Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (1.1882-1883)

242

THE BATTLE OF SAL AMIS.

position that they were fairly seen by the Persians.1 Themistocles,
we are informed, harangued the Greek .crews on the shore of Salamis
after day-break, when (on the common theory) the enemy's fleet must
have been in plain sight just across the bay. After this the Greeks
embarked ;2 then, after waiting for the arrival of the Aeginetan trireme
sent the day before to summon the Aeacidae from Aegina to their aid,3
or (as Plutarch relates) for the morning sea-breeze to blow,4 they began
their advance. Is it likely that the Persians, who if they were within the
straits were there eager to capture the Greek fleet, which they believed
to be anxious to elude them by flight, would have lost this opportunity
to anticipate the Spartan tactics at Aegospotami5 by seizing the Greek
ships while the crews were getting ready to embark, or would have
failed at least to attack them before the line of battle could be formed ?

2. It is agreed on all hands that the Persian movement, whatever
it was, by which the Greeks were actually surrounded and their escape
was cut off was executed by night so secretly and silently that none
of the Greeks at Salamis (except, of course, Themistocles) even sus-
pected it until they heard of its accomplishment from Aristides and
afterwards from the crew of a Tenian ship which had deserted from
the Persians." Is it possible now to conceive of such carelessness
on the part of the Greeks at this momentous crisis, that the long line
of Persian ships, which is commonly believed to have faced them in
the morning, could have passed directly by their camp at Salamis
and within hearing distance of the town without attracting the least
attention? And although we cannot trust Plutarch's statement that
the battle was fought at the time of full moon, on the sixteenth of
Munychion,7 especially in the face of the more probable date also given
by Plutarch, "about the twentieth" of Boedromion8 (about our twen-

1 Aesch. Pers. 398: 6ows 5e irdfTes l\aav £K<paveis (5<fiV. This point is strongly
emphasized by Loeschke, Jahrb. d. Phil., 1877, pp. 29, 30.

2 Herod. VIII. 83 : irapaiveaas Be tovtwv to, icpeaaa) alpieaBat Kal KarairAe^as
t7)v prjaw, iafia'iveiv iiceAeve es ras vavs. Kal ovroi fj.lv 8t] iaepaivov, Kal rj/ce 7)
air Aly'ivris rpr!]pr]s ?) Kara, robs AictKiSas aire'5vlfxr](Te.

3 See last note, and Herod. VIII. 64.

4 Plut. Them. 14. 5 Xen. Hellen. I. 2, 27; Grote, VIII. p. 296.
6 See Herod. VIII. 79-82 ; Plut. Them. 12, Arist. 8.

' Plut. de Glor. Athen. 7: rr\v 5e eKT-r}v iivl 5e/ca rod 'M.ouvv^loivos 'Apre/j-iSi
icadLtpcoaav, iv rj tols "EAAtjcti wepl 'S.aXapuva viKcvaiu €7reA.alu^/ei' r\ Oebs iravcri'X'qvos.

8 Plut. Camill. 19: Iv 8e ~2,aXafxtvi irepl ras eludBas (ev'iKwv). On this whole
question see Boeckh, Mondcyclen de)' Hettenen, pp. 73, 74.