The genius of Themistocles as strategos was his early conception of a long-term strategy aimed at Persian weakness and his ability to convince other actors to subordinate their short-term goals to the strategy. It seems to have been relatively easy to convince the Greeks to choose such a strategy based on the writings of Herodotus, but one should realize that it undoubtedly was more difficult in reality. Still, the strategy of exhaustion was the clear choice in this case as a strategy of annihilation was impossible due to the size of the Persian army and fleet. What was impressive — and maybe unprecedented for the time — was that Greek tactics flowed from that chosen strategy. Thermopylae and Artemisium were not random encounter battles but locations and tactics chosen by the Greeks to both maximize their advantages and minimize their weaknesses while simultaneously serving the strategy.

Themistocles not only convinced Greek military leaders to follow his plan, he also convinced the entire population of Athens to sacrifice their own city for the strategy. Lastly, he convinced other Greek admirals who had no interest in fighting for the ruins of Athens to confront the Persian fleet at Salamis. It was Themistocles’ vision that kept the Greeks on track when setbacks — Greek defections in the north, defeat at Thermopylae, and the destruction of Athens — threatened to fracture their unity. This is the function of strategy and a key facet of the relationship between strategy and tactics; focus on the long-term ends and the ability to force tactical decisions — the means — to further it.

Captain B. A. Friedman, USMC is a field artillery officer and author of 21st Century Ellis, as well as numerous articles and posts. He is also a founding member of the Military Writers Guild. Views contained in this post do not represent the United States Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy, or the Department of Defense.

This piece first appeared on the Strategy Bridge here.