War against Nabis
Encyclopedia
The War against Nabis or Laconian War of 195 BC was fought between the Greek city-state of Sparta
and a coalition composed of Rome
, the Achean League, Pergamum, Rhodes
, and Macedon
.
During the Second Macedonian War
(200–196 BC), Macedon had given Sparta control over Argos
, an important city on the Aegean coast of Peloponnese
. Sparta's continued occupation of Argos at the end of war was used as a pretext for Rome and its allies to declare war. The anti-Spartan coalition laid siege to Argos, captured the Spartan naval base at Gythium, and soon invested
and besieged Sparta itself. Eventually, negotiations led to peace on Rome's terms, under which Argos and the coastal towns of Laconia were freed from Spartan rule and the Spartans were compelled to pay a war indemnity to Rome over the next eight years. Argos joined the Achaean League, and the Laconian towns were placed under Achaean protection.
As a result of the war, Sparta lost its position as a major power in Greece. All consequent Spartan attempts to recover the losses failed and Nabis, the last sovereign ruler, was eventually murdered. Soon after, Sparta was forcibly made a member of its former rival, the Achaean League, ending several centuries of fierce political independence.
in 207 BC in battle against the Achaean League, Nabis
overthrew the reigning king Pelops
with the backing of a mercenary
army and placed himself on the throne, claiming descent from the Eurypontid king Demaratus
. By then, the traditional constitution of Lycurgus
had already lost its meaning and Sparta was dominated by a group of its former mercenaries. Polybius
described Nabis' force as "a crowd of murderers, burglars, cutpurses and highwaymen". In 205 BC, Nabis signed a peace treaty with Rome, but in 201 BC he attacked the territory of Messene
, at that time an ally of both parties, which Sparta had ruled until the mid 4th century BC. The Spartans captured Messene but were soon forced to abandon it when the army of Megalopolis
arrived under the command of Philopoemen
. Later they were decisively defeated at Tegea and Nabis was forced to check his expansionist ambitions for the time.
During the Second Macedonian War
Nabis had another possibility for expansion. Philip of Macedon
offered him the polis
of Argos
in exchange for Sparta defecting from the Roman coalition and joining the Macedonian alliance. Nabis accepted and received control over Argos. When the war turned against Macedon, however, he rejoined the Roman coalition and sent 600 Cretan mercenaries to support the Roman army. Philip was later decisively defeated by the Romans at the battle of Cynoscephalae
but Sparta remained in control of Argos. After the war the Roman army did not withdraw from Greece, but instead sent garrisons to various strategic locations across Greece to secure its interests.
(city-state) of Argos. While Nabis was already King of Sparta, he made his wife Apia ruler of her hometown Argos. Afterwards, Apia and Nabis staged a financial coup by confiscating large amounts of property from the wealthy families of these cities, and torturing those who resisted them; much of the confiscated land was redistributed to liberated helots (serfs in Doric societies) loyal to Nabis. After increasing his territory and wealth by the aforementioned method, Nabis started to turn the port of Gythium
into a major naval arsenal and fortified the city of Sparta. His Cretan allies were already allowed to sustain naval bases on Spartan territory, and from these they ventured on acts of piracy. His naval buildup offered a chance even for the very poor to participate as rowers in the profitable employment. However, under these circumstances the extension of the naval capacities at Gythium greatly displeased the abutting states of the Aegean Sea
and the Roman Republic.
Nabis' rule was largely based upon his social reforms and the rebuilding of Sparta's armed forces. The military of Lacedaemonia
, Sparta, had traditionally been based on levies of full citizens and perioeci (one of the free non-citizen groups of Lacedaemonia) supported by lightly armed helots. From several thousands in the times of the Greco-Persian Wars
the numbers of full citizen Spartans had declined to a few hundred in the times of Cleomenes III
. There were possibly several reasons for the decline of numbers, one of which was that every Spartan who wasn't able to pay his share in the syssitia
(common meal for men in Doric societies) lost his full citizenship, although this didn't exclude his offspring from partaking in the agoge
(traditional Spartan education and training regime).
As a result, the fielding of a respectable hoplite army without mercenaries or freed helots was difficult. Cleomenes increased the number of full citizens again and made the Spartan army operate with an increased reliance on more lightly armored phalangites of the Macedonian style. Many of these restored citizens, however, were killed in the Battle of Sellasia
and Nabis' politics drove the remainder of them into exile. In consequence the heavy troops were no longer available in sufficient numbers. This led to a serious decline in Sparta's military power, and the aim of Nabis reforms was to reestablish a class of loyal subjects capable of serving as well-equipped phalangites (operating in a phalanx with a longer lance than the hoplites). Nabis' liberation of the enslaved helots was one of the most outstanding deeds in Spartan history. With this action Nabis eliminated a central ideological pillar of the old Spartan social system and the chief reason for objection to Spartan expansion by the surrounding poleis (city-states). Guarding against helot revolt had been, until this time, the central concern of Spartan foreign policy, and the need to protect against internal revolt had limited adventurism abroad; Nabis' action abolished this concern with a single stroke. His freed helots received land from him and were wedded to wealthy wives of the exiled Spartan demos (all former full citizens) and widows of the rich elite, whose husbands had been killed at his orders.
