THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS.
B.C. 480
Situation of Salamis.--Movements of the fleet and the army.--Policy of
the Greeks.--Reasons for retreating to Salamis.--A council of
war.--Consultations and debates.--Conflicting views.--The council breaks
up in confusion.--Themistocles.--Interview with
Mnesiphilus.--Themistocles seeks Eurybiades.--Urges a new council.--The
council convened again.--Themistocles rebuked.--Themistocles's arguments
for remaining at Salamis.--Fugitives at Salamis.--Views of the
Corinthians.--Excitement in the council.--Indignation of
Themistocles.--Eurybiades decides to remain at Salamis.--An
earthquake.--Advance of the Persians.--Perilous situation of the
Greeks.--Xerxes summons a council of war.--Pompous preparations.--Views
of the Persian officers.--Views of Queen Artemisia.--Artemisa's
arguments against attacking the Greek fleet.--Effect of Artemisia's
speech.--Feelings of the council.--Discontent among the
Greeks.--Sicinnus.--Bold stratagem of Themistocles.--He sends Sicinnus
to the Persians.--Message of Themistocles.--Measures of the
Persians.--The Persians take possession of the Psyttalia.--The Greeks
hemmed in.--Aristides.--He makes his way through the Persian
fleet.--Interview between Aristides and Themistocles.--Their
conversation.--Aristides communicates his intelligence to the
assembly.--Effect of Aristides intelligence.--Further news.--Adventurous
courage of Paraetius.--Gratitude of the Greeks.--Final preparations for
battle.--Friendly offices.--Xerxes's throne.--His scribes.--Summary
punishment.--Speech of Themistocles.--He embarks his men.--Excitement
and confusion.--Commencement of the battle.--Fury of the
conflict.--Modern naval battles.--Observations of
Xerxes.--Artemisia.--Enemies of Artemisia.--Her quarrel with
Damasithymus.--Stratagem of Artemisia.--She attacks
Damasithymus.--Artemisia kills Damasithymus.--Xerxes's opinion of her
valor.--Progress of the battle.--The Persians give way.--Heroism of
Aristides.--He captures Psyttalia.--The Greeks victorious.--Repairing
damages.--Xerxes resolves on flight.--The sea after the
battle.--Fulfillment of an ancient prophecy.
Salamis is an island of a very irregular form, lying in the Saronian
Gulf, north of AEgina, and to the westward of Athens. What was called the
Port of Athens was on the shore opposite to Salamis, the city itself
being situated on elevated land four or five miles back from the sea.
From this port to the bay on the southern side of Salamis, where the
Greek fleet was lying, it was only four or five miles more, so that,
when Xerxes burned the city, the people on board the galleys in the
fleet might easily see the smoke of the conflagration.
The Isthmus of Corinth was west of Salamis, some fifteen miles, across
the bay. The army, in retreating from Athens toward the isthmus, would
have necessarily to pass round the bay in a course somewhat circuitous,
while the fleet, in following them, would pass in a direct line across
it. The geographical relations of these places, a knowledge of which is
necessary to a full understanding of the operations of the Greek and
Persian forces, will be distinctly seen by comparing the above
description with the map placed at the commencement of the fifth
chapter.
It had been the policy of the Greeks to keep the fleet and army as much
as possible together, and thus, during the time in which the troops were
attempting a concentration at Thermopylae, the ships made their
rendezvous in the Artemisian Strait or Channel, directly opposite to
that point of the coast. There they fought, maintaining their position
desperately, day after day, as long as Leonidas and his Spartans held
their ground on the shore. Their sudden disappearance from those waters,
by which the Persians had been so much surprised, was caused by their
having received intelligence that the pass had been carried and Leonidas
destroyed. They knew then that Athens would be the next point of
resistance by the land forces. They therefore fell back to Salamis, or,
rather, to the bay lying between Salamis and the Athenian shore, that
being the nearest position that they could take to support the
operations of the army in their attempts to defend the capital. When,
however, the tidings came to them that Athens had fallen, and that what
remained of the army had retreated to the isthmus, the question at once
arose whether the fleet should retreat too, across the bay, to the
isthmus shore, with a view to co-operate more fully with the army in the
new position which the latter had taken, or whether it should remain
where it was, and defend itself as it best could against the Persian
squadrons which would soon be drawing near. The commanders of the fleet
held a consultation to consider this question.
In this consultation the Athenian and the Corinthian leaders took
different views. In fact, they were very near coming into open
collision. Such a difference of opinion, considering the circumstances
of the case, was not at all surprising. It might, indeed, have naturally
been expected to arise, from the relative situation of the two cities,
in respect to the danger which threatened them. If the Greek fleet were
to withdraw from Salamis to the isthmus, it might be in a better
position to defend Corinth, but it would, by such a movement, be
withdrawing from the Athenian territories, and abandoning what remained
in Attica wholly to the conqueror. The Athenians were, therefore, in
favor of maintaining the position at Salamis, while the Corinthians were
disposed to retire to the shores of the isthmus, and co-operate with
the army there.
