Battle of Sepeia
Encyclopedia
At the Battle of Sepeia (494 BC
), the Sparta
n forces of Cleomenes I
defeated the Argives
, fully establishing Spartan dominance in the Peloponnese
. The closet thing to a contemporaneous source for the description of the battle is, as for many events in this time period, the Histories of Herodotus (written approximately fifty years later, circa 440 BC). According to Herodotus, the Spartan army tricked the Argives into believing that the Spartans were going to their evening meal, and when the Argives did the same, the Spartans seized up their arms and attacked them, gaining an overwhelming victory. The battle is a controversial one in terms of the Spartan legend for, according to Herodotus, Spartan King Cleomenes massacred the remaining Argives—most by burning them alive in the sacred grove of Argos to which they had fled for refuge.
494 BC
Year 494 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tricostus and Geminus...
), the Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
n forces of Cleomenes I
Cleomenes I
Cleomenes or Kleomenes was an Agiad King of Sparta in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. During his reign, which started around 520 BC, he pursued an adventurous and at times unscrupulous foreign policy aimed at crushing Argos and extending Sparta's influence both inside and outside the...
defeated the Argives
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, fully establishing Spartan dominance in the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. The closet thing to a contemporaneous source for the description of the battle is, as for many events in this time period, the Histories of Herodotus (written approximately fifty years later, circa 440 BC). According to Herodotus, the Spartan army tricked the Argives into believing that the Spartans were going to their evening meal, and when the Argives did the same, the Spartans seized up their arms and attacked them, gaining an overwhelming victory. The battle is a controversial one in terms of the Spartan legend for, according to Herodotus, Spartan King Cleomenes massacred the remaining Argives—most by burning them alive in the sacred grove of Argos to which they had fled for refuge.