Follows in the footsteps of Themistocles and his fearsome adversary Xerxes, through two spectacular military engagements, one on land, the other naval: the battles of Marathon (490 BC) and Salamis (480 BC). Themistocles against Xerxes, the story of a duel and the exceptional parallel careers of two men of a similar age, but whose origins, beliefs, and cultures were very different: the son of a king and the son of democracy itself.