Salamis Turns Tide: Greeks Sink Persian Fleet
Athenian admiral Themistocles lured the massive Persian fleet of Xerxes I into the narrow straits between the island of Salamis and the Greek mainland on September 20, 480 BC. The confined waters negated the Persians' numerical superiority: their roughly 800 ships couldn't maneuver or coordinate, while the 370 smaller Greek triremes could ram and board at close quarters. Xerxes watched from a golden throne on the shore as his fleet was systematically destroyed. The Greeks sank or captured roughly 200 Persian ships while losing only 40 of their own. The naval defeat forced Xerxes to withdraw to Asia Minor, leaving behind a land army that was destroyed at Plataea the following year. Greek civilization, and with it Western democracy and philosophy, survived because of Salamis.
September 20, 480 BC
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