The battle of Salamis Flashcards
A second sea battle, after the land battle of Thermopylae A Greek victory
What did the Persians do as they advanced into mainland Greece?
Burn Greek villages
Which state was spared form the burning and why?
Thebes
The Thebans had shown sympathy to the Persians previously
How did the Sthenians respond to the advance of the Persians?
They abandoned the city of Athens and evacuated the surrounding land of Attica
What happened to those who chose to remain in Athens?
They were putunder a siege which they eventually lost
What did the Persians do to Athens?
They destroyed the temple on the acropolis and ravished the city
Where was the only area of Greece that remained free?
The peloponnese
What was the reaction of the Greeks in Salamis to the situation of Athens?
Some generals fled
The rest decided to fight at the Isthmus of Corinth (although this decision later changed)
Under whose advice did the Athenians abandon their city?
Themistocles
What were the Athenians told by the Delphic oracle?
What were the two interpretations of this?
‘the wooden wall only shall not fall, but help you and your children’
To stay behind the wall of the city
To take to their ships (this was Themistocles’ view)
What was Delphi a sanctuary to?
Apollo
Who persuaded Themistocles to fight at Salamis and not the Isthmus?
(because he thought if they left the consensus would be lost)
The Athenian Mnesiphilus
How many ships, in total, did the Greek fleet consist of?
378, more than half were Athenian ships
380 at the start of the battle
Who led the Greek forces?
Eurybiades, the Spartan
What did Themistocles think the benefits of fighting at Salamis were?
- Narrow space would benefit the Greeks
- Protecting the women and children who were on the island and on Aegina
- They would be able to defend the Peloponnese just as well here as at the isthmus
- A naval victory would be a setback for the Persians
Where were the Athenian women and children evacuated to?
Troezen, Aegina and Salamis
Who criticised Themistocles arguments?
and accused him of not having a city
Adeimantus, the Corinthian
What did Themistocles do before the battle?
Send a man called Sicinnus to tell Xerxes he wished him well, and that he should attack now because the Greeks were planning escape
It is unknown whether he did this to force a battle before the Greek forces broke up or whether he was genuinely betraying the Greeks
How did the Persians prepare to attack the Greeks?
In positions which would block the Greeks’ escape from both ends
In silence
When did the Persians begin their advance?
At daybreak
Which Greek states fought on the side of the Persians?
The Phoenicians (who led the attack and were cut off by the Athenians) and the Ionians (who then had to retreat)
What was Xerxes afraid the Greeks would do after their victory?
What did he do to prevent this?
Go to the Hellespont to destroy his bridge and cut off the escape of his land forces to Asia
He made plans for escape, including starting to build a causeway to Salamis to make it look like he would stay and fight
When Xerxes left Greece who did he leave in charge of the continuing war?
Mardonius
Who first warned the commanders at Salamis that they were surrounded by Persian forces?
Aristides, an Athenian who had been ostracised from Athens and was a personal enemy of Themistocles, he had crossed over from Aegina
How were the Greeks brought accurate information?
A Tenian trireme deserted to them
Where was queen Artemisia from?
Halicarnassus, Ionia
the same place as Herodotus…
