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104-462: The earliest known member of the Hecatomnid family was the dynast Hyssaldomus . He was the father of Hecatomnus , better known as the founder of the dynasty, and a woman named Aba, who may also have been the mother of Hecatomnus' children. He may have been the first satrap of Caria before his son Hecatomnus, as has been suggested by Louis Robert , although there is no conclusive evidence that this

208-402: A confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. It had the power to send envoys asking for assistance and to dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points after joint consultation. This was remarkable for the disjointed Greek world, especially since many of the city-states in attendance were still technically at war with each other. Initially the 'congress' agreed to defend

312-697: A constricted area, where Persian numbers would count for little. The battle at Artemisium had seen attempts to negate the Persian advantage in numbers, but ultimately the Allies may have realised that they needed an even more constricted channel in order to defeat the Persians. Therefore, by rowing into the Straits of Salamis to attack the Greeks, the Persians were playing into the Allies' hands. It seems probable that

416-509: A council of war with the Persian fleet; Herodotus says this occurred at Phalerum . Artemisia , queen of Halicarnassus and commander of its naval squadron in Xerxes's fleet, tried to convince him to wait for the Allies to surrender believing that battle in the straits of Salamis was an unnecessary risk. Nevertheless, Xerxes and his chief advisor Mardonius pressed for an attack. It is difficult to explain exactly what eventually brought about

520-526: A demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of the Greek cities duly obliged. In Athens, however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed; in Sparta, they were simply thrown down a well. This meant that Sparta was also now effectively at war with Persia. Darius thus put together an amphibious task force under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, which attacked Naxos , before receiving

624-503: A full-scale invasion, it required long-term planning, stock-piling and conscription. Xerxes decided that the Hellespont would be bridged to allow his army to cross to Europe, and that a canal should be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos (rounding which headland, a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC). These were both feats of exceptional ambition, which would have been beyond any other contemporary state. By early 480 BC,

728-461: A huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and very quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece. Since this was to be

832-850: A joint period of joint rule over Caria. There is no evidence that Ada II had any authority alongside her husband, unlike Artemisia II or Ada I before her. Orontobates' brief reign was dominated by the invasion of the Achaemenid Empire by the Macedonians . Alexander the Great entered Anatolia in 334 BCE. After a victory at the Battle of the Granicus in Northwestern Anatolia, the Greco-Macedonian army moved down

936-654: A leading role in. Ada I was left to rule Caria from Halicarnassus on Alexander's behalf as he continued his conquests. She then disappears from the historical record, and may have died at any point between 334 and 323 BCE, when Philoxenus was satrap of Caria. Asander , a Macedonian, became satrap of Caria after the Partition of Babylon , the division of Alexander's empire upon his death in 323 BCE. The Hecatomnid dynasty had come to an end. Hecatomnus Hecatomnus of Mylasa or Hekatomnos ( Greek : Ἑκατόμνως , Carian : 𐊴𐊭𐊪𐊵𐊫 k̂tmno “under-son, descendant(?)” )

1040-566: A major city in central Caria. The family may have gained control of the city when Heracleides of Mylasa fled Caria after the Ionian Revolt . Herodotus records how, during the Ionian Revolt, the dynasts of Cindye included a Mausolus and a Pixodarus. The reuse of those names by later members of the Hecatomnid dynasty suggests that the same family which ruled Mylasa at the start of the fourth century BCE previously ruled Kindye at

1144-485: A message directly sent to Xerxes letting him know that much of the Greek fleet was stationed at Salamis), the Persian navy rowed into the Straits of Salamis and tried to block both entrances. In the cramped waters, the great Persian numbers were an active hindrance, as ships struggled to maneuver and became disorganized. Seizing the opportunity, the Greek fleet formed in line and achieved a victory. Xerxes retreated to Asia with much of his army, leaving Mardonius to complete

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1248-459: A more orderly fashion. Aeschylus claims that as the Persians approached (possibly implying that they were not already in the Straits at dawn), they heard the Greeks singing their battle hymn ( paean ) before they saw the Allied fleet: ὦ παῖδες Ἑλλήνων ἴτε ἐλευθεροῦτε πατρίδ᾽, ἐλευθεροῦτε δὲ παῖδας, γυναῖκας, θεῶν τέ πατρῴων ἕδη, θήκας τε προγόνων: νῦν ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀγών. O sons of

1352-493: A mountain path. Much of the Greek army retreated, before the Spartans and Thespians who had continued to block the pass were surrounded and killed. The simultaneous Battle of Artemisium was up to that point a stalemate; however, when news of Thermopylae reached them, the Allied fleet also retreated, since holding the straits of Artemisium was now a moot point. The Allied fleet now rowed from Artemisium to Salamis to assist with

