Battle of Mycale The Battle of Mycale ( ; " Machē tēs Mykalēs " ) was one of the two major battles that ended the second Persian invasion of Greece during the Greco - Persian Wars . It took place on or about August 27 , 479 BC on the slopes of Mount Mycale , on the coast of Ionia , opposite the island of Samos . The battle was fought between an alliance of the Greek city - states , including Sparta , Athens and Corinth , and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I . The previous year , the Persian invasion force , led by Xerxes himself , had scored victories at the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium , and conquered Thessaly , Boeotia and Attica ; however , at the ensuing Battle of Salamis , the allied Greek navies had won an unlikely victory , and therefore prevented the conquest of the Peloponnese . Xerxes then retreated , leaving his general Mardonius with a substantial army to finish off the Greeks the following year . In the summer of 479 BC , the Greeks assembled a huge army ( by contemporary standards ) , and marched to confront Mardonius at the Battle of Plataea . At the same time , the allied fleet sailed to Samos , where the demoralised remnants of the Persian navy were based . The Persians , seeking to avoid a battle , beached their fleet below the slopes of Mycale , and , with the support of a Persian army group , built a palisaded camp . The Greek commander Leotychides decided to attack the Persians anyway , landing the fleet ' s complement of marines to do so . Although the Persian forces put up stout resistance , the heavily armoured Greek hoplites again proved themselves superior in combat , and eventually routed the Persian troops , who fled to their camp . The Ionian Greek contingents in the Persian army defected , and the camp was assailed and a large number of Persians slaughtered . The Persian ships were then captured and burned . The complete destruction of the Persian navy , along with the destruction of Mardonius ' s army at Plataea ( allegedly on the same day as the Battle of Mycale ) , decisively ended the invasion of Greece . After Plataea and Mycale , the allied Greeks would take the offensive against the Persians , marking a new phase of the Greco - Persian Wars . Although Mycale was in every sense a decisive victory , it does not seem to have been attributed the same significance ( even at the time ) as , for example the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon or even the Greek defeat at Thermopylae . Sources . The main source for the Greco - Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus . Herodotus , who has been called the ' Father of History ' , was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus , Asia Minor ( then under Persian overlordship ) . He wrote his ' Enquiries ' ( Greek — " Historia " ; English — " ( The ) Histories " ) around 440 – 430 BC , trying to trace the origins of the Greco - Persian Wars , which would still have been relatively recent history ( the wars finally ending in 450 BC ) . Herodotus ' s approach was entirely novel , and at least in Western society , he does seem to have invented ' history ' as we know it . As Holland has it : " For the first time , a chronicler set himself to trace the origins of a conflict not to a past so remote so as to be utterly fabulous , nor to the whims and wishes of some god , nor to a people ' s claim to manifest destiny , but rather explanations he could verify personally . " Some subsequent ancient historians , despite following in his footsteps , criticised Herodotus , starting with Thucydides . Nevertheless , Thucydides chose to begin his history where Herodotus left off ( at the Siege of Sestos ) , and therefore evidently felt that Herodotus ' s history was accurate enough not to need re - writing or correcting . Plutarch criticised Herodotus in his essay " On The Malignity of Herodotus " , describing Herodotus as " " Philobarbaros " " ( barbarian - lover ) , for not being pro - Greek enough , which suggests that Herodotus might actually have done a reasonable job of being even - handed . A negative view of Herodotus was passed on to Renaissance Europe , though he remained well read . However , since the 19th century his reputation has been dramatically rehabilitated by archaeological finds which have repeatedly confirmed his version of events . The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a remarkable job in his " Historia " , but that some of his specific details ( particularly troop numbers and dates ) should be viewed with skepticism . Nevertheless , there are still some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story . The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus , writing in the 1st century BC in his " Bibliotheca Historica " , also provides an account of the Battle of Mykale , derived directly from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus . This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus ' s . Archaeological evidence , such as the Serpent Column , also supports some of Herodotus ' s specific claims . Background . The Greek city - states of Athens and Eretria had supported the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire of Darius I in 499 - 494 BC . 