Unorthodox Angles/Andrew Gramling
Echoes from History: The Last Stand Before Unity Part V
The island of Salamis, south of the Strait of Artemisium, was chosen as a major destination for the Athenians during their evacuation because it was the island nearest to Athens, separated only by the Strait of Salamis. It was due to the familiarity with this region, and because of the strategic value of the narrow strait, that it was chosen as the next staging area for the confrontation at sea with the Persians. The Persian land army had already reached Athens, setting ablaze every building in the area, including the Acropolis, though the Acropolis was not completely destroyed. The Athenians, watching in horror as the smoke rose above Athens from afar, knew they had lost their beloved city, but were fortunate enough to have kept their lives, and their loss fueled the fire of war even further. As the allied Greek fleet readied itself for another major wave of confrontation with a renewed sense of urgency, more reports of the details about what happened at Thermopylae from survivors made their way to Salamis and elsewhere that began to craft the larger picture.
The Greek land army under the command of King Leonidas had valiantly and effectively held off the Persian army at the pass despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, but Ephialtes of Trachis, being a local to the area, knew of a way to bypass the Greek army’s position and whispered words of treachery behind the backs of his fellow Greeks in hopes of securing a reward for himself.
As Xerxes knew that his current strategy of sending his troops to the wall to be slaughtered by the impenetrable Greek phalanx was in need of reformulation, he immediately saw the value of what Ephialtes proposed, and dispatched his elite troops, The Immortals, led by commander Hydarnes, to travel across the Anopaea path through the Kallidromos Mountains to outflank the Greeks from behind, and put an end to their impudent standoff.
The Immortals, while traveling across the Anopaea path, unexpectedly encountered the Phocians. Being that this was the region of Phocis, and knowing these mountains better than any other Greeks, the Phocians were entrusted by Leonidas to guard the secret path in the unlikely event that it would be scouted by Persian eyes.
The unlikely became the reality with the help of Ephialtes. Believing themselves to be the intended targets of the incursion, the Phocians retreated further up into the mountains to dig in and prepare for a last stand with The Immortals; however, when they were not followed, it was then that they realized, and realized too late, that the Immortals had a much different plan.
Greek scouts stationed in the mountains caught sight of the Immortals’ breach of the pass and immediately descended the slopes to report it to Leonidas. It was at that moment that Leonidas realized his campaign was over, and so much more. Spartans who experience the harsh trials of the agoge are repeatedly conditioned to believe that standing one’s ground at all costs is what makes a true Spartan. To surrender to one’s enemy or to retreat was considered not only dishonorable to oneself, but also to one’s family, and further beyond to Sparta itself. It was for this reason that Leonidas could not leave, nor could he send his fellow Spartans away, because from the moment they decided to march to Thermopylae and hold the pass, they knew that they were making a commitment with their lives.
Leonidas did, however, send most of the allied forces away, presumably so they could live to fight another day, though the Thespians and the Thebans remained with the Spartans to fight to the end. When the Immortals closed in on the Greeks from behind, the phalanx battle formation became useless, and the battle began to take on the characteristics of a brawl, with warriors fighting fiercely mainly with swords and shields in open combat throughout the pass.
Leonidas was said to have fought most ferociously, being the battlemaster, and fueled by the knowledge that this was the last effort he would ever make in his life. He was, however, killed relatively early in the final confrontation as defense was thrown haphazardly to the side in a blaze of glory and desperation. A tug of war in the literal sense began for Leonidas’ lifeless body as a matter of honor for the remaining Spartans, but nearly everyone’s fate had already been signed off by greater circumstances. Most of the Greeks were killed during the last stand, but some survived to tell the story that would be passed on to countless succeeding generations.
Uncharacteristically, Xerxes had Leonidas beheaded and crucified in the aftermath of the battle. One can only speculate why, because it was known that Persians have a custom of treating the opposition with honor in death or in captivity, sometimes even going so far as to celebrate them as one would a hero. One possibility is that the defiance of such a small contingent of soldiers in the face of an unstoppable coalition of Xerxes’ subjects had angered him and put his personal pride on the line, but it will never be fully known. Ephialtes the traitor, never received his reward for selling out his fellow Greeks, and a price was put on his head for his actions. He was never apprehended nor punished for his treasonous act, but he was killed in an unrelated personal dispute, and his name became known in history as synonymous with the very same spirit of betrayal that led to the deaths of many Greek defenders of freedom.
Following the defeat at Thermopylae, and the withdrawal of the Greek navy from the Strait of Artemisium, Themistocles once again displayed his brilliance in the art of warfare. In order to lure the Persian fleet into yet another narrow strait to limit their ability to maneuver and fight openly, Themistocles sent a secret message to Xerxes that some members of the Greek fleet stationed at Salamis were ready to defect, leaving the fleet itself in disarray. Xerxes not only took the message seriously and ordered the fleet to Salamis, but he also had a throne set up onshore to view his greatest moment of triumph and the end of the Greek opposition.
To Xerxes’ great disappointment, the Greek fleet appeared battle-ready and unified, and didn’t hesitate to once again use the terrain to their advantage just as they had done at Artemisium. This time, he witnessed the destruction of the main body of his fleet, and not just another loss that can be endured. This meant that Persian supply lines would be disrupted, causing increased desperation for Xerxes’ land forces. A large portion of the army could no longer be supported, which forced Xerxes to send a large number of them back to Asia. While this was the first decisive victory for the Greeks during the second Greco-Persian War, the battle that would decide everything still remained on the horizon.
