The Lelantine War was a military conflict between the two
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
city states Chalcis
Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
and
Eretria
Eretria (; el, Ερέτρια, , grc, Ἐρέτρια, , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th centur ...
in
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
which took place in the early
Archaic period, between c. 710 and 650 BC. The reason for war was, according to tradition, the struggle for the fertile
Lelantine Plain
The Lelantine Plain (Ancient Greek: Ληλάντου πεδίον or Λήλαντον πεδίον; Modern Greek: Ληλάντιο πεδίο) is a fertile plain on the Greek island of Euboea, between Chalcis and Eretria. In the late eighth centu ...
on the island of
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
. Due to the economic importance of the two participating
''poleis'', the conflict spread considerably, with many further city states joining either side, resulting in much of Greece being at war. The historian
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
describes the Lelantine War as exceptional, the only war in Greece between the mythical
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
and the
Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC in which allied cities rather than single ones were involved.
[Thucydides I. 15.]
Ancient authors normally refer to the ''War between Chalcidians and Eretrians'' (
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: '' '').
The war between Chalcis and Eretria was the one in which most cities belonging to the rest of Greece were divided up into alliances with one side or the other.
—
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
(I. 15, 3)
The length of the war, as well as the cities involved, and even the historicity of the Lelantine War remain debated among modern historians.
Date of the war
There is no direct information in ancient sources to date this war. Indirect evidence in Thucydides points towards a date ''ca'' 705 BC, that situates it halfway between history and legend. At the very same time, the site of
Lefkandi
Lefkandi () is a coastal village on the island of Euboea, Greece. Archaeological finds attest to a settlement on the promontory locally known as Xeropolis, while several associated cemeteries have been identified nearby. The settlement site is loca ...
was being incrementally deserted, perhaps as a consequence of the turmoil. The
foundation stories of the joint Euboean colony at
Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...
suggest that at the mid-8th century Chalcis and Eretria were cooperating. Furthermore,
Theognis
Theognis of Megara ( grc-gre, Θέογνις ὁ Μεγαρεύς, ''Théognis ho Megareús'') was a Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC. The work attributed to him consists of gnomic poetry quite typical of the time, f ...
can be read to imply there was a conflict between Eretria and Chalcis in the middle of the 6th century BC. While a few historians have suggested this as the date of the Lelantine War, it is more probable that Theognis refers to a second, smaller and even less known Lelantine War: "we are certainly not dealing with a 'Hundred Years Lelantine War'", remarks
Robin Lane Fox
Robin James Lane Fox, (born 5 October 1946) is an English classicist, ancient historian, and gardening writer known for his works on Alexander the Great. Lane Fox is an Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford and Reader in Ancient History, Un ...
.
Sources
![Nestor Cup Cumae](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Nestor_Cup_Cumae.jpg)
Since the conflict took place at a very early point in
Greek history, before
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
had developed, there are no contemporaneous written sources on the events. The few later sources and the much more copious
archaeological evidence
The archaeological record is the body of physical (not written) evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological ...
allow for a sketchy picture of the Lelantine War. However, as a result of the ambiguity of the surviving written sources, date and extent of the war are disputed among
Classical scholarship
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient ...
. Some authors have even suggested that the war may be entirely
myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
ical
[Klaus Tausend: „Der Lelantische Krieg – ein Mythos?“, in: ''Klio'' 69, 1987, p. 499–514, esp. p. 513f.] or even
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
al.
[Detlev Fehling: „Zwei Lehrstücke über Pseudo-Nachrichten“, in: ''Rheinisches Museum für Philologie'' 122, 1979, p. 199–210, esp. p. 204f.]
Written sources
No detailed record of the Lelantine War was produced by a contemporary author (such as Thucydides for the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
), as Greek historiography only developed 200 years later, starting with the works of
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
. The Greek literary tradition as a whole started only in the late 8th century BC, with
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
. Therefore, the only contemporary sources about the Lelantine War are references in the early poets
Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
and
Archilochos
Archilochus (; grc-gre, Ἀρχίλοχος ''Arkhilokhos''; c. 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Greek lyric poet of the Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the ea ...
