Battle of Spartolos 429 BC
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 |
| Coordinates | 40.2832, 23.2954 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Spartolos took place in 429 BC between Athens and the Chalcidian League and their allies, in the early part of the Peloponnesian War.
The fall of Potidaea had not succeeded in quelling the rebellion against Athens in Chalcidice. To ensure a steady stream of imperial revenue and suppress additional local uprisings, the Athenians dispatched Xenophon (son of Euripides) with 2,000 hoplites and 200 cavalry to launch an attack on Spartolos. They destroyed the crops outside the city and began negotiating with pro-Athenian factions in Chalcidice, but the anti-Athenian factions asked for help from Olynthus. An army from Chalcidice, Spartolos, and Olynthus met the Athenians in battle, but their hoplites were defeated and they retreated to Spartolos. Their cavalry and peltasts, however, gained the advantage over the Athenian troops. Reinforcements soon arrived from Olynthus, and they launched a second attack on the Athenians. The Athenian hoplites could not come to grips with the enemy light troops or horsemen. Eventually the Athenians panicked and were routed, with all of their generals and 430 other men killed.
In the Athenian tribute list of 429/8 BC the only cities of Chalcidice are: Mende, Aphytis, Scione, Stageira and Acanthus (Athos). Acanthus and Mende had not even joined the Chalcidian League.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Spartolos (revision 1370274588), 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 Naupactus 429 BC
- Battle of Rhium 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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