The Battle of Artemisium was a naval battle between an alliance of Greek city-states and the Persians in 480 BC. According to tradition it took place on the same day as the Battle of Thermopylae on August 11, 480, but it may have been a few days before or after.
| Table of contents |
|
2 The Battle 3 Aftermath |
| Battle of Artemisium | |
|---|---|
| Conflict | Persian Wars |
| Date | August, 480 BC |
| Place | Off of Euboea, Greece |
| Result | Indecisive |
| Combatants | |
| Greek city-states | Persia |
| Commanders | |
| Eurybiades of Sparta Themistocles of Athens Adeimantus of Corinth | Unknown |
| Strength | |
| 333 ships | 500 ships? |
| Casualties | |
| Unknown | Unknown |
The Persians at first met the Greeks off the coast of Thessaly, at Aphetae, close to Thermopylae, as the Athenian commander Themistocles attempted to delay the Persians while the island of Euboea was being evacuated. The Persians sent 200 ships around the south of Euboea, hoping to trap the Greeks in the channel, but a Persian defector warned the Greeks of this plan. A Greek squadron set out to meet them, so the Persians sent out some ships of their own to capture them. The Greek triremes surrounded these ships, and although they were outnumbered, were able to defeat them with the rams on their bows, and captured thirty Persian ships. The Persian fleet retreated for the night, and all 200 Persian ships still sailing around Euboea were destroyed in a sudden violent storm that same night. The next day 53 more Athenian ships arrived, and a Greek raid destroyed some Persian scout ships.
The following day (August 11 if the tradition of the simultaneous battles is to be believed), the Persians sailed towards the Greek fleet, forming a semi-circle in an attempt to trap them off Artemisium. Here the size of the Persian fleet worked against them, as they could not manoeuvre in the strait, and much of the fleet was destroyed by the Greeks. Five Greek ships were captured by the Egyptian contingent, while the Athenian Cleinias, the father of Alcibiades, single-handedly sank a large number of Persian ships.
The two sides withdrew once more, and the Greeks learned of the defeat of Leonidas at Thermopylae. The Greeks began to retreat from Artemisium, heading south along the coast of Euboea, while Themistocles left messages for the Ionian contingents of the Persian fleet, urging them to defect to their fellow Greeks. Meanwhile, the Persians sacked Artemisium. The Athenians under Themistocles went to Salamis Island, where their fellow citizens had fled after Xerxes I captured their city following his victory at Thermopylae. Themistocles would lead the fleet at the Battle of Salamis the next month.The Battle
Aftermath