Battle of Salamis (306 BC)
Battle of Salamis | |||||||||
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Part of the Wars of the Diadochi | |||||||||
19th-century depiction of the battle between Ptolemy and Demetrius Poliorcetes off Salamis. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Antigonid dynasty Athens | Ptolemaic dynasty | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Demetrius Poliorcetes Medius of Larissa | ) | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
c. 180 warships (30 Athenian) |
60 warships (Menelaus) 140 warships & 200 transports (Ptolemy) | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
20 warships damaged |
80 warships lost 40 warships and 100 transports captured Menelaus' force surrenders | ||||||||
The naval Battle of Salamis in 306 BC took place off
Cyprus had been seized by Ptolemy, and was used as a base for operations against the Antigonid territories in
Background
During the
Crossing the Aegean, Demetrius made for the coast of
Siege of Salamis and Ptolemy's arrival in Cyprus
Demetrius landed on the
Following the battle, Menelaus hastily made ready for a siege of Salamis, mounting catapults on the walls, and sent messengers to his brother for aid. Demetrius also began preparations for the first of the sieges that would earn Demetrius his later nickname of "Poliorcetes" ("the Besieger"): skilled craftsmen and large quantities of wood and iron were brought from Asia to begin constructing large
In the meantime, in response to his brother's appeals, Ptolemy himself had sailed from
Ptolemy decided to try to make a night dash from
As Ptolemy's fleet came into view of the city right after dawn on the day of the battle, they found Demetrius' fleet deployed and waiting for them. His fleet augmented to some 180 vessels with ships captured in Cyprus, Demetrius concentrated the bulk against Ptolemy, leaving only 10 quinqueremes under Antisthenes to blockade the narrow exit of the harbour of Salamis and prevent or at least delay Menelaus' intervention. Demetrius had gathered his best ships—the seven Phoenician heptereis, the Athenian squadron, and behind them 10 hexereis and 10 quinqueremes—on the left, under command of the admiral Medius of Larissa. Medius was apparently the actual overall commander of the fleet, although Demetrius himself was also present on the left wing on his flagship, a hepteres. His centre comprised the lightest vessels in his fleet, under the command of Themison of Samos and Marsyas of Pella, while the right was entrusted to Hegesippus of Halicarnassus and Pleistias of Cos, the chief pilot (archikybernetes, the second-in-command after Medius) of the fleet.[17][18] Ptolemy quickly matched his fleet to mirror his opponent's dispositions: he ordered the transports carrying his army to fall back, and massed the largest ships of his fleet on his own left, which he commanded in person.[12][19] As the historian Richard Billows writes, "the battle was in effect a race to see which of the two dynasts could first defeat the enemy's right wing and turn to attack the enemy's center", with the "added question of whether or not Menelaus would succeed in breaking out of Salamis in time to intervene".[20]
According to Diodorus Siculus, who provides the fullest, and probably most reliable, account of the battle,[21] when the two fleets were about three stadia apart, both Demetrius and Ptolemy raised the signal to attack (a gilded shield), and the two fleets charged each other.[22] Diodorus describes the ramming and boarding actions, as well as the missile exchanges, that dominated the fight:
[U]sing their bows and their ballistae at first, then their javelins in a shower, the men wounded those who were within range; then when the ships had come close together and the encounter was about to take place with violence, the soldiers on the decks crouched down and the oarsmen, spurred on by the signalmen, bent more desperately to their oars. As the ships drove together with force and violence, in some cases they swept off each other's oars so that the ships became useless for flight or pursuit, and the men who were on board, though eager for a fight, were prevented from joining in the battle; but where the ships had met prow to prow with their rams, they drew back for another charge, and the soldiers on board shot at each other with effect since the mark was close at hand for each party. Some of the men, when their captains had delivered a broadside blow and the rams had become firmly fixed, leaped aboard the ships of the enemy, receiving and giving severe wounds; for certain of them, after grasping the rail of a ship that was drawing near, missed their footing, fell into the sea, and at once were killed with spears by those who stood above them; and others, making good their intent, slew some of the enemy and, forcing others along the narrow deck, drove them into the sea. As a whole the fighting was varied and full of surprises: many times those who were weaker got the upper hand because of the height of their ships, and those who were stronger were foiled by inferiority of position and by the irregularity with which things happen in fighting of this kind.
— Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, [23]
Demetrius himself won distinction for his bravery when Ptolemy's men boarded his flagship, "by hurling his javelins at some of them and by striking others at close range with his spear", despite being himself subject to "many missiles of all sorts". Of his three bodyguards, who tried to protect him with their shields, one was killed and the others severely wounded.[24] The Athenians also fought with distinction, as Demetrius awarded 1,200 suits of armour to Athens from the spoils taken.[20] In the end, both left wings proved victorious, but it was Demetrius who won the race: by the time Ptolemy turned to attack Demetrius' centre, he found the rest of his fleet already defeated and in flight. Menelaus' 60 ships meanwhile, under the command of Menoetius, managed to break through Demetrius' blockade, only to find the battle already lost.[20][25]
Aftermath of the battle
Demetrius tasked Neon and Burichus with pursuing the defeated enemy and picking up the men from the sea, and returned in triumph to his camp. According to Diodorus, his fleet had only lost 20 damaged ships, all of which returned to service after repairs, while Ptolemy's fleet had lost 80 ships. More importantly, Demetrius' forces had captured fully 40 of Ptolemy's warships intact with their crews, as well as over a hundred of the transports with some 8,000 troops aboard.[20][26] Plutarch goes further, claiming that Ptolemy managed to save only eight of his ships, and that 70 of Ptolemy's ships were captured.[27] Among the numerous prisoners taken by Demetrius was the courtesan Lamia of Athens, who later became the mistress of Demetrius, as well as Leontiscus, one of Ptolemy's sons.[28] Demetrius sent his flagship to Syria with Aristodemus of Miletus to report the victory to Antigonus.[29][30][31]
Following his defeat, Ptolemy retreated to Egypt, and Menelaus was forced to surrender Salamis and its garrison, further increasing Demetrius' strength. Demetrius then moved to take over the rest of Cyprus, taking over the garrisons into his own army as well. According to Diodorus, the total strength added to his forces thus were 16,000 infantry and 800 cavalry.[29][30][32] Despite their rivalry, the relationship between Ptolemy and Demetrius was characterized by a mutual respect and chivalrous conduct: after the Ptolemaic victory at Gaza in spring 312 BC Ptolemy had unconditionally released the captives and baggage train of Demetrius',[33] a gesture reciprocated by Demetrius after his success at Myus in the next year.[34] Demetrius honoured this after Salamis as well, immediately releasing Menelaus and other relatives and friends of Ptolemy who had been captured with their personal possessions.[29][35] When Ptolemy recaptured Cyprus in 295 BC, and found Demetrius' mother and children at Salamis, he again reciprocated by immediately releasing them.[36]
Impact
The victory at Salamis was used by Antigonus as a suitable pretext for his own proclamation as king (basileus), the Macedonian throne having lain vacant since the murder of Alexander IV of Macedon by Cassander in 309 BC. At the same time, Demetrius was raised to co-king alongside his father.[37][38] Antigonus' assumption of the royal title was followed by an attempt to eliminate Ptolemy for good in a massive, but failed, invasion of Egypt in autumn 306,[39] and then by the celebrated, but equally unsuccessful, Siege of Rhodes by Demetrius in 305–304 BC.[40] Finally, in 302 BC the remaining dynasts—Ptolemy, Cassander, Seleucus, and Lysimachus—having in turn assumed the royal title themselves, allied against Antigonus and defeated him in the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. Antigonus was killed, and his realm was broken up and divided among the victors.[41] Demetrius survived the battle, and thanks to his large fleet managed to maintain control of a coastal and insular realm encompassing Cyprus, the Cyclades, Sidon, Tyre, Corinth, and the major cities of western Asia Minor. During the next years, Cyprus became a base of operations for Demetrius in the Levant, and for his imposition of control over Athens and southern Greece. During his absence in Greece, however, Ptolemy seized Cyprus in 295 BC.[42]
The Battle of Salamis is proposed by modern scholars as one of three possible naval battles—along with the
Notes
- ^ This number is given by Diodorus Siculus (20.49.2) as well as Polyaenus (Stratagems in War, 4.7.7), while Plutarch (Demetrius, 16.1) mentions 150 warships.
References
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 151–152.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 146–151.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 151, 227.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 151, 202–203, 207–208.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 151–152, 153 (note 38).
- ^ a b c d Billows 1990, p. 152.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.47.2.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.47.2–4.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.47.7–8 & 20.48.1–3.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.48.4–7.
- ^ a b Billows 1990, p. 153.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.49.1–2.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 15.2.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 153–154.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.49.3–5, 20.50.5.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 153–154, 267.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.50.1–4.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.50.5–6.
- ^ a b c d Billows 1990, p. 154.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 154–155 (note 39).
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.51.1–2.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.51.2–5.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.52.1–2.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.52.3 & 20.52.5.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.52.4 & 20.52.6.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 16.2.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 16.3–4.
- ^ a b c Billows 1990, p. 155.
- ^ a b Diodorus Siculus, 20.53.1.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius 17.2.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 16.4.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 5.2–3.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 6.2–3.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 17.1.
- ^ Plutarch, Demetrius, 35.3 & 38.1.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 155–159.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 20.53.2.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 162–164.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 164–169.
- ^ Billows 1990, pp. 169–185.
- ^ Murray 2012, pp. 121–122.
- S2CID 162404047.
Sources
- ISBN 0-520-20880-3.
- ISBN 978-0-674994294.
- Murray, William (2012). The Age of Titans, the Rise and Fall of the Great Hellenistic Navies. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-538864-0.
- ISBN 978-0-674991125.