Sicinnus

Themistocles's household slave — a Persian-speaker who served as pedagogue to Themistocles's sons and as his messenger in the two great ruses of the campaign. On the evening before Salamis he rowed alone to the Persian fleet and delivered the rigged message: the Athenian commander supports the King's cause, the Greeks are about to flee, block the straits to prevent their escape. The Persians acted on the message, committed the fleet in the narrows before dawn, and were defeated. After the battle, Themistocles sent Sicinnus a second time — to tell Xerxes that Themistocles himself had stopped the Greek fleet from pursuing and destroying the pontoon bridge on the Hellespont — a manoeuvre that both sped the king's withdrawal and banked a favour Themistocles would later need. Sicinnus was emancipated and naturalised at Thespiae after the war.

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