In 195 BC, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, the Roman commander in Greece, called a council of the Greek states at Corinth
to discuss whether or not to declare war on Nabis. Among the states whose delegates participated were the Aetolian League
, Macedon
, Rome
, Pergamum, Rhodes
, Thessaly
and the Achaean League
. All the states represented favored war, except for the Aetolian League and Thessaly, both of which wanted the Romans to leave Greece immediately. These two states offered to deal with Nabis themselves, but they met opposition from the Achaean League, which objected to any possible growth in the Aetolian League's power. The modern historian Erich Gruen has suggested that the Romans may have used the war as an excuse to station a few legions in Greece in order to prevent the Spartans and the Aetolian League
from joining the Seleucid King Antiochus III if he invaded Greece.
Flamininus first sent an envoy to Sparta, demanding that Nabis either surrender Argos to the Achaean League or face war with Rome and her Greek allies. Nabis refused to comply with Flamininus' ultimatum, so 40,000 Roman soldiers and their Greek allies advanced towards the Peloponnese. Entering the Peloponnese, Flamininus joined his force with that of the Achaean commander, Aristaenos, who had 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry in Cleonae. Together they advanced towards Argos.
Nabis had appointed his brother-in-law, the Argive Pythagoras, as commander of his garrison of 15,000 men in Argos. As the Romans and the Achaean League were advancing towards the city, a young Argive named Damocles attempted to stir up a revolution against the Spartan garrison. With a few followers, he stood in the city's agora
and shouted to his fellow Argives, exhorting them to rise in revolt. No mass uprising materialized, however, and Damocles and most of his followers were surrounded and killed by the Spartan garrison.
A few survivors from Damocles' group escaped from the city and went to Flamininus' camp. They suggested to Flamininus that if he moved his camp closer to the city gates, the Argives would revolt against the Spartans.
The Roman commander sent his light infantry and cavalry to find a position for the new camp.
Upon spotting the small group of Roman soldiers, a group of Spartan troops sallied forth from the gates and skirmished with the Romans about 300 paces from the city walls. The Romans forced the Spartans to retreat back into the city.
Flamininus moved his camp to the position where the skirmish had occurred. For a day, he waited for the Spartans to attack him, but when no attack came, he called a war council to discuss whether or not to press the siege. All of the Greek leaders except Aristaenos thought that they should attack the city, as capturing it was their primary objective in going to war.
Aristaenos, on the other hand, argued that they should strike, instead, directly at Sparta and Laconia. Flamininus agreed with Aristaenos, and the army marched to Tegea in Arcadia
. The next day Flamininus advanced to Caryae, where he waited for allied auxiliaries to reinforce him. These forces soon arrived and joined the Romans; they consisted of a contingent of Spartan exiles led by Agesipolis, the legitimate King of Sparta, who had been overthrown by the first Tyrant of Sparta, Lycurgus, twenty years earlier, and 1,500 Macedonians
with 400 Thessalian cavalry sent by Philip. News also reached the allies that several fleets had arrived off the Laconian shore: a Roman fleet under Lucius Quinctius with forty ships; a Rhodian fleet with eighteen ships, led by Sosilas, hoping that the defeat of Nabis would stop the pirates that plagued their ships; and a Pergamene fleet of forty ships under King Eumenes II of Pergamum, who hoped to gain more favor with Rome and Roman support if Antiochus invaded.
, who profited from the naval bases on his territory, dispatched 1,000 specially selected warriors to augment the 1,000 they already had sent to Sparta's aid. Nabis, fearing that the Roman approach might encourage his subjects to revolt, decided to terrorize them by ordering the execution of eighty prominent citizens. When Flamininus left his base and descended upon Sellasia, Nabis' auxiliaries attacked the Romans as they were making camp. The sudden surprise attack briefly threw the allies into a state of confusion, but the Spartans retreated back to the city when the main body of legionary cohorts
arrived. As the Romans marched past Sparta on their way to Mount Menelaus, Nabis' mercenaries attacked the allies' rear. Appius Claudius, commander of the rearguard, rallied his troops and forced the mercenaries to retreat behind the city's walls, inflicting heavy casualties on them in the process.
The coalition army then proceeded to Amyclae, from whence they plundered the surrounding countryside. Lucius Quinctius, meanwhile, received the voluntary surrender of several coastal towns in Laconia. The allies then advanced on the largest city in the area, Sparta's port and naval arsenal at Gythium. As the land forces began to invest the city, the allied navy arrived. The sailors from the three fleets set to construct siege engines within a few days. Though these machines had a devastating effect on the city walls, the garrison successfully held out.
