The role of the Phoenician kings at the battle of Salamis (480 B.C.E.).

• Author: Elayi, Josette
• Position: Report

The role of the Phoenician kings at the battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.E. has been questioned and interpreted in different manners, depending on the point of view considered--Greek, Persian, or Phoenician. The point of view of scholars specializing in Phoenician studies is often biased by the fact that the chronology of the Sidonian kings depends in part on the interpretation of this very event. Thus, against the traditional view that considers the Phoenician kings as the commanders of their respective fleets at Salamis, (1) three main suggestions have recently been proposed: the kings were present but did not command their fleets; (2) they were in command of their fleets but their names have been corrupted by Herodotus; (3) they perished in the battle or were put to death by Xerxes just after. (4) My aim here is to examine these proposals, in order to identify the Phoenician kings by name, to assess their precise role with respect to the Persians and to the Phoenicians, and to establish whether or not they died in 480/479.

We shall try to take into account the different points of view--Phoenician as well as Persian and Greek--and to use all the relevant documentation. The main sources at our disposal are classical sources, namely Herodotus' and Diodorus' accounts related to this battle. (5) But we shall also consider in comparison the classical sources concerned with the use of Phoenician fleets by the Persians in other circumstances during the Persian period: for example, the battles of Eurymedon (466) and Cnidus (394), the campaigns in Egypt (454, 385-383, 373, 351, 343), and the Macedonian invasion of the Persian Empire in 333. (6) And we shall also take into account the relevant Phoenician inscriptions, monumental as well as numismatic, and the iconography expressing the naval power of Phoenician cities. (7)

The first question is whether the Phoenician kings were commanders of their fleets at the battle of Salamis. Before attempting to decide this point, we shall analyze the documentation and examine the various objections and arguments. The first objection is that Herodotus does not state clearly that the Phoenician kings were the commanders of their fleets at Salamis:

"After the chief admirals, the most famous commanders of the navy were the Sidonian Tetramnestos son of Anysos, the Tyrian Matten son of Eiromos, the Aradian Merbalos son of Agbalos ..." ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ...). (8) The second objection is that Eshmunazor's inscription (KAI 14) does not state that Eshmunazor II was at Salamis, which would mean that Tetramnestos was not a king, if we accept that Eshmunazor II was on the throne of Sidon in 480. (9) As a matter of fact, the accounts of Herodotus and the Sidonian inscriptions dealing with the so-called dynasty of Eshmunazor (10) have been used in a kind of circular argument. On one hand, they have been used to prove that the Tetramnestos mentioned by Herodotus was (or was not) a king of Sidon and, on the other hand, for dating the reigns of the Sidonian kings. Therefore, the second objection cannot be accepted. But the first objection must be seriously taken into account: it is true that Herodotus does not say either that Tetramnestos was a king of Sidon or that Matten and Merbalos were kings of Tyre and Arwad (Arados), respectively. But neither does he say that they were not kings. In fact, several arguments indicate that they were truly Phoenician kings.

First of all, among the other commanders listed after the three Phoenicians, some were certainly kings: Artemisia, tyrant of Halicarnassus ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), (11) Syennesis of Cilicia, (12) and Gorgus, son of Chersis of Salamis. (13) Secondly, although not named, the kings of Sidon and Tyre are definitely said to be with the fleet at Phalerum, where it was anchored just before the battle of Salamis. "When (Xerxes) had arrived and taken the chair, the tyrants of his peoples and the commanders of the galleys, summoned by him, came and were seated each of them at the rank attributed by the King; at the first rank the king of Sidon, then of Tyre, then the others" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). (14) As a matter of fact, Herodotus does not systematically use the term [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("king") to designate the Phoenician kings: for example, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("the Tyrian"), [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("the Sidonian") (15); therefore, it is not surprising that he has designated them here only by their names.

What degree of confidence can we give to Herodotus' testimony? The information related to the Phoenician kings in his narrative of the battle of Salamis could have been collected during his travels. Since he mentions mainly the Sidonians and them most favorably, he cannot have picked up this information during his trip to Tyre. He probably encountered Sidonians somewhere else--either eyewitnesses of the battle or persons acquainted with eyewitnesses. He possibly had access, directly or indirectly, to official Persian documents concerning the composition of the Persian forces. (16) Thus, his account of this event seems to be relatively credible, especially since he admits his ignorance in some cases. (17)

Moreover, other sources, both Greek and Phoenician, confirm his testimony. For example, in Diodorus' account of the battle of Cnidus in 394, the king of Sidon is explicitly mentioned as commander of the Phoenician fleet: "There also came to Conon ninety triremes, ten of them from Cilicia and eighty from Phoenicia, under the command of the lord of the Sidonians" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). (18) The king was Baalshillem II, probably called [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("the ship-owner") by the Greeks. (19) During the Macedonian invasion of the Persian Empire, the Phoenician squadrons were under the leadership of their respective kings when they joined the Persian fleet, as we can see, for example, from Arrian's account. "Gerostratos himself (king of Arados) was navigating with Autophradates leading his ships, and the other Phoenician and Cypriot kings were also navigating with Autophradates" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). (20) Later they joined Alexander with their respective fleets: "At that time, Gerostratos king of Arados and Enylos king of Byblos, when they heard that Alexander held their cities, left Autophradates and his ships, and joined Alexander with their respective fleets" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). (21)

The Sidonian coinage also attests that, in the city of Sidon the king was the commander of his fleet...