Battle of Naupactus 429 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 429 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 | Peloponnesian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Phormio | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.3914, 21.8297 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Naupactus was a naval battle in the Peloponnesian War. The battle, which took place a week after the Athenian victory at Rhium, set an Athenian fleet of twenty ships, commanded by Phormio, against a Peloponnesian fleet of seventy-seven ships, commanded by Cnemus.
In the battle, the Peloponnesians drew the Athenians out from their anchorage at Antirrhium by sailing into the Gulf of Corinth, moving as if to attack the vital Athenian base at Naupactus. The Athenians were forced to shadow their movements, sailing eastward along the northern shore of the gulf. Attacking suddenly, the Peloponnesians drove nine Athenian ships ashore and pursued the others towards Naupactus; victory seemed securely in their hands. At the entrance to the harbor of Naupactus, however, the last Athenian ship to reach the harbor turned the tide by circling around an anchored merchant ship to ram and sink its leading pursuer. Confusion set in among the Peloponnesians, and the newly emboldened Athenians set out after them and routed them.
In all, the Athenians recaptured all but one of their nine grounded ships and seized six Peloponnesian ships.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Naupactus (revision 1370451497), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Peloponnesian War
- Battle of Potidaea 432 BC
- Battle of Rhium 429 BC
- Battle of Spartolos 429 BC
- Siege of Plataea 429 BC
- Battle of Pylos 425 BC
- Battle of Sphacteria 425 BC
- Battle of Delium 424 BC
- Battle of Mantinea (418 BC) 418 BC
- Siege of Melos 415 BC
- Battle of Cynossema 411 BC
All 13 battles of the Peloponnesian War →
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