. The first references in historical works are from the 5th century, two centuries after the events, and remain vague and brief.
In the introduction of his work on the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (460 BC to early 4th century) gives a short summary of earlier Greek history, stating that there were no major collective military actions by Greeks between the Trojan War and the Persian Wars. As an exception, he mentions the War between Chalcidians and Eretrians, during which most of the rest of Hellas joined one of the warring parties:
(Crawley translation)
Herodotus (484 BC to 425 BC) mentions the same war as the reason why in 494 BC, after the
Ionian Revolt
The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisf ...
, Eretria sent military support to
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
, then under threat from the
Persian empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
, attributing the support to Miletus having supported Eretria in her war against Chalcis, while
Samos
Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...
had taken the opposite side:
An even later author,
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
(c. 45 to 125 AD) mentions traditions regarding the Lelantine War twice. In his ''
Moralia
The ''Moralia'' ( grc, Ἠθικά ''Ethika''; loosely translated as "Morals" or "Matters relating to customs and mores") is a group of manuscripts dating from the 10th–13th centuries, traditionally ascribed to the 1st-century Greek scholar Plu ...
'' he states that during the war, the Chalcidians felt on a par with the Eretrian foot soldiers, but not with their cavalry. Thus, he writes, they procured the aid of a
Thessalian
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessa ...
,
Kleomachos (Cleomachus) of
Pharsalos, whose cavalry defeated the Eretrians in a battle. According to Plutarch, Kleomachos himself was killed during the battle and received an honourable burial as well as a commemorative column on the ''
agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
'' of Chalcis from her grateful citizens.
Elsewhere, Plutarch mentions the tradition of a
poetic competition between Homer and Hesiod on the occasion of the funeral games of a Chalcidian nobleman called
Amphidamas
Amphidamas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιδάμας) was the name of multiple people in Greek mythology:
*Amphidamas, father of Pelagon, king of Phocis, who gave Cadmus the cow that was to guide him to Boeotia.
*Amphidamas or Amphidamantes, fath ...
. Plutarch states that Amphidamas fell in the struggle for the Lelantine Plain, after performing several heroic deeds fighting the Eretrians.
Plutarch's source was traditionally attributed to Hesiod himself. Hesiod does mention, in ''
Works and Days
''Works and Days'' ( grc, Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, Érga kaì Hēmérai)The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op''. for ''Opera''. is a ...
'', a contest in honour of the late Amphidamas, but without mentioning Homer or linking Amphidamas to the Lelantine War.
In his
Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...
,
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
(c. 63 BC to 23 AD) reports that the two ''poleis'', Chalcis and Eretria had once been friendly. He states that their former friendship resulted in both parties to the conflict agreeing before battle on contractually determined conditions, especially on not using missiles.
A similar agreement is indirectly referred to by Archilochos (7th century BC), the second contemporary author to refer to the Lelantine War. He tells how the "warlike lords of Euboea" will not use bow or sling, but only swords, in a coming battle.
On the basis of these literary sources, and assisted by a variety of archaeological finds, modern scholarship has reconstructed an outline of the Lelantine War.
Archaeological evidence
Archaeological study has shown that the first warrior burials in the area of the later ''
heroon'' of Eretria took place around 710-705 BC.
[A.M. Ainian: "Geometric Eretria" in: ''Antike Kunst'' 30, 1987, p. 3–24.] The last such burial dates to around 690 BC.
The site of Chalcis, still occupied, has been subject to very little archaeological research, but similar burials of warriors are indicated by written sources, especially in reference to Amphidamas.
Around 680 BC, a triangular building was erected atop the warrior graves at Eretria and used to dedicate offerings to the fallen heroes.
[C. Bérard: ''L'Hérôon á la porte de l'ouest'' (= ''Eretria'' 3), Bern 1970.] This may be connected to a rekindling of the conflict after a lull or truce (see below), leading to the Eretrians seeking the aid of their dead
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
es. The occupation of the Xeropolis settlement and use of the cemeteries at
Lefkandi
Lefkandi () is a coastal village on the island of Euboea, Greece. Archaeological finds attest to a settlement on the promontory locally known as Xeropolis, while several associated cemeteries have been identified nearby. The settlement site is loca ...
