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Series
The Athenian series follows the struggle of Athens and its allies against the Persian Empire, moving from Marathon and the political battles of the intervening decade to Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea. Xanthippus and Themistocles provide the principal viewpoints as military survival, democratic rivalry and competing Greek interests shape the defence of the city.
Reading order
In 490 BC, the Athenian general Xanthippus joins the citizen army confronting a Persian landing at Marathon, while political rivalry inside Athens threatens the unity needed for survival. Ten years later Xerxes returns with a far larger invasion, forcing the Greeks into an uneasy coalition. Xanthippus…
With Athens evacuated and the Persian army advancing, Themistocles must persuade suspicious Greek allies to commit their fleets to a decisive battle in the narrow waters of Salamis. Victory at sea does not end the invasion: Mardonius remains in Greece with a powerful army, and Athens…