On this date (October 20) in the year 480BCE, the Athenian fleet, commanded by a politician and general named Themistocles, defeated the Persian navy in the Battle of Salamis. It may not seem like it now, but this battle was a pretty big deal... It all started some 20 years previously... as you might recall, Greece wasnt a country back then. It was made up of independent city-states, some of which got along, and some of which did not. Around 500BCE, two of them (Athens and Eretria) had supported the failed Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire. Darius I, the ruler of Persia at the time, was a bit peeved that these Greek city-states had stuck their noses in his imperial business, so he decided to conquer all of Greece. First, he grabbed up Thrace and Macedon and some of the surrounding little islands. After this little muscle-flexing show, he sent ambassadors to all of the Greek states, offering them a choice... something like join us or die - or however it wouldve sounded in ancient Persian-accented Greek. Most of the city-states said sure, love to, thanks for not killing us, kind sir. But in Athens, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed - and in Sparta, they were thrown into a well. I dont know that a mostly naked Gerard Butler flexed his exaggerated abs, shouted This Is Sparta! and then kicked them into the well, but I dont know that he didnt, either. Darius thought that was a bit rude. He took a few more islands, destroyed Eretria - and then attacked Athens. In the Battle of Marathon, Athens drove the Persians away. The silly Athenians thought that Darius would give up, but you cant blame them, really... after all, they hadnt seen the movie yet... Instead of giving up, Darius started gathering the largest army and navy ever assembled. He decided that the whole subjugate Greece thing was a bad idea - instead, he was going to completely destroy them. But in the midst of his planning, Egypt revolted against Persia, and Darius was killed. His son, Xerxes, didnt like that - so he completely crushed the Egyptian rebellion, and then got serious about fulfilling his fathers plans. He raised an immense army, and built a bazillion ships for an immense navy. He also got his engineers working... they built enormous pontoon bridges so that his soldiers could march across the Hellespont, and they dug a canal across the isthmus of Mount Athos, so his navy would have more of a straight shot into the center of Greece. These were incredible feats of engineering, but they took a bit of time, which gave Athens some time to prepare. They were a wealthy city-state, and they built a pretty massive fleet of warships to give Persia a run for its money. They had plenty of ships - what they didnt have was enough manpower. Fortunately, around that time Xerxes sent more ambassadors to the city-states, demanding surrender - and this time, they intentionally skipped Athens and Sparta. The Greeks saw this as an insult, and they started to raise support centered around these 2 states. A loose alliance of city-states was formed, and they all committed to assist with men and resources - which was a remarkable thing, since many of these city-states were technically still at war with each other... When theyd heard that Xerxes was on the move with his vastly superior numbers, the Greeks deployed their forces to 2 bottlenecks. The land bottleneck was the famous Thermopylae pass. You know that story... around 8,000 (give or take, depending on which scholar you read) Greeks went to block the pass. Ancient historians put Xerxes numbers at a million, but most historians today put the number at between 150,000 and 200,000 - which is still a LOT. The Greeks held em off for almost a week - but then a traitor told the Persians about a path behind the Greek line. Leonidas of the Spartans sent the main Greek force back, and set up a rear guard of 300 Spartans and another 1200-1500 Greeks that held the Persians off to cover the Greek retreat. Even without the originally exaggerated numbers, it was an amazing battle that took the wind out of the Persians sails. After that land battle was done, it was time for the naval battle. The Greeks, under Themistocles, pulled a couple of strategic feints that lured the Persian navy into the Straits of Salamis. Xerxes was convinced that the Greeks were trying a multi-pronged attack, so the Persians set up to block both of the entrances to the straits. Unfortunately for the Persians, this was another bottleneck - their huge navy was actually a disadvantage... they couldnt maneuver in the small area. Once again, the Greeks were able to inflict huge losses on the superior Persian numbers - but this time, the Persians couldnt get behind the Greeks. Xerxes was forced to retreat with most of his forces... the few he left behind were eventually wiped out by the Greeks. After that, the Persians never again tried to conquer Greece. In fact, from that point on, Greece started to play offense. So why is this battle considered by many scholars to be one of the most important battles in history? It was this battle, specifically, that opened the door for Greece to become a global power. And as Greece rose in power, Greek ideas were allowed to spread all over. This is the beginning of what is now called western civilization. This is how we know about Greek philosophy, ethics, and aesthetics. Without this battle, we might not know anything about folks like Socrates and Plato and Aristotle, tales like the Odyssey, or institutions like the theater. And where would the west be now without that other little idea the Greeks thought up... democracy... Today is the 2,494th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Salamis - a battle that allowed Greek ideas to flourish and spread over the western world. To celebrate, you should say a quick little thank you to Themistocles next time you do anything Greek.. ya know like eat a gyro, or cook with olive oil, or have a toga party, or look at other planets, or think about life, or vote... If the Greeks had lost, things wouldve been completely different - they were the last group to have a chance at stopping the spread of the Persian Empire. Its hard to even imagine a western civilization based on Persia rather than Greece. And thanks to Themistocles, we dont have to. So, enjoy some Greek yogurt, and have a groovy week!
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 16:42:58 +0000