Salamis salutes Strauss
The mayor of Salamis, Greece, has invited Cornell military historian Barry Strauss to receive the city’s highest award Sept. 29 in gratitude for his 2004 book “The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece – And Western Civilization.”
The Battle of Salamis, according to the book’s publisher, “was the most important naval encounter of the ancient world. In the narrow strait between the island of Salamis and the Greek mainland, a heavily outnumbered Greek navy defeated the Persian armada … The Greek triumph at Salamis stopped the advancing Persians and saved the first democracy in history. It made Athens the dominant city in Greece, gave birth to the Athenian empire, and set the stage for the Age of Pericles.”
The trireme Olympias – a historical reproduction of the original Hellenistic-era warship that sailed to meet the Persian fleet
– will be at anchor in the city’s harbor, and Strauss will be honored on the day Salamis commemorates the battle.
