Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis

When Xerxes invaded Greece, a small allied force under the Spartan king Leonidas held the narrow pass of Thermopylae for three days before it was outflanked and wiped out. Athens was abandoned and burned, but weeks later the Greek fleet, led by Themistocles, lured the larger Persian navy into the strait of Salamis and broke it. Victory at Plataea the next year ended the invasion.