Eventually, Dexagoridas, one of the two garrison commanders, sent word to the Roman legate
that he was willing to surrender the city. This plan fell through when Gorgopas, the other commander, learned of it and slew Dexagoridas with his own hands. Gorgopas continued to resist fiercely until Flamininus arrived with 4,000 additional troops that he had recently recruited. The Romans renewed their assault and Gorgopas was forced to surrender, though he did secure the condition that he and his garrison could leave unharmed and return to Sparta.
ers. Flamininus called another war council. Most of the council felt that they should capture Sparta and unseat Nabis.
Flamininus replied to Nabis by proposing his own terms, under which Sparta and Rome would conclude a six month truce if Nabis would surrender Argos, with all his garrisons from the Argolid; allow the coastal Laconian cities their freedom and give them his fleet; pay a war indemnity over the next eight years and not enter into alliances with any Cretan cities. Nabis rejected this offer, claiming that he had enough supplies to withstand a siege. Flamininus therefore led his force of 50,000 men to Sparta and, after defeating the Spartans in a battle outside the city, began investing the city. Flamininus resolved not to lay a regular siege to the city but to instead try and storm it. The Spartans initially held out against the allies, but their resistance was hampered by the fact that the Romans' large shields
made missile attacks futile.
The Romans launched an assault on Sparta and took the walls, but their advance was initially impeded by the narrowness of the roads in the city's outskirts. The streets grew wider, however, as they advanced into the city's center, and the Spartans were forced further and further back. Nabis, seeing his defenses collapsing, tried to flee, but Pythagoras rallied the soldiers and ordered them to set fire to the buildings closest to the walls. Burning debris was thrown on the coalition's soldiers entering the city, causing many casualties. Observing this, Flamininus ordered his forces to withdraw to their base. When the attack was renewed later, the Spartans managed to hold off the Roman assaults for three days before Nabis, seeing that the situation was hopeless, decided to send Pythagoras with an offer of surrender. At first, Flaminius refused to see him, but when Pythagoras came to the Roman camp a second time Flamininus accepted the surrender, with the conditions of the treaty being the same as Flamininus had previously proposed. The treaty was later ratified by the Senate.
The Argives revolted when they heard that Sparta was under siege. Under the Argive Archippas, they attacked the garrison commanded by Timocrates of Pellene. Timocrates surrendered the citadel
on condition that he and his men could leave unharmed. In return all the Argives serving in Nabis' army were allowed to return home.
After the war Flamininus visited the Nemean Games
in Argos and proclaimed the polis free. The Argives immediately decided to rejoin the Achaean League.
Flamininus also freed all coastal cities of Laconia from Spartan rule and placed them under Achean protection. The remains of Sparta's fleet were put under custody of these coastal cities. Nabis also had to withdraw his garrisons from Cretan cities and revoke several social and economic reforms that had strengthened Sparta's military capabilities.
The Romans did not, however, remove Nabis from the Spartan throne. Even though Sparta was a landlocked and effectively powerless state, the Romans wanted an independent Sparta to act as a counterweight against the growing Achaean League. Nabis' allegiance was secured by the fact that he had to surrender five hostages, amongst them his son, Armenas. The Romans did not restore the exiles, wishing to avoid internal strife in Sparta. They did, however, allow any woman who was married to an ex-helot but whose husband was in exile to join him.
After the legions under Flamininus had returned to Italy
, the Greek states were once again on their own. The dominant powers in the region at this time were the kingdom of Macedon
, which had recently lost a war against Rome, the Aetolians, the strengthened Achaean League and a reduced Sparta. The Aetolians, who had opposed the Roman intervention in Greek affairs, incited Nabis to retake his former territories and position among the Greek powers. By 192, Nabis who had built a new fleet and strengthened his army, besieged Gythium. The Achaeans responded by sending an envoy to Rome with a request for help. In response the Senate sent the praetor
Atilius with a navy to defeat Nabis' navy as well as an embassy headed by Flamininus. Instead of waiting for the Roman fleet to arrive, the Achaean army and navy headed towards Gythium under the command of Philopoemon. The Achaean fleet under Tiso was defeated by the recently constructed Spartan fleet, with the Achean flagship falling to pieces in the first ramming attack. On land as well the Achaeans could not defeat the Spartan forces outside Gythium and Philopoemon retreated to Tegea. When Philopoemon reentered Laconia for a second attempt his forces were ambushed by Nabis' but nevertheless he managed to gain a victory. The Achaeans now could ravage Laconia for thirty days unopposed while the Spartan troops remained in their fortified city. Plans for capturing Sparta itself had been laid by the time the Roman envoy Flamininus arrived and convinced the Achaean strategus Philopoemon to spare it. For the time being Nabis decided to accept the status quo
in return and surrender under the same conditions as the last treaty.