, situated between Chalcis and Eretria on the Lelantine plain, ceased at approximately the same time as the Lelantine war and the emergence of Eretria as a major archaeological site. The excavators have speculated that Lefkandi may have been the predecessor of Eretria and abandoned as the result of the victory of Chalcis in the war.
Background
![Lelantischer Krieg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Lelantischer_Krieg.png)
Chalcis and Eretria are ports on the west coast of Euboea. Both cities claimed the Lelantine Plain, perhaps originally made fertile by the river Lelas, which traverses the plain from north to south, as a natural border. Although, strictly speaking, Eretria is located outside the plain, it had a historical claim to it. The reason is that Eretria was probably initially the port for a mother town situated further west. That town was located at the mouth of the Lelas, near modern
Lefkandi
Lefkandi () is a coastal village on the island of Euboea, Greece. Archaeological finds attest to a settlement on the promontory locally known as Xeropolis, while several associated cemeteries have been identified nearby. The settlement site is loca ...
. Its ancient name is unknown, so it is generally called by that of the modern settlement. Lefkandi suffered heavy destructions in c. 825 BC,
[M.R. Popham & L.H. Sackett: ''Lefkandi 1: The Iron Age'', London 1980.] after which the majority of its population probably moved to Eretria.
Eretria and Chalcis originally had a political union with
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
as they were all of the
Ionian tribe. Evidence of this is that the two Ionian seats in the
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
c
Amphictyony
In Archaic Greece, an amphictyony ( grc-gre, ἀμφικτυονία, a "league of neighbors"), or amphictyonic league, was an ancient religious association of tribes formed before the rise of the Greek '' poleis''.
The six Dorian cities of coast ...
were given to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and the
Ionians
The Ionians (; el, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achae ...
of
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
;
Chalcis
Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
and
Eretria
Eretria (; el, Ερέτρια, , grc, Ἐρέτρια, , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th centur ...
. The two soon turned towards the nearby
Cyclades
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
islands and to locations further abroad for expansion and trade.
In the 8th century BC, Euboea was one of the economically strongest regions of Greece.
[V. Parker: ''Untersuchungen zum Lelantischen Krieg'', Stuttgart 1997, p. 167.] The two leading powers of the island, Chalcis and Eretria were among the driving forces behind the
''apoikiai'' of the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, acting for a long time not as competitors but as collaborators. Around the mid-8th century, they jointly founded
Al Mina
:'' Al Mina, Tyre is a spectacular and more familiar Roman site near Tyre.''
Al-Mina (Arabic: "the port") is the modern name given by Leonard Woolley to an ancient trading post on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria, in the estuary of th ...
, a colony conceived to facilitate trade with the eastern Mediterranean. Roughly at the same time, they expanded westwards. Together with
Kerkyra/Corfu, Eretria secured access to the western Mediterranean. Since the second quarter of the 8th century, Euboean traders were present on the island of Pithekoussai (
Ischia
Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...
) off the coast of
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
, to conduct trade with the
Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...
. A few decades later,
Cumae
Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Ro ...
, the first Greek colony on the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
mainland was founded. Around 735 BC, Chalcis founded the first Greek colony in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, a point which Thucydides saw as the true start of Greek colonisation. Shortly thereafter,
Rhegion
Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...
and
Zankle
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
were founded on either side of the strategically important
Straits of Messina
The Strait of Messina ( it, Stretto di Messina, Sicilian: Strittu di Missina) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily ( Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria ( Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian S ...
.
Reason for war
According to tradition, the war was caused by a conflict about the Lelantine Plain.
This very fertile area had for a long time been used for agriculture, including the cultivation of
vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
s. In Greece, where fertile land is scarce, wars for agriculturally attractive terrain were not uncommon, especially in the Archaic period, e.g. between
Megara
Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...
and
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. Nevertheless, it remains unclear why Chalcis and Eretria suddenly came to blows over the Lelantine Plain after apparently being in agreement on its use for a long time.
The origin of the conflict could be connected to a natural disaster. At the end of the 8th century BC,
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
,
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
and other nearby islands suffered from a severe
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
. It is likely that the Eretrian establishment on
Andros
Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fr ...
was abandoned as a result. This drought and the attendant famine could have led to both Chalcis and Eretria laying claim on all of the Lelantine Plain.
