Avenging Leonidas - The Battle of Salamis: The Largest Naval Battle in Antiquity (480BC) DOCUMENTARY

Following the brutal Aftermath of the Battle of Thermopylae a Spartan king lay dead and the city of Athens was in flames. Now the Greek alliance stands on the brink of total defeat. Their last hope of Avenging Leonidas and turning the tides of the Second Greco Persian War lies now with the Battle of Salamis.

In this episode we break down the Herodotus account of this most famous of ancient battles. We begin with the preparations of the armies, followed by the battle plans, the mind games, and the deployment of the fleets before finally unravelling the Battle of Salamis itself.

Sources and Suggested Reading
Campbell, B. (ed). The Oxford Handbook of Warfare in the Classical World. Oxford University Press, USA, 2013.
Fields, N. Ancient Greek Warship. Osprey Publishing, 2007.
Herodotus & John M. Marincola & Aubrey de Salincourt. The Histories. Penguin, 2003.
Hornblower, S. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press, USA, 2012.
Kinzl, K.H. (ed). A Companion to the Classical Greek World. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Shepherd, W. Salamis 480 BC. Osprey Publishing, 2010.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
03:05 Athens Has Fallen
04:34 The Greek War Council
07:44 Preparations for Battle
11:20 The Persian War Council
13:57 Themistocles' Trick
15:59 The Battle of Salamis
20:33 The Persian Disaster

Credits:
Research = Invicta
Script = Invicta
Narration = Invicta
Artwork = Penta Limited

#history
#documentary
#greek

[thetayz]

I like how the Persians cutting off any escape by the Greeks may have inadvertently aided the Greeks by causing them all to agree to fight.

[ZDavidH]

Once you go to Greece and visit their ancient history and important places... Then you can imagine how that war was. I remember to visit Delphi and the guide was speaking about the history of the place and curiosities and mentally I was finishing all her sentences. Greece, what an amazing country, greetings from Spain.

[tymajenga]

Sea battles always make me wonder how many thousands of men could have been saved had they simply known how to swim. And how terrifying sailing would be without that survival skill.

[FlaviusBelisarius-ckuv]

My greatest sadness is knowing what will become of Themistocles later; slandered and libeled by jealous political rivals in Athens, eventually being ostracized and exiled totally and then later sentenced to death by the Spartans, being totally betrayed and abandoned by his countrymen.

And I suppose that’s where Persia gets it’s redemption in his story. Themistocles flees for his life and ends up presenting himself before Artaxerxes I. That’s right, he flees to the ACHAEMENID EMPIRE, to those who had once been his greatest enemies and offers himself in the service of the Persian Emperor, who treated him with honor and dignity as befitting a worthy opponent. Themistocles never returned to Athens or to Greece as a whole. He was made a regional governor (Satrap) in the empire and died there, as one of them.

[LakshmiPraveenDiaries]

I like that how Xerxes The Great got enlightened by the statement of Artemisia. I am always impressed with the Persian army!!!😊

[furushala]

For those confused, this is the largest naval battle in terms of ships involved. Cape Ecnomus is the largest battle in terms of manpower.

[freedombro]

I've been waiting 3 weeks for another banger from this channel, thank you .
Imo real history is where it is at, not fiction .

[jamesstramer]

Themistokles and Scipio Africanus. Two men who saved their nations from near destruction only to be sidelined, humiliated and finally driven out.

[ManiusCuriusDenatus]

"The wooden wall shall not fail."

[klaudioabazi]

The Battle of Salamis is a curious case where the Leadership was the Decisive Factor. Themistocles brilliant deception put the Greeks in the into a corner where they had to fight, and Xerxes in a Position where he wanted to fight as quickly as possible. Genius Leadership like that is what wins Wars. Ironically though, the fates would turn on Themistocles, and he would end up as the Persian's guest in his later years.

[TetsuShima]

Spartans battling to death: "FOR LEONIDAS' HONOR"
Persians battling to death: "FOR CYRUS' LEGACY!!!"
Romans founding the Republic: "Damn, creating a democratic system is killing us!" 🥵

[WarshMeh]

How did this video get any thumbs down! It was near flawless...Love both parts!

[kilotun]

I like the bit where Artemisia rams an allied ship and just kinda runs with it.

[DukeCannon]

How I would love to have seen such a battle. Incredible.

[shulax]

@Invicta I live in S. Korea and here they always claim that Admiral Yi Sun Sin was the greatest Admiral in history becasue of his victories over the Japanese during the Imjin war.. during these discussions I always bring up that they are overlooking Themistocles and the Battle of Salamis.. @Invicta Please make a video comparing the two to settle this once and for all..

[theconservativeknight]

Ah yes, the legendary battle of salamies

[mj-gltv]

Great video ! Although I think the title for the largest naval battle of classical antiquity goes to the battle of Ecnomus in The First Punic War

[emperorkgb]

Decided to take a break from Mobile Suit Gundam, the federation has a battleship called the Salamis- class, wild!

[Sp-zjhw]

In the war council the Athenians threatened the Spartans that they would go and settle to Magna Grecia in Italy and leave them alone. Imagine that "what if" scenario. I believe it would lead to a Greek Italiotic naval empire facing the Persians in a war equivalent to the Punic.

[dale]

The visuals were particularly good in this video