Peloponnesian War

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the... Regione Autonoma Siciliana . Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean. It extends from the tip of the Apennine peninsula from which it is separated only by the narrow Strait of Messina, towards the North African coast. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, which is at 3,320 m the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archeological evidence of human dwelling on the island dates from 8000 BC. At around 750 BC, Sicily became a Greek colony and for the next 600 years it was the site of the Greek-Punic and Roman-Punic wars, which ended with the Roman destruction of Carthage. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Sicily often changed hands, and during the early Middle Ages it was ruled in turn by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans.
more

The Battle of Amphipolis was fought in 422 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. It was the culmination of events that began in... 424 BC with the capture of Amphipolis by the Spartans. In the winter of 424–423, around the same time as the Battle of Delium, the Spartan general Brasidas besieged Amphipolis, an Athenian colony in Thrace on the Strymon river. The city was defended by the Athenian general Eucles, who sent for help from Thucydides , who was stationed at Thasos with seven Athenian ships. In order to capture the city before Thucydides arrived, Brasidas offered to let everyone who wished to stay keep their property, and offered safe passage to those who wanted to leave. Amphipolis surrendered, despite protests from Eucles. Thucydides arrived at the nearby port of Eion on the same day the city surrendered, and defended it with help from those who had left Amphipolis. Meanwhile Brasidas began to ally with more Thracian towns, as well as Perdiccas II of Macedon, and he attacked other towns in the area, such as Torone.
more

The Battle of the 300 Champions was a battle fought in roughly 545 BC between Argos and Sparta. Rather than commit full armies both sides agreed to... pitting 300 of their best men against each other. Both sides would not allow for any injured men to be taken . The day called for complete destruction of the enemy force for victory. The two armies were evenly matched and neither could gain the upper hand. After a bloody battle only three men remained, two Argives and one Spartan. The Argives left the battlefield believing that they had killed all of the Spartans, but they made one mistake. Orthryades , an injured Spartan had still survived and was technically the last man standing on the battlefield for either army claimed victory. He survived long enough to tell his baggage handlers of his victory, and then he committed suicide. The reason for the suicide is up for debate, but the act is of great importance. Orthryades did not die by an Argive sword, and the Spartans could always claim that he survived the battle and killed himself in shame, thus gaining an upper hand due to this act of honor.
more

The Battle of Spartolos took place in 429 BC between Athens and the Chalkidian League and their allies, in the early part of the Peloponnesian War.... The Athenians under Xenophon marched into Thrace to attack Spartolos. They destroyed the crops outside 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 Spartolus; their cavalry, however, was victorious against the Athenian troops. Reinforcements soon arrived from Olynthus, and they launched a second attack on the Athenians. 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 . Acanthus and Mende had not even joined the Chalkidian League.
more

The Battle of Delium or of Delion took place in 424 BC between the Athenians and the Boeotians, and ended with the siege of Delium in the following... weeks. In 424 BC the Athenian generals Demosthenes and Hippocrates planned to invade Boeotia. Demosthenes mistakenly sailed too early and landed at Siphae, where his plans were betrayed by a Phocian named Nicomachus. As Hippocrates had not yet arrived, Demosthenes could not attack and was forced to withdraw. Hippocrates eventually did arrive in Boeotia with an Athenian army and began to fortify the temple at Delium. After five days, the fortifications were complete, and Hippocrates set up a garrison and sent the rest of his army back to Athens. At the same time, the Boeotians gathered their army to challenge Hippocrates, but when they saw that the Athenians were leaving many of them thought it was pointless to attack. Pagondas of Thebes, the commander of the Boeotian forces, urged them to attack anyway, because he knew the Athenians would eventually return and use Delium as a base for further invasions.
more