The council was convened to deliberate on this subject before the news
arrived of the actual fall of Athens, although, inasmuch as the Persians
were advancing into Attica in immense numbers, and there was no Greek
force left to defend the city, they considered its fall as all but
inevitable. The tidings of the capture and destruction of Athens came
while the council was in session. This seemed to determine the question.
The Corinthian commanders, and those from the other Peloponnesian
cities, declared that it was perfectly absurd to remain any longer at
Salamis, in a vain attempt to defend a country already conquered. The
council was broken up in confusion, each commander retiring to his own
ship, and the Peloponnesians resolving to withdraw on the following
morning. Eurybiades, who, it will be recollected, was the
commander-in-chief of all the Greek fleet, finding thus that it was
impossible any longer to keep the ships together at Salamis, since a
part of them would, at all events, withdraw, concluded to yield to the
necessity of the case and to conduct the whole fleet to the isthmus. He
issued his orders accordingly, and the several commanders repaired to
their respective ships to make the preparations. It was night when the
council was dismissed, and the fleet was to move in the morning.
One of the most influential and distinguished of the Athenian officers
was a general named Themistocles. Very soon after he had returned to his
ship from this council, he was visited by another Athenian named
Mnesiphilus, who, uneasy and anxious in the momentous crisis, had come
in his boat, in the darkness of the night, to Themistocles's ship, to
converse with him on the plans of the morrow. Mnesiphilus asked
Themistocles what was the decision of the council.
"To abandon Salamis," said Themistocles, "and retire to the isthmus."
"Then," said Mnesiphilus, "we shall never have an opportunity to meet
the enemy. I am sure that if we leave this position the fleet will be
wholly broken up, and that each portion will go, under its own
commander, to defend its own state or seek its own safety, independently
of the rest. We shall never be able to concentrate our forces again. The
result will be the inevitable dissolution of the fleet as a combined and
allied force, in spite of all that Eurybiades or any one else can do to
prevent it."
Mnesiphilus urged this danger with so much earnestness and eloquence as
to make a very considerable impression on the mind of Themistocles.
Themistocles said nothing, but his countenance indicated that he was
very strongly inclined to adopt Mnesiphilus's views. Mnesiphilus urged
him to go immediately to Eurybiades, and endeavor to induce him to
obtain a reversal of the decision of the council. Themistocles, without
expressing either assent or dissent, took his boat, and ordered the
oarsmen to row him to the galley of Eurybiades. Mnesiphilus, having so
far accomplished his object, went away.
Themistocles came in his boat to the side of Eurybiades's galley. He
said that he wished to speak with the general on a subject of great
importance. Eurybiades, when this was reported to him, sent to invite
Themistocles to come on board. Themistocles did so, and he urged upon
the general the same arguments that Mnesiphilus had pressed upon him,
namely, that if the fleet were once to move from their actual position,
the different squadrons would inevitably separate, and could never be
assembled again. He urged Eurybiades, therefore, very strenuously to
call a new council, with a view of reversing the decision that had been
made to retire, and of resolving instead to give battle to the Persians
at Salamis.
Eurybiades was persuaded, and immediately took measures for convening
the council again. The summons, sent around thus at midnight, calling
upon the principal officers of the fleet to repair again in haste to the
commander's galley, when they had only a short time before been
dismissed from it, produced great excitement. The Corinthians, who had
been in favor of the plan of abandoning Salamis, conjectured that the
design might be to endeavor to reverse that decision, and they came to
the council determined to resist any such attempt, if one should be
made.
When the officers had arrived, Themistocles began immediately to open
the discussion, before, in fact, Eurybiades had stated why he had called
them together. A Corinthian officer interrupted and rebuked him for
presuming to speak before his time. Themistocles retorted upon the
Corinthian, and continued his harangue. He urged the council to review
their former decision, and to determine, after all, to remain at
Salamis. He, however, now used different arguments from those which he
had employed when speaking to Eurybiades alone; for to have directly
charged the officers themselves with the design of which he had accused
them to Eurybiades, namely, that of abandoning their allies, and
retiring with their respective ships, each to his own coast, in case the
position at Salamis were to be given up, would only incense them, and
arouse a hostility which would determine them against any thing that he
might propose.
He therefore urged the expediency of remaining at Salamis on other
grounds. Salamis was a much more advantageous position, he said, than
the coast of the isthmus, for a small fleet to occupy in awaiting an
attack from a large one. At Salamis they were defended in part by the
projections of the land, which protected their flanks, and prevented
their being assailed, except in front, and their front they might make a
very narrow one. At the isthmus, on the contrary, there was a long,
unvaried, and unsheltered coast, with no salient points to give strength
or protection to their position there. They could not expect to derive
serious advantage from any degree of co-operation with the army on the
land which would be practicable at the isthmus, while their situation at
sea there would be far more exposed and dangerous than where they then
were. Besides, many thousands of the people had fled to Salamis for
refuge and protection, and the fleet, by leaving its present position,
would be guilty of basely abandoning them all to hopeless destruction,
without even making an effort to save them.
