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The battle of Megara in 409/408 was a rare example of an Athenian
victory on land over a force that contained Spartan troops. Megara had been an
ally of Athens, but sided against them during the Great Peloponnesian War, and
as a result the Athenians seized Nisaea, the port of Megara. At some point in
409/408 the Megarians took advantage of Athens's apparently vulnerability after
the disaster at Syracuse and recaptured Nisaea. The Athenians responded by
sending out a force of 1,000 infantry and 400 cavalry, commanded by
Leotrophides and Timarchus. This army may have included Plato's brothers. The
Megarians responded by drawing up their entire army nears some hills called the
'cerata', or 'horns', close to the border between Attica and Megara. They were
supported by a number of troops from Sicily and some Spartans. The Athenians
won the land battle, inflicting heavy losses on the Megarians, although only
twenty Spartans were lost. The reaction to this victory in Athens was a mix of
pride over the victory and anger that their generals risked battle against a
force that included a Spartan contingent.
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