Battle of Lechaeum 391 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 391 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Greece | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Corinthian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 37.9341, 22.8842 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Lechaeum (391 BC) was fought between the Athenians and the Spartans during the Corinthian War; it ended in an Athenian victory. During the battle, the Athenian general Iphicrates took advantage of the situation when a Spartan hoplite regiment operating near Corinth was marching through open terrain without the protection of any missile throwing troops. He decided to ambush it with his force of javelin throwers, or peltasts. By launching repeated hit-and-run attacks against the Spartan formation, Iphicrates and his men were able to wear the Spartans down, eventually routing them and killing just under half. This marked one of the first occasions in Greek military history in which a force of peltasts had defeated a force of hoplite heavy infantry.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Lechaeum (revision 1370268011), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Corinth (146 BC) 146 BC · 3 km
- Siege of Corinth (1463) 1463 · 5 km
- Siege of the Hexamilion Wall (1446) 1446 · 8 km
- Battle of Nemea 394 BC · 21 km
- Battle of Argos 272 BC · 38 km
- Battle of Leuctra 371 BC · 44 km
Other battles of the Corinthian War
- Battle of Haliartus 395 BC
- Battle of Coronea (394 BC) 394 BC
- Battle of Nemea 394 BC
All 4 battles of the Corinthian War →
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