1456-404: A possibility. Xerxes had also positioned around 400 troops on the island known as Psyttaleia , in the middle of the exit from the straits, in order to kill or capture any Greeks who ended up there (as a result of shipwreck or grounding). Regardless of what time they entered the straits, the Persians did not move to attack the Allies until daylight. Since they were not planning to flee after all,

1560-496: A publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1870). "Hecatomnus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . Battle of Salamis The Battle of Salamis ( / ˈ s æ l ə m ɪ s / SAL -ə-miss ) was a naval battle fought in 480 BC, between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles , and the Achaemenid Empire under King Xerxes . It resulted in

1664-454: A response to a shortage of silver in Caria. Pixodarus did not marry within the Hecatomnid family, unlike his other siblings. He married a noblewoman from Cappadocia called Aphneis. Together they had at least one child. This daughter, named Ada, is often referred to as Ada II to distinguish her from her aunt, Ada I . Plutarch tells us that Pixodarus approached Philip II of Macedon while he

1768-523: A separate satrapy was part of a reorganization of Persian power in western Anatolia by Artaxerxes II in the aftermath of Cyrus 's revolt. Hecatomnus was the first non-Persian official to be elevated to the position of satrap. He acceded as satrap perhaps in 394 BC, but no later than 390 BC, when he was appointed by the Persian king to command the naval forces destined to take part in the war against Evagoras I of Cyprus . Isocrates states that he

1872-493: A similar manner to Mausolus and Artemisia before them. Only Idrieus is named on coinage, in inscriptions, and as satrap, but Ada otherwise appears alongside him in much dynastic iconography and in some inscriptions. For example, Idrieus and Ada were depicted either side of Zeus Labraundeus, the chief god of the Hecatomnid dynasty, in a relief from Tegea in the Peloponnese . Idrieus is perhaps best known for his investment in

1976-451: A strong position to force a Greek surrender; this seemed the only hope of concluding the campaign in that season. In contrast, by avoiding destruction, or as Themistocles hoped, by crippling the Persian fleet, the Greeks could effectively thwart the invasion. However, it was strategically not necessary for the Persians to actually fight this battle at Salamis. According to Herodotus, Queen Artemisia of Caria pointed this out to Xerxes in

2080-464: A victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis , an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens , and marked the high point of the second Persian invasion of Greece . It was arguably the largest naval battle of the ancient world , and marked a turning point in the invasion. To block the Persian advance, a small force of Greeks blocked

2184-483: A wedge of Greek ships pushed through the Persians' lines, splitting the fleet in two. According to Plutarch, Ariabignes was killed by Ameinias and Socles ( Greek : Σωκλής ) of Pallene. When Ariabignes attempted to board on their ship, they hit him with their spears, and thrust him into the sea. Plutarch also mentions that it was Artemisia who recognized Ariabignes' body floating among the shipwrecks and brought it back to Xerxes. Herodotus recounts that Artemisia ,

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2288-505: Is difficult to establish with any certainty. Herodotus presents the battle as though it occurred directly after the capture of Athens, but nowhere explicitly states as much. If Thermopylae/Artemisium occurred in September, then this may be the case, but it is probably more likely that the Persians spent two or three weeks capturing Athens, refitting the fleet, and resupplying. Clearly though, at some point after capturing Athens, Xerxes held

2392-415: Is not clear when, why or how this decision was made, but it is clear that they did take the battle to the Allies. Herodotus reports that there were 378 triremes in the Allied fleet, and then breaks the numbers down by city state (as indicated in the table). However, his numbers for the individual contingents only add up to 371. He does not explicitly say that all 378 fought at Salamis ("All of these came to

2496-496: Is that these ships had been a decoy sent to reconnoitre the northern exit from the straits, in case the arrival of the encircling Egyptian detachment was imminent (if indeed this also occurred). Another possibility (not exclusive of the former) is that the departure of the Corinthians triggered the final approach of the Persians, suggesting as it did that the Allied fleet was disintegrating. At any rate, if they indeed ever left,

2600-427: Is uncertain; possibly the Allied ships were bulkier in construction, or that the ships were waterlogged since they had not been dried out in the winter (though there is no real evidence for either suggestion). Another suggestion is that the heaviness was caused by the weight of fully armored hoplite marines (20 fully armored hoplites would have weighed 2 tons). This 'heaviness', whatever its cause, would further reduce

2704-454: Is unlikely that the Allies would have rested one of their flanks against Persian occupied territory. It seems relatively certain that the Persian fleet was sent out to block the exit from the Straits the evening before the battle. Herodotus clearly believed that the Persian fleet actually entered the Straits at nightfall, planning to catch the Allies as they fled. However, modern historians have greatly debated this point, with some pointing out