This last was, in fact, the great reason why the Athenians were so
unwilling to abandon Salamis. The unhappy fugitives with which the
island was thronged were their wives and children, and they were
extremely unwilling to go away and leave them to so cruel a fate as they
knew would await them if the fleet were to be withdrawn. The
Corinthians, on the other hand, considered Athens as already lost, and
it seemed madness to them to linger uselessly in the vicinity of the
ruin which had been made, while there were other states and cities in
other quarters of Greece yet to be saved. The Corinthian speaker who had
rebuked Themistocles at first, interrupted him again, angrily, before he
finished his appeal.
"You have no right to speak," said he. "You have no longer a country.
When you cease to represent a power, you have no right to take a part in
our councils."
This cruel retort aroused in the mind of Themistocles a strong feeling
of indignation and anger against the Corinthian. He loaded his opponent,
in return, with bitter reproaches, and said, in conclusion, that as long
as the Athenians had two hundred ships in the fleet, they had still a
country--one, too, of sufficient importance to the general defense to
give them a much better title to be heard in the common consultations
than any Corinthian could presume to claim.
Then turning to Eurybiades again, Themistocles implored him to remain at
Salamis, and give battle to the Persians there, as that was, he said,
the only course by which any hope remained to them of the salvation of
Greece. He declared that the Athenian part of the fleet would never go
to the isthmus. If the others decided on going there, they, the
Athenians, would gather all the fugitives they could from the island of
Salamis and from the coasts of Attica, and make the best of their way to
Italy, where there was a territory to which they had some claim, and,
abandoning Greece forever, they would found a new kingdom there.
Eurybiades, the commander-in-chief, if he was not convinced by the
arguments that Themistocles had offered, was alarmed at his declaration
that the Athenian ships would abandon the cause of the Greeks if the
fleet abandoned Salamis; he accordingly gave his voice very decidedly
for remaining where they were. The rest of the officers finally
acquiesced in this decision, and the council broke up, the various
members of it returning each to his own command. It was now nearly
morning. The whole fleet had been, necessarily, during the night in a
state of great excitement and suspense, all anxious to learn the result
of these deliberations. The awe and solemnity which would, of course,
pervade the minds of men at midnight, while such momentous questions
were pending, were changed to an appalling sense of terror, toward the
dawn, by an earthquake which then took place, and which, as is usually
the case with such convulsions, not only shook the land, but was felt by
vessels on the sea. The men considered this phenomenon as a solemn
warning from heaven, and measures were immediately adopted for
appeasing, by certain special sacrifices and ceremonies, the divine
displeasure which the shock seemed to portend.
In the mean time, the Persian fleet, which we left, it will be
recollected, in the channels between Euboea and the main land, near to
Thermopylae, had advanced when they found that the Greeks had left those
waters, and, following their enemies to the southward through the
channel called the Euripus, had doubled the promontory called Sunium,
which is the southern promontory of Attica, and then, moving northward
again along the western coast of Attica, had approached Phalerum, which
was not far from Salamis. Xerxes, having concluded his operations at
Athens, advanced to the same point by land.
The final and complete success of the Persian expedition seemed now
almost sure. All the country north of the peninsula had fallen. The
Greek army had retreated to the isthmus, having been driven from every
other post, and its last forlorn hope of being able to resist the
advance of its victorious enemies was depending there. And the
commanders of the Persian fleet, having driven the Greek squadrons in
the same manner from strait to strait and from sea to sea, saw the
discomfited galleys drawn up, in apparently their last place of refuge,
in the Bay of Salamis, and only waiting to be captured and destroyed.
In a word, every thing seemed ready for the decisive and final blow,
and Xerxes summoned a grand council of war on board one of the vessels
of the fleet as soon as he arrived at Phalerum, to decide upon the time
and manner of striking it.
The convening of this council was arranged, and the deliberations
themselves conducted, with great parade and ceremony. The princes of the
various nations represented in the army and in the fleet, and the
leading Persian officers and nobles, were summoned to attend it. It was
held on board one of the principal galleys, where great preparations had
been made for receiving so august an assemblage. A throne was provided
for the king, and seats for the various commanders according to their
respective ranks, and a conspicuous place was assigned to Artemisia, the
Carian queen, who, the reader will perhaps recollect, was described as
one of the prominent naval commanders, in the account given of the great
review at Doriscus. Mardonius appeared at the council as the king's
representative and the conductor of the deliberations, there being
required, according to the parliamentary etiquette of those days, in
such royal councils as these, a sort of mediator, to stand between the
king and his counselors, as if the monarch himself was on too sublime
an elevation of dignity and grandeur to be directly addressed even by
princes and nobles.