Since Sparta's army was now weakened, Nabis appealed to the Aetolians for help. They sent to Sparta 1,000 cavalry under the command of Alexamenus
. The story goes that while Nabis was observing his army's drills, the Aetolian commander Alexamenus charged at him and killed him with his lance. Afterwards the Aetolian troops seized the palace and set about looting the city but the inhabitants of Sparta were able to rally and rout them out of town. As Sparta was in turmoil Philopoemen entered the city with the Achaean army and made Sparta a member state of the League. The polis of Sparta was allowed to keep its laws and territory, but the exiles, and their rule of the Spartan warrior demos were not restored.
In 189 BC, the hostages taken by Rome, excluding Nabis' son, who fell ill and died, were allowed to return to Sparta. Still deprived of any port and suffering from political and economic problems from having the hostile exiles close by and not having access to the sea, the Spartans captured the city of Las
, which was the home of many exiles and a member of the Union of free Laconians. The Acheans officially adopted this as the reason to finish Spartan independence once and for all. They demanded the surrender of the people responsible for the attack. The culprits responded by murdering thirty pro-Achaean citizens, seceding from the League and requesting Roman tutelage. The Romans, who wanted to see division in the League, did nothing about the situation. In 188, Philopoemen entered northern Laconia with an army and the Spartan exiles who insisted on returning to Sparta. He first massacred eighty anti-Achaeans at Compasium, and then had the wall that Nabis built around Sparta demolished. Philopoemen then restored the exiles and abolished Spartan law, introducing Achaean law in its place. Thus ended Sparta's role as a major power in Greece, while Achaea became dominant throughout the Peloponnese.
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...
and a coalition composed of Rome
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, the Achean League, Pergamum, Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, and Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
.
During the Second Macedonian War
Second Macedonian War
The Second Macedonian War was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in Greece...
(200–196 BC), Macedon had given Sparta control over Argos
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...
, an important city on the Aegean coast of 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...
. Sparta's continued occupation of Argos at the end of war was used as a pretext for Rome and its allies to declare war. The anti-Spartan coalition laid siege to Argos, captured the Spartan naval base at Gythium, and soon invested
Investment (military)
Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy fort with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.A circumvallation is a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort...
and besieged Sparta itself. Eventually, negotiations led to peace on Rome's terms, under which Argos and the coastal towns of Laconia were freed from Spartan rule and the Spartans were compelled to pay a war indemnity to Rome over the next eight years. Argos joined the Achaean League, and the Laconian towns were placed under Achaean protection.
As a result of the war, Sparta lost its position as a major power in Greece. All consequent Spartan attempts to recover the losses failed and Nabis, the last sovereign ruler, was eventually murdered. Soon after, Sparta was forcibly made a member of its former rival, the Achaean League, ending several centuries of fierce political independence.
Background
After the death of the Spartan regent MachanidasMachanidas
Machanidas was a tyrant of Lacedaemon about the end of the third century BC.He was originally, perhaps, the leader of a band of Tarentine mercenaries in the pay of the Spartan government. The history of Lacedaemon at this period is so obscure that the means by which Machanidas obtained the...
in 207 BC in battle against the Achaean League, Nabis
Nabis
Nabis was ruler of Sparta from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the War against Nabis. After taking the throne by executing two claimants, he began rebuilding Sparta's power. During the Second Macedonian War, he sided with King Philip V of Macedon and...
overthrew the reigning king Pelops
with the backing of a mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
army and placed himself on the throne, claiming descent from the Eurypontid king Demaratus
Demaratus
Demaratus was a king of Sparta from 515 until 491 BC, of the Eurypontid line, successor to his father Ariston. As king, he is known chiefly for his opposition to the other, co-ruling Spartan king, Cleomenes I.-Biography:...
. By then, the traditional constitution of Lycurgus
Lycurgus (Sparta)
Lycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi...
had already lost its meaning and Sparta was dominated by a group of its former mercenaries. Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
described Nabis' force as "a crowd of murderers, burglars, cutpurses and highwaymen". In 205 BC, Nabis signed a peace treaty with Rome, but in 201 BC he attacked the territory of Messene
Messene
Messene , officially Ancient Messene, is a Local Community of the Municipal Unit , Ithomi, of the municipality of Messini within the Regional Unit of Messenia in the Region of Peloponnēsos, one of 7 Regions into which the Hellenic Republic has been divided by the Kallikratis...
, at that time an ally of both parties, which Sparta had ruled until the mid 4th century BC. The Spartans captured Messene but were soon forced to abandon it when the army of Megalopolis
Megalopolis, Greece
Megalópoli is a town in the western part of the peripheral unit of Arcadia, southern Greece. It is located in the same site as ancient Megalopolis . "Megalopolis" is a Greek word for Great city. When it was founded, in 371 BC, it was the first urbanization in rustic and primitive Arcadia. In...
arrived under the command of Philopoemen
Philopoemen
Philopoemen , was a skilled Greek general and statesman, who was Achaean strategos on eight occasions....