2808-707: The Dodecanese such as Rhodes after their participation in the Social War against Athens . Mausolus' long reign ended upon his death in 353/2 BCE. He was succeeded by Artemisia, who ruled alone for two years until c.  351/0 BCE . During her short reign, she suppressed a revolt by the Rhodians, personally leading a fleet to the island and installing a statue of herself in their capital city. Idrieus and Ada I succeeded Artemisia II upon her death in c.  351/0 BCE . The two appear to have ruled in

2912-544: The Iliad , and generally claim that the Persians could have launched no more than around 600 warships into the Aegean. However, very few appear to accept that there were this many ships at Salamis: most favour a number in the range 600–800. This is also the range given by adding the approximate number of Persian ships after Artemisium (~550) to the reinforcements (120) quantified by Herodotus. The overall Persian strategy for

3016-486: The Isthmus of Corinth while the fleet was withdrawn to nearby Salamis Island. Although heavily outnumbered, the Greeks were persuaded by Athenian general Themistocles to bring the Persian fleet to battle again, in the hope that a victory would prevent naval operations against the Peloponnese . Persian king Xerxes was also eager for a decisive battle. As a result of subterfuge on the part of Themistocles (which included

3120-492: The Lygdamids (520-450 BC) in Caria. Hecatomnus was the son and successor of Hyssaldomus, a dynastic ruler of Mylasa. It is likely that Hecatomnus had been a supporter of Tissaphernes and might have been employed by him in the subordinate office of hyparch. At some time after 395 BC Hecatomnus became the first satrap of Caria, which was until then part of other satrapies, usually that of Lydia. The designation of Caria as

3224-482: The Achaemenid fleet: The number 1,207 appears very early in the historical record (472 BC), and the Greeks appear to have genuinely believed they faced that many ships. Because of the consistency in the ancient sources, some modern historians are inclined to accept 1,207 as the size of the initial Persian fleet; others reject this number, with 1,207 being seen as more of a reference to the combined Greek fleet in

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3328-508: The Aegean coast, capturing key sites such as Sardis and Miletus , before coming to Caria. Tradition purports that Ada I then came to Alexander from her fortress in Alinda and adopted him as her son, so that he would succeed to the rule of Caria. In return, Alexander installed her as queen of Caria after ousting Orontobates. He accomplished this during the Siege of Halicarnassus , which Ada I took

3432-467: The Allied command was in-fighting, that the Peloponnesians were planning to evacuate that very night, and that to gain victory all the Persians needed to do was to block the straits. In performing this subterfuge, Themistocles seems to have been trying to bring about exactly the opposite; to lure the Persian fleet into the Straits. This was exactly the kind of news that Xerxes wanted to hear; that

3536-400: The Allied ships may also have made them more stable in the winds off the coast of Salamis, and made them less susceptible to ramming (or rather, less liable to sustain damage when rammed). The Persians preferred a battle in the open sea, where they could better utilize their own superior seamanship and numbers. For the Greeks, the only realistic hope of a victory was to draw the Persians into

3640-455: The Allies (who had waited patiently off the coast of Salamis for at least a week while Athens was captured) may have been in response to Persian offensive maneuvers. Possibly, a Persian army had been sent to march against the Isthmus in order to test the nerve of the fleet. Either way, when Xerxes received this news, he ordered his fleet to go out on patrol off the coast of Salamis, blocking

3744-455: The Allies spent the evening heatedly debating their course of action. The Peloponnesians were in favour of evacuating, and at this point, Themistocles attempted his ruse with Xerxes. It was only when Aristides , the exiled Athenian general arrived that night, followed by some deserters from the Persians, with news of the deployment of the Persian fleet, that the Peloponnesians accepted that they could not escape, and so would fight. However,

3848-411: The Allies would have been able to spend the night preparing for battle, and after a speech by Themistocles, the marines boarded and the ships made ready to sail. According to Herodotus, this was dawn, and as the Allies "were putting out to sea the barbarians immediately attacked them" . If the Persians only entered the straits at dawn, then the Allies would have had the time to take up their station in

3952-534: The Athenians might be willing to submit to him, and that he would be able to destroy the rest of the Allied fleet. Xerxes evidently took the bait, and the Persian fleet was sent out that evening to effect this block. Xerxes ordered a throne to be set up on the slopes of Mount Aigaleo (overlooking the straits), in order to watch the battle from a clear vantage point, and so as to record the names of commanders who performed particularly well. According to Herodotus,

4056-454: The Corinthians soon returned to the battle. Approaching the Allied fleet in the crowded Straits, the Persians appear to have become disorganised and cramped in the narrow waters. Moreover, it would have become apparent that, far from disintegrating, the Greek fleet was lined up, ready to attack them. However, rather than attacking immediately, the Allies initially appeared to back their ships away as if in fear. According to Plutarch , this