Accordingly, when the council was convened and the time arrived for
opening the deliberations, the king directed Mardonius to call upon the
commanders present, one by one, for their sentiments on the question
whether it were advisable or not to attack the Greek fleet at Salamis.
Mardonius did so. They all advised that the attack should be made,
urging severally various considerations to enforce their opinions, and
all evincing a great deal of zeal and ardor in the cause, and an
impatient desire that the great final conflict should come on.
When, however, it came to Artemisia's turn to speak, it appeared that
she was of a different sentiment from the rest. She commenced her speech
with something like an apology for presuming to give the king her
council. She said that, notwithstanding her sex, she had performed her
part, with other commanders, in the battles which had already occurred,
and that she was, perhaps, entitled accordingly, in the consultations
which were held, to express her opinion. "Say, then, to the king," she
continued, addressing Mardonius, as all the others had done, "that my
judgment is, that we should not attack the Greek fleet at Salamis, but,
on the contrary, that we should avoid a battle. It seems to me that we
have nothing to gain, but should put a great deal at hazard by a general
naval conflict at the present time. The truth is, that the Greeks,
always terrible as combatants, are rendered desperate now by the straits
to which they are reduced and the losses that they have sustained. The
seamen of our fleet are as inferior to them in strength and courage as
women are to men. I am sure that it will be a very dangerous thing to
encounter them in their present chafed and irritated temper. Whatever
others may think, I myself should not dare to answer for the result.
"Besides, situated as they are," continued Artemisia, "a battle is what
_they_ must most desire, and, of course, it is adverse to our interest
to accord it to them. I have ascertained that they have but a small
supply of food, either in their fleet or upon the island of Salamis,
while they have, besides their troops, a great multitude of destitute
and helpless fugitives to be fed. If we simply leave them to themselves
under the blockade in which our position here now places them, they will
soon be reduced to great distress. Or, if we withdraw from them, and
proceed at once to the Peloponnesus, to co-operate with the army there,
we shall avoid all the risk of a battle, and I am sure that the Greek
fleet will never dare to follow or to molest us."
The several members of the council listened to this unexpected address
of Artemisia with great attention and interest, but with very different
feelings. She had many friends among the counselors, and _they_ were
anxious and uneasy at hearing her speak in this manner, for they knew
very well that it was the king's decided intention that a battle should
be fought, and they feared that, by this bold and strenuous opposition
to it, Artemisia would incur the mighty monarch's displeasure. There
were others who were jealous of the influence which Artemisia enjoyed,
and envious of the favor with which they knew that Xerxes regarded her.
These men were secretly pleased to hear her uttering sentiments by which
they confidently believed that she would excite the anger of the king,
and wholly lose her advantageous position. Both the hopes and the fears,
however, entertained respectively by the queen's enemies and friends,
proved altogether groundless. Xerxes was not displeased. On the
contrary, he applauded Artemisia's ingenuity and eloquence in the
highest terms, though he said, nevertheless, that he would follow the
advice of the other counselors. He dismissed the assembly, and gave
orders to prepare for battle.
In the mean time a day or two had passed away, and the Greeks, who had
been originally very little inclined to acquiesce in the decision which
Eurybiades had made, under the influence of Themistocles, to remain at
Salamis and give the Persians battle, became more and more dissatisfied
and uneasy as the great crisis drew nigh. In fact, the discontent and
disaffection which appeared in certain portions of the fleet became so
decided and so open, that Themistocles feared that some of the
commanders would actually revolt, and go away with their squadrons in a
body, in defiance of the general decision to remain. To prevent such a
desertion as this, he contrived the following very desperate stratagem.
He had a slave in his family named Sicinnus, who was an intelligent and
educated man, though a slave. In fact, he was the teacher of
Themistocles's children. Instances of this kind, in which slaves were
refined and cultivated men, were not uncommon in ancient times, as
slaves were, in many instances, captives taken in war, who before their
captivity had occupied as high social positions as their masters.
Themistocles determined to send Sicinnus to the Persian fleet with a
message from him, which should induce the Persians themselves to take
measures to prevent the dispersion of the Greek fleet. Having given the
slave, therefore, his secret instructions, he put him into a boat when
night came on, with oarsmen who were directed to row him wherever he
should require them to go. The boat pushed off stealthily from
Themistocles's galley, and, taking care to keep clear of the Greek ships
which lay at anchor near them, went southward toward the Persian fleet.
When the boat reached the Persian galleys, Sicinnus asked to see the
commander, and, on being admitted to an interview with him, he informed
him that he came from Themistocles, who was the leader, he said, of the
Athenian portion of the Greek fleet.
