Download Battle of Salamis Bay

Battle of Salamis Bay
Review
• Xerxes defeated the Spartans at Thermopylae.
• He marched his troops and sent his fleet to
Athens.
• He ransacked and burned a good part of the
city including the Temple of Athena on the
Acropolis.
The State of Athens
• Xerxes could now:
– fulfill his father's mission to capture Athens
– get revenge for their involvement in the Ionian revolt
– avenge Darius' humiliation at Marathon
• Athens was vulnerable to attack by Persians.
• The city was evacuated, most people escaped to
Salamis.
Greek Tactics
• Themistocles put all able-bodied men on
ships and assembled the fleet in the straits
of Salamis.
• He felt the Greeks had a good chance at defeating
the Persians in the narrow waters.
Problem facing Xerxes
• It was getting late in the year and the
storms of winter would soon make the
seas around Greece impassable.
• The Persian navy, possibly even the king's
own person, could be forced to winter in
Greece.
Hook, Line and Sinker
• Xerxes was told (by a Greek) that the Greek
fleet was fleeing and that the Athenians
would join the Persians out of disgust with
the other Greek cowards. (This was a trick)
• Xerxes took the bait and attacked.
– He watched from his throne again
Xerxes Attacks
• Xerxes blocks off both ends of the strait.
• The entrance to the strait was narrow
causing the fleet to break formation thus
weakening them.
• He expects to find a fleet fleeing. Instead
he is attacked.
• The Greeks drew the Persian fleet into the
narrow bay.
Problems Facing the Persians
1. The Persian ships were too large for the
narrow strait. (they could not maneuver)
2. Persians were crashing into their own ships
and were very disorganized.
3. If the ships sank the Greeks could swim the
Persian could not.
1. More Persians died from drowning than from the
actual battle.
1. For weeks, even months after the battle, Persian bodies
were washing up on the shores around Athens.
•
•
The Persians lost 200 ships and the Greeks
lose 40.
The Persians realized they were in trouble and
they fled to Hellespont in Asia Minor.
Greeks Hot in Pursuit
• The Greek fleet followed the Persians.
• The trip was very difficult and took 45
days.
• Greeks took an oath:
“I shall fight to the death to keep my country’s freedom,
and if my fellow soldier is killed I shall bury him properly.
I shall resist being conquered and will not lay down and die.”
• The Greeks were willing to fight for
freedom.
• After realizing that Hellespont was too
narrow for battle so they head south.
Final Battle at Mycale
• In 479 BC the two sides fought, 60,000 Greeks
80,000 Persians in a battle at Mycale.
• Why?
– Greeks were more organized.
– The Greeks were determined to get rid of the
Persians.
– They were unified.
• To rub it in the Greeks burned the Persian fleet
off the coast.
What about the army?
• The Persian army was watching the battle
at Salamis Bay from the Athenian hills.
• Xerxes fled for home, but he left the army
in Thessaly.
• They fought their last battle in Boeotia.
They fought as undisciplined troops.
• The Greeks were able to hold off the army
and defeat them.
Results of War
• The Greeks won – Persia lost
• 479 BC Greece was now the supreme power.
– They had complete control of the Aegean world once
controlled by Persia.
– Trade flourished
– Greek ideas spread throughout the known
Mediterranean world.
– Greece had a strong sense of unity.
– Athens was now known as a strong power because of
her navy.
• Athens was in ruins because of Persian Attack.
• Athens becomes Imperialistic.
Ancient Warfare to Today
• How are tactics and methods of war
different today from ancient warfare?
– Technology
– Not a surprise attack
– Not a lot of hand to hand any more. (Was up
to WWI)
• How are they similar?