The Peloponnesian War: the Battle of Mantineia

left A figurine depicting a hoplite poised for assault, formerly part of a bronze vessel from c.510-500 BC, found in north-western Greece. Hoplites were traditionally only deployed in the expectation of imminent hand-to-hand fighting.

March 9, 2023

This is the second part in our two-part special on the Peloponnesian War. To read the first, see here. Late in the summer of 418 BC, if Thucydides is to be trusted, a message reached the Spartan capital of Lacedaemon from those known to be ‘serviceable’ to the Spartans at the Arcadian pólıs of Tegea (in the mountainous centre of the Peloponnese). If they did not quickly show up in force, they were told, there would be a revolution and the city would go over to the anti-Lacedaemonian coalition that had formed around their rivals the Argives. This was a grave matter for the Spartans, who controlled the southern Peloponnese. As we have seen, their way of life rested on Lacedaemon’

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