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The Battle of Mount Lycaeum
was a battle fought between Sparta led by Cleomenes III and the Achaean League
commanded by Aratus. It was the first major battle of the
Cleomenean War. The
battle occurred at Mount Lycaeum on the border of Elis and Arcadia and ended in
a Spartan victory.
Opponents: Sparta versus theAchaean League
Commanders and leaders:
Spartans - Cleomenes
III
Achaeans -Aratus of
Sicyon
Casualties and losses:
Spartans - Light
Achaeans - Heavy
Prelude:
In 229, Cleomenes III, King of Sparta, initiated a campaign with the aim of
extending the regional power of his kingdom. This was opposed by the major
power in the Peloponnese, the Achaean League. In an attempt to curtail the
resurgent power of Sparta, the Achaeans led by their strategos, Aratus,
unsuccessfully attempted to re-capture the cities of Tegea and Orchomenus. This
failure was made worse when a vastly numerically superior Achaean army
commanded by Aristomachos of Argos declined to offer battle to the army of
Cleomenes. Though these failures were offset to some extent by the occupation
of Caphyae, a city that had previously been taken over by Cleomenes, the
Spartan ascendancy in the war was becoming apparent. Ptolemy III of Egypt, who
had been supporting the Achaean campaign against Macedon, shifted his financial
backing from the Achaean League to Sparta. Ptolemy based this on the assumption
that Sparta would be a more useful ally in counterbalancing Macedon.
Battle:
Aratus was re-elected strategos in 227 and then launched an invasion of Elis, a
Spartan ally. The Elians, unable to defeat the Achaeans, asked Sparta for
assistance. The Spartan response was to dispatch Cleomenes with an army to aid
their allies. As the Achaeans were returning from Elis, Cleomenes launched an
attack on the Achaeans near Mount Lycaeum, on the border of Elis and Arcadia.
The Achaeans, who were unprepared for battle, fled in disarray from the combat.
The Spartans scored a comprehensive victory, routing the opposing army. They
managed to capture a great part of the Achaean army as well as inflicting
massive casualties. The victory was so complete that it was initially thought
that Aratus had been slain in the midst of battle.
Aftermath:
Aratus was able to use the confusion in the aftermath of the battle to his
advantage. He seized the city of Mantinea from the Spartans and secured it.
This success was short-lived as the Achaeans were decisively defeated by
Cleomenes at the Battle of Ladoceia later in 227 and again at the Battle of Dyme in 226. These victories established Spartan
dominance over the Peloponnese.
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