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Achaemenid Triumphant
an Alternative History of the Mediterranean World
Part 1.01
The Flight From Salamis
As the Battle of Thermopylae raged on into its third week of battle, the Allied Greek Armada under Eurybiades was slowly being eroded by the composite fleet of Phoenicians and Ionians. Earlier, it appeared as though much of the Persian Fleet would be destroyed by winds and storm, but the almost divine sign of favor caused little damage to the Persians. While the Greek Wheel formation was able to prevent their smaller numbers from being overrun by a much larger Persian fleet, Themistocles and Eurybiades often fell into conflict with one another on naval tactics and overall strategy. When a Greek detachment under Queen Artemisia of Cara, leading five ships from Halicarnassus and a score of other Greek vessels, threatened to cut off the allied detachment’s route to the rest of the Aegean, the naval force withdrew after Peloponnesian and Corinthian admirals threatened to abandon the war effort entirely if they could not withdraw.an Alternative History of the Mediterranean World
Part 1.01
The Flight From Salamis
Though Leonidas had just barely been able to reinforce a secondary footpath through the Hot Gates of Thermopylae, his seven thousand men were helpless against maneuvers in the sea had not only cut them off from naval support, but allowed Persian forces the ability to freely move behind his fortified lines. Heralds brought forward a cry that reinforcements were on their way, but Leonidas realized that the venture was now hopeless. All but the Spartans were dismissed from fighting contingent, as Leonidas prepared for his death. A few of the allied Greeks would remain behind with Leonidas, and die with him in the ensuing days ahead. With the defense force at Thermopylae destroyed, the Persian Army rapidly followed up its invasion south. All greek settlements agreed to medize to the Persian King Xerxes. His vast army descended upon the city of Athens, and burned it to the ground. Much of its population had moved to the island of Salamis, but staunch defenders who had entrusted themselves to the wooden walls of Athens died in flame.
The Persian Fleet moved south as well, maintaining one large cohesive mass of vessels as they approached the isle of Salamis. Islands in the Aegean, upon seeing the power and massive size of the Armada, likewise agreed to Medize to the Persians. The remnant forces at Thermopylae scattered in the retreat, with many going to Thebes and many others tying themselves to the main expeditionary force that was assembled in Corinth. The army had been marching north, and Pausanias had advanced hastily in order to support the city of Athens before it fell. The allied Greeks came upon the city of Athens when it was already burning, and in the battle that ensued was not done in the best of discipline by both parties. While the Spartan contingent of Hoplites were able to array themselves properly for battle, many of the others were unable to do so. Likewise, while the Persians were not completely defenseless, many of their forces were participating in looting and razing the city. The more the battle waged on, however, the more clear it was that rear force Persians who had not engaged in the looting were able join the fray. While the Greek line firmed up after an hour or two of combat, the strategic placement became dangerous and Pausanias ordered a withdrawal when night fell.
Over the next week, the Greek navy at Salamis debated whether or not to follow Pausanias and the main Greek armed forces as they headed towards the Isthmus of Corinth. In an attempt to force a pitched naval battle around Salamis, the Athenian Admiral Themistocles threatened to take his naval forces and what Athenians he could with him on an expedition to Sicily if the Greeks refused to stand firm with Athens. While this ploy had initial success, when the Persian army moved south towards the Isthmus, and the Persian navy refused to engage on the advice of Artemisia and the Ionian Greeks who had grudgingly gave her respect following her role in securing victory prior. At the next meeting when the Greeks once more argued about whether or not to go home, Themistocles’s announcement backfired upon him when the other Greeks refused to stay and risk isolating themselves from the real war. The captains derided Themistocles as a man without a city, and thus someone with no say in the alliance’s affairs. Themistocles reminded the assembly that so long as Athens had its fleet and its people, Athens would remain.
The Athenian detachment of triremes abandoned the alliance and gathered what people it could in order to leave Athens behind. Many on the island of Salamis would be left behind, and some would surrender to the Persian forces, while others committed suicide in order to free their relatives of the guilt of leaving them behind. Themistocles and his fleet set out for Sicily less than one week after the main allied armada moved south. While Eurybiades and Themistocles nearly came to blows in the days leading to the division, both realized that such a move would leave them helpless against the Persians. Attica fell shortly after the withdrawal of the naval forces at Salamis, and while the island itself would continue to offer resistance for some years later, Athen's great navy would play no further role in the Persian invasion of Greece. With winter fast approaching, Xerxes left command of the Persian forces in the hands of his clansman and general Mardonius. Thebes, which had never been a fully trusted member of the alliance, switched sides to the Persians following the destruction of Athens. Some 160,000 Persians and their Greek allies would soon face off against some 85,000 of the Alliance’s last defenders.
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