Salamis

The battle of Salamis is one of the most famous and crucial battles in the history
of western civilization. The battle of Salamis stopped the Persian invasion into Greece
and forced them to turn around and retreat to Asia Minor. Some historians believe that if
the greeks had lost the battle of salamis, western civilization as we know it would be
altered. The Greeks were able to defeat the Persians through superior leadership,
tactics, and strategy.
1.

The battle of salamis shows that superior tactics and strategy are more important
than having large numbers of troops
2.
The Greek's superior leaders were the key to their victory.
3.
The smaller number of greek ships were able to destroy the larger persian ships
because of their maneuverability in the narrow straits
"The Battle of Salamis." Battle of Salamis. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
"Persian Wars - Battle of Salamis." About.com Ancient / Classical History. N.p., n.d.
Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
"The Battle of Salamis." Battle of Salamis: 480 BC. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?
Dir=characters&FileName=themistocles.php
http://www.boredofstudies.org/wiki/Xerxes_Career
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariabignes

Even though the greeks had less ships than the persians, they won by trapping their
enemy in a straight where the larger persian ships had no room to maneuver. This was
achieved by deception on the part of the Athenians by using a messenger to tell Xerses
that Themistocles wanted the greeks to lose.
this battle shows that superior tactics and cunning are more important than large
numbers of troops. This has been shown multiple times in history. The battle of
Thermopylae is another example of this. The Greek strategy to trap the larger Persian
warships in the strait and encircle them proved to work very well. While the Persians

tried to maneuver their larger ships to safety, the Greek ships rammed them and
destroyed the Persian navy. This goes to show that brute strength is not everything. Just
because the Persians had a larger force did not guarantee them victory.
The greeks had superior leaders at the battle of salamis. Themistocles had prior
experience with the persians at the battle of marathon and was the mastermind behind
the planning which destroyed the persian navy at salamis. The other greek general,
Eurybiades, was a spartan, born and raised a warrior. Being a spartan commander,
Eurybiades was well schooled in tactics and fighting, making him a formidable enemy.
Xerxes on the other hand, only had military experience putting down a revolt in Egypt.
there were more revolts from babylon, but Xerxes sent his brother-in-law, Megabyzus, to
deal with this revolt. Xerxes also inherited most of the plan to attack greece from Darius,
instead of creating it himself. Ariabignes, Xerxes' brother, played little part in the battle of
salamis, for he was killed early in the battle trying to board a greek ship. From this I
conclude that the greeks had superior leaders with more experience than the Persians.
The Persian ships were ill suited to the narrow straits of salamis. The Greek
triremes were smaller and better suited to fighting in smaller spaces than the Persian
warships. The Persian ships were trapped and had no room to maneuver, leaving them
vulnerable to ramming by the Greek ships. The greek ships were designed to ram their
enemies giving them a clear advantage when the Persian ships couldn't maneuver to
escape.
in conclusion, i draw that the greeks won due to their superior leadership, better
tactics. even though the persians had significantly larger number of soldiers, the tactics
used by the greeks are superior to the tactics used by the persians. the basic strategy of
the persians was to throw as many troops at the greeks as possible to try to wear them
down. this is demonstrated at the battle of Thermopylae when the greek fighters held of
the persians for three days before breaking due to a traitor among the greeks. Lastly, i
show that the greek ships were better suited to the narrow straits of salamis than the
larger persian warships. through this essay i have shown that the greeks can attribute
their victory to these three main points.