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Battles: Battle of Coronea
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The battle of Coronea was a battle of the 4th Century B.C. This battle, waged at the height of Spartan supremacy in Greece, was a bloody victory of Spartan arms over the allies who frequently set out to oppose her.
The road that would lead to Coronea began in Persia. In 396 B.C. the Spartan warrior king Agesilaus II prepared to imitate his hero Agamemnon by invading the East. At the time Sparta was engaged in an off-on war with Persia. At that particular time an armistice had been reached and both sides took the time to prepare. Agesilaus decided to, in order to gather a large army to himself, claim to be a successor to Agamemnon and like him invade Asia. In order to squeeze as much as he could from the event Agesilaus made a sacrifice at Aulis, just like his hero had done. But Aulis was nominally under Theban control and Agesilaus and not asked for their permission. Agesilaus then assembled his force at Ephesus and demanded independence for the Ionian Greek cities. When the Persians refused Agesilaus launched his invasion, winning a few victories before the Persian provincial cavalry drove him off. Agesilaus fell back to Ephesus and began to call for any Greek men who could fight to come to his aid. Agesilaus also began to hire any mercenaries with the combat experience that satisfied him. Amongst the mercenaries recruited were the veterans of the famous 10,000 of Xenophon, and native cavalry. All of these men were trained by Spartiate officers that Agesilaus brought with him originally. By the time the spring of 395 rolled around Agesilaus had a crack force under his command. In a series of victories called the Pactolus campaign (so called because of the river where the greatest victory was won) the army of Agesilaus utterly trashed the Persian forces in the area around Sardis. Agesilaus’ force also waged an equally successful campaign in Phrygia later that same year. However while Agesilaus was being covered in glory in Asia trouble brewed back home. In Greece many of the city-states were none too pleased with the Spartan hegemony over the land. The Persians, ever hopeful to find some way to keep the Greeks off of their lands and embroiled in civil war exploited this hatred by making requests for an attack on Sparta. As turns it out the Persians did not even have to ask. At the time a dispute over the borders between the cities of Locris and Phocis had erupted. Locris asked for aid from Thebes, her most powerful neighbor, and in response Phocis called for aid from Sparta. The Spartans answered with agreement and so began the Corinthian War. The war would start off badly for Sparta when in the first engagement of the war the Spartans suffered a heavy defeat and the famous admiral Lysander slain. In shame the Spartan king in command at the battle would self exile himself from Sparta; his son would be chosen to succeed him. Meanwhile many of the other surrounding city-states took heart in the victory and the cities of Athens, Corinth, Argos, Euboea, and Acarnania all pledged their support to Thebes. In the opening of 394 the allies met in Corinth and formally signed a pact to destroy Sparta, from this pact the allies received the name the Corinthian Alliance (this is why the war is known as the Corinthian War). The formation of an alliance against them caused the Ephors (the old men who ruled Sparta with the kings) to recall Agesilaus from Asia. For his part Agesilaus was not happy about being forced to leave, but he did. To make sure that his forces were in full strength Agesilaus launched a recruitment drive much liked he had in the winter of 396-95. And like before he also hired high caliber mercenaries and native cavalry. At Euxenus Agesilaus leaves behind a garrison force of 4,000 and pledges to return, then he departed for Greece using the exact same route Xerxes used in his invasion. Meanwhile the Spartans’ score a victory at Corinth against the allies but this does not change any thing. When the allies heard that Agesilaus was on his way they sent some Thessalian cavalry to delay him. But Agesilaus, probably on the advice of a 10,000 veteran, put his force in a hollow square and was able to emerge unscathed through Thessaly. In August, 394 B.C. as the Spartan column was arriving in Boeotia word arrived to Agesilaus that the Spartan navy under his brother-in-law Pisander had been defeated at Cnidus, and that Pisander was himself dead. But Agesilaus decided to keep the defeat a secret, lest his men lose heart. Agesilaus instead lied and told his men that Pisander had won a great victory at Cnidus, lifting their sprits. As the forces of Agesilaus entered Boeotia a full Mora (a Spartan regiment numbering 576 men) joined them, a little while later half a Mora joined up with the column. Not long afterwards a force of hoplites from Orchomenos and Phocis arrived. Not long afterwards Spartan scouts saw the force of the allies assembling on the plains of Coronea at the base of Mt. Helicon. Agesilaus quickly had his men march to face them.