. Later they were decisively defeated at Tegea and Nabis was forced to check his expansionist ambitions for the time.
Second Macedonian War
The Second Macedonian War was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in Greece...
Nabis had another possibility for expansion. Philip of Macedon
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of Rome. Philip was attractive and charismatic as a young man...
offered him the polis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
of Argos
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...
in exchange for Sparta defecting from the Roman coalition and joining the Macedonian alliance. Nabis accepted and received control over Argos. When the war turned against Macedon, however, he rejoined the Roman coalition and sent 600 Cretan mercenaries to support the Roman army. Philip was later decisively defeated by the Romans at the battle of Cynoscephalae
Battle of Cynoscephalae
The Battle of Cynoscephalae was an encounter battle fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V.- Prelude :...
but Sparta remained in control of Argos. After the war the Roman army did not withdraw from Greece, but instead sent garrisons to various strategic locations across Greece to secure its interests.
Nabis' reforms
In return for his assistance in the war, Rome accepted Nabis' possession of the polisPolis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
(city-state) of Argos. While Nabis was already King of Sparta, he made his wife Apia ruler of her hometown Argos. Afterwards, Apia and Nabis staged a financial coup by confiscating large amounts of property from the wealthy families of these cities, and torturing those who resisted them; much of the confiscated land was redistributed to liberated helots (serfs in Doric societies) loyal to Nabis. After increasing his territory and wealth by the aforementioned method, Nabis started to turn the port of Gythium
Gytheio
Gytheio , the ancient Gythium or Gytheion , is a town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality East Mani, of which it is a municipal unit. It was the seaport of Sparta, some 40 km north...
into a major naval arsenal and fortified the city of Sparta. His Cretan allies were already allowed to sustain naval bases on Spartan territory, and from these they ventured on acts of piracy. His naval buildup offered a chance even for the very poor to participate as rowers in the profitable employment. However, under these circumstances the extension of the naval capacities at Gythium greatly displeased the abutting states of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and the Roman Republic.
Nabis' rule was largely based upon his social reforms and the rebuilding of Sparta's armed forces. The military of Lacedaemonia
Lacedaemonia
Lacedaemonia may mean:*Laconia, a modern prefecture of Greece*The ancient region of Greece of the same name; see Laconia *Lacedaemonia, the name borne by the city of Sparta from Late Antiquity to the 19th century....
, Sparta, had traditionally been based on levies of full citizens and perioeci (one of the free non-citizen groups of Lacedaemonia) supported by lightly armed helots. From several thousands in the times of the Greco-Persian Wars
Greco-Persian Wars
The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and city-states of the Hellenic world that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus...
the numbers of full citizen Spartans had declined to a few hundred in the times of Cleomenes III
Cleomenes III
Cleomenes III was the King of Sparta from 235-222 BC. He succeeded to the Agiad throne of Sparta after his father, Leonidas II in 235 BC.From 229 BC to 222 BC, Cleomenes waged war against the Achaean League under Aratus of Sicyon. Domestically, he is known for his attempt to reform the Spartan state...
. There were possibly several reasons for the decline of numbers, one of which was that every Spartan who wasn't able to pay his share in the syssitia
Syssitia
The syssitia was, in Ancient Greece, a common meal for men and youths in social or religious groups, especially in Crete and Sparta, though also in Megara in the time of Theognis and Corinth in the time of Periander .The banquets spoken of by Homer relate to this tradition...
(common meal for men in Doric societies) lost his full citizenship, although this didn't exclude his offspring from partaking in the agoge
Agoge
The agōgē was the rigorous education and training regimen mandated for all male Spartan citizens, except for the firstborn son in the ruling houses, Eurypontid and Agiad. The training involved learning stealth, cultivating loyalty to one's group, military training The agōgē (Greek: ἀγωγή in Attic...
(traditional Spartan education and training regime).
As a result, the fielding of a respectable hoplite army without mercenaries or freed helots was difficult. Cleomenes increased the number of full citizens again and made the Spartan army operate with an increased reliance on more lightly armored phalangites of the Macedonian style. Many of these restored citizens, however, were killed in the Battle of Sellasia
Battle of Sellasia
The Battle of Sellasia took place during the summer of 222 BC between the armies of Macedon and the Achaean League, led by Antigonus III Doson, and Sparta under the command of King Cleomenes III...
and Nabis' politics drove the remainder of them into exile. In consequence the heavy troops were no longer available in sufficient numbers. This led to a serious decline in Sparta's military power, and the aim of Nabis reforms was to reestablish a class of loyal subjects capable of serving as well-equipped phalangites (operating in a phalanx with a longer lance than the hoplites). Nabis' liberation of the enslaved helots was one of the most outstanding deeds in Spartan history. With this action Nabis eliminated a central ideological pillar of the old Spartan social system and the chief reason for objection to Spartan expansion by the surrounding poleis (city-states). Guarding against helot revolt had been, until this time, the central concern of Spartan foreign policy, and the need to protect against internal revolt had limited adventurism abroad; Nabis' action abolished this concern with a single stroke. His freed helots received land from him and were wedded to wealthy wives of the exiled Spartan demos (all former full citizens) and widows of the rich elite, whose husbands had been killed at his orders.