4160-488: The Greek fleet numbered only 220. The fleet was effectively under the command of Themistocles, but nominally led by the Spartan nobleman Eurybiades , as had been agreed at the congress in 481 BC. Although Themistocles had tried to claim leadership of the fleet, the other city states with navies objected, and so Sparta (which had no naval tradition) was given command of the fleet as a compromise. According to Herodotus,

4264-471: The Greeks to fight the Persians. However, the Athenians did not have the manpower to fight on land and sea; and therefore combatting the Persians would require an alliance of Greek city states. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece asking for earth and water, but made the very deliberate omission of Athens and Sparta. Support thus began to coalesce around these two leading states. A congress of city states met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC, and

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4368-486: The Greeks, go, Liberate your country, liberate Your children, your women, the seats of your fathers' gods, And the tombs of your forebears: now is the struggle for all things. Herodotus recounts that, according to the Athenians, as the battle began the Corinthians hoisted their sails and began sailing away from the battle, northwards up the straits. However, he also says that all the other Greeks denied this story. If this did in fact occur, one possible interpretation

4472-530: The Isthmus of Corinth, demolishing the single road that led through it, and building a wall across it. This strategy was flawed, however, unless the Allied fleet was able to prevent the Persian fleet from transporting troops across the Saronic Gulf. In a council-of-war called once the evacuation of Athens was complete, the Corinthian naval commander Adeimantus argued that the fleet should assemble off

4576-408: The Peloponnesians may have been party to Themistocles's stratagem, so serenely did they accept that they would now have to fight at Salamis. The Allied navy was thus able to prepare properly for battle the forthcoming day, whilst the Persians spent the night fruitlessly at sea, searching for the alleged Greek evacuation. The next morning, the Persians rowed into the straits to attack the Greek fleet; it

4680-428: The Persian fleet assembled at Doriskos in the spring of 480 BC. The number of 1,207 (for the outset only) is also given by Ephorus , while his teacher Isocrates claims there were 1,300 at Doriskos and 1,200 at Salamis. Ctesias gives another number, 1,000 ships, while Plato , speaking in general terms refers to 1,000 ships and more. Herodotus gives a precise list of the ships of the various nations that composed

4784-677: The Persian fleet initially numbered 1,207 triremes. However, by his reckoning they lost approximately a third of these ships in a storm off the coast of Magnesia , 200 more in a storm off the coast of Euboea, and at least 50 ships to Allied action at the Battle of Artemisium. Herodotus claims that these losses were replaced in full, but only mentions 120 ships from the Greeks of Thrace and nearby islands as reinforcements. Aeschylus , who fought at Salamis, also claims that he faced 1,207 warships there, of which 207 were "fast ships". Diodorus and Lysias independently claim there were 1,200 ships in

4888-455: The Persians pivoted their fleet off the tip of Cape Vavari, so that from an initial east–west alignment (blocking the exit), they came round to a north–south alignment (see diagram). The Persian fleet seems to have been formed into three ranks of ships (according to Aeschylus); with the powerful Phoenician fleet on the right flank next to Mount Aigaleo, the Ionian contingent on the left flank and

4992-507: The Persians to the Greeks, one before Artemisium and one before Salamis, so the total complement at Salamis would have been 373 (or 380). According to the Athenian playwright Aeschylus , who actually fought at Salamis, the Greek fleet numbered 310 triremes (the difference being the number of Athenian ships). Ctesias claims that the Athenian fleet numbered only 110 triremes, which ties in with Aeschylus's numbers. According to Hyperides ,

5096-446: The Persians would not have attempted this unless they had been confident of the collapse of the Allied navy, and thus Themistocles's subterfuge appears to have played a key role in tipping the balance in the favor of the Greeks. Salamis was, for the Persians, an unnecessary battle and a strategic mistake. The battle of Salamis is not well described by ancient sources, and it is unlikely that anyone (other than perhaps Xerxes) involved in

5200-514: The Queen of Halicarnassus, and commander of the Carian contingent, found herself pursued by the ship of Ameinias of Pallene. In her desire to escape, she attacked and rammed another Persian vessel, thereby convincing the Athenian captain that the ship was an ally; Ameinias accordingly abandoned the chase. However, Xerxes, looking on, thought that she had successfully attacked an Allied ship, and seeing

5304-438: The Straits. The remaining Persian ships limped back to the harbour of Phalerum and the shelter of the Persian army. The Athenian general Aristides then took a detachment of men across to Psyttaleia to slaughter the garrison that Xerxes had left there. The exact Persian casualties are not mentioned by Herodotus. However, he writes that the next year, the Persian fleet numbered 300 triremes. The number of losses then depends on

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5408-464: The battle had a clear idea what was happening across the width of the straits. What follows is more of a discussion than a definitive account. In the Allied fleet, the Athenians were on the left, and on the right were probably the Spartans (although Diodorus says it was the Megareans and Aeginetians); the other contingents were in the center. The Allied fleet probably formed into two ranks, since

