🔥 See the moment the Greek fleet charged — full episode on YouTube.

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]By the time dawn breaks, the Persian fleet has been rowing all night, their crews exhausted. [music] Hours at the oars in complete darkness, waiting for a Greek evacuation that was never coming. They are tired, cramped, and already crowded into a strait that is tighter than any of their commanders expected.

[00:00:22]Then, the sun rises. 370 Greek warships in full battle formation, not fleeing, not scattering, waiting.

[00:00:33]The Greeks have spent the night organizing. Two ranks deep, stretched across the strait from shore to shore.

[00:00:40]On the left, the Athenians, the largest contingent, 180 ships. On the right, the Aeginetans, the most aggressive fighters at sea.

[00:00:51]The smaller allied contingents packed into the center. Best squadrons on both flanks. Every ship positioned deliberately.

[00:01:01]Facing them, the Persian formation is already compromised by the narrow water.

[00:01:07]The Phoenicians, Persia's finest, on the right flank. The Ionian Greeks, pressed into Persian service, on the left. The remaining contingents crushed into the center, >> [music] >> three ranks deep. Each captain desperate to push forward and be seen.

[00:01:24]Above the strait, on the slopes of Mount Aegaleo, Xerxes takes his seat on the throne constructed just to watch this moment. Scribes beside [music] him, the entire battle laid out below like a map.

[00:01:38]The Greeks hold their line, letting more Persian ships crowd deeper into the strait.

[00:01:44]Then, one Greek captain breaks formation. His ship lunges forward and rams the nearest Persian vessel.

[00:01:53]For a single breath, nobody moves.

[00:01:57]Then the entire Greek line charges.