The Battle of Salamis was one of the decisive battles of world history, in which the small city-states of ancient Greece joined forces to take on the mighty Persian Empire. After the defeat and death of the Spartan king Leonidas at Thermopylae, the Persians burned Athens, and the Greek alliance seemed close to collapse. But thanks to the foresight of Athenian general Themistocles and the heroism of the Greek fleet, the Persians would meet with disaster in the narrow straits of Salamis.