Themistocles statue in defense holding shield and spear

Themistocles (c. 524–459 BC) was the Athenian statesman whose strategic genius saved Greece at the naval Battle of Salamis in 480 BC — the moment that turned back the Persian invasion of Xerxes. He persuaded Athens to build a navy when others wanted hoplites, and then lured the Persian fleet into the narrow straits where Greek ships could destroy it. Without him, Greek civilisation as we know it would not exist.