The first Battle of Hysiae was fought in either 669 or 668 BCE at or near
Hysiae, Argolis, during the rule of the Argive tyrant
Pheidon
Pheidon (Greek: Φείδων) was an Argive ruler during the 7th century BCE and 10th in line to Temenus. He was arguably Argos's most ambitious and successful ruler during the 7th century BCE. There is a possibility that there were in fact two di ...
. It is referenced by
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
(2.24.6) as a victory by the army of
Argos
Argos most often refers to:
* Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece
** Ancient Argos, the ancient city
* Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Argos or ARGOS may also refer to:
Businesses
...
over that of
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
. Nothing else is known about the conflict except that the location in
Argolis
Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the ...
suggests the repulse by Argos of a Spartan invasion. Hysiae was a stronghold located to the south-west of Argos and east of
Tegea
Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal un ...
, near the border with Sparta. The battle marked a turning point in military history as it caused the Spartans to adopt the
phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...
of
hoplites in place of the loose spear-throwing formations prevalent until then. The phalanx was to revolutionise warfare.
Battle
Conventional warfare during this time period would involve the two armies meeting in an open field. The Argives apparently chose the city of Hysiae for reasons still unknown. By this time, the
aspis, a shield designed by the city of Argos, was already equipped with the Argive army, giving the Argive army another advantage over the Spartan army. It is presumed that the battle ensued inside the city of Argos, where the Spartan army was packed by the proto-phalanx invented perhaps by Pheidon, and where the army perished.
Sources
This was the first Battle of Hysiae, not to be confused the second battle nearly 2 centuries later in 417 BCE. It is described by the ancient travel-writer
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
(2.24.7), who writes as follows
The chronology of Pausanias would suggest that the battle was fought in 669/8 BCE. All that is known is that the Argives defeated the Lacedaemonians. Some (Andrewes) have suggested that this Argive defeat of Sparta occurred when
Pheidon
Pheidon (Greek: Φείδων) was an Argive ruler during the 7th century BCE and 10th in line to Temenus. He was arguably Argos's most ambitious and successful ruler during the 7th century BCE. There is a possibility that there were in fact two di ...
was king (or tyrant) of Argos, since Pheidon was famed for his military success and daring, but this remains conjectural. Some scholars (Kelly, Hall) have suggested that the first battle of Hysiae was invented by the Argives.
References
Sources
* A. Andrewes (1956), The Greek Tyrants
* Jonathan M. Hall (2007), A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200–479 BCE, pp. 145–154
* T. Kelly, "Did the Argives defeat the Spartans at Hysiai in 669 BCE?" American Journal of Philology 91 (1970) 31–42
* R. Stillwell et al. (eds.), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (Princeton, 1976
7th-century BC conflicts, Hysiae
Hysiae
Hysiae
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