Xerxes’ Fleet in Magnesia: the Anchorage at Sepias

By Ian Whitehead, published August 1988

Abstract

The article provides a solution to the difficulties interpreting Herodotus’s description of the mooring of Xerxes’ fleet at Sepias in 480 BC. An understanding of Mediterranean mooring practices, stern to shore, and familiarity with the waters around Cape Artemision enables a description of the mooring of the Persian fleet to be described. This corresponds with Herodotus and also explains why so many ships were lost when the storm hit. The exact location remains uncertain.

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Filed under: Antiquity
Subjects include: Archaeology | Battles & Tactics | Ship Handling & Seamanship

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