Course of the war
The war between Chalcis and Eretria probably began around 710 BC. Although both cities must have possessed large fleets, it was waged on land. Since the war took place before the development or introduction of
hoplite
Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Polis, city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with ...
warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
, but under exclusion of
bows and
slings,
most of the combatants were probably lightly armed
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
smen.
[V. Parker: ''Untersuchungen zum Lelantischen Krieg'', Stuttgart 1997.] According to another view, the war consisted mainly of
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
engagements.
The relevant lines by
Archilochus indicate that the war was still ongoing through the poet's lifetime (he is usually thought to have died c. 645 BC). It is possible, and likely, that the conflict was subdivided in several phases of warfare and ceasefires, as were e.g. the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
and the
Messenian Wars Messenian Wars refers to the wars between Messenia and Sparta in the 8th and 7th centuries BC as well as the 4th century BC.
* First Messenian War
*Second Messenian War
The Second Messenian War was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between th ...
.
Troops
Eretria at its height (a period brought to an end by this war) could field 3,000
hoplites
Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The fo ...
, 600 cavalry and 60
chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
s. This implies that this conflict took place at the transitional time between the
Homeric
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
''aristos'', entering the war on chariot and fighting his enemies like the heroes of the
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
, and the classical hoplite. The size and numbers of Chalcis's forces are unknown. We only know that their infantry was superior and their cavalry inferior to that of Eretria.
Alliances and extent
Primarily, the war would have involved the two conflicting cities and their territories. At the time of the war, the state of Eretria included one quarter of the island of Euboea as well as the nearby Cyclades (
Andros
Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fr ...
,
Tenos
Tinos ( el, Τήνος ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2011 census population of 8,636 inhabitants.
Tinos ...
, and
Kea
The kea (; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the family Nestoridae found in the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wing ...
). The expansion of the conflict into other regions and the number of allies are disputed. There are direct references to three further participants apart from Chalcis and Eretria:
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
on the side of Eretria and
Samos
Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...
as well as
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
on that of Chalcis. Beyond these, the enmities and alliances between Archaic Greek states known from other sources have led to further suggestions of parties involved, leading some scholars to propose up to 40 participants. Such numbers would, however, imply broad-ranging political alliance systems, which the majority of scholars do not consider likely for the 8th century BC. Even if many other cities were involved in warfare at the same time, it cannot, however, be argued that every conflict between Greek states of the time was part of this war. Thus, most scholars assume that, apart from the cities mentioned above, only
Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born ...
,
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...
and
Megara
Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...
,
[M. Cary: '']Cambridge Ancient History
''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bur ...
'' III, 1929, S. 622f. and perhaps also
Chios
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
and
Erythrai
Erythrae or Erythrai ( el, Ἐρυθραί) later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus (modern name: Çeşme), on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythrae ...
took part.
However, there is speculation that the ongoing
Messenian war between
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 ...
and the Messenian cities had also some connection with the Lelantine war, since there was a conflict between Sparta and
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
...
at the same time, with Argos perhaps joining with her neighbor Aegina on the side of Eretria and Sparta supporting Chalcis. Herodotus mentions a Samian expedition in aid of Sparta against the Messenians, and this would favor the hypothesis of Sparta siding with her and Chalcis in the Lelantine war. A war of Miletus against the island of
Melos
Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group.
The ''Venus d ...
, which had affiliations with Sparta, gives additional evidence.
The island state of Aegina was mainly active in the trade with
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, where its major competitor was Samos. Samos was allied with Chalcis, which suggests that Aegina took the side of Eretria.
Corinth and Megara were at war for practically all of the Archaic period, primarily because of the Corinthian conquest of the
Perachora
Perachora ( el, Περαχώρα) is an inland settlement in Loutraki-Perachora-Agioi Theodoroi, Corinthia, in the region of Peloponnese in Greece. In Antiquity it was called Peiraion.
