Salamis, Battle of

(480 BC) Significant naval battle of the Persian Wars, the first ever recorded. (Aeschylus served in the battle and wrote The Persians, which is the earliest of his works to survive.) The Greek fleet of some 370 triremes, under the command of Themistocles, lured the Persian fleet of about 800 galleys into the narrow strait between the island of Salamis and the Athenian port of Piraeus. There the highly maneuverable triremes sank about 300 Persian vessels while losing only about 40 of their own. As a result of this battle, Xerxes had to postpone his planned land offensive, giving the Greek city-states time to unite against him.

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