5512-432: The battle, assuming that neither side simply attacked without forethought. Clearly though, at some point just before the battle, new information began to reach Xerxes of rifts in the allied command; the Peloponnesians wished to evacuate from Salamis while they still could. This alleged rift amongst the Allies may have simply been a ruse, in order to lure the Persians to battle. Alternatively, this change in attitude amongst

5616-547: The black market. The Mausoleum is in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites tentative list. It is considered very important for understanding of Carian art and craftsmanship as it was built by their best architects and sculptors and was a predecessor of the magnificent Mausoleum at Halicarnassus . Recently a golden crown stolen from the tomb has been identified and agreed to be returned to Turkey. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

5720-417: The campaigning season (and not waited 4 days at Thermopylae for the Greeks to disperse). Time was now of the essence for the Persians – the huge invasion force could not be reasonably supported indefinitely, nor probably did Xerxes wish to be at the fringe of his empire for so long. Thermopylae had shown that a frontal assault against a well defended Greek position was useless; with the Allies now dug in across

5824-413: The coast of the Isthmus in order to achieve such a blockade. However, Themistocles argued in favour of an offensive strategy, aimed at decisively destroying the Persians' naval superiority. He drew on the lessons of Artemisium, pointing out that "battle in close conditions works to our advantage" . He eventually won through, and the Allied navy remained off the coast of Salamis. The timeline for Salamis

5928-543: The conquest of Greece. The following year the remainder of the Persian army was defeated at the Battle of Plataea and the Persian navy at the Battle of Mycale . The Persians made no further attempts to conquer the Greek mainland. The battles of Salamis and Plataea thus mark a turning point in the course of the Greco-Persian Wars as a whole; from then onward, the Greek poleis would take the offensive. The Greek city-states of Athens and Eretria had supported

6032-446: The deaths of Mausolus and Idrieus, Artemisia and Ada respectively assumed sole rule of Caria. Mausolus and Artemisia II succeeded their father upon his death in 377 BCE. Of the two of them, Mausolus was the only one to put his name on coinage or ever be referred to as satrap; nonetheless, Artemisia had a limited amount of power while her brother was still alive. Artemisia is often referred to as Artemisia II to prevent confusion with

6136-408: The difficulties of maneuvering in this confined space by night, and others accepting Herodotus's version. There are thus two possibilities; that during the night the Persians simply blocked the exit to the Straits, and then entered the straits in daylight; or that they entered the straits and positioned themselves for battle during the night. Regardless of when they attempted it, it seems likely that

6240-472: The earlier dynast also called Artemisia (I) , who ruled Halicarnassus in the early fifth century BCE and played a prominent role in the Battle of Salamis during the Greco-Persian Wars . Artemisia I was a member of the Lygdamid dynasty who were prominent in Caria c.  520  – c.  450 BCE. Early in their joint reign, Mausolus and Artemisia moved the Hecatomnid capital to Halicarnassus ,

6344-457: The empire). Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece. A preliminary expedition under Mardonius, in 492 BC, to secure the land approaches to Greece ended with the conquest of Thrace and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia. In 491 BC, Darius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states, asking for a gift of ' earth and water ' in token of their submission to him. Having had

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6448-416: The figure of Zeus Labrandenos appears on his coins walking and carrying a labrys over his shoulder, from the celebrated temple of that name near Mylasa. In 2010 police arrested looters digging for antiquities in what later was believed to be the tomb of Hecatomnus. A marble sarcophagus and numerous frescoes were discovered in the tomb, although many relics had already been taken from the tomb and sold on

6552-588: The final evacuation of Athens. En route Themistocles left inscriptions addressed to the Ionian Greek crews of the Persian fleet on all springs of water that they might stop at, asking them to defect to the Allied cause. Following Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to burn and sack the Boeotian cities that had not surrendered, Plataea and Thespiae , before marching on the now evacuated city of Athens. The Allies (mostly Peloponnesian) prepared to defend

6656-464: The first line of Persian ships was pushed back by the Greeks, they became fouled in the advancing second and third lines of their own ships. On the Greek left, the Persian admiral Ariabignes (a brother of Xerxes) was killed early in the battle; left disorganised and leaderless, the Phoenician squadrons appear to have been pushed back against the coast, many vessels running aground. In the centre,

6760-813: The former seat of the Lygdamids. The best-known monument of the Hecatomnids is the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus , the grand tomb of Mausolus, which became famous as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . Alongside building projects, Mausolus and Artemisia expanded their political authority in the region of Caria, gaining control of Lycia after the Revolt of the Satraps and Greek islands of

