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Thus, the Argives were cautious of their Spartan enemies, and reluctant to engage in battle if not forced to do so. [ 10 ] Ultimately, when the Battle of Sepeia began, the foretold predictions by the Oracle of Delphi, dictated the stratagems employed by the Spartans and the Argives respectively. [ 8 ]
The groin and throat were among the favorite targets. According to Plutarch when a Spartan was asked why his sword was so short he replied, "So that we may get close to the enemy." [45] In another, a Spartan complained to his mother that the sword was short, to which she simply told him to step closer to the enemy.
The two armies met near Mantinea in a flat plain hemmed in by two mountains. [25] The Spartans, Athenians, Eleans and Mantineans, alongside smaller contingents of some of the Achaeans and Euboeans, were led by the Spartan king, Agesilaus II, who was assisted by Podares of Mantinea and Cephisodorus of Marathon, the commander of the Athenian cavalry.
A passage in Suetonius reveals that the Spartans were clients of the powerful patrician clan of the Claudii. Octavians's wife Livia was a member of the Claudii which might explain why Sparta was one of the few Greek cities that backed Octavian first in the war against Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC then in the war against Mark Antony in 30 BC. [143]
Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told the Spartans were preparing for battle, and it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them "the bravest men in Greece" and warned the Great King they intended to dispute the pass.
Only one xenagos was needed for each district, therefore easing the manpower pressure on Sparta, which suffered from a severe demographic decline in the 4th century; xenagoi previously had to be sent to every city member of the League. [47] The ten districts were: Lacedemonia, the territory of Sparta in the southern Peloponnese.
The perioeci were allowed to maintain their own infrastructures, administrative arrangements and local economy, but had to pay tribute to Sparta and provide soldiers for the military. The homoioi were the citizens of Sparta. [2] [better source needed] They were the elite class and were the only deserving of the title Spartan. As a result, the ...
The defeat of the pro-Athens forces and the triumph of Sparta in the preceding Corinthian War (394–386 BC) was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 BC, called the Peace of Antalcidas or "King's Peace", stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from the political control of Thebes.