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 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 re - conquest of Thrace and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia . An amphibious task force was then sent out under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC , successfully sacking Naxos and Eretria , before moving to attack Athens . However , 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 a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece . However , he died before the invasion could begin . The throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I , who quickly resumed the preparations for the invasion of Greece , including building two pontoon bridges across the Hellespont . In 481 BC , Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece asking for earth and water as a gesture of their submission , but making the very deliberate omission of Athens and Sparta ( both of whom were at open war with Persia ) . 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 a confederate alliance of Greek city - states was formed ( hereafter referred to as ' the Allies ' ) . 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 . The Allies initially adopted a strategy of blocking the land and sea approaches to southern Greece . Thus , in August 480 BC , after hearing of Xerxes ' s approach , a small Allied army led by the Spartan king Leonidas I blocked the Pass of Thermopylae , whilst an Athenian - dominated navy sailed to the Straits of Artemisium . Famously , the vastly outnumbered Greek army held Thermopylae against the Persians army for six days in total , before being outflanked by a mountain path . Although much of the Greek army retreated , the rearguard , formed of the Spartan and Thespian contingents , was surrounded and annihilated . The simultaneous Battle of Artemisium , consisting of a series of naval encounters , was up to that point a stalemate ; however , when news of Thermopylae reached them , they also retreated , since holding the straits of Artemisium was now a moot point . Following Thermopylae , the Persian army had proceeded to burn and sack the Boeotian cities which had not surrendered , Plataea and Thespiae , before taking possession of the now - evacuated city of Athens . The allied army , meanwhile , prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth . Xerxes wished for a final crushing defeat of the Allies to finish the conquest of Greece in that campaigning season ; conversely the allies sought a decisive victory over the Persian navy that would guarantee the security of the Peloponnese . The ensuing naval Battle of Salamis ended in a decisive victory for the Allies , marking a turning point in the conflict . Following the defeat of his navy at the Salamis , Xerxes retreated to Asia with , according to Herodotus at least , the majority of the army . Herodotus suggests that this was because he feared the Greeks would sail to the Hellespont and destroy the pontoon bridges , thereby trapping his army in Europe . He thus left Mardonius , with handpicked troops , to complete the conquest of Greece the following year . Mardonius evacuated Attica , and wintered in Thessaly ; the Athenians then reoccupied their destroyed city . Over the winter , there seems to have been some tension among the Allies . In particular , the Athenians , who were not protected by the Isthmus , but whose fleet were the key to the security of the Peloponnese , felt hard done by , and demanded an allied army march north the following year . When the Allies failed to commit to this , the Athenian fleet refused to join the Allied navy in spring . The navy , now under the command of the Spartan king Leotychides , thus skulked off Delos , whilst the remnants of the Persian fleet skulked off Samos , both sides unwilling to risk battle . Similarly , Mardonius remained in Thessaly , knowing an attack on the Isthmus was pointless , whilst the Allies refused to send an army outside the Peloponnese . Mardonius moved to break the stalemate by trying to win over the Athenians and their fleet through the mediation of Alexander I of Macedon , offering peace , self - government and territorial expansion . The Athenians made sure that a Spartan delegation was also on hand to hear the offer , and rejected it : " The degree to which we are put in the shadow by the Medes ' strength is hardly something you need to bring to our attention . We are already well aware of it . But even so , such is our love of liberty , that we will never surrender . " Upon this refusal , the Persians marched south again . Athens was again evacuated and left to the Persians . Mardonius now repeated his offer of peace to the Athenian refugees on Salamis . Athens , along with Megara and Plataea , sent emissaries to Sparta demanding assistance , and threatening to accept the Persian terms if not . According to Herodotus , the Spartans , who were at that time