Battle of Coronea (394 BC) - The Battle

The Battle

As the two armies approached each other, Agesilaus himself commanded the Spartans on the extreme right flank of his army, the veterans of the "Ten Thousand" were next to the Spartans, the Asian Greeks were next to them, then came the Phocians, and the Orchomenians held the extreme left flank. The Thebans faced the Orchomenians and the Argives faced the Spartans. Both armies advanced in total silence. At about 200 metres (660 ft), the Thebans shouted their war cry and charged at the run. At about 100 metres (330 ft), the veterans of the "Ten Thousand" (under the Spartiate Herippidas) and the Asian Greeks charged the troops opposite them at the run. The veterans and the Asians quickly routed the troops opposite them. The Argives panicked before the Spartans under Agesilaus could even make contact and fled to Mount Helicon.

The mercenaries near Agesilaus assumed the battle was over and offered him a garland to commemorate his victory. Just then news came that on the other flank, the Thebans had broken through the Orchomenians and were already at the baggage train, ransacking the loot taken from Asia. Agesilaus immediately wheeled his phalanx around and headed for the Thebans. At that moment, the Thebans noticed that their allies had fled to Mount Helicon. They formed up with the desperate design of breaking through Agesilaus's lines to rejoin the rest of their army.

Agesilaus decided to oppose them by putting his phalanx directly in their path instead of taking them in the rear or flank, a decision that may have been influenced by his longstanding animosity towards Thebes. What followed was evidently one of the worst blood baths in the history of hoplite battles. As Xenophon described it, “So shield pressed upon shield they struggled, killed and were killed in turn.” In the end, a few Thebans broke through to Mount Helicon but, in the words of Xenophon, “many others were killed on their way there.”