Xerxes razed Athens to the ground, killing all those left behind. Some of the Greek states were all for retreating to the Peloponnese and fortifying the Isthmus of Corinth. Worried that they might disperse, Themistocles sent a trusted slave to Xerxes and warned him that this might happen, pointing out that if the Greeks did disperse, the Persians would get bogged down in a long drawn-out war. Xerxes believed Themistocles' advice was sincere and attacked the next day. Again, the Persian fleet outnumbered the Greeks, but the Persians were unable to take advantage of that fact because of the narrow straits they were fighting in.
Although the Greeks won, the Persians still had a huge army in Greece. Themistocles tricked Xerxes again, by sending the same slave with a message that the Greeks were planning to destroy the bridge the Persians had built over the Hellespont, trapping the Persian army in Greece. Xerxes hurried home.
It was generally agreed that Themistocles was the saviour of Greece. Each commander from the different cities put himself first as the bravest, but they all agreed that Themistocles was the second bravest. The Spartans gave their own commander the prize for bravery but awarded the prize for intelligence to Themistocles.
In part 2, we'll look at Themistocles' career after Salamis.
Primary Sources:
Cornelius Nepos' Life of Themistocles:
Plutarch's Life of Themistocles
The Livius website has a translation of what may or may not be the decree of the Athenian assembly for Athens to be abandoned.
Herodotus' Histories: In Book VII, paragraphs 142-144 tell the story of the oracle about the wooden walls, and how Themistocles founded the Athenian navy.
Book VIII describes the battles of Artemisium and Salamis, and other events of the Persian invasion.
Secondary sources
Map of the Wars between Persia and Greece
The TLS has this review of Barry Strauss's Salamis: The Greatest Battle of the Ancient World, 480 BC.
"Featured in Suite 101's "War and Peace" event.
Go To Page: 1 2