celebrating the festival of Hyacinthus , delayed making a decision until they were persuaded by a guest , Chileos of Tegea , who pointed out the danger to all of Greece if the Athenians surrendered . When the Athenian emissaries delivered an ultimatum to the Spartans the next day , they were amazed to hear that a task force was in fact already " en route " ; the Spartan army was marching to meet the Persians . In response , the Athenian navy under Xanthippus joined with the Allied fleet off Delos . They were then approached by a delegation from Samos , who suggested that the Ionian cities would revolt if the Allied fleet successfully engaged the Persian fleet . They furthermore pointed out the poor morale and reduced seaworthiness of the Persian fleet . Leotychides decided to attempt this , and sailed for Samos . Prelude . When the Persians heard that the Allied fleet was approaching , they set sail from Samos towards the Ionian mainland . According to Herodotus , this was because they had decided in council that they could not beat the Allies in a naval battle . They sent the Phoenician ships away ( Herodotus does not explain why ) , and then sailed to the shore near Mount Mycale . Xerxes had left an army there , under the command of Tigranes , to guard Ionia . The Persians beached their ships , built a palisade around them , and prepared to guard the makeshift fort . Finding the Persian fleet gone from Samos , the Allies were thrown into uncertainty . Eventually they resolved that they would sail to the mainland , and equipped themselves for a naval battle . However , when the Allies approached Mycale , the Persians did not attempt to engage them , and remained guarding their camp . Leotychides therefore sailed as close to the camp as possible , and had a herald make an appeal to the Ionians : " " Men of Ionia , you who hear us , understand what I say , for by no means will the Persians understand anything I charge you with when we join battle ; first of all it is right for each man to remember his freedom and next the battle - cry " Hebe " : and let him who hears me tell him who has not heard it . " " Herodotus suggests that the purpose of this message was twofold ; firstly to encourage the Ionians , unbeknownst to the Persians , to fight for the Allies ( or at least not to fight against them ) ; or , if the message became known to the Persians , to make the Persians mistrust the Ionians . Following this appeal , the Allies also beached their ships , and began to prepare to assault the camp . The Persians , guessing that their Samian contingent would support the allies , took away their armour . Furthermore , they sent the Milesians to guard the passes over Mycale , suspecting that the Milesians might also defect . Thus rid of two potential internal threats , the Persians left their camp , and prepared for battle . It is probable that the relatively small number of marines that the Allies had disembarked for the battle made them overconfident , encouraging the Persians to leave the safety of their camp . Herodotus reports that as the Allies approached the Persian camp , rumour spread amongst them of an Allied victory at Plataea ; Diodorus also claims that Leotychides informed the Allies of victory at Plataea before the battle began . Their morale boosted by this omen , they set forth to win their own victory . Various explanations have been attempted to explain this occurrence , and also the alleged fact that Plataea and Mycale took place on the same day . Green suggests that following the victory at Plataea , the Allied commander Pausanias took control of the Persian beacon system that Xerxes had used to communicate with Asia , and used it to send tidings of Plataea to the Allied fleet . This would explain the rumour of victory and near simultaneous attack , but is only one possible theory . Opposing Forces . The Persians . The number of Persian ships and men involved with the battle are , as so often in the Greco - Persian Wars , somewhat problematic . It is clear that the Persian fleet did not dare conduct operations against the Greeks , and thus must have been approximately equal to , or smaller than the Greek fleet . Herodotus gives the size of the Persian fleet at 300 ships ; the Greeks had 378 at Salamis , but must have suffered significant losses , and so they probably also had around 300 in total ( though not necessarily all these ships formed part of the allied fleet for 479 BC ) . The Phoenician ships were dismissed from the Persian fleet before the battle , which reduced its strength further . Diodorus tells us that to guard the camp and the ships the Persians gathered 100 , 000 men in total , while Herodotus suggests that there were 60 , 000 men in the army under the command of Tigranes . Squaring these two accounts , might suggest that there were c . 