The Greek victory at Mycale destroyed the remnant Persian fleet and, alongside Plataea, permanently ended the second Persian invasion of Greece.
Key Facts
- Date
- 27 or 28 August, 479 BC
- Location
- Slopes of Mount Mycale, Ionia, opposite Samos
- Greek coalition
- Sparta, Athens, Corinth and allied city-states
- Persian commander left in Greece
- Mardonius (not present at Mycale)
- Greek commander
- Leotychides
- Outcome for Persian fleet
- Ships beached, captured, and burned; navy destroyed
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
After the Persian naval defeat at Salamis in 480 BC, Xerxes withdrew from Greece, leaving Mardonius with a land army. The demoralized remnants of the Persian fleet retreated to Samos, where they beached their ships and constructed a fortified camp at the foot of Mount Mycale, hoping to avoid further engagement with the resurgent Greek fleet under Spartan admiral Leotychides.
In late August 479 BC, the Greek fleet sailed to Mycale and, finding the Persians unwilling to fight at sea, landed marines to attack the beached Persian camp. Despite determined Persian resistance, Greek hoplites routed the defenders. Ionian Greek contingents within the Persian force defected mid-battle, the camp was stormed, large numbers of Persians were killed, and the remaining Persian ships were captured and burned.
The annihilation of the Persian fleet at Mycale, occurring reportedly on the same day as the Greek land victory at Plataea, together ended Xerxes's invasion of Greece. Following these twin defeats, the strategic initiative passed to the Greeks, who subsequently launched offensive operations against Persian-held territories, inaugurating a new phase of the Greco-Persian Wars.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Leotychides.
Side B
1 belligerent
Xerxes I (absent; represented by garrison forces).