Battle of Mantinea (418 BC)
Battle of Mantinea | |
---|---|
Part of the Mantinea 37°36′N 22°24′E / 37.6°N 22.4°E | |
Result | Spartan victory |
Tegea
Pharax
Hipponoïdas
Aristocles
total: about 9,000
- 3,500 Spartans
- 600 Sciritae
- 2,000 Neodamodes
- 3,000 Arcadian and Tegean allies and cavalry
total: about 8,000
- 3,000 Argives
- 1,000 Athenian hoplites (heavy infantry), plus cavalry
- 2,000 Mantineans
- 1,000 mercenary Arcadians
- 1,000 Cleonaeans, Orneans, Aeginetans and other allied
The first Battle of Mantinea was fought in 418 BC during the Peloponnesian War. In this battle Sparta and its Peloponnesian allies defeated an allied army of Argos, Athens, Mantinea and several others.
Background
In 421 BC, after ten years of war, Athens and Sparta made peace; the
Prelude
Late in 418, the Argives and their allies marched against Tegea, where a faction was prepared to turn the city over to the Argive alliance. Tegea controlled the exit from Laconia. Enemy control of the town would mean that the Spartans would be unable to move out of their home city and would result in the demise of the Peloponnesian coalition that fought the Archidamian War.
Agis marched the whole of the Spartan army, together with the
. However, the northern army could not arrive quickly at the scene, as they had not expected the call and would have to pass through enemy territory (Argos and Orchomenus). On the whole, the army of the allies of Sparta would have numbered around 9,000 hoplites.In the meantime, the Eleans attacked Lepreum, a contested border town with Sparta. They chose to withdraw their contingent of 3,000 hoplites. Agis took advantage of the withdrawal and sent a sixth of his army, with the youngest and the oldest hoplites home to guard Sparta proper. They were called back soon after, as Agis or the symbouloi realized that the Eleans would soon be back on the side of the Argives, but did not arrive in time for the battle.
Agis could have bided his time inside the walls of Tegea, waiting for his northern allies. However, he was already discredited and could not show the slightest sign of shying away from the battle. So he invaded the territory around
Instead of allowing Mantinea to be flooded, the Argive army moved quicker than the Spartans anticipated, as the Argive hoplites were angry at their generals for not pursuing the Spartan army and accused them of treason. They surprised their enemies by drawing up as the Spartans emerged from a nearby wood. The Spartans quickly organized themselves, with no time to wait for their other allies. Brasidas' veterans (Brasidas himself had been killed at the
The battle
As the battle began, each side's right wing began to outflank the other's left, due to the erratic movements of each hoplite trying to cover himself with the shield of the man beside him. Agis tried to strengthen the line by ordering the Sciritae and his left to break off contact with the rest of the army and match the length of the Argive line. To cover the void created, he ordered the companies of Hipponoidas and Aristocles to leave their positions in the center and cover the line. This however was not achieved, for the two captains were unable, or unwilling to complete these maneuvers on such short notice. Donald Kagan considers it an ill-advised move and gives credit to the two captains for disobeying orders that could have lost the battle for the Spartans. Others considered that the original move could have succeeded.
In any case, the Mantineans and the right part of the Argives, the elite Argive Thousand, entered the gap and routed the Brasideans and the Sciritae, and pursued them for a long distance. In the meantime, the Tegeans and the regular Spartan army routed the Argives and Arcadians in the center. Most of them did not stand to fight, but they fled as the Spartans approached; some were trampled in their hurry to get away before the enemy reached them. While the Argive-Arcadian center was being chased off the field, the Athenians who formed the left were beginning to get encircled. Their cavalry prevented a rout, allowing the Athenian infantry to retreat in good order. Agis did not pursue the Athenians but turned the center and right around and marched to give support to his hard-pressed left. The Mantineans were chased off the field with heavy losses while the Spartans allowed the Argive Thousand to escape virtually unharmed.[5]
The Spartans did not pursue the enemy for long after the battle was won.
Aftermath
The Argive side lost about 1,100 men (700 Argives and Arcadians, 200 Athenians and 200 Mantineans), and the Spartans about 300.[6]
The Spartans sent an embassy to Argos and the Argives accepted a truce by the terms of which they gave up Orchomenus, and all their hostages and joined up with the Spartans in evicting the Athenians from Epidaurus. They also renounced their alliance with Elis and Athens. After deposing the democratic government of Sicyon, the Argive Thousand staged a coup against the democratic rule of Argos. The democrats' morale was low because of the bad performance of the common army and the Athenians in the battle.
In more general terms, the battle was a considerable boost to the Lacedaemonians' morale and prestige, because after the disaster at Pylos they had been considered cowardly and incompetent in battle. Their success at Mantinea marked a reversal of the trend.
Sources
- Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War. Athens, Philippos Pappas, Nikolaos Philippas; Athens, Papyros. 1953.
- Kagan, Donald. (2003). The Peloponnesian War. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-03211-5.
- Victor Davis Hanson. A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War. Random House, October 2005.
Notes
- The History of the Peloponnesian War5:49–50)
- ^ Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War 5:63
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5:65
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Library 12.79.6
- ^ Kagan, The Peace of Nicias, The Battle of Mantinea, 123–130.
- ^ Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War 5:74