What causes a military to become great, bond together, and win a significant battle in war? In ancient times, the Greek people, along with their culture, were threatened by the Persian Empire that sought to conquer the Western world. If the Greeks had lost the Persian wars, their way of life and the basis for western civilizations to come would have been lost. The Battle of Salamis was a combination of leadership, technology, and strategy which gave the Greeks an edge on their Persian opponents, setting into affect the beginning of victory for Greece.
The leadership of city- states along with individual leadership that united the Greeks into one fighting force that was fighting for a common cause. One of the main leaders throughout the entire war was Themistocles, a politician from Athens who was a born leader and would lead the Greeks to victory. Before the Battle of Salamis took place, many of the Greek generals wanted to leave the area, thinking that the narrow pass into Salamis was not worth defending; however, Themistocles used his talent of public speaking to keep the Greeks at salamis, saying:
“If these men sail away from Salamis, thou will have no fight at all for the one fatherland; for they will all scatter themselves to their own homes; and neither Eurybiades nor anyone else will be able to hinder them, nor to stop the breaking up of an armament.”(Herodotus 3).
Using his talent as a public speaker, Themistocles was able to unite the Greek city-states, creating one fighting force that would stay at Salamis to fight the mighty Persian army. While having a valiant leader was an important part of Greek leadership, the Athenians provide leadership in the form of naval strength, providing the Greek navy with a vas...
... middle of paper ...
.... New York: L. MacVeagh, 1928. Print.
5) Strauss, Barry S.. The battle of Salamis: the naval encounter that saved Greece--and Western civilization. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.
1) Gabriel, Richard A. "What we learned ... from the battle of Salamis." Military History Oct.-Nov. 2009: 16. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
2) Allen, Charlotte. "Victory at Sea; How the Greeks kept the Persians at bay." The Weekly Standard 12 Dec. 2005. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
3) Raham, A.J. "Themistocles' speech before Salamis: the interpretation of Herodotus 8.83.1." The Classical Quarterly 46.2 (1996): 321+. General OneFile. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
4) "Salamis, 480 b.c.e." Gale Encyclopedia of World History: War. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Canada In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
There is no coincidence that the rise of Athenian Democracy goes chronologically hand in hand with the rise of the Athenian Navy. Following the defeat of the Persians by the Greeks, Athens’ naval successes allow it to surpass the previous naval power of Corinth; create the Delian league to fund and support this navy; and eventually ruffle enough feathers with their fellow Hellenic neighbours that they inspire the Peloponnesian war. Overall their naval reputation and intimidation comes from the skill of the men who maneuver and command the ships, and the tool they use to wield their power, the Athenian trireme. By looking at the design of the trireme, and the work and numbers put both into the ship and the men that drive it, hopefully both the wealth and skill of the Athenian navy can be appropriately highlighted. In the end, it is this immense power and resources that allow the Athenians to overstep their limits and caused such demoralizing defeats such as the expedition at Syracuse and the eventual loss of the Peloponnesian war, after which they prove unable to grow to the same undefeated sea power they were.
The Persian invasions of 470 – 479BC saw the Battle of Thermopylae, The Battle of Artemisium, The Battle of Salamis, The Battle of Plataea and The Battle of Mycale. These battles also saw the contributions of many key individuals, which lead to the victory of the Greeks in the ends as well as the rise of the Greek navy.
(http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup-trm+ov+8.5&vers=engligh&browse+1). In conclusion, the Greeks defeated the Persians in the Persian Wars aided by unforgettable acts of heroism, divine support, and most importantly, Greek unity.
