The Battle of Salamis: Triremes in the Straits
Trapped and outnumbered, the Greeks lured the Persian fleet into a narrow strait and destroyed it with a trap of their own making.
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After Thermopylae, Persia overran much of Greece. The Athenians evacuated, and Themistocles proposed a decisive naval stand in the cramped straits of Salamis.
By a ruse, he drew the larger Persian fleet into the narrows, where the lighter Greek triremes could ram and outmaneuver the cumbersome enemy ships.
The Persian navy was shattered. Xerxes withdrew his fleet, and the invasion lost its spearhead.
"Themistocles feigned retreat and pulled the enemy into waters where numbers meant nothing. Persia's fleet was broken in a single afternoon."
Salamis secured Greek independence and ended Persia's threat to the Hellenic world. It preserved the city-states whose culture became the bedrock of the West, and stands as one of history's great naval battles.
The Full Story
The Evacuation of Athens
The city was abandoned to the flames as its people took to the sea a sacrifice that made the naval gamble possible.
A Battle of Geography
In open water Persia's numbers dominated; in the straits, those numbers became a liability as ships rammed one another in confusion.
The Year That Saved the West
With Salamis following Marathon, the Persian threat receded for good, leaving Greece free to flourish.