6864-549: The forthcoming conflict with Persia. The most common naval tactics in the Mediterranean area at the time were ramming (triremes being equipped with a ram at the bows), or boarding by ship-borne marines (which essentially turned a sea battle into a land one). The Persians and Asiatic Greeks had by this time begun to use a manoeuvre known as diekplous . It is not entirely clear what this was, but it probably involved rowing into gaps between enemy ships and then ramming them in

6968-413: The impression that Hecatomnus was his secret ally in order to impress the Egyptian king Hakor with whom he was negotiating for support against Artaxerxes. From Egypt the rumour could have filtered to Athens through the Athenian general Chabrias who was then serving with Hakor as a military adviser. Hecatomnus was a native of Mylasa , and made that city his capital and the seat of his government. Hence

7072-406: The invasion of 480 BC was to overwhelm the Greeks with a massive invasion force, and complete the conquest of Greece in a single campaigning season. In contrast, the Greeks sought to make the best use of their numbers by defending restricted locations and to keep the Persians in the field for as long as possible. Xerxes had obviously not anticipated such resistance, or he would have arrived earlier in

7176-407: The likelihood of them employing the diekplous . It is therefore probable that the Allies had extra marines on board if their ships were less manoeuvrable, since boarding would then be the main tactic available to them (at the cost of making the ships even heavier). Indeed, Herodotus refers to the Greeks capturing ships at Artemisium, rather than sinking them. It has been suggested that the weight of

7280-480: The narrow Vale of Tempe , on the borders of Thessaly , and thereby block Xerxes's advance. However, once there, they were warned by Alexander I of Macedon that the vale could be bypassed through the pass by the modern village of Sarantaporo , and that the army of Xerxes was overwhelming, so the Greeks retreated. Shortly afterward, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont. A second strategy

7384-408: The narrow Isthmus, there was little chance of conquering the rest of Greece by land. However, as equally demonstrated by Thermopylae, if the Greeks could be outflanked, their smaller numbers of troops could be destroyed. Such an outflanking of the Isthmus required the use of the Persian navy, and thus the destruction of the Allied navy. Therefore, if Xerxes could destroy the Allied navy, he would be in

7488-482: The number of ships the Persian had to begin with; something in the range of 200–300 seems likely, based on the above estimates for the size of the Persian fleet. According to Herodotus, the Persians suffered many more casualties than the Greeks because most Persians did not know how to swim. A king sate on the rocky brow Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis And ships, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations;—all were his! He counted them at break of day— And when

7592-561: The orders of Artaxerxes II Memnon in 395 BCE. If Hecatomnus did not become satrap immediately upon the death of Tissaphernes, he was in office by 392 BCE, when he made war on Evagoras of Salamis on the orders of Artaxerxes. Hecatomnus therefore became satrap of Caria c.  395  – c.  392 BCE. Hecatomnus had five children: three sons ( Mausolus , Idrieus , and Pixodarus ) and two daughters ( Artemisia and Ada ). These were arranged into two pairs of married siblings : Mausolus with Artemisia and Idrieus with Ada. Pixodarus,

7696-493: The other contingents in the centre. Diodorus says that the Egyptian fleet was sent to circumnavigate Salamis, and block the northern exit from the Straits. If Xerxes wanted to trap the Allies completely, this maneuver would have made sense (especially if he was not expecting the Allies to fight). However, Herodotus does not mention this (and possibly alludes to the Egyptian presence in the main battle), leading some modern historians to dismiss it; though again, others accept it as

7800-448: The pass of Thermopylae , while an Athenian-dominated allied navy engaged the Persian fleet in the nearby straits of Artemisium . In the resulting Battle of Thermopylae , the rearguard of the Greek force was annihilated, while in the Battle of Artemisium the Greeks suffered heavy losses and retreated after the loss at Thermopylae. This allowed the Persians to conquer Phocis , Boeotia , Attica and Euboea . The allies prepared to defend

7904-597: The poor performance of his other captains commented that "My men have become women, and my women men". The friendly ship she sank was a Calyndian ship and the king of the Calyndians, Damasithymos ( Greek : Δαμασίθυμος ) was on it. None of the crew of the Calyndian ship survived. The Persian fleet began to retreat towards Phalerum, but according to Herodotus, the Aeginetans ambushed them as they tried to leave

8008-413: The preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges . The Athenians had also been preparing for war with the Persians since the mid-480s BC, and in 482 BC the decision was taken, under the guidance of the Athenian politician Themistocles , to build a massive fleet of triremes that would be necessary for

8112-423: The reports by Diodorus and Isocrates, which must have been based on some contemporary rumours. In both cases he names Evagoras as the likely source of the rumours. (i) Evagoras might have wanted to compromise Hecatomnus in the eyes of his master, Artaxerxes. Later, he managed to engineer the recall and disgrace of another satrap ( Orontes ) who was campaigning against him. (ii) Evagoras might have wanted to create

