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ANGUS BOWIE

Queen’s College, Oxford

A bay on the most northerly point of the island of EUBOEA (BA 55 E2) with a temple of ARTEMIS Proseoea (“To the East”). Artemisium was the site of the first naval encounters between the Greeks and XERXES’ forces over three days, most likely in late August 480 BCE, though Herodotus’ CHRONOLOGY (and indeed his account of events) is problematic (8.1–20). The final battle was contemporaneous with the defeat of the Spartans on the mainland at THERMOPYLAE.

Artemisium is now the bay of Pevki where Potoki stands. It commands a channel hemmed in to the north by the peninsula of MAGNESIA and the island of SCIATHOS. When asked for help by the Thessalians, it was here that the Greeks, gathered at the ISTHMUS, decided to position their fleet to block the Persian advance, with their land forces sent to hold the pass of Thermopylae. This enabled the two forces to keep in contact, and the Greek fleet could watch for Persian maneuvers, while it would be difficult for the Persians to use their numerical superiority in a battle (though even at its narrowest point the channel is still five miles across). Stationing the fleet there was also intended to prevent the Persians landing troops in northern Euboea and moving south towards CHALCIS, thus blocking any Greek retreat through the EURIPUS channel between Euboea and BOEOTIA. The Greeks could also escape from their position out to SEA, east of Euboea.

Figure 6 Map of the Battle of Artemisium. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thermopylae_%26_Artemisium_campaign_map.png. Aegean_Sea_map_bathymetry‐fr.svg: Eric Gaba (Sting – fr:Sting) derivative work: MinisterForBadTimes [CC BY‐SA 3.0].

They abandoned Artemisium briefly on news of the Persian success against a small Greek advance guard, but soon returned encouraged by the damage to the Persian fleet caused by the great storm off Mt. PELION, which they learned of from SCYLLIAS the diver. The Greeks were surprised to find the Persian fleet gathered in numbers at APHETAE on the coast opposite (most probably on the bay now called Platania). The Persians meanwhile sent a fleet of 200 ships east and then south in order to sail round Euboea and attempt to cut off any Greek retreat down the Euripus. News of this too was brought to the Greeks by Scyllias. To the surprise of the Persians, the Greek ships, despite their smaller numbers, launched an attack late in the day (perhaps so that there was not time for anything really disastrous to happen), hoping to gain some idea of Persian naval tactics. Exactly what happened is not entirely clear from Herodotus’ account, but a frontal attack brought considerable success and they captured thirty Persian ships. This, and further bad WEATHER, demoralized the Persians who did nothing; fifty‐three Athenian ships then reinforced the Greeks, and on the next day they repeated their afternoon attack against some Cilician ships (possibly a remnant of the 200 sent round Euboea). Unbeknown to the Persians at the time, the ships sent round Euboea perished in the storm at the “HOLLOWS OF EUBOEA” (location uncertain).

Finally, on the third day, the Persians, shamed by their failures against so few ships and fearing Xerxes’ reaction, decided to make a noon‐day attack and attempted to encircle the Greeks. Their numbers caused problems of congestion, but pride kept them going. Losses were considerable on both sides, though greater on the Persian; the Egyptians and Athenians were the best performers on the two sides. The Greeks were left in control of the wreckage and the dead, but, after what they had gone through, and with half of the Athenian ships damaged, they thought about retreating south themselves. THEMISTOCLES got the Greeks to light fires that night, to convince the Persians that they were not retreating, but this was to cover their withdrawal. It may be that Artemisium had taught him that the Greeks needed to fight in rather narrower waters.

News then came, from the Athenian ABRONICHUS, who was with LEONIDAS for the purpose, of the fate of the Spartans at Thermopylae, and the Greeks immediately retreated south through the Euripus. As he left, Themistocles wrote INSCRIPTIONS, at the watering‐places which the IONIANS in Xerxes’ fleet would visit, encouraging the Ionians to remember their consanguinity with the Athenians and either to come over to him or to make little effort in subsequent battles (the Ionians in fact always fought hard for the Persians). The Greeks had been roughly handled, but must have taken some encouragement from their performance, and the Spartan bravery at Thermopylae offered inspiration. PINDAR said of Artemisium (in a dithyramb for the Athenians) that it was “where the Athenians laid the shining foundation‐stone of liberty” (F77 S‐M); scant fragments of an elegiac poem on it by SIMONIDES remain (FF 1‐4 West, IEG ² ).

The account of Artemisium illustrates a general feature of Herodotus’ battle narratives: they are linked together by structural similarities. He says that Artemisium and Thermopylae were fought on the same three days, the defense of the pass being equivalent to the defense of the Euripus channel (8.15.2), but the parallelisms go further. In each location there is a similar pattern of two inconclusive battles followed by a conclusive one; in each episode, the Peloponnesians wish to retreat; the Persians carry out a “flanking maneuver,” at Thermopylae successfully taking the Greeks by surprise, but at Artemisium having less success; and the exiled Spartan king, DEMARATUS, features in an episode before each battle. Later, SALAMIS is also linked to Artemisium, both of which feature crucial secretive actions by Themistocles: at Artemisium, he treats secretly with EURYBIADES, ADEIMANTUS, and the Euboeans; and at Salamis, with MNESIPHILUS (8.57) and Xerxes (8.75), while Eurybiades and Adeimantus (8.59, 61) are again prominent. There are again more detailed links: Salamis is prefigured at Artemisium by a gift of land there to a deserter from the Persians, ANTIDORUS, and the capture of PHILAON, the brother of the king of Cypriot SALAMIS (8.11); ARTEMISIA, the Carian queen who plays a major role in events before, during, and after Salamis (8.68–69, 87–88, 101–3), evokes the earlier battle by her name.

SEE ALSO: Naval Warfare; Persian Wars; Ships and Sailing; Trireme