The Battle of Salamis

The Battle of Salamis was the first great naval battle recorded in the history. There were a series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and continued until 448 BC. The Battle of Salamis was one of the conflicts between them that occured in 480 BC. The aim of the essay is to give information about the Battle of Salamis by the aspect of Persia.

The Xerxes, the Persian king, wanted to conquer all of Europe. The Battle of Salamis was one part of this desire. For Xerxes, "the capture of Athens had probably always been the first main objective... But while the Greek fleet was still more or less intact and Peloponnese remained free, his triumph could not be complete." Therefore, conflict with Greeks was inevitable.

The Athenians fled to Salamis since Persians occupied and burned their city. The Greek fleet joined them at Salamis after the Battle of Artemisium.

Map showing major incidents of the second Persian ...

Schematic diagram illustrating events during the B...

As Greek as it gets

Besides, The Spartans wanted to return Peloponnese and prevent the Persians from defeating them on land, but the Athenian commander Themistocles tried to persuade them to remain at Salamis to battle together against to Persians. However, at first, Oracles (who make predictions, or offer insight, based on a connection to the gods) believed that Xerxes would win the battle. Also generals of Sparta and Athens argued with Themistocles about fighting at Salamis since they wanted to fight the battle closer to Corinth, so that they could retreat to the mainland in case there would be a defeat. However, after a lot of debates about going or staying, they decided to use Themistocles plans and fight the Persian fleet in the Salamis.

In addition, there were immense differences between the Persia and Greek army. The Greek army consisted of 350 Trieris vessels...