ed. But it was quickly
confirmed. Persian ships appeared at both ends of the strait.
Themistocles had won. Escape was impossible. They must do battle like
heroes or live as Persian slaves. There was but one decision,--to fight.
The dawn of day found the Greeks actively preparing for the most famous
naval battle of ancient times.

The combat about to be fought had the largest audience of any naval
battle the world has ever known. For the vast army of Persia was drawn
up as spectators on the verge of the narrow strait which held the
warring fleets, and Xerxes himself sat on a lofty throne erected at a
point which closely overlooked the liquid plain. His presence, he felt
sure, would fill his seamen with valor, while by his side stood scribes
prepared to write down the names alike of the valorous and the backward
combatants. On the other hand, the people of Athens and Attica looked
with hope and fear on the scene from the island of Salamis. It was a
unique preparation for a battle at sea, such as was never known before
or since that day.

The fleet of Persia outnumbered that of Greece three to one. But the
Persian seamen had been busy all night long in carrying out the plan to
entrap the Greeks, and were weary with labor. The Greeks had risen fresh
and vigorous from their night's rest. And different spirits animated the
two hosts. The Persians were moved solely by the desire for glory; the
Greeks by the stern alternatives of victory, slavery, or death. These
differences in strength and motive went far to negative the difference
in numbers; and the Greeks, caught like lions in a snare, dashed into
the combat with the single feeling that they must now fight or die.

History tells us that the Greeks hesitated at first; but soon the ship
of Ameinias, an Athenian captain, dashed against a Phoenician trireme
with such fury that the two became closely entangled. While their crews
fought vigorously with spear and javelin, other ships from both sides
dashed to their aid, and soon numbers of the war triremes were fiercely
engaged.

The battle that followed was hot and furious, the ships becoming mingled
in so confused a mass that no eye could follow their evolutions. Soon
the waters of the Bay of Salamis ran red with blood. Broken oars, fallen
spars, shattered vessels, filled the strait. Hundreds were hurled into
the waters,--the Persians, few of whom could swim, to sink; the Greeks,
who were skilful swimmers, to seek the shore