Preparations
The Achaean League was upset that one of its members had remained under Spartan occupation, and persuaded the Romans to revisit their decision to leave Sparta's territorial gains intact. The Romans agreed with the Achaeans, as they did not want a strong and re-organized Sparta causing trouble after the Romans left Greece.In 195 BC, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, the Roman commander in Greece, called a council of the Greek states at Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
to discuss whether or not to declare war on Nabis. Among the states whose delegates participated were the Aetolian League
Aetolian League
The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika...
, Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Pergamum, Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and the Achaean League
Achaean League
The Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...
. All the states represented favored war, except for the Aetolian League and Thessaly, both of which wanted the Romans to leave Greece immediately. These two states offered to deal with Nabis themselves, but they met opposition from the Achaean League, which objected to any possible growth in the Aetolian League's power. The modern historian Erich Gruen has suggested that the Romans may have used the war as an excuse to station a few legions in Greece in order to prevent the Spartans and the Aetolian League
Aetolian League
The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika...
from joining the Seleucid King Antiochus III if he invaded Greece.
Flamininus first sent an envoy to Sparta, demanding that Nabis either surrender Argos to the Achaean League or face war with Rome and her Greek allies. Nabis refused to comply with Flamininus' ultimatum, so 40,000 Roman soldiers and their Greek allies advanced towards the Peloponnese. Entering the Peloponnese, Flamininus joined his force with that of the Achaean commander, Aristaenos, who had 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry in Cleonae. Together they advanced towards Argos.
Nabis had appointed his brother-in-law, the Argive Pythagoras, as commander of his garrison of 15,000 men in Argos. As the Romans and the Achaean League were advancing towards the city, a young Argive named Damocles attempted to stir up a revolution against the Spartan garrison. With a few followers, he stood in the city's agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
and shouted to his fellow Argives, exhorting them to rise in revolt. No mass uprising materialized, however, and Damocles and most of his followers were surrounded and killed by the Spartan garrison.
A few survivors from Damocles' group escaped from the city and went to Flamininus' camp. They suggested to Flamininus that if he moved his camp closer to the city gates, the Argives would revolt against the Spartans.
The Roman commander sent his light infantry and cavalry to find a position for the new camp.
Upon spotting the small group of Roman soldiers, a group of Spartan troops sallied forth from the gates and skirmished with the Romans about 300 paces from the city walls. The Romans forced the Spartans to retreat back into the city.
Flamininus moved his camp to the position where the skirmish had occurred. For a day, he waited for the Spartans to attack him, but when no attack came, he called a war council to discuss whether or not to press the siege. All of the Greek leaders except Aristaenos thought that they should attack the city, as capturing it was their primary objective in going to war.
Aristaenos, on the other hand, argued that they should strike, instead, directly at Sparta and Laconia. Flamininus agreed with Aristaenos, and the army marched to Tegea in Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
. The next day Flamininus advanced to Caryae, where he waited for allied auxiliaries to reinforce him. These forces soon arrived and joined the Romans; they consisted of a contingent of Spartan exiles led by Agesipolis, the legitimate King of Sparta, who had been overthrown by the first Tyrant of Sparta, Lycurgus, twenty years earlier, and 1,500 Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
with 400 Thessalian cavalry sent by Philip. News also reached the allies that several fleets had arrived off the Laconian shore: a Roman fleet under Lucius Quinctius with forty ships; a Rhodian fleet with eighteen ships, led by Sosilas, hoping that the defeat of Nabis would stop the pirates that plagued their ships; and a Pergamene fleet of forty ships under King Eumenes II of Pergamum, who hoped to gain more favor with Rome and Roman support if Antiochus invaded.
Laconian Campaign
Nabis drafted 10,000 citizens into his army and hired 3,000 additional mercenaries. Nabis' Cretan alliesAllies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
, who profited from the naval bases on his territory, dispatched 1,000 specially selected warriors to augment the 1,000 they already had sent to Sparta's aid. Nabis, fearing that the Roman approach might encourage his subjects to revolt, decided to terrorize them by ordering the execution of eighty prominent citizens. When Flamininus left his base and descended upon Sellasia, Nabis' auxiliaries attacked the Romans as they were making camp. The sudden surprise attack briefly threw the allies into a state of confusion, but the Spartans retreated back to the city when the main body of legionary cohorts
Cohort (military unit)
A cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
arrived. As the Romans marched past Sparta on their way to Mount Menelaus, Nabis' mercenaries attacked the allies' rear. Appius Claudius, commander of the rearguard, rallied his troops and forced the mercenaries to retreat behind the city's walls, inflicting heavy casualties on them in the process.
