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The battle of Munychia in 403 was a significant victory for Democratic
rebels against the Spartan imposed rule of the Thirty at Athens, and played a
significant part in the reestablishment of Democracy at Athens in the aftermath
of the Peloponnesian
War. After the end of the war the Spartan leader
Lysander imposed an
oligarchy on Athens. This Council of Thirty, soon known as the 'Thirty Tyrants, soon
began a purge of their opponents, perceived opponents and any wealthy person
outside the inner circle. Thousands were driven into exile, amongst the
successful commander and democratic leader Thrasybulus, who fled to
Thebes. Early in 403 Thrasybulus and seventy followers seized the fort of
Phyle, twenty miles north-west of Athens on the foothills of Mount Parnes. The
Thirty led out their supporters, the 'Three Thousand', to attack Phyle, but
their performance was poor. An initial attack on the fort was repulsed with
ease, and an attempt to build a siege wall was foiled by heavy snow and a
possible panic in the camp. The Thirty had the support of 700-750 Spartan
hoplites, and they now sent those troops to blockade the fort. By now
Thrasybulus had 700 men at his disposal, and he carried out a surprise dawn
attack on the Spartan camp, inflicting an embarrassing defeat on them (battle
of Phyle). This
relatively minor battle greatly affected the mood on both sides. The Thirty
began to look for a refuge, and prepared for a move to Eleusis, and at the same
time made an unsuccessful attempt to convince Thrasybulus to join them,
offering him a place amongst the Thirty. The Democrats were greatly encouraged
by the victory, and by the arrival of fresh recruits. They soon had 1,000-1,200
men at Phyle, and Thrasybulus decided to take a gamble and try and capture
Piraeus, the port of Athens. This had always been a hotbed of democratic
support, and the Thirty had even exiled some of their opponents from Athens in
the port. In the previous years the Spartans had insisted that the walls of
Piraeus should be demolished, so the town was now unfortified.
Xenophon and Diodorus may give slightly different accounts of the move to
Piraeus and the build up to the battle of Munychia. According to Xenophon the
Democrats captured the port at night, without any fighting being mentioned. The
Thirty led their troops down the road from Athens. The Democrats originally
intended to defend the line of the town walls, but realised that they
weren’t strong enough to hold such a long line, and instead drew up on the
hill of Munichia, According to Diodorus the Thirty gathered together their
entire strength and camped in open countryside near Acharnae, six miles north
of Athens, on the road to Phyle. Thrasybulus, now with 1,200 men at his
disposal, advanced down the road and inflicted a defeat on the troops at
Acharnae, forcing them to retreat back to Athens. This may actually be a
slightly different account of the surprise attack on the Spartan camp near
Phyle. In both accounts, the Democrats ended up occupying a strong defensive
position on the hill of Munychia, then an uninhabited hill to the north-east of
Piraeus. The Thirty attacked this position and were defeated. Diodorus gives a
very short account of this battle. The Thirty had the advantage of numbers, the
Democrats the stronger position. The battle was long and hard fought, but the
tide turned after Critias, the leader of the Thirty, was killed. The oligarchic
troops retreated back down the hill, and offered battle on the plains, but the
Democrats refused to come down and attack.
This encouraged many more Athenians to side with Thrasybulus, who was able
to launch a surprise attack on the Oligarchs (after an unspecified time gap),
defeat them, and take control of Piraeus. In Xenophon the forces of the Thirty
formed up at the market place of Hippodamus, and advanced up the hill in a
formation fifty ranks deep. The Democrats formed up in a line of the same
width, only ten ranks deeps, but with a significant number of lightly armed and
missile troops behind them. A great deal of space is then dedicated to
Thrasybulus's pre-battle speech, which gives us some details of the enemy
formation. The remaining Spartans were on the right and the Thirty on the left.
He then ordered his men not to attack first, because the seer had told them not
to attack until one of them had been killed or wounded. The account of the
battle itself is very short. The seer moved first and was killed. The Democrats
were victorious, and pursued the oligarchs back to the level ground (just as in
Diodorus). Amongst the dead were two of the thirty, Critias and Hippomachus,
and of the Ten they had appointed to rule in Piraeus, and seventy more. In the
aftermath of this battle the Three Thousand turned on the remaining members of
the Thirty and deposed them from power. They were replaced with a council of
Ten, one from each tribe. Only two of the Thirty were part of the Ten, and the
other survivors fled to Eleusis. There were now two centres of power on the
oligarchic side, and they were increasingly outnumbered by the Democrats at
Piraeus. Both sets of oligarchs now called for help from Sparta. Lysander
received permission to raise an army to help them, and arrived on the scene
with remarkable speed, preventing the Democrats from pressing their attack on
Athens itself. He was soon joined by the main Spartan army under King
Pausanias, and the Spartans defeated the Democrats in battle at Piraeus.
However the Spartans were politically divided themselves, and despite this
victory Pausanias had no interest in seeing Lysander's friends take power in
Athens. Instead he encouraged the Democrats, organised a reconciliation with
the more moderate oligarchs, and oversaw the restoration of democracy at
Athens.
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