Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
After beating the Spartan army at Thermopylae, the way was open for Xerxes to attack Athens. Athens was evacuated, and the Persian army destroyed the Acropolis. Themistocles led the Greek states to attack the Persian fleet. The battle was fought in the narrow bay of Salamis, where the Persians were defeated. "Xerxes could no longer provision his huge army and had to leave Greece. In rebuilding their city, the Athenians reached heights of cultural sophistication and political skill barely equaled since." [1001 Days]