks, but in reality it was only the opening prologue to a long war. Several other battles constituted the main act. Xerxes became king in 486 BC, and after his victory over a token Greek army at Thermopylae in August 480 BC, he invaded first the Cyclades and then mainland Greece. At the hesitant Battle of Artemis (also in August 480 BC), the Greeks held off the superior numbers of the Persian fleet, but had to regroup at Salamis.

By then Greece was open to invaders, and Persian armies rampaged through the Greek city-states, or city-states, and even sacked Athens itself. However, around 30 Greco-Poles were preparing to counterattack, and the Battle of Salamis would show Xerxes that Greece, or at least most of it, was far from conquered.

Persian Fleet

The huge Persian Empire stretched from the Danube to Egypt and from Ionia to Bactria. Xerxes was able to use the huge resource reserves to assemble a huge fleet. of invading force. Aribyne, son of Darius, commanded the Ionian, Carian, Achaemenian and Egyptian fleets. The Lycian fleet of 50 ships was led by Sybonius, King of Chsensos. Tyrant Wormwood of Halicarnassus led the Dorian fleet of 30 ships, with other notable commanders including Prexus, Megabazus, and Achaemenes. Technically the Persians, and especially the Phoenicians, were better sailors, but since the fleet came from all over the empire, the power and level of communication was probably not as good as their counterparts, and they all spoke the same language, not only for their own survival not only for the survival of their families and their way of life.

The exact number of ships in the Persian fleet is unknown. Herodotus compiled precise lists in his History (440-430 BC), but they are generally considered to be exaggerated and unreliable. Furthermore, his lists were prepared for the Persian fleet that initially sailed to Greek waters, and by the time of Salamis, many would have been left behind to guard ports and supply routes, or in storms (especially in Magnesia) Lost in the Battle of Artemis a month ago.

Nonetheless, here are the numbers for his triremes - battleships with three rows of oars (note the contribution of conquered or pro-Persian Greek cities):

Phoenician 300

Egypt 200

Cyprus 150

Silician 100

Ionian 100

Herbotine 100

Australian League 60

Lycian 50

Pamphilion 30

Dorian 30

Cyclades 17

Another source - the author of the Greek tragedy Aeschylus - seems to support Herodotus in his Persae (472 BC), in There he stated that the Persian fleet had 1,207 ships, while the Greek army had only 310 ships. It is estimated that at Salamis the Greeks may have faced around 500 three-line fronts, but scholarship does not agree on even an approximate number. There would also have been many smaller ships, such as quinques (50 oars) and trigones (30 oars), but Herodotus's figure of 3000 appears to be exaggerated.

Greek Fleet

Greek tactics and strategy were determined by a committee of 17 commanders from each participating task force.

The allied Greek fleet was commanded by the Spartan Eurybiades, a surprising choice considering that Athens was a powerful naval power and provided the largest number of ships. The other two high commanders were Themistocles of Athens and Adeimantus of Corinth. In practice, tactics and strategy were determined by a committee of 17 commanders from each dispatched task force. However, it was Themistocles, the brilliant naval commander who relied on his 20 years of experience and Artemises' success against superior numbers, that he is widely believed to have decided to Hold the position instead of retreating to the Isthmus of Corinth and plotting a Greek victory.

Herodotus's figures are again inconsistent; the total of 380 triremes he made up the Greek fleet was 15 more than the sum of his individual national contributions:

Athens 200

Corinth 40

Aegina 30

Megara 20

Sparta 16

Sisi Ang 15

Epidaurus 10

Eretria 7

Ambracia 7

Troyson 5

Naxos 4

Hermione 3

Leukas 3

Stella 2

CEO 2

Sethnos 1

The figures in some states are suspiciously similar to those given before the Battle of Artemisia, which incredibly suggests They either suffered few losses in that conflict or quickly replaced their ships. Aeschylus said that there were 310 ships in total and Thucydides had 400 ships. In conclusion, all we can say is that the Persian fleet seems to have far outnumbered the Greeks.

The trireme

Both sides had very similar ships - triremes ( triērēis ) - wooden 40-50 ton ships up to 40 m long Battleship. Light, streamlined and maneuverable, they were powered in battle by 170 oarsmen, divided into three rows, one on each side of the ship. Able to quickly accelerate, break, twist and turn 360 degrees in just two ship lengths, good shipmanship can place the vessel to its best advantage and use it as the navy's primary strategic battle, when it is to ram the enemy and take full advantage of it. A bronze battering ram is mounted on the bow. Triremes also carried a small force of soldiers, at least ten hoplites and four archers. The Persians usually carried more - 14 combatants and 30 Medes equipped with bows, spears and swords. These additional troops come into play during close encounters with the enemy and when boarding enemy ships.

A weakness of Triremes is that they can only operate effectively in relatively calm seas, with waves less than 1 m high; otherwise, water can enter through the oar openings and swamp the ship.

