371 ships, and some incredible deception. Welcome, to Salamis.
Xerxes, King of Kings, had led his Persian army across Greece whilst his fleet cleared the Aegean. He had brushed aside the Spartan led force at Thermopylae and charged down through Attica. Athens was left empty, left to be burnt by Xerxes.
The Greeks had little hope, their alliance now centered on the Peloponnese and many wished to mount their last defense at the Isthmus of Corinth. But Themistocles, an Athenian general, convinced them otherwise.
After all, if the Persians took control of the sea, they could land anywhere they wished. There was surely a threat here too, maybe if the Greeks would not support Athens, Athens would move its ships (half the Greek force) elsewhere...
Having convinced the Greeks to stand, Themistocles had to convince the Persians to battle. They had no need to fight. Likely having double the ships of the Greeks, they already controlled the seas, and besides, would fight better in open water.
Themistocles however sent a spy to Xerxes. He suggested Athens was ready to flip sides, that the other Greeks were about to flee. And Xerxes could not let his quarry get away, a Great King must have great victories.
The deception was continued as the Persians entered the strait. Their numbers were a weakness here, with so little room for maneuver. But the Greeks backed away, drawing them in.
When battle was joined it was fierce and chaotic. Xerxes watched from a throne set up on the cliffs, and his anger mounted.
Defeated at Salamis, he would now return to Asia, in part to avoid wintering in Europe, in part because the Greeks could now block the Hellespont, but surely also in anger at having faced such a setback.
The war was not over however. And a crack Persian force was left to finish the Greeks the following year.