Throughout history, many great figures possessing extraordinary qualities have reshaped the past and have manipulated historical events. Such an example is Themistocles. Themistocles, thriving from 524-459 BCE, was an Athenian politician who was renowned by many as a great leader who obtained intellect, courage and integrity. Also known as being the saviour of Greece, the profound individual believed that the entirety of the human political experience could be reduced to symmetry and order. In order to unleash his true potential, though, he was forced to relocate from the remoteness of eastern Africa into the city, marrying the daughter of Lysander of Alopeke. Thus, it can be stated that Themistocles was a profound politician who possessed
Themistocles had an insight into the world that was hard to duplicate. He managed to precisely the right thing at precisely the right time, and by doing this, he assured the security of Greece. His cunning and charisma were
While the army reached Thermopylae intact, the fleet suffered at the hand of two storms, with Herodotus attributing them to God attempting to equalize the opposing forces . The disparity between the size of the Persian and the size of the Greek forces was huge – thus, the Greeks’ strategy relied on geography . Holding the narrows at Thermopylae and the concurrent straits of Artemisium meant that Xerxes’ numerical superiority was reduced. It was here, on land and sea, that Greece showcased the superiority of it...
The causes of the Peloponnesian War proved to be too great between the tension-filled stubborn Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. As Thucydides says in Karl Walling’s article, “Never had so many human beings been exiled, or so much human blood been shed” (4). The three phases of the war, which again, are the Archidamian war, the Sicilian Expedition and the Decelean war, show the events that followed the causes of the war, while also showing the forthcoming detrimental effects that eventually consumed both Athens and eventually Sparta effectively reshaping Greece.
The Greeks were able to continue living the way they had done so. Themistocles, though, let his ambitions overpower him. This then resulted in a rage of the assembly. He was banned from Greece and forced to flee to the country he once had fought, Persia. There he became a Persian, being able to speak Greece and also serving as one of the administrators for the Persian king. The Persian war has a significant importance because if they would have lost this war then the values that we know even till today would have been lost. They extraordinary values gave us what is known to be the Classical
Prior to the advent of Greek navies, Thucydides claims that “wars by land there were none, none at least by which power was acquired; we have the usual border contests, but of distant expeditions with conquest the object we hear nothing among the Hellenes” (I.15.2).... ... middle of paper ... ... The privations and suffering war forces people to turn their attention to themselves and lose sight of the good of their city, just as Pericles predicted it would, and without a leader like him willing to direct them away from this mindset rather than pander to it to get votes, the political constitution of the city was doomed to dissolve.
Herodotus. “Greece Saved from Persian Conquest.” Readings in Ancient History. Eds. Nels M. Bailkey and Richard Lim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
The death of Pericles was a significant event in the course of the Peloponnesian War; however, even without Pericles' leadership the Athenian Assembly had countless opportunities to prevent their loss and chose not to take them. The fickleness and inefficiency of democracy ('the mob') allowed the Athenians to be easily influenced and therefore electing populists such as Cleon, Lysicles and Hyperbolus into dominant leadership roles. Election, via democratic means, of such populists, meant that the Athenians would take a much more aggressive approach to the war and therefore abandon the policies that Pericles had previously established. So in turn, democracy the institution for which the Athenians fought tirelessly to protect, rather than the death of Pericles, ironically became the dominant factor influencing the final outcome of this Ancient Greek civil war.
...rated the superiority of the Greek long spear and armor over the weapons of the Persians, as well as the superior tactics of Miltiades and the military training of the Greek hoplites. The choice of weapons, training of warriors, selection of battle site, and timing had all worked together to help the Athenians prove that size doesn’t always matter.
The Battle of Salamis is said to be one of the most important battles in all of history. It was a naval battle fought between the massive Persian army and smaller Greek army in the Bay of Salamis in 480 BCE. This battle was one of the many battles that were a part of the Greco-Persian war. This paper will explore the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, including advantages and disadvantages both sides had on one and other, and finally will discuss the affects the result of this battle had on each side. Surprisingly, the much smaller Greek army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. How did this happen, one may ask? Although the Persians appeared to have the military advantage in this battle, particularly in terms of sheer size and numbers, the Greeks successfully defeated them with the help of their leaders, tactics, and many Persian blunders.