Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

And they want to pull the fleet back to guard those works, so the fortification of the Peloponnese. And the Athenians point out to them that that means defending the Peloponnese in open waters against the superior Persian fleet, which would go badly. And so everything will go to pieces if they do that.

And they even threaten to leave the alliance and sail off to Italy, essentially leaving them all in the lurch because they just aren't finding that the allies are willing to help them to take back their own land. And so they threaten to leave, which finally pulls the other allies over the line to say, okay, well, fine, we'll make a stand at Salamis.

And they even threaten to leave the alliance and sail off to Italy, essentially leaving them all in the lurch because they just aren't finding that the allies are willing to help them to take back their own land. And so they threaten to leave, which finally pulls the other allies over the line to say, okay, well, fine, we'll make a stand at Salamis.

And they even threaten to leave the alliance and sail off to Italy, essentially leaving them all in the lurch because they just aren't finding that the allies are willing to help them to take back their own land. And so they threaten to leave, which finally pulls the other allies over the line to say, okay, well, fine, we'll make a stand at Salamis.

But he still has to trick the Persians into accepting that fight. So he draws them into this narrow strait where the superior seamanship of the Phoenicians in the Persian fleet isn't going to come to their advantage.

But he still has to trick the Persians into accepting that fight. So he draws them into this narrow strait where the superior seamanship of the Phoenicians in the Persian fleet isn't going to come to their advantage.

But he still has to trick the Persians into accepting that fight. So he draws them into this narrow strait where the superior seamanship of the Phoenicians in the Persian fleet isn't going to come to their advantage.

That's right. So they may or may not have invented the trireme. It's a little bit obscure, but the Greeks wouldn't believe that if they didn't credit the Corinthians. So you have this fleet being drawn into the narrows, and then it just becomes a really sort of messy bun fight.

That's right. So they may or may not have invented the trireme. It's a little bit obscure, but the Greeks wouldn't believe that if they didn't credit the Corinthians. So you have this fleet being drawn into the narrows, and then it just becomes a really sort of messy bun fight.

That's right. So they may or may not have invented the trireme. It's a little bit obscure, but the Greeks wouldn't believe that if they didn't credit the Corinthians. So you have this fleet being drawn into the narrows, and then it just becomes a really sort of messy bun fight.

Essentially, because there's no room to maneuver, you're really just going at whatever you can target, whatever you can see. And it's very messy, but the Greeks managed to, or the Greek allies, I should stress here, because many of the ships in the Persian fleet were Greek.

Essentially, because there's no room to maneuver, you're really just going at whatever you can target, whatever you can see. And it's very messy, but the Greeks managed to, or the Greek allies, I should stress here, because many of the ships in the Persian fleet were Greek.

Essentially, because there's no room to maneuver, you're really just going at whatever you can target, whatever you can see. And it's very messy, but the Greeks managed to, or the Greek allies, I should stress here, because many of the ships in the Persian fleet were Greek.

They were the Greeks of Asia Minor, the Greeks of Western Turkey, who had been subjected and forced to commit to naval service for the king. So many of the allied Greeks actually managed to prevail over individual ships, and this is how they end up winning this sort of attritional battle in the Straits of Salamis.

They were the Greeks of Asia Minor, the Greeks of Western Turkey, who had been subjected and forced to commit to naval service for the king. So many of the allied Greeks actually managed to prevail over individual ships, and this is how they end up winning this sort of attritional battle in the Straits of Salamis.

They were the Greeks of Asia Minor, the Greeks of Western Turkey, who had been subjected and forced to commit to naval service for the king. So many of the allied Greeks actually managed to prevail over individual ships, and this is how they end up winning this sort of attritional battle in the Straits of Salamis.

Yeah, so the narrative is that one of the commanders of the fleet that Xerxes has drafted from his subjects in Asia Minor is the Queen Artemisia, who is Queen of Halicarnassus, which is actually Herodotus' hometown. And so she leads a small contingent like five ships. I mean, many of these other states have dozens, if not more. And so she has a very small contingent.

Yeah, so the narrative is that one of the commanders of the fleet that Xerxes has drafted from his subjects in Asia Minor is the Queen Artemisia, who is Queen of Halicarnassus, which is actually Herodotus' hometown. And so she leads a small contingent like five ships. I mean, many of these other states have dozens, if not more. And so she has a very small contingent.

Yeah, so the narrative is that one of the commanders of the fleet that Xerxes has drafted from his subjects in Asia Minor is the Queen Artemisia, who is Queen of Halicarnassus, which is actually Herodotus' hometown. And so she leads a small contingent like five ships. I mean, many of these other states have dozens, if not more. And so she has a very small contingent.

But for Herodotus, she is massively interesting because he's interested in exceptions. He's interested in exceptional things. And so when a woman commands a military force, you know, that is something that he wants to talk about. That is something that he's fascinated by. And he's, he's very explicit about this. He doesn't sort of want to give the impression that he's doing so unfairly.