40 , 000 men with the fleet . Given that the Persian fleet appears to have been undermanned in the aftermath of Salamis , 200 - 300 ships would indeed give this number of naval personnel ( using Herodotus ' s standard complement of 200 men per ship ) . However , this total of 100 , 000 is probably too high ; to accommodate 100 , 000 men and 200 + ships , the Persian camp would have to have been enormous . Estimates made of Mardonius ' s huge camp at Plataea , which was planned and built with plenty of time , suggest it might have accommodated 70 , 000 - 120 , 000 men ; it is improbable that such a large camp could have been built at Mycale in the time - frame that Herodotus suggests . It is therefore possible that the 60 , 000 quoted by Herodotus is actually the total number of Persians present at Mycale ; the Persians certainly outnumbered the Allies , emerging from the palisade in confidence after seeing the smaller number of the Allied troops . The Greeks . Numbers of ships and men for the Allies are also somewhat problematic . Herodotus claims that Leotychides had 110 trireme s under his command . However , the previous year , the allies had fielded 271 triremes at the Battle of Artemisium , and then 378 at the Battle of Salamis . We are also told that the Allies had " command of the sea " after Salamis , which implies that they could at least equal the Persian fleet . Diodorus , on the other hand , tells us the allies had 250 ships , which is more consistent with their force levels of the previous year . These two numbers can be reconciled by assuming that Leotychides had 110 triremes under his command " before " being joined by Xanthippus and the Athenian ships , after the Allied army had marched out from the Peloponnesus . This is the approach taken by Holland , and gives a naval force which might well match the remnants of the Persian fleet . Although the Athenians had sent 8 , 000 hoplites to Plataea , they would still have had ample manpower to man a large fleet of triremes , especially since rowers tended to be of the lower classes ( the " thetes " ) who could not afford the equipment to fight as hoplites . The standard complement of a trireme was 200 men , including 14 marines . In the second Persian invasion of Greece , each Persian ship had carried thirty extra marines , and this was probably also true in the first invasion when the whole invasion force was apparently carried in triremes . Furthermore , the Chian ships at the Battle of Lade also carried 40 marines each . This suggests that a trireme could probably carry a maximum of 40 – 45 soldiers — triremes seem to have been easily destabilised by extra weight . Combining these numbers yields a range of 22 , 000 – 58 , 000 men for the Allies , with 3 , 300 – 11 , 250 more heavily armoured marines . Estimates of around 40 , 000 men are given in some sources , which is approximately the median of the possible range , and seems as likely a number as any . However , since only the marines were expected to fight hand to hand , the rowers in the Allied fleet were probably not equipped to fight in a land battle ; it is likely therefore that it was only the marines who contested the battle . Strategic & tactical considerations . From a strategic point of view , battle was not necessary for either side ; the main strategic theatre was mainland Greece itself . Although destroying the enemy navy would result in a clear strategic advantage for both sides , attempting this risked the loss of their own navy . The actions of the two sides thus reflect more upon their morale and confidence than on any strategic considerations . The Persians , seeing little to gain in battle , demoralised and riven with dissent , thus sought to avoid a naval battle . Conversely , the Allies , who had initially been as nervous of a battle as the Persians , sought to press home their morale advantage once they were informed of the state of the Persian fleet . Tactically , the Persian fleet should have held the advantage at sea , since the Athenian part of the Greek fleet was , despite their efforts at Artemisium and Salamis , still raw in seamanship . However , whether because of their low morale , or because they were in fact outnumbered , the Persians sought instead the tactical advantage of joining up with the army under Tigranes , and fortifying a position . However , when the Greeks chose to fight on land , the Persians then threw away the advantage of their fortifications by emerging to fight the Greeks in the open field . Furthermore , as Marathon and Thermopylae had shown , large numbers conferred little advantage against the more heavily armoured hoplites ; thus , as the battle began , it was the Greeks who had the tactical upper hand . The battle . The Allies seem to have formed into two wings ; on the right were the Athenians , Corinthians , Sicyon ians and Troezen ians , and on the left were the Spartans with other contingents . The right wing marched across level ground straight towards the Persian camp , whilst the left wing attempted to outflank the Persians by passing through more broken ground . The right wing thus began fighting with the Persians while the left wing was still approaching . Herodotus reports that the Persians fought well at first , but that the Athenians and the contingents with them wished to win the victory before the