By chance, we came across an account of the ‘Battle of the 300 Champions’ in the Histories of Herodotus (c.484-425 BC). Assuming that ‘the Father of History’ was not just telling a tall story, or relating the sort of thing that he would have expected to happen in Greece a hundred years previously, it seems that, in 546 BC, 300 Spartans fought 300 Argives over the disputed town and treasure of Thyraea.
The significant difference between this and so many other battles fought in ancient times is that the commanders on each side deliberately limited the number of troops they committed to the fray, presumably because each was in pursuit of a limited objective, and did not wish to risk all their military resources. We are not told the size of their respective armies; but it was clearly agreed that all would accept the verdict reached on a battlefield where only 600 men in all would be deployed.
Things did not work out as agreed, or expected. The two sides fought until nightfall, when only three men were left: two Argives and one Spartan, called Othryades. The Argives raced back to Argos to announce their victory, but – unknown to them – Othryades remained on the field of battle and stripped the bodies of the Argive dead for prizes (as was customary).
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