"I am charged," he added, "to say to you from Themistocles that he
considers the cause of the Greeks as wholly lost, and he is now,
accordingly, desirous himself of coming over to the Persian side. This,
however, he can not actually and openly do, on account of the situation
in which he is placed in respect to the rest of the fleet. He has,
however, sent me to inform you that the Greek fleet is in a very
disordered and helpless condition, being distracted by the dissensions
of the commanders, and the general discouragement and despair of the
men; that some divisions are secretly intending to make their escape;
and that, if you can prevent this by surrounding them, or by taking such
positions as to intercept any who may attempt to withdraw, the whole
squadron will inevitably fall into your hands."
Having made this communication, Sicinnus went on board his boat again,
and returned to the Greek fleet as secretly and stealthily as he came.
The Persians immediately determined to resort to the measures which
Themistocles had recommended to prevent the escape of any part of the
Greek fleet. There was a small island between Salamis and the coast of
Attica, that is, on the eastern side of Salamis, called Psyttalia, which
was in such a position as to command, in a great measure, the channel of
water between Salamis and the main land on this side. The Persians sent
forward a detachment of galleys to take possession of this island in the
night. By this means they hoped to prevent the escape of any part of
the Greek squadron in that direction. Besides, they foresaw that in the
approaching battle the principal scene of the conflict must be in that
vicinity, and that, consequently, the island would become the great
resort of the disabled ships and the wounded men, since they would
naturally seek refuge on the nearest land. To preoccupy this ground,
therefore, seemed an important step. It would enable them, when the
terrible conflict should come on, to drive back any wretched refugees
who might attempt to escape from destruction by seeking the shore.
By taking possession of this island, and stationing galleys in the
vicinity of it, all which was done secretly in the night, the Persians
cut off all possibility of escape for the Greeks in that direction. At
the same time, they sent another considerable detachment of their fleet
to the westward, which was the direction toward the isthmus, ordering
the galleys thus sent to station themselves in such a manner as to
prevent any portion of the Greek fleet from going round the island of
Salamis, and making their escape through the northwestern channel. By
this means the Greek fleet was environed on every side--hemmed in,
though they were not aware of it, in such a way as to defeat any
attempt which any division might make to retire from the scene.
The first intelligence which the Greeks received of their being thus
surrounded was from an Athenian general named Aristides, who came one
night from the island of AEgina to the Greek fleet, making his way with
great difficulty through the lines of Persian galleys. Aristides had
been, in the political conflicts which had taken place in former years
at Athens, Themistocles's great rival and enemy. He had been defeated in
the contests which had taken place, and had been banished from Athens.
He now, however, made his way through the enemy's lines, incurring, in
doing it, extreme difficulty and danger, in order to inform his
countrymen of their peril, and to assist, if possible, in saving them.
When he reached the Greek fleet, the commanders were in council,
agitating, in angry and incriminating debates, the perpetually recurring
question whether they should retire to the isthmus, or remain where they
were. Aristides called Themistocles out of the council. Themistocles was
very much surprised at seeing his ancient enemy thus unexpectedly
appear. Aristides introduced the conversation by saying that he thought
that at such a crisis they ought to lay aside every private animosity,
and only emulate each other in the efforts and sacrifices which they
could respectively make to defend their country; that he had,
accordingly, come from AEgina to join the fleet, with a view of rendering
any aid that it might be in his power to afford; that it was now wholly
useless to debate the question of retiring to the isthmus, for such a
movement was no longer possible. "The fleet is surrounded," said he.
"The Persian galleys are stationed on every side. It was with the utmost
difficulty that I could make my way through the lines. Even if the whole
assembly, and Eurybiades himself, were resolved on withdrawing to the
isthmus, the thing could not now be done. Return, therefore, and tell
them this, and say that to defend themselves where they are is the only
alternative that now remains."
In reply to this communication, Themistocles said that nothing could
give him greater pleasure than to learn what Aristides had stated. "The
movement which the Persians have made," he said, "was in consequence of
a communication which I myself sent to them. I sent it, in order that
some of our Greeks, who seem so very reluctant to fight, might be
compelled to do so. But you must come yourself into the assembly," he
added, "and make your statement directly to the commanders. They will
not believe it if they hear it from me. Come in, and state what you have
seen."
Aristides accordingly entered the assembly, and informed the officers
who were convened that to retire from their present position was no
longer possible, since the sea to the west was fully guarded by lines of
Persian ships, which had been stationed there to intercept them. He had
just come in himself, he said, from AEgina, and had found great
difficulty in passing through the lines, though he had only a single
small boat, and was favored by the darkness of the night. He was
convinced that the Greek fleet was entirely surrounded.
Having said this, Aristides withdrew. Although he could come, as a
witness, to give his testimony in respect to facts, he was not entitled
to take any part in the deliberations.
The assembly was thrown into a state of the greatest possible excitement
by the intelligence which Aristides had communicated. Instead of
producing harmony among them, it made the discord more violent and
uncontrollable. Of those who had before wished to retire, some were now
enraged that they had not been allowed to do so while the opportunity
remained; others disbelieved Aristides's statements, and were still
eager to go; while the rest, confirmed in their previous determination
to remain where they were, rejoiced to find that retreat was no longer
possible. The debate was confused and violent. It turned, in a great
measure, on the degree of credibility to be attached to the account
which Aristides had given them. Many of the assembly wholly disbelieved
it. It was a stratagem, they maintained, contrived by the Athenian
party, and those who wished to remain, in order to accomplish their end
of keeping the fleet from changing its position.