The coalition army then proceeded to Amyclae, from whence they plundered the surrounding countryside. Lucius Quinctius, meanwhile, received the voluntary surrender of several coastal towns in Laconia. The allies then advanced on the largest city in the area, Sparta's port and naval arsenal at Gythium. As the land forces began to invest the city, the allied navy arrived. The sailors from the three fleets set to construct siege engines within a few days. Though these machines had a devastating effect on the city walls, the garrison successfully held out.
Legatus
A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
that he was willing to surrender the city. This plan fell through when Gorgopas, the other commander, learned of it and slew Dexagoridas with his own hands. Gorgopas continued to resist fiercely until Flamininus arrived with 4,000 additional troops that he had recently recruited. The Romans renewed their assault and Gorgopas was forced to surrender, though he did secure the condition that he and his garrison could leave unharmed and return to Sparta.
Siege of Sparta
During the siege at Gythium, Pythagoras had joined Nabis at Sparta, bringing with him 3,000 men from Argos. When Nabis discovered that Gythium had surrendered he decided to send an envoy to Flamininus to open negotiations on the terms of a peace. Nabis offered to withdraw the rest of his garrison from Argos and to hand over to the Romans any deserters and prisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
ers. Flamininus called another war council. Most of the council felt that they should capture Sparta and unseat Nabis.
Flamininus replied to Nabis by proposing his own terms, under which Sparta and Rome would conclude a six month truce if Nabis would surrender Argos, with all his garrisons from the Argolid; allow the coastal Laconian cities their freedom and give them his fleet; pay a war indemnity over the next eight years and not enter into alliances with any Cretan cities. Nabis rejected this offer, claiming that he had enough supplies to withstand a siege. Flamininus therefore led his force of 50,000 men to Sparta and, after defeating the Spartans in a battle outside the city, began investing the city. Flamininus resolved not to lay a regular siege to the city but to instead try and storm it. The Spartans initially held out against the allies, but their resistance was hampered by the fact that the Romans' large shields
Scutum
Scutum is a small constellation introduced in the seventeenth century. Its name is Latin for shield.-History:Scutum is the only constellation that owes its name to a non-classical historical figure...
made missile attacks futile.
The Romans launched an assault on Sparta and took the walls, but their advance was initially impeded by the narrowness of the roads in the city's outskirts. The streets grew wider, however, as they advanced into the city's center, and the Spartans were forced further and further back. Nabis, seeing his defenses collapsing, tried to flee, but Pythagoras rallied the soldiers and ordered them to set fire to the buildings closest to the walls. Burning debris was thrown on the coalition's soldiers entering the city, causing many casualties. Observing this, Flamininus ordered his forces to withdraw to their base. When the attack was renewed later, the Spartans managed to hold off the Roman assaults for three days before Nabis, seeing that the situation was hopeless, decided to send Pythagoras with an offer of surrender. At first, Flaminius refused to see him, but when Pythagoras came to the Roman camp a second time Flamininus accepted the surrender, with the conditions of the treaty being the same as Flamininus had previously proposed. The treaty was later ratified by the Senate.
The Argives revolted when they heard that Sparta was under siege. Under the Argive Archippas, they attacked the garrison commanded by Timocrates of Pellene. Timocrates surrendered the citadel
Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
on condition that he and his men could leave unharmed. In return all the Argives serving in Nabis' army were allowed to return home.
Aftermath
Nemean Games
The Nemean Games were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years ....
in Argos and proclaimed the polis free. The Argives immediately decided to rejoin the Achaean League.
Flamininus also freed all coastal cities of Laconia from Spartan rule and placed them under Achean protection. The remains of Sparta's fleet were put under custody of these coastal cities. Nabis also had to withdraw his garrisons from Cretan cities and revoke several social and economic reforms that had strengthened Sparta's military capabilities.
The Romans did not, however, remove Nabis from the Spartan throne. Even though Sparta was a landlocked and effectively powerless state, the Romans wanted an independent Sparta to act as a counterweight against the growing Achaean League. Nabis' allegiance was secured by the fact that he had to surrender five hostages, amongst them his son, Armenas. The Romans did not restore the exiles, wishing to avoid internal strife in Sparta. They did, however, allow any woman who was married to an ex-helot but whose husband was in exile to join him.