Spartans arrived , and thus attacked ever more zealously . Although the Persians stood their ground for a while , they eventually broke and fled to the palisade . The soldiers of the right wing followed them into the camp , at which point many of the Persian army fled from the camp , except the ethnic Persian troops , who grouped together and fought the Allied soldiers who entered the camp . Finally , the left wing arrived , outflanking the camp and falling on the rear of the remaining Persian forces , thereby completing the rout . Herodotus tells us that , on seeing the outcome of the battle hung in the balance , the disarmed Samians had joined in on the side of the allies , doing what they could . This inspired the other Ionian contingents to turn on the Persians as well . At which stage in the battle this happened is not clear ; the Samians were presumably not in the main battle line ( being disarmed ) , so it may have been after the Persians retreated to the camp . Meanwhile , the Milesians who were guarding the passes of Mycale also turned on the Persians . At first they misdirected the fleeing Persian contingents so that they ended up back amongst the Allied troops ; then , perhaps seeing the outcome of the battle was certain , they began killing the fleeing Persians . Herodotus does not mention specific figures for casualties , merely saying that losses were heavy on both sides . The Sicyonians in particular suffered , also losing their general Perilaus . On the Persian side , the admiral Mardontes and the general Tigranes were both killed , though Artayntes escaped . Herodotus says that a few Persians troops escaped the battle and made their way to Sardis . Diodorus claims that there were 40 , 000 Persian casualties , and also suggests that the survivors made their way to Sardis . Aftermath . When the Spartans arrived the Persian camp was looted and their beached ships destroyed . Returning to Samos they then discussed their next moves . Leotychides proposed that they evacuate the cities of the Ionian Greeks and bring the population to the Greek mainland , since it would be difficult to defend Ionia against further Persian attacks . Xanthippus however vehemently objected to this , since the Ionian cities were originally Greek colonies . The Ionian Greeks later joined the Athenians in the " Delian League " against Persia . With the twin victories of Plataea and Mycale , the second Persian invasion of Greece was over . Moreover , the threat of a future invasion was abated ; although the Greeks remained worried that Xerxes would try again , over time it became apparent that the Persian desire to conquer Greece was much diminished . After the victory at Mycale , the Allied fleet sailed to the Hellespont to break down the pontoon bridges , but found that this was already done . The Peloponnesians sailed home , but the Athenians remained to attack the Chersonesos , still held by the Persians . The Persians in the region , and their allies , made for Sestos , the strongest town in the region , and the Athenians laid siege to them there . After a protracted siege , Sestos fell to the Athenians , marking the beginning of a new phase in the Greco - Persian Wars , the Greek counterattack . Herodotus ended his " Histories " after the Siege of Sestos . Over the next 30 years , the Greeks , primarily the Athenian - dominated Delian League , would expel ( or help expel ) the Persians from Macedon , Thrace , the Aegean islands and Ionia . Peace with Persia finally came in 449 BC with the Peace of Callias , finally ending the half - century of warfare . Significance . Mycale and Plataea have great significance in ancient history as the battles which decisively ended the second Persian invasion of Greece , thereby swinging the balance of the Greco - Persian Wars in favour of the Greeks . The Battle of Salamis saved Greece from immediate conquest , but it was Mycale and Plataea which effectively ended that threat . However , neither of these battles are as well known as Thermopylae , Salamis or Marathon . The reason for this discrepancy is not entirely clear ; it might however be a result of the circumstances in which the battle was fought . The fame of Thermopylae certainly lies in the doomed heroism of the Greeks in the face of overwhelming numbers ; Marathon and Salamis perhaps because they were both fought against the odds , and in dire strategic situations . Conversely , the Battles of Plataea and Mycale were both fought from a relative position of Greek strength , and against lesser odds ; perhaps the Greeks were even expecting to win and had certainly seen the opportunity to deal the final blow . Militarily , the major lesson of both Mycale and Plataea ( since both were fought on land ) was the repeated confirmation of the superiority of the hoplite over the more lightly armed Persian infantry , as had first been demonstrated at Marathon . Taking on this lesson , after the Greco - Persian Wars the Persian empire started recruiting and relying on Greek mercenaries . This was amply illustrated later on by the Ten Thousand and Xenophon .