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Diary of Xerxes' campaign

Corinthian helmet (BritishMuseum)

It is possible to reconstruct the chronology of the Greek campaign of the Persian king Xerxes, which took place in the summer of 480 BCE, from the seventh, eighth and ninth book of The Histories by the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus. That his narrative was, from a chronological point of view, consistent, was already known at the beginning of the twentieth century, but the problem remains how to fit the events described by Herodotus into our own calendar.

Several attempts have been made. The reconstruction below is based on an article by Kenneth Sacks, "Herodotus and the Dating of the Battle of Thermopylae", which has been published in the Classical Quarterly ns. 26 (1976) pages 232-248.

For a different view, see C. Hignett, Xerxes' Invasion of Greece (1963 Oxford), pages 379-385 and 448-457.

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Persian navy	Greek navy		Persian army	Greek army
Reaches Therma		August 1-14	Reaches Therma
Xerxes to Tempe	To Artemisium	August 14-29	Road building	To Thermopylae
At Therma	Inactive	August 30	Leaves Therma	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	August 31	Through Macedonia	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 1	Through Macedonia	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 2	Through Pieria	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 3	Through Pieria	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 4	Through Pieria	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 5	Through Thessaly	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 6	Through Thessaly	Inactive
At Therma	Inactive	September 7	Through Thessaly	Inactive
At Therma; ten ships at Skiathos	Three ships lost at Skiathos	September 8	Through Phthiotis	Inactive
At Therma	Hides in Euripus	September 9	Through Phthiotis	Inactive
Leaves Therma	In hiding	September 10; Carneia festival in Sparta	Through Phthiotis	Inactive
Reaches Magnesia	In hiding	September 11; Carneia festival in Sparta	Through Malis	Inactive
Storm at Cape Squid	In hiding	September 12; Carneia festival in Sparta	Reaches Thermopylae	Inactive
Storm at Cape Squid	To Artemisium	September 13; Carneia festival in Sparta	Inactive	Inactive
Storm at Cape Squid	Inactive	September 14; Carneia festival in Sparta	Inactive	Inactive
Reaches Aphetae	Seizes 15 Persian ships	September 15; Olympic games; Carneia festival	Inactive	Inactive
200 ships detached	Inactive	September 16; Olympic games; Carneia festival	Inactive	Inactive
Attacked by Greeks	Seizes 30 Persian ships	September 17; Olympic games; Carneia festival	First day of fighting	First day of fighting
200 ships lost off Euboea	Receives reinforcements	Full moon (before dawn)
Attacked by Greeks	Destroys Cilician ships	September 18; Olympic games; Carneia festival	Second day of fighting	Second day of fighting
			Circumvention
Attacks Greeks	Attacked by Persians	September 19	Victory at Thermopylae	Defeat at Thermopylae
	Leaves Artemisium
To Oreus	To Salamis	September 20	Burial of the dead	-
To Thermopylae & back	Reaches Salamis	September 21	Meeting at Thermopylae	To Skiron's Road
At Oreus	Inactive	September 22	Leaves Thermopylae	Destroys Skiron's road
At Oreus	Inactive	September 23	Though Phocis	Works on Isthmus wall
At Oreus	Inactive	September 24	Though Boeotia	Works on Isthmus wall
At Oreus	Inactive	September 25	Though Boeotia	Works on Isthmus wall
Leaves Oreus	Inactive	September 26	Though Boeotia	Works on Isthmus wall
Passes Chalkis	First meeting of admirals	September 27	Reaches Athens	Works on Isthmus wall
	Second meeting
Reaches Phalerum	Inactive	September 28	Takes acropolis	Works on Isthmus wall
	Themistocles' strategem
Defeated at Salamis	Defeats Persians	September 29	Occupies coast at Eleusis	Works on Isthmus wall
Building mole	Inactive	September 30	Ravages Megara	Works on Isthmus wall
Building mole	Inactive	October 1	Threatens Isthmus	Works on Isthmus wall
Building mole	Inactive	October 2; partial solar eclipse in the afternoon	Threatens Isthmus	Cleombrotus sacrifices
Building mole	Inactive	October 3	Withdraws to Attica	Inactive
Meeting at Phalerum	Inactive	October 4	Meeting at Phalerum	Inactive
Leaves Phalerum
To Hellespont	Pursues Persians	October 5	Leaves Attica	Disbanded

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Diary of Xerxes' campaign

Persian navy

Greek navy

Persian army

Greek army