The film centers on Themistocles and Artemisia I of Caria, as well as Xerxes I of Persia. It originally went under the working title of Battle of Artemisium (widely mis-reported as “Battle of Artemisia”). The Battle of Artemisium was a naval engagement, concurrent with the battle at Thermopylae, and was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in September 480 BC, in the straits between the mainland and Thermopylae. The film will probably also focus, in part, on the Battle of Salamis, in which Artemisia played a major role, as well as possibly the Battle of Marathon. Salamis was fought once the Persian Empire had advanced into southern Greece and occupied Athens.