Battle of Salamis (306 BC) 306 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 306 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Northern Cyprus | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Fourth War of the Diadochi | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 35.1667, 33.9167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Salamis in 306 BC took place off Salamis, Cyprus between the fleets of Ptolemy I of Egypt and Antigonus I Monophthalmus, two of the Diadochi, the generals who, after the death of Alexander the Great, fought each other for control of his empire.
Cyprus had been seized by Ptolemy, and was used as a base for operations against the Antigonid territories in Asia Minor and the Levant. In 306 BC, Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to invade the island, which was defended by Ptolemy's brother Menelaus. After landing on the northeastern part of the island, Demetrius marched to Salamis, defeated Menelaus in a battle, and laid siege to the city. This was the first time where Demetrius demonstrated his flair for siege warfare, which would later earn him the sobriquet Poliorcetes, "the Besieger". Nevertheless, Menelaus held off Demetrius' attacks until the arrival of reinforcements. Ptolemy led a large-scale rescue expedition in person, hoping to catch Demetrius between his own forces and those of Menelaus, sallying forth from Salamis. Demetrius took a calculated risk by leaving only a small force to impede Menelaus, and focusing the bulk of his forces against Ptolemy.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Salamis (306 BC) (revision 1379809591), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Fourth War of the Diadochi
- Siege of Rhodes (305–304 BC) 305 BC
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All 3 battles of the Fourth War of the Diadochi →
Browse more: battles in Northern Cyprus · Asia · Ancient battles