Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis
The naval battle of Salamis was one of the last great battles of the Greco-Persian Wars, An invasion of Greece by the Persians Led by Persian King forces cunningly defeated Xerxes larger fleet under the leadership of Athenian general Themistocles.
Xerxes, the son of King Darius was aggressive in the building of his empire. To get revenge for his late his father's defeat at Marathon, he led an army of 150,000 men and a navy consisting of 600 triremes (war vessels) into Greece, defeating the Greeks in the infamous Battle of Thermopylae.
Pre-Battle
During August 480 BCE Athenians fled to the Island of Salamis after the Greek loss at the Battle of Thermopylae whilst Persian forces ravished their city Athens. Joined by the remaining Greek fleet after their Battle in Artemisium with the Athenian commander Themistocles. This Greek presence on Salamis, an island so close to the recently captured Athenian Harbour, Phaleron, only created problems for the Persians as they couldn’t use their port as easy as they had planned. It was vital that they had this ease as Persians were planning to proceed to the Isthmus of Cornith, a narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, and they need to make frequent trips back and forth with transport ships full of food to feed the many soldiers on the Isthmus therefore giving the Persians great reason to remove the threat of Greeks from the isle of Salamis. Spartans also with the Athenians on the island wanted to return to the Peloponnese before the Persians so they could seal of the Isthmus of Cornith with a wall however Themistocles persuaded them to stay, convincing them that a wall would have no point as the Persian army could be transported and fuelled by their navy. Themistocles ideas came from an oracle at Delphi who thought The Persian Forces would be victorious. The oracle prophesized that the island of Salamis would “Bring Death to woman’s sons” and
The naval battle of Salamis was one of the last great battles of the Greco-Persian Wars, An invasion of Greece by the Persians Led by Persian King forces cunningly defeated Xerxes larger fleet under the leadership of Athenian general Themistocles.
Xerxes, the son of King Darius was aggressive in the building of his empire. To get revenge for his late his father's defeat at Marathon, he led an army of 150,000 men and a navy consisting of 600 triremes (war vessels) into Greece, defeating the Greeks in the infamous Battle of Thermopylae.
Pre-Battle
During August 480 BCE Athenians fled to the Island of Salamis after the Greek loss at the Battle of Thermopylae whilst Persian forces ravished their city Athens. Joined by the remaining Greek fleet after their Battle in Artemisium with the Athenian commander Themistocles. This Greek presence on Salamis, an island so close to the recently captured Athenian Harbour, Phaleron, only created problems for the Persians as they couldn’t use their port as easy as they had planned. It was vital that they had this ease as Persians were planning to proceed to the Isthmus of Cornith, a narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, and they need to make frequent trips back and forth with transport ships full of food to feed the many soldiers on the Isthmus therefore giving the Persians great reason to remove the threat of Greeks from the isle of Salamis. Spartans also with the Athenians on the island wanted to return to the Peloponnese before the Persians so they could seal of the Isthmus of Cornith with a wall however Themistocles persuaded them to stay, convincing them that a wall would have no point as the Persian army could be transported and fuelled by their navy. Themistocles ideas came from an oracle at Delphi who thought The Persian Forces would be victorious. The oracle prophesized that the island of Salamis would “Bring Death to woman’s sons” and