Battle of Salamis

[JB]

So I know the basics. The greeks tricked the persians into the bay and their ships were destroyed by the low tide. That's about it. I would like to know some of your opinions, if I may call them that, on the way the battle happened! Thanks

JB

[Alan Kirkland]

The naval technology of the Greeks had a great deal to do with it as well. The trireme was a highly specialized type of fighting vessel; it was made to operate with a crew and captain who knew how to utilize its advantages. The Persians, while they had some ships of similar type, were primarily made for transporting troops rather than ship-to-ship fighting. Alcibiades knew this, and even though surely daunted by the sheer numbers of the Persians, found a way to exploit the geography of the field to nullify his opponent's superior numbers. The engagement itself was resolved by hard fighting and the better seamanship of the Greeks, and certainly decided by the fighting spirit that drove the outnumbered Greeks.

Salamis and Thermopylae both are examples of using a concentration of available forces in a tactically advantageous position, nullifying an opposing force's superior numbers and striking an exposed flank. By using the bay of Salamis as the battleground of his own choosing, Alcibiades put the massive Persian fleet to disadvantage by squeezing it into a space to confined for its numbers to maneuver. The Persians were not seamen by inclination or natural cultural development, they used impressed Greeks from Asia Minor and Phoenician mercenaries to offset their own naval deficiencies. The Greeks were blue-water sailors fighting to keep their independence, so their incentive to use every strategem and deception to lure the Persians into an area of water they knew and their opponents didn't was very great.

The Greeks used their brains as well as their weapons, the Persians just tried to use superior numbers. The Persians should have studied their enemy better, and not tried to fight in unfamiliar territory without at least an equal level of naval skill.

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