The doubts, however, which the assembly felt in respect to the truth of
Aristides's tidings were soon dispelled by new and incontestable
evidence; for, while the debate was going on, it was announced that a
large galley--a trireme, as it was called--had come in from the Persian
fleet. This galley proved to be a Greek ship from the island of Tenos,
one which Xerxes, in prosecution of his plan of compelling those
portions of the Grecian territories that he had conquered, or that had
surrendered to him, to furnish forces to aid him in subduing the rest,
had pressed into his service. The commander of this galley, unwilling to
take part against his countrymen in the conflict, had decided to desert
the Persian fleet by taking advantage of the night, and to come over to
the Greeks. The name of the commander of this trireme was Paraetius. He
confirmed fully all that Aristides had said. He assured the Greeks that
they were completely surrounded, and that nothing remained for them but
to prepare, where they were, to meet the attack which would certainly be
made upon them in the morning. The arrival of this trireme was thus of
very essential service to the Greeks. It put an end to their discordant
debates, and united them, one and all, in the work of making resolute
preparations for action. This vessel was also of very essential service
in the conflict itself which ensued; and the Greeks were so grateful to
Paraetius and to his comrades for the adventurous courage which they
displayed in coming over under such circumstances, in such a night, to
espouse the cause and to share the dangers of their countrymen, that
after the battle they caused all their names to be engraved upon a
sacred tripod, made in the most costly manner for the purpose, and then
sent the tripod to be deposited at the oracle of Delphi, where it long
remained a monument of this example of Delian patriotism and fidelity.
As the morning approached, the preparations were carried forward with
ardor and energy, on board both fleets, for the great struggle which was
to ensue. Plans were formed; orders were given; arms were examined and
placed on the decks of the galleys, where they would be most ready at
hand. The officers and soldiers gave mutual charges and instructions to
each other in respect to the care of their friends and the disposal of
their effects--charges and instructions which each one undertook to
execute for his friend in case he should survive him. The commanders
endeavored to animate and encourage their men by cheerful looks, and by
words of confidence and encouragement. They who felt resolute and strong
endeavored to inspirit the weak and irresolute, while those who shrank
from the approaching contest, and dreaded the result of it, concealed
their fears, and endeavored to appear impatient for the battle.
Xerxes caused an elevated seat or throne to be prepared for himself on
an eminence near the shore, upon the main land, in order that he might
be a personal witness of the battle. He had a guard and other attendants
around him. Among these were a number of scribes or secretaries, who
were prepared with writing materials to record the events which might
take place, as they occurred, and especially to register the names of
those whom Xerxes should see distinguishing themselves by their courage
or by their achievements. He justly supposed that these arrangements,
the whole fleet being fully informed in regard to them, would animate
the several commanders with strong emulation, and excite them to make
redoubled exertions to perform their part well. The record which was
thus to be kept, under the personal supervision of the sovereign, was
with a view to punishments too, as well as to honors and rewards; and it
happened in many instances during the battle that ensued, that
commanders, who, after losing their ships, escaped to the shore, were
brought up before Xerxes's throne, and there expiated their fault or
their misfortune, whichever it might have been, by being beheaded on the
spot, without mercy. Some of the officers thus executed were Greeks,
brutally slaughtered for not being successful in fighting, by
compulsion, against their own countrymen.
As the dawn approached, Themistocles called together as many of the
Athenian forces as it was possible to convene, assembling them at a
place upon the shore of Salamis where he could conveniently address
them, and there made a speech to them, as was customary with the Greek
commanders before going into battle. He told them that, in such contests
as that in which they were about to engage, the result depended, not on
the relative numbers of the combatants, but on the resolution and
activity which they displayed. He reminded them of the instances in
which small bodies of men, firmly banded together by a strict
discipline, and animated by courage and energy, had overthrown enemies
whose numbers far exceeded their own. The Persians were more numerous,
he admitted, than they, but still the Greeks would conquer them. If they
faithfully obeyed their orders, and acted strictly and perseveringly in
concert, according to the plans formed by the commanders, and displayed
the usual courage and resolution of Greeks, he was sure of victory.
As soon as Themistocles had finished his speech, he ordered his men to
embark, and the fleet immediately afterward formed itself in battle
array.
Notwithstanding the strictness of the order and discipline which
generally prevailed in Greek armaments of every kind, there was great
excitement and much confusion in the fleet while making all these
preparations, and this excitement and confusion increased continually as
the morning advanced and the hour for the conflict drew nigh. The
passing of boats to and fro, the dashing of the oars, the clangor of the
weapons, the vociferations of orders by the officers and of responses by
the men, mingled with each other in dreadful turmoil, while all the time
the vast squadrons were advancing toward each other, each party of
combatants eager to begin the contest. In fact, so full of wild
excitement was the scene, that at length the battle was found to be
raging on every side, while no one knew or could remember how it began.
