Spartan Order of Battle (Thucydides. V. 67. 1) Right Wing Cavalry: Sciritae (600 men) Brasidians and Neodamodeis (600 men) Center 7 Spartan lochoi (3,884 men) hippeis (300 men) Heraeans (500 men) Maenalii (500 men) Left Wing Tegeans (3,000 men) 2+ Spartan lochoi (over 1,024 men) Cavalry The numbers for the Arcadian allies in the center and on the left wing are estimates. Thucydides, who probably received his information directly from King Agis, did not obtain numbers for the Spartan cavalry on either flank, but they totaled at least 600. The number of lochoi on the left wing was also deliberately undercounted by Thucydides' Spartan informant, because the two lochoi under Hipponoides and Aristocles were part of the "few Spartans" on the left wing which Agis ordered to relieve the right wing. The known numbers give over 10,000 hoplites (but the number might have been as high as 15,000), 600 cavalry, and an unknown number of peltasts. Allied Order of Battle (Thucydides V. 67. 2) Right Wing Mantineans (3,000 men) Other Arcadians (500) Argive elite 1,000 Center 5 lochoi of Argives (4,000 men) Cleonaeans and Orneatae (500) Left Wing Athenians (1,000) Athenian cavalry (300 men) Other cavalry The allied hoplites numbered at least 10,300 men. Thucydides notes that the Spartan army appeared the larger, but this could result from the Spartans adopting a lesser depth to flank the allied forces (V. 68. 1). The allies heavily weighted their right flank to compensate for their lack of cavalry. The forces of the lesser allies are estimates, and the numbers of peltasts are unknown. Thucydides (V. 74. 3) reports 300 Spartan dead, possibly 5% of the Spartans engaged, but they were mostly Sciritai and neodamodeis. Spartan allies suffered few casaulties so that total losses were between 2 and 3.5% (depending on the number of hoplites engaged). Allied losses were nearly four times as great, 1,100 dead or between 7.5 to 10.5% of the total hoplites engaged. The Athenians lost 200 dead (20% of their total), Argives, Orneatae, and Cleonaeans 700 (15.5% of their total), and Mantineans 200 (6.5% of their total). History 310: Battle of Mantinea by Dr. Kenneth W. Harl 418: a reversal in Athenian politics. Nicias reelected, Alcibiades not still allied with Argos, though Spartans under Agis led a Peloponnesian force, including Corinthians, against Argive territory Argives and their allies (Mantineans and Eleans) concentrated near Nemea, where they planned to hold the pass from the North into Argive territory and keep the Peloponnesians, who had gathered at Phlius, out. Agis sends Boeotians down this road, but splits the rest of the forces into two contingents, which he sends over difficult mountains passes to box in the Argives Argives retreat from Nemea into the Argive plain, but both Agis and the Argive general Thrasyllus were uncertain that they could win a battle, so they came to terms and concluded a 4 month truce At that point, the Athenians arrived with 1000 hoplites and 300 cavalry under command of Nicostratus and Laches. Alcibiades as ambassador convinces Argive allies that the truce is invalid, since the Athenians hadn't been there to ratify it, and that therefore they could break it with impunity. Allied troops cross into Arcadia, win Orchomenos, and move on to Mantinea to get ready for their next moves, an attack on Tegea, which had been won over by Sparta centuries ago and had served as a buffer zone for Laconia against Arcadia. Spartans are alarmed at the taking of Orchomenos, and particularly worried lest Tegea fall. Start moving toward Tegea, order their Arcadian allies to meet them en route. Also send to Corinth and Boeotia for reenforcements, but they have to cross hostile territory and won't make it in time Forces unclear: 10-11,000 Spartan hoplites? 9-10,000 opposing? Spartans move up to the border of Mantinean territory, and the Mantineans and their allies take up a defensive position on the slope of Mt. Alesion on the east of the city. Agis decides not to try to attack uphill, withdraws back into Tegean territory, and begins work on diverting the course of a river to threaten Mantinea with flooding. This brings the Mantineans down into the plain, and Agis returns to find his enemies drawn up in battle line. Thucydides says it's a surprise, which is odd, b/c Agis could easily have observed the northern part of the plain; apparently he didn't, and in fact it's noteworthy that this kind of thing happens reasonably often, and we don't hear all that much about Greek armies sending scouts ahead of the main body until the fourth century also may have been heavily wooded parts of the plain that obscured the view. Spartans, with their discipline and training, are able to get into formation rapidly Sciritai on left, Spartans who had served under Brasidas in Thrace next to them, other Spartan divisions in the center, and the Tegeans on the right, with cavalry on both wings. Mantineans on right, Arcadian allies next to them, special Argive corps of 1000 in the center, with the rest of the Argives to their right, and on the right wing the Athenians. As the lines moved forward to attack, they drifted to the right -- Thucydides tells us, as we've already noted, that there is a tendency for men in the hoplite formation to move to the right to get better under the protection of the next soldiers shield so in general a hoplite army would try to outflank the enemy's left with its own right Agis noticed that in this battle the Mantineans on the opposing right were stretched far out past his own left wing, was afraid that they would disastrously outflank his line Gave a signal to the troops on his left wing to move further left, laterally, and at the same time commanded two divisions on the right to move around to fill up the gap that this maneuver created. The left wing did move out laterally, but the two divisions from the right didn't detach to fill the gap. The detachment on the left, then, was hopelessly isolated and routed, and the Argive 1000 were able to dash through the gap. On the Spartan right, though, the Spartans overcame the Athenians and their allies Athenians would have been completely surrounded, but Agis called off the attack on that wing to come to the aid of the troubled left wing. Still, an overall victory for the Spartans, both Nicostratus and Laches died. More Mantinea 418 B.C. Part 1: Historical Research and Background Information Part 2: Scenario: The Battle of Mantinea Part 3: Battle Map Part 4: Another Mantinea Map: In Greek (slow: 118K) Back to The Gauntlet No. 22 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com