Salamis, Battle of

The Battle of Salamis is fought between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in September 480 BCE in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens.

It marks the high-point of the second Persian invasion of Greece, which had begun in 480 BCE.To block the Persian advance, a small force of Greeks block the pass of Thermopylae, while an Athenian-dominated Allied navy engages the Persian fleet in the nearby straits of Artemisium.

In the resulting Battle of Thermopylae, the rearguard of the Greek force is annihilated, while in the Battle of Artemisium the Greeks have heavy losses and retreat after the loss at Thermopylae.

This allows the Persians to conquer Boeotia and Attica.

The Allies prepare to defend the Isthmus of Corinth while the fleet is withdrawn to nearby Salamis Island.Although heavily outnumbered, the Greek Allies sre persuaded by the Athenian general Themistocles to bring the Persian fleet to battle again, in the hope that a victory would prevent naval operations against the Peloponessus.

The Persian king Xerxes is also anxious for a decisive battle.

As a result of subterfuge on the part of Themistocles, the Persian navy sails into the Straits of Salamis and tries to block both entrances.

In the cramped conditions of the Straits, the great Persian numbers are an active hindrance, as ships struggle to maneuver and became disorganized.

Seizing the opportunity, the Greek fleet forms in line and scores a decisive victory, sinking or capturing at least 300 Persian ships.As a result, Xerxes retreats to Asia with much of his army, leaving Mardonius to complete the conquest of Greece.

However, the following year, the remainder of the Persian army is decisively beaten at the Battle of Plataea and the Persian navy at the Battle of Mycale.

Afterwards the Persian makes no more attempts to conquer the Greek mainland.

These battles of Salamis and Plataea thus mark a turning point in the course of the Greco-Persian wars as a whole; from now onward, the Greek poleis will take the offensive.

A number of historians believe that a Persian victory would have hamstrung the development of Ancient Greece, and by extension western civilization, and this has led them to claim that Salamis is one of the most significant battles in human history.

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