In addition, they had to stay close to the shore, as they would need to be docked every night if the balsa wood was not to be flooded, which significantly reduced the speed performance of the vessel. Additionally, there was little room on board for food and no room to sleep, so the crew had no choice but to land every night. Before the battle, Greek ships ran aground in several bays on the island of Salamis from Cynosoura to Paloukia. There are also many residents evacuated from Athens and Attica. Meanwhile, the Persians were stationed in the Gulf of Phaleron, less than 10 kilometers from the Saronic Gulf and close to the captured Piraeus.

Strategy

Commanders lead from the front, each on their own ship at the center of the battle.

The Commander leads from the front, with everyone on their own ship at the center of the battle. From there, flags and trumpets can be used to signal maneuvers to other ships in the fleet. Once the fighting gets into full swing, however, maritime conflict becomes a case of one ship against a single opponent rather than a precisely coordinated maneuver.

Before a full-scale engagement of the opposing fleets, the more capable commanders employed two main strategies. The first was to sail around the enemy lines (periplous), the second was to break through gaps in the enemy lines and attack from their rear flank (diekplous). ). Both are designed so that their ship can hit the enemy's weakest point - the side or stern. The goal is to poke a hole in the enemy ship or break a sufficient number of oars to disable the ship. To avoid damaging their own oars, crews are trained to retract them within a few seconds (usually only on one side of the boat, while the other side maintains the boat's power). As a defense against both tactics, a competent commander will ensure that one of his flanks is enclosed by a shoal or shoreline, and that his crew is adequately trained to maintain order in close combat. In open water, ships could be organized into a defensive circle or arc (more practical for larger fleets), with the bows pointing outwards (kyklos).

Battle

The actual details of the battle are sketchy and often contradictory among ancient sources. Nonetheless, as the most generally agreed upon element, the first action of the battle was the landing of two Ionian ships to the Allied Greek fleet. Themistocles may have sent a message to the fleet of pro-Persian Greek states in the hope that more such defections would occur, but no one else did. One such ship from Tenos told the Greeks that the Persians were gathering in the strait to thwart the Greek fleet. The Persians took up position overnight, hoping to surprise the enemy, but given the short distance involved and the noise made by the rowers, this strategy was unlikely to succeed.

Most likely, the two fleets were aligned with the Persians near the mainland coast along a sloping east-west axis, with a friendly coast behind both fleets. In fact, the Greek ships could have avoided approaching the opposite mainland coast because Xerxes had deployed a team of archers there. On the western (right) flank, the Phoenicians faced the Athenians and Ionians against the Spartans. On the left wing of the Persians were the Carians and Dorians. Behind the main Greek line, the Aegina detachment and some Athenian ships waited. The Corinthians were stationed on the west side of the battle line, protecting the approach to Eleusis, while the pro-Persian Cypriots, Cilicians, and Hellesponts retreated to the south, guarding the exit to Piraeus. . According to Diodorus Siculus, Xerxes sent his Egyptian fleet to blockade the straits between Salamis and Megara and engage any Greek ships that broke away from the main fleet.

Looking down from his command post in the early morning, Xerxes would not see a retreating fleet, but instead the Greeks had arranged two ships along a 3-kilometer-long curve, possibly presenting There was a front of 130 ships and a Persian main line of 150 ships, three ships deep. The Persians advanced, becoming more closely aligned as they aligned themselves with the enemy's narrower front. The Greeks took up positions, drawing the Persians into increasingly tighter confines. The ships began to bump into each other, and in the tight space it was difficult for them to break away. The armed soldiers on board would then fight on the decks against the hoplites and archers, just as in land battles.

As more Persian ships pressed in from behind, and the Corinthians joined in from the sides,

With more room to maneuver, the Greek ships were able to fight off the densely packed Persian ships, which There was no way to retreat, as their battle line was now several ships deep. By the afternoon, the Greek victory was assured and the remaining Persian ships retreated to Asia Minor. The final phase of the battle saw the transfer of the Greek hoplites on Salamis to the mainland, followed by a brief effort against the Persian Army.

Once again the mystical prophecy of Apollo at Delphi has proven correct: "Only a wooden wall will keep you safe." As at Artemision, the wooden ships of the combined Greek fleet The Persian attack was rejected for the second time.

Aftermath

After the defeat, Xerxes returned to his palace in Susa and put the genius general Mardonius in charge of the invasion. Despite the defeat, the Persian position remained strong - they still controlled much of Greece and their large land army remained intact. After a series of political negotiations, it became clear that the Persians would not achieve victory on land through diplomacy, and the two opposing armies met at the Battle of Plataea in August 479 BC. The Greeks fielded the largest hoplite army ever assembled and won the battle, ultimately ending Xerxes' ambitions in Greece.