Some said that a ship, which had been sent away a short time before to
AEgina to obtain succors, was returning that morning, and that she
commenced the action as she came through the Persian lines. Others said
the Greek squadron advanced as soon as they could see, and attacked the
Persians; and there were some whose imaginations were so much excited by
the scene that they saw a female form portrayed among the dim mists of
the morning, that urged the Greeks onward by beckonings and calls. They
heard her voice, they said, crying to them, "Come on! come on! this is
no time to linger on your oars."
However this may be, the battle was soon furiously raging on every part
of the Bay of Salamis, exhibiting a wide-spread scene of conflict, fury,
rage, despair, and death, such as had then been seldom witnessed in any
naval conflict, and such as human eyes can now never look upon again. In
modern warfare the smoke of the guns soon draws an impenetrable veil
over the scene of horror, and the perpetual thunder of the artillery
overpowers the general din. In a modern battle, therefore, none of the
real horrors of the conflict can either be heard or seen by any
spectator placed beyond the immediate scene of it. The sights and the
sounds are alike buried and concealed beneath the smoke and the noise of
the cannonading. There were, however, no such causes in this case to
obstruct the observations which Xerxes was making from his throne on the
shore. The air was calm, the sky serene, the water was smooth, and the
atmosphere was as transparent and clear at the end of the battle as at
the beginning. Xerxes could discern every ship, and follow it with his
eye in all its motions. He could see who advanced and who retreated. Out
of the hundreds of separate conflicts he could choose any one, and watch
the progress of it from the commencement to the termination. He could
see the combats on the decks, the falling of repulsed assailants into
the water, the weapons broken, the wounded carried away, and swimmers
struggling like insects on the smooth surface of the sea. He could see
the wrecks, too, which were drifted upon the shores, and the captured
galleys, which, after those who defended them had been vanquished--some
killed, others thrown overboard, and others made prisoners--were slowly
towed away by the victors to a place of safety.
There was one incident which occurred in this scene, as Xerxes looked
down upon it from the eminence where he sat, which greatly interested
and excited him, though he was deceived in respect to the true nature of
it. The incident was one of Artemisia's stratagems. It must be premised,
in relating the story, that Artemisia was not without enemies among the
officers of the Persian fleet. Many of them were envious of the high
distinction which she enjoyed, and jealous of the attention which she
received from the king, and of the influence which she possessed over
him. This feeling showed itself very distinctly at the grand council,
when she gave her advice, in connection with that of the other
commanders, to the king. Among the most decided of her enemies was a
certain captain named Damasithymus. Artemisia had had a special quarrel
with him while the fleet was coming through the Hellespont, which,
though settled for the time, left the minds of both parties in a state
of great hostility toward each other.
It happened, in the course of the battle, that the ship which Artemisia
personally commanded and that of Damasithymus were engaged, together
with other Persian vessels, in the same part of the bay; and at a time
when the ardor and confusion of the conflict was at its height, the
galley of Artemisia, and some others that were in company with hers,
became separated from the rest, perhaps by the too eager pursuit of an
enemy, and as other Greek ships came up suddenly to the assistance of
their comrades, the Persian vessels found themselves in great danger,
and began to retreat, followed by their enemies. We speak of the
retreating galleys as Persian, because they were on the Persian side in
the contest, though it happened that they were really ships from Greek
nations, which Xerxes had bribed or forced into his service. The Greeks
knew them to be enemies, by the Persian flag which they bore.
In the retreat, and while the ships were more or less mingled together
in the confusion, Artemisia perceived that the Persian galley nearest
her was that of Damasithymus. She immediately caused her own Persian
flag to be pulled down, and, resorting to such other artifices as might
tend to make her vessel appear to be a Greek galley, she began to act as
if she were one of the pursuers instead of one of the pursued. She bore
down upon the ship of Damasithymus, saying to her crew that to attack
and sink that ship was the only way to save their own lives. They
accordingly attacked it with the utmost fury. The Athenian ships which
were near, seeing Artemisia's galley thus engaged, supposed that it was
one of their own, and pressed on, leaving the vessel of Damasithymus at
Artemisia's mercy. It was such mercy as would be expected of a woman who
would volunteer to take command of a squadron of ships of war, and go
forth on an active campaign to fight for her life among such ferocious
tigers as Greek soldiers always were, considering it all an excursion of
pleasure. Artemisia killed Damasithymus and all of his crew, and sunk
his ship, and then, the crisis of danger being past, she made good her
retreat back to the Persian lines. She probably felt no special
animosity against the crew of this ill-fated vessel, but she thought it
most prudent to leave no man alive to tell the story.
