Leonid, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, released all the allies. He himself and with him 300 selected Spartan warriors, as well as volunteers from the Boeotian city of Thespius, remained to cover their retreat and everyone fell with glory in an unequal battle.
The way to Central Greece for the Persians was then opened. The largest policy of Boeotia - Thebes, which had previously leaned towards Xerxes, now hastened to recognize his authority. The whole of Attica was devastated, Athens lay in ruins, and their inhabitants were urgently evacuated to the nearby islands - Salamis and Aegina, as well as to the city of Trezena (in Argolis). The Spartans and their closest allied neighbors concentrated on Isthma (Isthmus of Corinth) in order to protect the only land route leading to them on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
The Athenians, who found themselves in the most distressed situation, did everything to ensure that the general battle of the Hellenic fleet with the Persian took place. It began in the Strait of Salamis off the coast of Attica on September 20, 480 BC. The lighter and more maneuverable Greek ships, among which the Athenian ones prevailed (with crews who knew the local water area, which was full of pitfalls and shoals), unanimously and decisively attacked the enemy, inflicting a crushing defeat on him. Themistocles played a decisive role in the preparation and successful conduct of this historically important battle.
Fearing after the defeat of Salamis that the Greeks would destroy the pontoon crossing he built across the Hellespont and deprive him of the opportunity to return to Persia, Xerxes hurried to start a retreat along the already familiar path along the western and northern shores of the Aegean Sea. In Greece, he left Mardonius with a large army, who retreated to the north for the winter - to Thessaly, allied to the Persians.
In the next campaign, 479 BC in fact, the fate of the Hellenic policies of the south of the Balkans was decided. In the spring, the offensive of the Persians resumed, acting together with the Thessalians and Thebans. Mardonius invaded Attica, and its population was again forced to seek refuge in Salamis. But the recapture of Athens was the last success of Mardonius.
