Battle of Pylos 425 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 425 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 |
| Coordinates | 36.9167, 21.7000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Pylos, fought at sea and land, took place in 425 BC during the Peloponnesian War at the peninsula of Pylos, on the present-day Bay of Navarino in Messenia, and was an Athenian victory over Sparta. An Athenian fleet had been driven ashore at Pylos by a storm, and, at the instigation of Demosthenes, the Athenian soldiers fortified the peninsula, and a small force was left there when the fleet departed again. The establishment of an Athenian garrison in Spartan territory frightened the Spartan leadership, and the Spartan army, which had been ravaging Attica under the command of Agis, ended their expedition (the expedition only lasted 15 days) and marched home, while the Spartan fleet at Corcyra sailed to Pylos.
Demosthenes had five triremes and their complements of soldiers as a garrison, and was reinforced by 40 hoplites from a Messenian ship that happened to stop at Pylos. In total, Demosthenes probably had about 600 men, only 90 of which were hoplites. He sent two of his triremes to intercept the Athenian fleet and inform Sophocles and Eurymedon of his danger. The Spartans, meanwhile, had 43 triremes and a large land army.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Pylos (revision 1370586832), 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.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Zonchio 1499 · 2 km
- Battle of Modon (1500) 1500 · 2 km
- Battle of Navarino 1827 · 2 km
- Battle of Sphacteria 425 BC · 3 km
- Battle of Sphacteria (1825) 1825 · 3 km
- Battle of Chora - Agorelitsa 1944 · 15 km
Other battles of the Peloponnesian War
- Battle of Potidaea 432 BC
- Battle of Naupactus 429 BC
- Battle of Rhium 429 BC
- Battle of Spartolos 429 BC
- Siege of Plataea 429 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 →
Browse more: battles in Greece · Europe · Ancient battles