Battle of Mantinea (418 BC) - Prelude To The Battle

Prelude To The Battle

After the conclusion of the alliance between the Argives, Achaeans, Eleans and Athens, the humiliation of the Spartans in the 420 Olympic Games and the invasion of Epidaurus by the allies, the Spartans were compelled to move against them, fearing an alliance with Corinth and having amassed an army that was, according to Thucydides, 'the best army ever assembled in Greece to that time. However, the Spartan king Agis (son of Archidamus) instead concluded the first campaign with a truce, without explaining his actions to the army or his allies; the army thus returned home. Immediately afterwards, the Argives denounced the truce and resumed the war, capturing the key town of Orchomenus; as a result, anger at Agis was such that he was on the verge of being fined 100,000 drachmas and having his house destroyed. Agis managed to forestall this punishment, promising to redeem himself with a victory elsewhere. The Spartan ephors consented, but in an unprecedented move, placed Agis under the supervision of ten advisors, called xymbouloi, whose consent was required for whatever military action he wished to take.