8216-530: The run-up to Salamis. Artemisia suggested that fighting at sea was an unnecessary risk, recommending instead: If you do not hurry to fight at sea, but keep your ships here and stay near land, or even advance into the Peloponnese, then, my lord, you will easily accomplish what you had in mind on coming here. The Hellenes are not able to hold out against you for a long time, but you will scatter them, and they will each flee to their own cities. The Persian fleet

8320-429: The sanctuary of Labraunda , a religious centre in the mountains above Mylasa. Annual processions from the city to the sanctuary became a centrepiece of dynastic cult activity. It was here that Mausolus was nearly assassinated towards the end of his reign. There are many Greek inscriptions from Labraunda which mark the dedication of new buildings by the dynasts. This record shows that Idrieus built many more buildings at

8424-457: The side. This manoeuvre would have required skilled crews, and therefore the Persians would have been more likely to employ it; the Allies however, developed tactics specifically to counter this. There has been much debate as to the nature of the Allied fleet compared to the Persian fleet. Much of this centres on the suggestion, from Herodotus, that the Allied ships were heavier, and by implication less manoeuvrable. The source of this heaviness

8528-494: The site than Mausolus. A monumental fourth-century built tomb at Labraunda may belong to Idrieus. Ada I became the sole ruler of Caria in c.  344/3 BCE , when Idrieus died. Little is known about the four years in which she ruled alone. The reign of Ada I came to an abrupt end when she was deposed by her last living sibling, Pixodarus , in c.  341/0 BCE . As Pixodarus became satrap in Halicarnassus, Ada

8632-494: The southern exit. Then, at dusk, he ordered them to withdraw, possibly in order to tempt the Allies into a hasty evacuation. That evening Themistocles attempted what appears to have been a spectacularly successful use of disinformation. He sent a servant, Sicinnus , to Xerxes, with a message proclaiming that Themistocles was "on the king's side and prefers that your affairs prevail, not the Hellenes" . Themistocles claimed that

8736-480: The start of the fifth, and moved from the smaller town to the larger city at some point before they became satraps of Caria. The first satrap of the dynasty was Hecatomnus , the son of Hyssaldomus. He was appointed as the first Carian satrap of Caria in the late 390s BCE. Previously, Caria had been governed as part of Lydia , by the satrap Tissaphernes based in Sardis . Tissaphernes was executed by Tithraustes on

8840-495: The straits of Artemisium. This dual strategy was adopted by the congress. However, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth should it come to it, whilst the women and children of Athens had been evacuated en masse to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen . Famously, the much smaller Greek army held the pass of Thermopylae against the Persians for three days before being outflanked by

8944-428: The straits would have been too narrow for a single line of ships. Herodotus has the Allied fleet in a line running north–south, probably with the northern flank off the coast of modern-day Saint George's Islet ( Ayios Georgis ), and the southern flank off the coast of Cape Vavari (part of Salamis). Diodorus suggests the Allied fleet was aligned east–west, spanning the straits between Salamis and Mount Aigaleo; however, it

9048-419: The submission of the other Cycladic Islands . The task force then moved on Eretria, which it besieged and destroyed. Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon , where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing Battle of Marathon , the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia. Darius therefore began raising

9152-591: The sun set where were they? Xerxes, sitting on Mount Aigaleo on his throne, witnessed the carnage. Some ship-wrecked Phoenician captains tried to blame the Ionians for cowardice before the end of the battle. Xerxes, in a foul mood, and having just witnessed an Ionian ship capture an Aeginetan ship, had the Phoenicians beheaded for slandering "more noble men". According to Diodorus, Xerxes "put to death those Phoenicians who were chiefly responsible for beginning

9256-540: The unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499-494 BC, led by the satrap of Miletus, Aristagoras. The Persian Empire was still relatively young, and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples. Moreover, Darius was a usurper, and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule. The Ionian revolt threatened the integrity of his empire, and Darius thus vowed to punish those involved (especially those not already part of

9360-440: The war providing triremes...The total number of ships...was three hundred and seventy-eight"), and he also says that the Aeginetans "had other manned ships, but they guarded their own land with these and fought at Salamis with the thirty most seaworthy". Thus it has been supposed that the difference between the numbers is accounted for by a garrison of 12 ships left at Aegina . According to Herodotus, two more ships defected from

9464-412: The youngest of the five, married outside the family. Incestuous marriages between cosanguinous siblings were uncommon in the ancient world. Because neither pair of sibling-spouses were known to have had children, it is thought that their marriages were symbolic, and helped to preserve royal power within the family. The parents of this second generation of satraps may themselves have been siblings, if Aba

