Salamis (1 Viewer)

[jess04]

i have to do an essay about the battle and found this 'Using Themistocles' strategy, the lighter Greek ships rowed out in a circular formation and rammed the front of their ships into the clumsy Persian vessels. At the same time they continuously "threw darts and stones upon the men. The Greek war galleys were specially designed for this kind of fighting- long and slim, packed with rowers below and soldiers on the light upper deck." (Compton's Encyclopedia: Page 27) Using this attack plan, about two hundred ships were sunk, some were captured and the rest fled back to the bases in Asia Minor.'

i can't seem to find any further eveidce to back this up, can someone plz tell of this is correct Thanku

 

[classics_chic]

You have to read the main sources (i.e. Herodotos and possibly Plutarch) to get the proper info on that. Herodotos tells it really well. I don't remember the details off hand, but you can't find these things out from an all-round encyclopaedia or the internet. They're not worth your time for ancient history!

 

[The Bograt]

Here is a site that talks about the kyklos (circular formation) tactic as well as other Greek manouveres. I used it in my Greek Navy presentation:
http://www.inisfail.com/~ancients/greek-naval.html

Herodotus is very good for Salamis, but be careful of his ship numbers and statistics because he tends to exagerrate...

Hope that helps

Also dont forget to mention the trick played by Themistocles, as this was an important part of his 'strategy'. He tricked the Persians into coming to attack him (by sending spies), allowing him to choose the battlefield, which is an important part of a successful attack.