It is hard to overstate the importance of the ancient Greeks to human civilization
especially in regards to freedom and democracy
But there was a critical moment that threatened this freedom at the beginning of the fifth century
BC as the Greeks tried to stop a Persian invasion
This long conflict saw a chain of desperate clashes including a decisive naval battle at Salamis
So without further ado, let's delve into the events that led to this dramatic clash
By the 8th century
BC Greece had finally moved beyond the Dark Ages caused by the fall of Mycenaean civilization
Greek policies were forming into city-states and two of them Athens and Sparta became the most prominent the
Greek city-states of Asia Minor were having a more difficult time and by 560
BC they were conquered by the Lydian Empire
that was not the end of it to the east Cyrus the Great began his conquest of Mesopotamia in
553 BC and by
547 BC he reached Cappadocia thus becoming a new neighbor of Lydia
Closest the king of Lydia attempted to strike against Cyrus in the same year, but failed in his campaign and a year later
Lydia was conquered along with all of its Greek cities
They became the satrapies of the a commended Empire of Cyrus and tyrants were installed in most cities to keep them in check
In mainland Greece this process was happening in Reverse as many city-states overthrew their tyrants becoming
Democracies that would be a cornerstone of the future conflict
Darius the great continued the a commended conquests and moved into Europe
By 500 BC the race was conquered and Macedonia vas alized
However the situation in Asia Minor was not stable and in
499 BC the leader of the city-state of millet us called Aristagoras
Started a revolt against Darius and many other cities joined him. He also received support from Athens and Eritrea
This alliance managed to take the central Persian city in the region Sardis
But was pushed back and defeated near Ephesus
Despite this setback
Revolt spread the Persians responded by sending a new fleet and winning against the Greeks at ladder in
494 BC
The rebellion was quelled the very next year
In 492 BC Darius launched a campaign into Greece as retribution
This invasion had some early success
But was decisively defeated by the Athens led alliance in the famous Battle of Marathon in 490
Darius planned a second invasion, but a revolt in Egypt prevented that
The Greeks used this respite well and formed a larger alliance with Sparta and Athens in leading roles
The son of Darius Xerxes the first was then able to move forward with a new invasion in 480 BC
a
commanded forces gathered in Sardis and crossed Hellespont in April
The invading army continued towards the Macedonian border with a large Navy flanking it
Initially the Greek plan was to defend in the veil of temper, but that would have left most of the mainland
undefended against the amphibious invasion
Instead the land forces of the Greek cities
Consisting of five to ten thousand troops, led by spartan king leonidas blocked off the pass of thermopylae
to the east a
300 trireme strong allied Navy under Athenian command closed off the Straits of Artemisium
Persian forces arrived in the area by late August
Their army had around 200 thousand warriors while the Navy consisted of a thousand or so triremes
Before the Persian fleet reached the Greeks a storm broke out and almost a third of their ships perished
The Persians attempted to send a portion of their navy to the south to circle around you Bowyer and surround helena's
However one more storm sunk these vessels
The first two days of the land battle in film awful life were going according to the plan of Leonidas
But by the third day the Persians outflanked is Troost
The King sent away the majority of his contingent and stayed behind with his Spartans thespians Thebans and helots
Although he and his companions were killed during the third day this sacrifice allowed at least half of the army to retreat
at the same time the Greeks led by Themistocles were attacked by the Persian Navy and
despite the fact that losses on both sides were equal the Greeks did not have the resources to defend any longer as
the passage at Thermopylae was lost the Straits of Artemisium had no strategic importance and
their mystical ease ordered a retreat
by the middle of September Xerxes
Occupied Athens and for mystical ease had to fall back even further to the island of Salamis where he received some reinforcements
He now had
378 ships under his command
Athens was now under Persian control, and they were able to use the harbour her Reyes
Soon their 700 ships blocked off the open sea
Themistocles knew that there was no retreat and formed up his Navy
the Athenians were on the Left
Peloponnesian ships were on the right and Spartans Corinthians and other contingents were in the center
the Persian fleet consisted of ships, built and manned by the Egyptians Phoenicians and the Greeks of Asia Minor
Xerxes did not need to fight this battle as he was well supplied his advisors were
Suggesting to stay in the open waters and wait for the Greeks to try and break out
The Greeks were outnumbered at least two to one and any attempt to fight on the high seas would be catastrophic
Xerxes sent a small group to take the island of sight a Lea while Egyptian auctions of the Navy
Which had suffered most of the damage at Artemisium were left behind to cover other exits around the island of Salamis
In the morning the Persian fleet entered the Straits of Salamis with Phoenicians on the right
Ionian x' on the left and other greeks in the center
Early in the morning the Corinthian ships moved back
Persian commanders thought that the Greeks were in a panic and ordered the navy forward
the Greeks moved their ships further backwards
Imitating a retreat and the Persians reformed into a diamond formation to attack the enemy center
Still the Straits were very narrow and now there was not enough space for the Persian vessels to maneuver
The Greek retreat was indeed just a trap
For mr.
Cleese knew the weather conditions and gave the order to counter-attack right when the wind changed
The wind was now blowing from the east and that sped up Greek ships while slowing down their opponents
This allowed the Greek ships to attack in a narrow front and as their vessels were heavier the Persians were stopped in their tracks
becoming bunched together
the diamond formation also did not help as it allowed the Corinthians to
shifts to the left flank and attack the Persian, right
As some Persian commanders were killed early in the battle most of their Navy was left without higher command
The Greeks also were dominating in the boarding actions as their heavy hoplite A's were easily defeating the light Persian infantryman
The other Persian lines did not have enough road to help and had to slowly retreat from the Straits under increasing pressure
from the Greek flames
Xerxes watched the battle from his throne sat on a nearby mountain
But couldn't do anything to change the course of this engagement
the Persians lost around
300 ships and although they still had a few hundred more the invasion was in disarray
Xerxes retreated to Asia to avoid being trapped in Europe
He left a land army to fight on but it was defeated in 479 BC during the Battle of Plataea
At the same time the Persian Navy was defeated yet again at my collar in Ionia
Xerxes and his descendants did not attempt to conquer Greece again and
150 years later
Alexander the Great conquered the echo mehnat realm
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