The Spartan force of Agesilaus was battle hardened. The majority of the Spartan forces present at Coronea were veterans of the Asian campaigns waged against Persia. Our primary source for this battle, Xenophon, does not give definite numbers of men for either side. However our best conservative estimate places the total number of hoplites at 15,000. Xenophon does make mention that 30 Spartiate staff officers, all veteran commanders, were present in the battle line. The battle line for the Spartans were arrayed thus: Agesilaus with the Spartiate hoplites were put on the right flank, the veterans of the 10,000 stood next to them, the Ionian Greeks stood next to the 10,000 and made up the bulk of the line, next to the Ionians were the Phocians and lastly on the left flank were the Orchomenians. The location of the cavalry and peltasts are unknown as are their numbers. However we do know that Agesilaus possessed a greater number of peltasts, and that both sides had equal numbers of cavalry, though Agesilaus’ were of better quality due to training.
The allied force in comparison was hastily put together and ill trained. As with the Spartan force we do not have any definite numbers for the Corinthian Alliance troops. However a conservative estimate places the total number of allied hoplites at 20,000. The battle line for the allies was arrayed thus: The Thebans put themselves in position on the right flank, opposite the Spartan left, the Athenians stood next to them, followed by the Locrians, Corinthians, Euboeans, Acarnanians, and lastly the Argives on the allied left opposite the Spartan right. The number of cavalry and peltasts are unknown as are their location on the battlefield. In any case we know the cavalry was roughly equal and that the allies possessed a lesser number of peltasts then the Spartans.
The battle of Coronea was to be one of the bloodiest hoplite battles. Once both sides are finished arraying for a battle a calm sort of swept the field. The atmosphere was radically different for both sides. On the Spartan side of the battlefield the warriors were in high spirits, despite a partial eclipse a few days earlier, and were ready for anything. On the opposing end was an atmosphere of dejectedness, the allies had suffered a defeat only a few days earlier at Nemea, and the Athenians were beginning to get cynical about allied chances. Only the Thebans were in high spirits, nothing short of a disaster could shake them, which was exactly what happened. The two battle line began marching in absolute silence on the orders of the high command. Then at 200 yards the Thebans, unable to contain themselves any longer, let out a shout and charged straight towards the Orchomenians. At 100 yards the veterans of the 10,000 and the Ionians also charged. According to the records the shock of the force which the opposing lines hit each other caused the shields and spears of the front lines to actually break. The fighting was carried out with the seldom used Greek dagger-sword. The allied troops which faced the veterans and the Ionians broke and ran after only a few minutes. The Thebans on the other hand actually broke the Orchomenians and were pursuing them to the baggage train. Meanwhile the Argives, frightened by the carnage around them broke and ran to Mt. Helicon before Agesilaus’ Spartiates could even close in on them. Turning around Agesilaus ordered an attack on the other fleeing allied troops, before they too fled to Mt. Helicon. At the time no one was aware of the Thebans position so the veterans came to Agesilaus after the bulk of the allied troops were fleeing to Mt. Helicon with a garland of victory. But then news reached Agesilaus about the Thebans. They had broken into the baggage train and the camps and were looting all of the booty from Asia. Enraged at the audacity of the act Agesilaus ordered his Spartiate troops to wheel about and crush the Thebans. It was meanwhile unknown to the Thebans that the entire allied line had crumbled and they were alone. It was not until Theban scouts reported to the main body that the Spartans were approaching that the Thebans realized the truth and began to panic. Finally a decision was reached to break through the Spartan lines and get to Mt. Helicon as soon as possible. The Thebans made a mad dash to Mt. Helicon and Agesilaus was faced with a choice to either let them go or pursue. Agesilaus chose pursuit and eventually caught up with the Thebans, crashing into them with the same force his main line had done earlier. In the mist of the fighting Agesilaus dove into the battle and slew many Thebans personally. Eventually he drove so relentlessly that he ended up behind enemy lines and was nearly killed, saved from death at the last minute by his 50-man bodyguard. Because of his wounds Agesilaus was carried to the rear and thus did not see the breakthrough of the Thebans to safety. As the day ended Spartan horsemen reported that 80 enemy soldiers had taken refuge in a temple. Agesilaus ordered they not be harmed and allowed to leave. The next morning a delegation arrived from the allies asking for permission to return to the field to bury their dead, this was the traditional Greek way to acknowledge defeat, and Agesilaus allowed it before ordering his men to pack up and move out, which they did later that day. The total number of allied causalities numbered 600, the total number of Spartan, 350.
In the aftermath of Coronea much happened. Immediately after Coronea the king would invade the city of Locris, an invasion that was eventually abandoned. In the total view of the Corinthian War (which ended when Persia changed sides and supported Sparta in 387) Coronea was a technical victory for Sparta, and assured the dominance of Sparta on land for the majority of the war. But the large number of dead had left a mark on Sparta, they had victory but it came at a terrible price. In the end the Corinthian War ended in Spartan victory, backed by the Persians the Spartans became, ironically, the upholders of liberty and justice. A position they would hold until the Thebans finally toppled Sparta at Leuctra.
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