Reconstructions of ancient Greek galleys (sailing warships). The Greek vessels were smaller, lower and more manoeuvrable than the rather grand galleys of the Persians, which had been built to transport troops and intimidate rather than to fight in tight spaces on windy days. The credit for the Greek victory must go to Themistocles, whose gift for uniting the Greeks in a common cause, for meticulous planning and (it must be said) for Machiavellian duplicity thwarted the Persian King’s imperial ambitions.
Introduction
The Battle of Salamis in September 480 BC was the turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars. By comparison with the small city-states of Greece, Xerxes’s highly centralised Persian empire was clumsy and backward, and the Greeks were ready to defend their superior civilisation to the death.
IN the summer of 480 BC, Xerxes I of Persia crossed into Europe by a bridge constructed over the Hellespont,* at the head of a monstrous army of conquest said to be two million six hundred thousand strong.* Late in August he was encamped on the eastern mainland near Thermopylae, but progress was delayed for three days through the valour of Leonidas, King of Sparta.*
The delay was priceless for the Greeks of Attica. Their allies, who thought only of defending the Peloponnese, were ready to retreat beyond the Isthmus of Corinth, and leave Athens to fend for herself. But the Athenian commander Themistocles consulted the oracle at Delphi, who said ‘Put your trust in wooden walls, and Salamis the divine shall cause sons of women to perish’. This Themistocles interpreted to mean that the whole city must take refuge on the neighbouring island of Salamis, defended by ships;* and after the Persians captured the Acropolis and set Athens ablaze, Themistocles managed (by tact and some subterfuge) to get most of the Greeks behind him.
Constructing the bridge was not easy, and Xerxes behaved a little foolishly over it. See Xerxes Scourges the Hellespont.
Herodotus’s estimate is of course rejected by modern scholars, who generally do not go much above 300,000.
See The Battle of Thermopylae.
Salamis lies in the Saronic Gulf, the vast bay between the Peloponnese in the west and Attica (where Athens stands) on the east. The Strait of Salamis is a narrow water between the island and the mainland, with Athens some eight miles away. SeeGoogle Maps.
Précis
In 480 BC, the Persian army of King Xerxes I broke through the Greek defences at Thermopylae and went on to sack Athens. Athenian commander Themistocles managed to persuade the other Greek leaders not to abandon Attica entirely, but to help him move the population of Athens to the nearby island of Salamis, and trust to the Greek fleet. (59 / 60 words)
In 480 BC, the Persian army of King Xerxes I broke through the Greek defences at Thermopylae and went on to sack Athens. Athenian commander Themistocles managed to persuade the other Greek leaders not to abandon Attica entirely, but to help him move the population of Athens to the nearby island of Salamis, and trust to the Greek fleet.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, because, despite, may, otherwise, unless, until, who.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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