It is located about 7 km northwest of the town of Loutra ...
peninsula which had originally belonged to Megara. The actions of Chalcis and Corinth in the context of western colonisation suggest that the two cities were allied, or at least friendly; Chalcis had prevented Megarian settlers from establishing themselves at
Leontinoi
Lentini ( scn, Lintini, historically Liuntini; la, Leontīnī; grc, Λεοντῖνοι) is a town and in the Province of Syracuse, South East of Sicily (Southern Italy).
History
The city was founded by colonists from Naxos as Leontini in 72 ...
, while Corinth had driven Eretrian settlers from
Kerkyra
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
. In analogy, a friendship between Megara and Eretria is assumed. Herodotus reports that Chios supported Miletus in the Ionian Revolt, because Miletus had previously assisted the Chiotes against
Erythrai
Erythrae or Erythrai ( el, Ἐρυθραί) later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus (modern name: Çeşme), on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythrae ...
. Thus, based on the allegiance of Miletus, an alliance between Chios and Eretria, as well as one between Erythrai and Chalcis can be suggested.
Most current scholarship is of the opinion that such long-distance alliances cannot have existed in the 8th century BC. Instead, there may have been alliance-like based on personal relationships among the nobility, so that the struggle involved only Eretria, Chalcis and the Thessalian aristocrat Kleomachos of Pharsalos with his own troops.
The German historian Detlev Fehling believes that the entire Lelantine War is an invention of later centuries, produced by a chain of ''Pseudo-Nachrichten'' (pseudo-reports).
This opinion has been generally rejected.
Around 700 BC, the Eretrian mother town at Lefkandi was finally destroyed, probably by Chalcis.
This cut Eretria's link with the Lelantine Plain. At about the same time Eretria's ally Miletus ravaged the southern Euboean town of
Karystos
Karystos ( el, Κάρυστος) or Carystus is a small coastal town on the Greek island of Euboea. It has about 5,000 inhabitants (12,000 in the municipality). It lies 129 km south of Chalkis. From Athens it is accessible by ferry via Mar ...
.
During this phase, Miletus rose to be the dominant power in the eastern
Aegean. The war (perhaps interrupted by
truce
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
s) lasted until the mid-7th century BC. It may have been concluded, in favour of Chalcis, by the intervention of a Thessalian cavalry army, led by Kleomachos of Pharsalos, although it is not entirely clear whether the event in question decided the war, or indeed whether Chalcis definitely won it.
Effects
After the long war Euboea, once the leading region of Greece, had become a backwater.
The defeated Eretria and the probable victor Chalcis had lost their former economic and political importance. On the Mediterranean markets, Corinthian vase painting had taken over the dominant role previously occupied by Euboean pottery (see
Pottery of ancient Greece
Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...
). The leading role in colonisation was taken over by the ''poleis'' of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, such as
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
(eastern colonisation) and
Phokaia
Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, in F ...
(western colonisation). Chalcis entered a long decline while the islands in the Cyclades that Eretria controlled earlier seem to have become independent. From Theognis, another conflict over the Lelantine field is implied in the 6th century, so it seems the two cities fought again. In any case, after the war both cities continued the colonisation of the
Chalcidice
Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...
peninsula in Northern Greece. Eretria felt compelled by the help Miletus had given her during the war to repay its debt by assisting Miletus during the
Ionian Revolt
The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisf ...
. This led to Eretria's destruction prior to the
battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of ...
in 490 BC. Chalcis retained control of the Lelantine Plain until 506 BC, when
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
established a
cleruchy
A cleruchy (, ''klēroukhia'') in Classical Greece, was a specialized type of colony established by Athens. The term comes from the Greek word , ''klērouchos'', literally "lot-holder".
History
Normally, Greek colonies were politically independent ...
in it.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
Jonathan M. Hall
Jonathan Mark Hall is professor of Greek history at the University of Chicago. He earned a BA from the University of Oxford (Hertford College) in 1988 and a PhD from the University of Cambridge ( King's College) in 1993 and he is the author of man ...
, ''A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200–479 BCE, 2nd Edition'', Chichester, Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
*
*
*
{{Authority control
8th-century BC conflicts
7th-century BC conflicts
Wars involving ancient Greece
Ancient Euboea
Greek colonization
8th century BC in Greece
7th century BC in Greece
Archaic Greece