Ancient Naval Battleby The Creative Assembly (Copyright). Related Content A brilliant strategist and canny politician he was perhaps a little too thirsty for glory and power for his own good but Themistocles was, without doubt, one of the most important and colourful figures of Classical Athens. The Persian fleet, although greatly exaggerated by ancient writers, was probably larger with around 500 ships. He was a man who exhibited the most brilliant signs of genius when it came to battle. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. During this time, Themistocles also participated in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, possibly in a leadership position. Rather ironically, and after a brief stay in Argos and then Corcyra (Corfu), Themistocles fled from Greece by merchant vessel and was welcomed in Persia by Artaxerxes I. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. According to historians, he also had a marked personal nature that focused on seeking the best for Athens, although he was interested and to some extent corrupt. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. In Athenian Democracy, which was basically a new democracy, he found a way to improve the populist side, which supported the people before the people in power and from where he ended up being their leader maintaining the nobility on their side. Greek Trireme [Illustration]by MatthiasKabel & Sting (GNU FDL). Themistocles was born in 524 B.C. The Greeks held back and drew the bigger Persian fleet into the narrow straits. Of his early life we know little except that, unusually for those who rose to the top echelons of power in Athens at the time, Themistocles did not come from an aristocratic family but a more humble middle-class one. The beating of mighty Persia gave the Greeks magnificent confidence and the victory was celebrated as no other but, in the event, it was only a minor set-back to Persia’s plans for invasion. Meeting an enemy at sea, ramming the opposition and finishing the job with a small team of hoplites would be Themistocles' strategy to see off Greece’s greatest ever threat. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Themistocles/. The wily Themistocles urged the wavering Greeks to action, retorting to one commander: ‘those left behind at the starting line are never crowned with the victor’s wreath’ (Histories, 8.59). Themistocles commanded the Athenian contingent, by far the largest in the fleet with perhaps 200 ships. Thank you! Themistocles. According to historians, Themistocles fled to Pidna, where he embarked for Asia Minor, but the ship in which he was traveling changed course for a storm reaching Naxos, where he was besieged by an Athenian fleet. He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the Publishing Director at AHE. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 03 Mar 2016. He would have his naval engagement and have it exactly where he wanted - Salamis. Such was Themistocles’ faith in his naval supremacy he ordered the abandonment of Athens (if a 3rd century BCE inscription known as the ‘Themistocles Decree’ from Troezen is to be believed). in the city of Athens. As Thucydides puts it ‘he [Themistocles] was always advising the Athenians, if a day should come when they were hard pressed by land, to go down into the Piraeus, and defy the world with their fleet’ (The History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.93.3). 14 Oct 2020. Cartwright, Mark. Themistocles then may have sent word to the Persians of this possibility. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. At present, there is no exact description regarding the physical characteristics of Themistocles, although it is known that he was a strong and good-looking man. Trying not to be identified, Themistocles convinced the captain of the ship to continue his journey. First, he was part of the battle of Marathon, in 490 B.C., against Persia, a battle in which he became an important promoter of the naval power of Athens and was very close to the different merchants of the city. of History, US Military Academy (CC BY-SA). Heavily armoured and carrying sword and huge shield, the slow hoplite was relocated to fast-moving warships – the trireme with its triple bank of oars. Themistocles was a statesman and an Athenian state general whose emphasis on naval power and different military skills were fundamental during the Persian wars, a victory in which Greece was assured of surviving its greatest threat. More immediately, Themistocles re-fortified Athens and the Piraeus, and he also established the Kerameikos cemetery. He was, following accusations of bribery, sacrilege, and a suspicious association with Spartan traitor Pausanias exiled from the city from 476 to 471 BCE.

