The Battle of Munichia was fought between Athenians

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 exiled by the oligarchic

Oligarchy

Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

 government of the Thirty Tyrants

Thirty Tyrants

The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. Contemporary Athenians referred to them simply as "the oligarchy" or "the Thirty" ; the expression "Thirty Tyrants" is due to later historians...

 and the forces of that government, supported by a Spartan garrison. In the battle, a substantially superior force composed of the Spartan garrison of Athens and the army of the oligarchic government attacked a hill in Piraeus

Piraeus

Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....

 (the Munychia) which had been seized by 1,000 exiles under Thrasybulus

Thrasybulus

Thrasybulus was an Athenian general and democratic leader. In 411 BC, in the wake of an oligarchic coup at Athens, the pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him as a general, making him a primary leader of the successful democratic resistance to that coup...

, but was defeated. After this defeat, the Thirty Tyrants

Thirty Tyrants

The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. Contemporary Athenians referred to them simply as "the oligarchy" or "the Thirty" ; the expression "Thirty Tyrants" is due to later historians...

 were forced to flee to Eleusis.

Prelude

In late 404 BC

404 BC

Year 404 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Volusus, Cossus, Fidenas, Ambustus, Maluginensis and Rutilus...

, Thrasybulus, with other Athenian exiles, had seized Phyle

Fyli

Fyli is a town and a municipality in the northwestern part of Attica, Greece. It lies in the northeastern corner of the West Attica regional unit, and is a suburb of Athens...

, a strong point on the Athenian border. He and his men resisted an abortive attempt to dislodge them and then, as their numbers were swelled by new recruits, ambushed the Spartan garrison of Athens, which had been dispatched to watch them. Shortly after this victory, the men from Phyle, now 1,000 strong, marched by night to Piraeus, the port of Athens. There, being too few to defend the entire port, they seized one of its prominent hills, the Munychia. The next morning, the forces of the Thirty marched out to meet them.

The battle

The Athenian exiles drew up for battle in a formation ten ranks deep at the top of the Munychia, with light troops and spear throwers behind them. Below, in one of the markets of Piraeus, the joint Spartan-oligarchic force drew up in a formation of equal width, but fifty ranks deep. The Spartan garrison held the right, the forces of the Thirty the left. Xenophon's account of the battle states that Thrasybulus, to inspire his men, reminded them that the enemy right was composed of men who they had routed a few days before, while the left was made up of men who had wrongly driven them from their country.

The oligarchic forces advanced up the road towards the top of the hill, but before they reached the top the men from Phyle charged down the hill at them. This charge broke the oligarchic line, and the exiles pursued their enemies down the hill onto the level ground. In this rout, seventy men of the Thirty's force were killed. Among the dead was Critias

Critias

Critias , born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was an uncle of Plato, and a leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. He was an associate of Socrates, a fact that did not endear Socrates to the Athenian public. He was noted in his day for his tragedies, elegies and prose...

, the leader of the Thirty; several other prominent oligarchic leaders were also killed.

Aftermath

After this battle, the prestige of the Thirty, already weakened by the earlier defeat near Phyle, was irreparably damaged. The next day the Thirty were deposed by a vote of the larger oligarchic governing body, the council of three thousand. The Thirty fled to Eleusis, and a governing board of ten was elected in their place. This new government, however, was not ready to compromise with the men in Piraeus, so envoys were sent to Sparta to request aid. A Spartan force under Pausanias

Pausanias of Sparta

Pausanias King of Sparta from 409 BC. He was in frequent conflict with the Ephors. Aristotle said that he tried to overthrow them. Army leader Lysander sent a letter to him, requesting help against Thebes, but it was intercepted...

 was dispatched to deal with the situation; after a face saving victory at the Battle of Piraeus

Battle of Piraeus (403 BC)

The Battle of Piraeus was fought in 403 BC between Athenian exiles who had defeated the government of the Thirty Tyrants and occupied Piraeus and a Spartan force sent to combat them. In the battle, the Spartans narrowly defeated the exiles, with both sides suffering appreciable casualties...

, Pausanias arranged a settlement between the oligarchs and exiles that reunified Athens and Piraeus and restored democracy in Athens.