According to
Thessalus, the King of Persia demanded
earth and water from the Coans in 493 BC but they refused, and so he gave the island to Artemisia to be wasted. Artemisia led a fleet of ships to
Cos to slaughter the Coans, but Thessalus claimed that Zeus intervened and Artemisia's ships were destroyed by lightning, and she was forced to retreat. However, she later returned and conquered them.
Battle of Salamis Xerxes was induced by the message of
Themistocles to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the
Peloponnese and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. Artemisia was the only one of Xerxes' naval commanders to advise against the action, then went on to earn her king's praise for her leadership in action during his fleet's defeat by the Greeks at the
Battle of Salamis (September, 480 BC).
Preparations at the time of Artemisia (c. 480–460 BC). , Caria at the end of Artemisia's rule, and beginning of the rule of her son
Pisindelis.
Obv: Winged female figure running right, head left, holding
kerykeion in her right hand, and a victory wreath in left.
Rev: Baetyl in incuse square. Circa 470–450 BC. Before the battle of Salamis, Xerxes gathered all his naval commanders and sent
Mardonios to ask whether or not he should fight a naval battle. All the commanders advised him to fight a naval battle except Artemisia. As Herodotus tells it, she told Mardonios: Tell the King to spare his ships and not do a naval battle because our enemies are much stronger than us in the sea, as men are to women. And why does he need to risk a naval battle? Athens for which he did undertake this expedition is his and the rest of Greece too. No man can stand against him and they who once resisted, were destroyed. If Xerxes chose not to rush into a naval encounter, but instead kept his ships close to the shore and either stayed there or moved them towards the
Peloponnese, victory would be his. The Greeks can't hold out against him for very long. They will leave for their cities, because they don't have food in store on this island, as I have learned, and when our army will march against the Peloponnese they who have come from there will become worried and they will not stay here to fight to defend Athens. But if he hurries to engage I am afraid that the navy will be defeated and the land-forces will be weakened as well. In addition, he should also consider that he has certain untrustworthy allies, like the
Egyptians, the
Cyprians, the
Kilikians and the
Pamphylians, who are completely useless. Xerxes was pleased with her advice and while he already held her in great esteem he now praised her further. Despite this, he gave orders to follow the advice of the rest of his commanders. Xerxes thought that at the naval battle of Artemisium his men acted like cowards because he was not there to watch them. But this time he would watch the battle himself to ensure they would act bravely.
Plutarch, in
On the Malice of Herodotus, believe that Herodotus wrote that because he just wanted verses in order to make Artemisia look like a
Sibyl, who was prophesying of things to come.
Engagement Artemisia participated in the Battle of Salamis in September, 480 BC as a Persian ally. She led the forces of
Halicarnassos,
Cos,
Nisyros and
Calyndos () (Calyndos was on the southwest coast of
Asia Minor across from
Rhodes), and supplied five ships. The ships she brought had the second best reputation in the whole fleet, next to the ones from
Sidon. Her involvement in the campaign was described by
Herodotus: According to Herodotus, during the battle, and while the Persian fleet was facing defeat, an Athenian ship pursued Artemisia's ship and she was not able to escape, because in front of her were friendly ships. She decided to charge against a friendly ship manned by people of Calyndos and on which the king of the Calyndians
Damasithymos () was located. The Calyndian ship sank. Herodotus is uncertain but offers the possibility that Artemisia had previously had a disagreement with Damasithymos at the
Hellespont. and victory wreath, on the coinage of Caria around the time of Artemisia. According to
Polyaenus, when Artemisia saw that she was near to falling into the hands of the Greeks, she ordered the Persian colours to be taken down, and the master of the ship to bear down upon and attack a Persian vessel of the Calyndian allies, which was commanded by Damasithymus, that was passing by her. When the captain of the Athenian ship,
Ameinias, saw her charge against a Persian ship, he turned his ship away and went after others, supposing that the ship of Artemisia was either a Greek ship or was deserting from the Persians and fighting for the Greeks. Herodotus believed that Ameinias did not know that Artemisia was on the ship, because otherwise he would not have ceased his pursuit until either he had captured her or had been captured himself, because "orders had been given to the Athenian captains, and moreover a prize was offered of ten thousand drachmas for the man who should take her alive; since they thought it intolerable that a woman should make an expedition against Athens."
Polyaenus in his work Stratagems () reports that Artemisia had in her ship two different standards. When she chased a Greek ship, she hoisted the Persian colours. But when she was chased by a Greek ship, she hoisted the Greek colours, so that the enemy might mistake her for a Greek and give up the pursuit. While Xerxes was overseeing the battle from his throne, which was at the foot of
Mount Aigaleo, he observed the incident and he and the others who were present thought that Artemisia had attacked and sunk a Greek ship. One of the men who was next to Xerxes said to him: "Master, see Artemisia, how well she is fighting, and how she sank even now a ship of the enemy" and Xerxes then responded: "My men have become women; and my women, men." None of the crew of the Calyndian ship survived to be able to accuse her otherwise. According to Polyaenus, when Xerxes saw her sink the ship, he said: "O Zeus, surely you have formed women out of man's materials, and men out of woman's."
Photius writes that a man called Draco (), who was the son of Eupompus () of
Samos, was in the service of Xerxes for a thousand
talents. He had very good eyesight and could easily see at twenty
stades. He described to Xerxes what he saw from the battle and Artemisia's bravery.
Aftermath Plutarch, in his work
Parallel Lives () at the part which mentions
Themistocles, says that it was Artemisia who recognised the body of Ariamenes () (Herodotus says that his name was
Ariabignes), brother of Xerxes and admiral of the Persian navy, floating amongst the shipwrecks, and brought the body back to Xerxes. After the battle, according to Polyaenus, Xerxes acknowledged her to have excelled above all the officers in the fleet and sent her a complete suit of Greek armour; he also presented the captain of her ship with a
distaff and spindle. According to Herodotus, after the defeat, Xerxes presented Artemisia with two possible courses of action and asked her which she recommended. Either he would lead troops to the Peloponnese himself, or he would withdraw from Greece and leave his general
Mardonius in charge. Artemisia suggested to him that he should retreat back to
Asia Minor and she advocated the plan suggested by Mardonius, who requested 300,000 Persian soldiers with which he would defeat the Greeks in Xerxes' absence. According to Herodotus she replied: I think that you should retire and leave Mardonius behind with those whom he desires to have. If he succeeds, the honour will be yours because your slaves performed it. If on the other hand, he fails, it would be no great matter as you would be safe and no danger threatens anything that concerns your house. And while you will be safe the Greeks will have to pass through many difficulties for their own existence. In addition, if Mardonius were to suffer a disaster who would care? He is just your slave and the Greeks will have but a poor triumph. As for yourself, you will be going home with the object for your campaign accomplished, for you have burnt Athens. Xerxes followed her advice, leaving Mardonius to conduct the war in Greece. He sent her to
Ephesus to take care of his illegitimate sons. On the other hand, Plutarch mocks Herodotus' writing, since he thinks that Xerxes would have brought women with him from
Susa, in case his son needed female attendants. == Death ==