Xerxes watched this transaction from his place on the hill with extreme
interest and pleasure. He saw the vessel of Artemisia bearing down upon
the other, which last he supposed, of course, from Artemisia's attacking
it, was a vessel of the enemy. The only subject of doubt was whether the
attacking ship was really that of Artemisia. The officers who stood
about Xerxes at the time that the transaction occurred assured him that
it was. They knew it well by certain peculiarities in its construction.
Xerxes then watched the progress of the contest with the most eager
interest, and, when he saw the result of it, he praised Artemisia in the
highest terms, saying that the men in his fleet behaved like women,
while the only woman in it behaved like a man.
Thus Artemisia's exploit operated like a double stratagem. Both the
Greeks and the Persians were deceived, and she gained an advantage by
both the deceptions. She saved her life by leading the Greeks to believe
that her galley was their friend, and she gained great glory and renown
among the Persians by making them believe that the vessel which she sunk
was that of an enemy.
Though these and some of the other scenes and incidents which Xerxes
witnessed as he looked down upon the battle gave him pleasure, yet the
curiosity and interest with which he surveyed the opening of the contest
were gradually changed to impatience, vexation, and rage as he saw in
its progress that the Greeks were every where gaining the victory.
Notwithstanding the discord and animosity which had reigned among the
commanders in their councils and debates, the men were united, resolute,
and firm when the time arrived for action; and they fought with such
desperate courage and activity, and, at the same time, with so much
coolness, circumspection, and discipline, that the Persian lines were,
before many hours, every where compelled to give way. A striking example
of the indomitable and efficient resolution which, on such occasions,
always characterized the Greeks, was shown in the conduct of Aristides.
The reader will recollect that the Persians, on the night before the
battle, had taken possession of the island of Psyttalia--which was near
the center of the scene of contest--for the double purpose of enabling
themselves to use it as a place of refuge and retreat during the battle,
and of preventing their enemies from doing so. Now Aristides had no
command. He had been expelled from Athens by the influence of
Themistocles and his other enemies. He had come across from AEgina to the
fleet at Salamis, alone, to give his countrymen information of the
dispositions which the Persians had made for surrounding them. When the
battle began, he had been left, it seems, on the shore of Salamis a
spectator. There was a small body of troops left there also, as a guard
to the shore. In the course of the combat, when Aristides found that the
services of this guard were no longer likely to be required where they
were, he placed himself at the head of them, obtained possession of
boats or a galley, transported the men across the channel, landed them
on the island of Psyttalia, conquered the post, and killed every man
that the Persians had stationed there.
When the day was spent, and the evening came on, it was found that the
result of the battle was a Greek victory, and yet it was not a victory
so decisive as to compel the Persians wholly to retire. Vast numbers of
the Persian ships were destroyed, but still so many remained, that when
at night they drew back from the scene of the conflict, toward their
anchorage ground at Phalerum, the Greeks were very willing to leave them
unmolested there. The Greeks, in fact, had full employment on the
following day in reassembling the scattered remnants of their own fleet,
repairing the damages that they had sustained, taking care of their
wounded men, and, in a word, attending to the thousand urgent and
pressing exigencies always arising in the service of a fleet after a
battle, even when it has been victorious in the contest. They did not
know in exactly what condition the Persian fleet had been left, nor how
far there might be danger of a renewal of the conflict on the following
day. They devoted all their time and attention, therefore, to
strengthening their defenses and reorganizing the fleet, so as to be
ready in case a new assault should be made upon them.
But Xerxes had no intention of any new attack. The loss of this battle
gave a final blow to his expectations of being able to carry his
conquests in Greece any further. He too, like the Greeks, employed his
men in industrious and vigorous efforts to repair the damages which had
been done, and to reassemble and reorganize that portion of the fleet
which had not been destroyed. While, however, his men were doing this,
he was himself revolving in his mind, moodily and despairingly, plans,
not for new conflicts, but for the safest and speediest way of making
his own personal escape from the dangers around him, back to his home in
Susa.
In the mean time, the surface of the sea, far and wide in every
direction, was covered with the wrecks, and remnants, and fragments
strewed over it by the battle. Dismantled hulks, masses of entangled
spars and rigging, broken oars, weapons of every description, and the
swollen and ghastly bodies of the dead, floated on the rolling swell of
the sea wherever the winds or the currents carried them. At length many
of these mournful memorials of the strife found their way across the
whole breadth of the Mediterranean, and were driven up upon the beach on
the coast of Africa, at a barbarous country called Colias. The savages
dragged the fragments up out of the sand to use as fuel for their
fires, pleased with their unexpected acquisitions, but wholly ignorant,
of course, of the nature of the dreadful tragedy to which their coming
was due. The circumstance, however, explained to the Greeks an ancient
prophecy which had been uttered long before in Athens, and which the
interpreters of such mysteries had never been able to understand. The
prophecy was this:
The Colian dames on Afric's shores
Shall roast their food with Persian oars.