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The battle of Olynthus in 381 was the second battle fought by the
Spartans close to the city during their expedition to Chalcidice, and ended
with defeat and the death of the Spartan commander Teleutias. In 382 both King
Amyntas III of Macedon and the Chalcidian cities of Acanthus and Apollonia sent
embassies to Sparta to ask for help against the rising power of Olynthus and
her Chalcidian League. Sparta agreed to held, and sent an army north. This
first army moved in two waves, but only the smaller advance guard reached
Thrace, while the larger part got tangled in the politics of Thrace. Later in
the year the Spartans decided to send a second army north, under the command of
Teleutias, a half brother of King Agesilaus. Teleutias gained a significant
number of allies on the way north, including a contingent from Thebes,
mercenaries from Macedon, and a force of Thracian cavalry under King Derdas of
Elimia. His first attack on Olynthus nearly ended in defeat, before Derdas
forced the Olynthians to retreat (battle of Olynthus, 382 ). Although Teleutias claimed a
victory, across the winter the Olynthians were able to conduct raids into enemy
territory. 381 began with a success for the Spartans and their allies, when
Derdas ambushed a Olynthian cavalry force that was raiding Apollonia, and
pursued it back to Olynthus. This was the high point of Spartan success in 381,
but things were about to go badly wrong. Teleutias decided to conduct a fresh
raid into Olynthian territory, probably without Derdas, who isn’t
mentioned in Xenophon's account of the battle. Teleutias's aim was to destroy
any remaining crops or fruit trees in Olynthian territory (presumably including
the slow growing olive trees and the fig trees that Olynthus was named after).
His army operated in the area on the opposite side of the River Sandanus, which
ran right by the city walls. The Olynthians had clearly not been too badly
discouraged by the setback at Apollonia, and they sent their cavalry out to
harass the Spartans. The cavalry crossed the river, and quietly approached the
Spartan camp. Teleutias was angered by this, and ordered Tlemonidas and the
light infantry to charge the Olynthian cavalry. The Olynthians withdrew, and
re-crossed the river, luring Teleutias's light infantry into pursing them
across the river. Once Teleutias's light infantry was vulnerable on the
opposite side of the river to the rest of the army, the Olynthian cavalry
turned back and attacked. Tlemondias and one hundred of his men were killed in
this phase of the battle. Teleutias responded to the sent back angrily. He led
his hoplites towards the fighting, and ordered his peltasts and cavalry to
pursue the Olynthians, who presumably chose to retire rather than risk a clash
with the Spartan heavy infantry. The Olynthians retreated back into the city,
with the Spartans in close pursuit. This triggered the final stage of the
battle. The Spartans came under heavy missile fire from the city walls, and
were forced to pull back. While they were concentrating on protecting
themselves against the missile fire, they were hit by another Olynthian cavalry
charge, supported by their light infantry. The Olynthian heavy infantry was
finally committed to the battle, catching Teleutias's men in some confusion.
Teleutias himself was killed in the fighting, and the rest of his army then
broke and fled. The army scattered into several directions, with parts fleeing
north to Apollonia, other parts heading for Spartolus or Acanthus, and the
largest part fleeing towards the Spartan base at Potidaea. The Olynthians
mounted an effective pursuit. Both Xenophon and Diodorus record heavy losses
during this battle, with Xenophon saying that the 'pith and kernel' of the army
was lost, and Diodorus giving a figure of 1,200 Lacedaemonian dead. The
Spartans responded to this defeat by sending yet another army north, this time
under the command of King Agesipolis. Agesipolis achieved very little during
his time in the north, before dying of a fever in the summer of 380. He was
replaced by Polybiades, who was finally able to bring the war to an end,
winning a series of poorly documented victories before besieging the city.
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Sparta at War, Scott M. Rusch. A study of the rise, dominance
and fall of Sparta, the most famous military power in the Classical Greek
world. Sparta dominated land warfare for two centuries, before suffering a
series of defeats that broke its power. The author examines the reasons for
that success, and for Sparta's failure to bounce back from defeat.
The Spartan Supremacy 412-371 BC, Mike Roberts and Bob Bennett. . Looks
at the short spell between the end of the Great Peloponnesian War and the
battle of Leuctra where Sparta's political power matched her military
reputation. The authors look at how Sparta proved to be politically unequal to
her new position, and how this period of supremacy ended with Sparta's military
reputation in tatters and her political power fatally wounded.
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