After the legions under Flamininus had returned to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the Greek states were once again on their own. The dominant powers in the region at this time were the kingdom of Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
, which had recently lost a war against Rome, the Aetolians, the strengthened Achaean League and a reduced Sparta. The Aetolians, who had opposed the Roman intervention in Greek affairs, incited Nabis to retake his former territories and position among the Greek powers. By 192, Nabis who had built a new fleet and strengthened his army, besieged Gythium. The Achaeans responded by sending an envoy to Rome with a request for help. In response the Senate sent the praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
Atilius with a navy to defeat Nabis' navy as well as an embassy headed by Flamininus. Instead of waiting for the Roman fleet to arrive, the Achaean army and navy headed towards Gythium under the command of Philopoemon. The Achaean fleet under Tiso was defeated by the recently constructed Spartan fleet, with the Achean flagship falling to pieces in the first ramming attack. On land as well the Achaeans could not defeat the Spartan forces outside Gythium and Philopoemon retreated to Tegea. When Philopoemon reentered Laconia for a second attempt his forces were ambushed by Nabis' but nevertheless he managed to gain a victory. The Achaeans now could ravage Laconia for thirty days unopposed while the Spartan troops remained in their fortified city. Plans for capturing Sparta itself had been laid by the time the Roman envoy Flamininus arrived and convinced the Achaean strategus Philopoemon to spare it. For the time being Nabis decided to accept the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
in return and surrender under the same conditions as the last treaty.
Alexamenus
For other uses, see AlexamenusAlexamenus , a general of the Aetolians, 196 BC, who was sent by the Aetolians, in 192 BC, during the War against Nabis, to obtain possession of Lacedaemon. He succeeded in his object, and killed Nabis, the tyrant of Lacedaemon; but the Lacedaemonians rising against...
. The story goes that while Nabis was observing his army's drills, the Aetolian commander Alexamenus charged at him and killed him with his lance. Afterwards the Aetolian troops seized the palace and set about looting the city but the inhabitants of Sparta were able to rally and rout them out of town. As Sparta was in turmoil Philopoemen entered the city with the Achaean army and made Sparta a member state of the League. The polis of Sparta was allowed to keep its laws and territory, but the exiles, and their rule of the Spartan warrior demos were not restored.
In 189 BC, the hostages taken by Rome, excluding Nabis' son, who fell ill and died, were allowed to return to Sparta. Still deprived of any port and suffering from political and economic problems from having the hostile exiles close by and not having access to the sea, the Spartans captured the city of Las
Passavas
Passavas or Las is situated on the Mani Peninsula. In ancient times Las was a Spartan possession and in 218 BC the citizens of the city fought and routed and group of Philip V of Macedon's army. Las became part of the Union of Free Laconians in 195 BC when it separated from Sparta. The Spartans...
, which was the home of many exiles and a member of the Union of free Laconians. The Acheans officially adopted this as the reason to finish Spartan independence once and for all. They demanded the surrender of the people responsible for the attack. The culprits responded by murdering thirty pro-Achaean citizens, seceding from the League and requesting Roman tutelage. The Romans, who wanted to see division in the League, did nothing about the situation. In 188, Philopoemen entered northern Laconia with an army and the Spartan exiles who insisted on returning to Sparta. He first massacred eighty anti-Achaeans at Compasium, and then had the wall that Nabis built around Sparta demolished. Philopoemen then restored the exiles and abolished Spartan law, introducing Achaean law in its place. Thus ended Sparta's role as a major power in Greece, while Achaea became dominant throughout the Peloponnese.
Primary sources
- LivyLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, translated by Henry Bettison, (1976). Rome and the Mediterranean. London: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044318-5. - PolybiusPolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert and introduced by Frank W. Walbank (1979). The Rise of the Roman Empire. New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044362-2.
Secondary sources
- Ernst Baltrusch, (1998). Sparta. Munich: C.H. Beck. ISBN 3-406-41883-X
- Paul CartledgePaul CartledgePaul Anthony Cartledge is the first A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University, having previously held a personal chair in Greek History at Cambridge....
and Antony Spawforth, (2002). Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A tale of two cities. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26277-1 - Peter GreenPeter Green (historian)Peter Green is a British classical scholar noted for his works on Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age of ancient history, generally regarded as spanning the era from the death of Alexander in 323 BC up to either the date of the Battle of Actium or the death of Augustus in 14 AD...
, (1990). Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, (2nd edition). Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-500-01485-X. - Erich Gruen, (1984). The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05737-6
- Maurice Holleaux, (1930). Cambridge Ancient History: Rome and the Mediterranean; 218-133 B.C., (1st edition) Vol VIII. Los Angeles: Cambridge University Press.
- William SmithWilliam Smith (lexicographer)Sir William Smith Kt. was a noted English lexicographer.-Early life:Born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents, he was originally destined for a theological career, but instead was articled to a solicitor. In his spare time he taught himself classics, and when he entered University College...
, (1873). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and MythologyDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and MythologyThe Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary.- Characteristic :...
. London: John Murray. - John Warry (1995; edition 2006). Warfare in the Classical World London (UK), University of Oklahoma Press, Norman Publishing Division of the University by special arrangement with Salamander Books Ltd. ISBN 0-8061-2794-5