The great naval battle of Salamis had an important significance, the decisive defeat of the immense Persian army with which Xerxes had invaded Greece. Plutarch Lives, II: Themistocles and Camillus. Last modified March 03, 2016. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share in common. Athens was never in such a strong position but the career of Themistocles was, unfortunately, heading for a nose-dive. Themistocles (c. 524 - c. 460 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and general (strategos) whose emphasis on naval power and military skills were instrumental during the Persian wars, victory in which ensured that Greece survived its greatest ever threat. Themistocles was born in 524 B.C. Once again though, the Greeks, fielding the largest hoplite army ever seen, won the battle which finally ended Persia’s ambitions in Greece. His lack of qualifications is famously referenced in the following quote from the same writer, Whenever in later life he found himself at any cultivated or elegant social gathering and was sneered at by men who regarded themselves as better educated, he could only defend himself rather arrogantly by saying that he had never learned how to tune a lyre or play a harp, but that he knew how to take a small or insignificant city in hand and raise it to glory and greatness. With regard to his personality it is known that he was an extremely ambitious and greedy man. Themistocles grew up in a period of upheaval in Athens. Plutarch also tells us he had two daughters called Sybaris and Italia and one son, whom Themistocles once described as the most powerful man in Greece: He once said jokingly that his son, who was spoiled by his mother and through her by himself, was more powerful than any man in Greece, ‘for the Athenians command the Greeks, I command the Athenians, his mother commands me, and he commands her.' Hipparchus was murdered in 514 BC, and in response to this, Hippias became paranoid and started to rely increasingly on foreign mercenaries to keep a hold on power. Ostraka for Themistoclesby Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). They held the pass for three days, and at the same time the Greeks, with the Athenian contingent led by Themistocles, managed to hold off the Persians at the indecisive naval battle at Artemision. https://www.ancient.eu/Themistocles/. Themistocles’ shadow remained, at least in the arts, as it was in 472 BCE that the great playwright Aeschylus produced his Persians which described the aftermath of Themistocles’ and Athens’ great victory at Salamis. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. The tyrant Peisistratos had died in 527 BC, passing power to his sons, Hipparchus and Hippias. Battles/wars: First Persian invasion of Greece. Themistocles (c. 524 - c. 460 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and general (strategos) whose emphasis on naval power and military skills were instrumental during the Persian wars, victory in which ensured that Greece survived its greatest ever threat. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. of History, US Military Academy (CC BY-SA). Cartwright, M. (2016, March 03). At that time there was a reward for Themistocles’ head and for this reason, they designed a plan to be able to pass him before the king, to whom he made promises in order to live in the place. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. These mixed messages and possible indicators of fractions in the Greek coalition galvanized the Persians into action so that they moved at night and blocked the straits, preventing the Greek fleet from abandoning their position. In this way he became the hero of Athens by defeating the Persians. As the historian Thucydides stated in his History of the Peloponnesian War, ‘Themistocles was a man who exhibited the most indubitable signs of genius; indeed, in this particular he has a claim on our admiration quite extraordinary and unparalleled.’ (1.138.3). Persia invaded Greece in 490 BCE but the army of Darius was famously defeated at the battle of Marathon – a land battle of sword-wielding hoplites and archers. In 480 BC, ten years after Marathon, the cities of Greece were aware of Xerxes’ impending invasion, and of its intended size. With Themistocles at the top of the political tree Athens sought to strengthen her navy and practically abandon the traditional hoplite soldier of Greek warfare.

With Themistocles at the top of the political tree Athens sought to strengthen her navy and abandon the traditional, by Dept. However, he was a talented, intelligent, cunning and very brilliant man, one of the best leaders in years. Mark is a history writer based in Italy. (Themistocles, 95). Written by Mark Cartwright, published on 03 March 2016 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. As the historian Thucydides stated in his History of the Peloponnesian War, Themistocles was a man who exhibited the most indubitable signs of genius; indeed, in this particular he ha… Books He was a son of immigrants, but in spite of that, he achieved an important political and military career in the city. Still convinced that this was the way forward for the city, Themistocles, a decade later in 483 BCE, would use the excuse of an on-going conflict with Aegina to push for the surplus revenue from the silver mines of Laureion (discovered c. 503 BCE) to be used to build war ships expanding the Athenian fleet from 70 to 200 ships and so be ready too for a Persian invasion. When he turned 30, he was elected eponymous Archon, a position that meant being the greatest magistrate in Athens.

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