One of the brightest events in history can be called the Salamis battle. Its date is far 480 BC. Just after King Leonidus was defeated in the battle with the Persians, Xerxes moved his army into the heart of Greece. Not a single day of his campaigns was complete without the corpses that the Persian army left behind. The Persians erased all living things from the earth, and the one who refused to go to their side was defeated. Dozens of burnt villages, fields, and the desecration of Greek shrines are what King Xerxes brought to their land. It was during this period that the Salamis battle took place.
Surrender of Athens
Finally, the Persians reached the very heart - a city called Athens. Before they entered, the Greek authorities quickly evacuated the population, transporting women, children and the elderly to the island of Peloponnese. The rest took up arms and were distributed to some in the army, some in the fleet.
However, there were those who refused to leave their home. Having built barricades on the Acropolis, they decided to give battle to the Persian army. But they were defeated, not holding out even a day. Athens fell, and the inhabitants of the city had no choice but to look at the dying city from the sides of the sailing triremes. Naturally, the sailors did not want to move very far from the city. On the contrary, they longed for a speedy reprisal against the Persians.
Themistocles
He was one of the figures of that time. Despite his simple origin (his mother was not even Athenian), Themistocles graduated with honors from the gymnasium and ended up in the high council, later becoming the founding father of Athenian democracy.
Thanks to his reforms, Athens soared in its development to unprecedented heights. It was he who formed a powerful fleet that makes the borders impregnable and rebuffed the Persians on the day when the battle of Salamis took place. Commander Themistocles, his tactics and cunning influenced the outcome of the battle. Only thanks to him 380 Greek triremes were able to withstand the enemy, whose fleet almost tripled that of Athens.
How the battle took place
The battle in the Strait of Salamis was due to the retreat of the Greek fleet. Having made a stop, the generals began to discuss a further plan of action. Most saw a way out to swim to the island of Peloponnese and give battle there. This was due to the fact that the sailors of the wrecked ships will be able to freely reach land, where they will be met by their own. This avoided the fate of being defeated or captured if attacking the Persians in the strait.
At this time, the Persians gathered their entire fleet, landed troops on the nearby islands and were ready to go to the Greeks. However, Themistocles challenged the idea of the majority, focusing on strategic superiority. The Persians did not know these waters and, in addition, moved on heavy ships, which did not allow them to maneuver in the same way as the Greek triremes. In addition, Themistocles relied on information received from one of his close associates. And it consisted in the fact that if the Greeks get to land, then they will scatter to the settlements, and again they will not come together again. This blocked all the cards to other generals. And after some preparations, the battle of Salamis began.
Themistocles Trick
In order to win, it was necessary to divide the army of Xerxes. To do this, Themistocles went to the next trick. The night before the battle of Salamis took place, the commander sends his faithful servant (Persian by birth) with a message to King Xerxes himself that he, Themistocles, admires his greatness and wishes him a speedy victory over the Greek fleet. For which he reports that this morning the Athenian fleet leaves the strait with the aim of changing the position to a more favorable one near the island of Peloponnese.
Oddly enough, but Xerxes falls on this hook and sends part of his fleet to go around the island to attack the Athenians from the other side, cutting off the possibility of retreat. With the main forces, he planned to strike the enemy retreating fleet behind the rear.
The battle and its outcome
Imagine the surprise of the Persians when, instead of the numerous forage of the retreating ships, they met the spreading sails of the Trier and war songs of Greek sailors approaching them. Thus began the battle of Salamis. According to official sources, its date is September 28, 480 BC. Just two days before the full moon. The result of the battle was the defeat of the Persian fleet. On the night when the opponents dispersed their positions, Xerxes urgently ordered the construction of a dam, which was intended to divert the eyes of the Athenians. He himself planned to leave Athens as soon as possible, but left one of his many infantry regiments there for the winter.
The Greek generals, inspired by such a victory, only wanted to direct their forces to deliver a second blow to the Persians, but even here they were stopped by the sensing of the wrong Themistocles. According to him, if before that they had met only arrogant because of their conquests clumsy barbarians, now they can completely put themselves in order and act more intelligently. The best option, according to the commander, was to let Xerxes and his army go. Undoubtedly, the battle of Salamis was a significant event for the Greeks, but this did not stop the war.