9568-540: Was an early 4th-century BC ruler of Caria . He was the satrap (governor) of Caria for the Persian Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II (404–358 BC). However, the basis for Hecatomnus' political power was twofold: he was both a high appointed Persian official and a powerful local dynast, who founded the hereditary dynasty of the Hecatomnids . The Hecatomnids followed the earlier autochthonous dynasty of

9672-460: Was exiled to the fortress of Alinda in northern Caria. Pixodarus is best known for the Letoon trilingual , a decree of his establishing the civic cult of Caunus throughout Lycia , which was inscribed in three languages: Greek, Lycian , and Aramaic . He was also notable for being the only Hecatomnid to strike gold coins. These issues, which used the Persian daric weight standard, may have been

9776-722: Was in fact ready to rise against the Persian King. However, Ruzicka strongly doubts the veracity of these reports. Indeed, Hecatomnus had not shown at any other time insubordination or disaffection towards the Persian monarchy. Unlike other rebellious satraps ( Cyrus the Younger or Pissuthnes, for example) Hecatomnus was not a Persian of noble or royal blood and could not hope to win the allegiance of other Persian officials. Thus, it seems highly unlikely that he would have engaged in treasonous activity without any tangible hope to benefit from it. Ruzicka offers two possible explanations for

9880-416: Was possible to sink an enemy ship, or at least disable it by shearing off the banks of oars on one side. If the initial ramming was not successful, marines boarded the enemy ship and something similar to a land battle ensued. Both sides had marines on their ships for this eventuality; the Greeks with fully armed hoplites ; the Persians probably with more lightly armed infantry. Across the battlefield, as

9984-400: Was probably due to the superior seamanship of the crews; most of the Athenian ships (and therefore the majority of the fleet) were newly built as according to Themistocles' request to the Athenians to build a fleet of 200 triremes in 483 BC, and had inexperienced crews. Despite the inexperienced crew on the part of the Athenians, these newly constructed triremes would ultimately prove crucial in

10088-467: Was satrap, seeking an alliance with the Macedonian by marrying Ada II to Philip's eldest son Arrhidaeus ; Philip's younger son, the future Alexander the Great , was reportedly offended, and the proposition eventually came to nought. Ada II eventually married a Persian nobleman named Orontobates . On the death of Pixodarus in 336/5 BCE, Orontobates succeeded him outright as satrap, potentially after

10192-448: Was still large enough to both bottle up the Allied navy in the straits of Salamis, and send ships to land troops in the Peloponnese. However, in the final reckoning, both sides were prepared to stake everything on a naval battle, in the hope of decisively altering the course of the war. The Persians were at a tactical advantage, outnumbering the Allies, and also having "better sailing" ships. The "better sailing" that Herodotus mentions

10296-438: Was still ruling in 380 BC. Stephen Ruzicka places his death in 377/376 BC He left three sons, Mausolus , Idrieus and Pixodarus , and two daughters, Artemisia and Ada , who were married to their brothers, Mausolus and Idrieus , all five of whom in turn succeeded him as rulers. Two ancient sources, Diodorus and Isocrates, report that Hecatomnus secretly supplied Evagoras with sums of money to raise mercenary troops and

10400-474: Was the case. Several silver coins may have been struck by Hyssaldomus in his capacity as the dynast of Mylasa ; these coins have typical Mylasan iconography, but are marked with the Carian letters Ш ( w ) or 𐋐 ( y ), which may stand for the unknown equivalent of Hyssaldomus' name in the Carian language . The Hecatomnids were therefore one of many minor dynasties in Caria. Their seat was originally Mylasa ,

10504-480: Was the ship of the Athenian Ameinias of Pallene ; the Aeginetans would claim it as one of their ships. The whole Greek line then followed suit and made straight for the disordered Persian battle line. The details of the rest of the battle are generally sketchy, and no one involved would have had a view of the entire battlefield. Triremes were generally armed with a large ram at the front, with which it

10608-606: Was the wife of Hecatomnus as well as his sister, although the evidence that this was the case is inconclusive. The five children, Hecatomnus, and a woman presumed to be Aba, are all depicted in the art of the lavish but unfinished tomb of Hecatomnus in Mylasa. During the government of the Hecatomnids, both wife and husband ruled alongside one another, although only men are ever called satrap or issue coinage in their own names. Hecatomnid women are known to have issued laws alongside their husbands and led military actions on their own. On

10712-461: Was therefore adopted by the allies. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnese) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae . This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians. Furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block

10816-432: Was to gain better position, and also in order to gain time until the early morning wind. Herodotus recounts the legend that as the fleet had backed away, they had seen an apparition of a woman, asking them "Madmen, how far will ye yet back your ships?" However, he more plausibly suggests that whilst the Allies were backing water, a single ship shot forward to ram the nearest Persian vessel. The Athenians would claim that this

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