Salamis (480 BC)
On hearing the news of the fall of Thermopylae, Eurybiades ordered the withdrawal of the fleet to Salamis Island. At sunrise the Persians crossed to Artemisium and finding it deserted they sailed down the channel sacking the villages on the coast. The army advanced through Doris into Phocis. Descending into Boeotia they were welcomed by the states they had medised; the Plataeans made good their escape.
The Greek congress decided to build a wall across the narrow part of the Isthmus and hold it with their full strength. When the Greek fleet reached Salamis the Athenians were told to save themselves as best they could. Athens was evacuated and the people went mostly to Troezen but others went to Aegina and Salamis. A garrison was left on the Acropolis and the defenders held out until some Persian soldiers scaled the cliff. The temple was plundered and the Acropolis was fired.
The Greek position was similar to that at Artemisium, but much stronger. If Xerxes decided to attack the army he would have to force his way through difficult territory before he could reach the defensive position on the Isthmus. At Salamis (west of Attica) the fleet prevented a seaborne move south of the Isthmus. If Xerxes attacked the fleet in the shallow waters of the Salamis Strait (east of the island) he would lose the advantage of his numerical superiority.
The Persian fleet assembled in Phaleron Bay, southwest of Athens. Xerxes now controlling all of Attica considered his next move. He had had successes but he had not yet defeated his enemy. Winter was approaching and if stormy weather confined his fleet to harbour then the supplies to his army would be threatened. Seeking a victory over the Persian fleet, Themistocles sent a message to Xerxes professing a willingness to defect, exaggerating the tensions in the Greek camp, and saying that they were on the point of breaking up. Xerxes was convinced and decided to attack the fleet at Salamis.
In narrow waters the heavier more stoutly-built Greek ships with their armoured marines proved to be better than the sleeker but lighter ships of the Persian fleet. The first line of Persian ships was pushed back and they became fouled in the advancing second and third lines of their own ships. In the centre, a wedge of Greek ships pushed through the Persian lines, splitting the fleet in two. The Persian fleet retreated towards Phaleron and the shelter of the Persian army. Aristides took a detachment of men across to the small island of Psyttalia to slaughter the garrison left there by Xerxes.
Although there had been heavy losses on both sides the Persian fleet was still superior in numbers. But Xerxes had seen enough and tried to build a mole to Salamis. It soon became apparent that the campaigning season was already too far advanced and he ordered his fleet to the Hellespont. He then marched with his army to Thessaly, where he left Mardonius and a large force to winter. With the rest of his army he marched on to the Hellespont. As his bridge had been blown away by a storm the army had to be ferried across the strait.
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