The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle fought between a coalition of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire off the coast of Salamis during the Greco-Persian Wars. The Persians rushed into a trap due to Artemisia I of Caria's obsession with destroying the Allied fleet following the inconclusive Battle of Artemisium, and the Persian defeat at Salamis led to Xerxes I's retreat to Asia. Salamis was one of the most important battles in Western history, as the survival of Athens and the ultimate defeat of the Persian invasion ensured that Greek civilization and democracy survived the Persian onslaught.
Background[]
Following the Greek defeat at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, King Xerxes I's 300,000-strong Persian army marched into central Greece, conquering Phocis, Boeotia, Attica, and Euboea, and torching any city-state which resisted his army's advance. Athens, one of the leaders of the Greek resistance to Persia, evacuated its capital, with the civilian population being relocated to the nearby island of Salamis ahead of the Persian onslaught. Xerxes' army destroyed the Acropolis Sanctuary and sacked the city, but they were unable to end Athens' resistance.
At the same time as the battle at Thermopylae, the naval battle of Artemisium was fought off Euboea by the Athenian admiral Themistocles' fleet, which fought in conjunction with the Spartans on land. However, the defeat at Thermopylae led to Themistocles withdrawing the Allied fleet to Salamis, the last ember of Athenian resistance. Frustrated with a lack of complete victory over the Greeks, the Persian admiral Artemisia I of Caria rushed into battle when she discovered that Themistocles (whom she believed to be dead) and his fleet were vulnerable at Salamis. While Xerxes attempted to caution her, Artemisia insisted that she had helped him to cement his rule as he sat back and watched, and she insisted that she have her way with the strategy.
Battle[]
The Persian navy rowed into the Straits of Salamis and tried to block both entrances and trap the Greek fleet. However, the cramped straits hindered the large Persian fleet, and the Persian ships became disorganized as they struggled to maneuver. The Greek fleet formed in a line, and the rapidly-maneuvering Greek triremes smashed into the Persian vessels with their rams. The Persian fleet was decisively defeated, losing 300 ships, while the Greeks lost just 40. With winter setting in, Xerxes retreated into Asia with much of his army, fearing that the Athenians could cut him off from Asia by blockading the Hellespont. The remnants of his army were defeated at the Battle of Plataea a year later, while the remnants of his fleet were destroyed at the Battle of Mycale.