Ahssan  Rasha

NAVAL TACTICS AT THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS

Authors

Ahssan Rasha

Keywords:

Greco-Persian wars, Athens, Salamis, tactics, fleet, Herodotus, Aeschylus.

Abstract

The naval battle of Salamis between the Greeks and Persians in 480 BC was one of the most famous battles in ancient history. The article considers a number of debatable questions about the preparation and course of the Salamis battle. The data on the number of Greek and Persian ships given in the sources, especially those of Herodotus and Aeschylus, and the discussion regarding this problem in modern historiography are analyzed. Attention was paid to the naval maneuvers conducted by the Athenian and other Greek ships, which allowed the Greeks, despite the small number of their ships compared to the Persians, to defeat the Persian fleet and inflict heavy losses on it. It is concluded that in the Strait of Salamis, the Athenians used the bulkiness of their ships to their advantage in combination with their naval tactics.

NAVAL TACTICS AT THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS