Second Messenian War: Difference between revisions

| combatant1 = [[Messenia (ancient region)|Messenia]]<br>[[Arcadia (ancient region)#Arcadia|Arcadia]]<br>[[Sicyon]]<br>[[ElisAncient (city)Elis|Elis]]<br>[[Ancient Argos|Argos]]

The '''Second Messenian War''' was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] states of [[Messenia (ancient region)|Messenia]] and [[Sparta]],<ref>{{Citation|last1=Scott|first1=Andrew G.|title=Helots|date=2012|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah06161|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|publisher=American Cancer Society|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah06161|isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6|access-date=2020-04-12|last2=Figueira|first2=Thomas J.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-760|title=Aristomenes (1), traditional Messenian hero|last=Cartledge|first=Paul|date=2015|website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.760|isbn=9780199381135|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref> with localized resistance possibly lasting until the end of the century.<ref name="auto">L. G. Pechatnova, ''A History of Sparta (Archaic and Classic Periods)''</ref> It started around 40 years after the end of the [[First Messenian War]] with the uprising of a slave rebellion. Other scholars, however, assign earlier dates, claiming, for example, that 668 BC is the date of the war's start, pointing at Sparta's defeat at the [[First Battle of Hysiae]] as a possible catalyst for the uprising.<ref>L. G. Pechatnova, ''A History of Sparta (Archaic and Classic Periods)''<name="auto"/ref> Current events concerning this war are stated, too.

The Second Messenian War was the result of revolt by the [[helot]] population of Messenia, supported with the aid of the [[Argives]] and the [[Arcadia (ancient region)#Arcadians|Arcadians]].<ref>Pausanias, Description of Greece, 4.15.1</ref> In an attempt to regain freedom, the Messenians invaded [[Laconia (ancient region)|Laconia]].<ref>Dunstan. ''Ancient Greece'' p.95</ref>

However, it was Sparta who had the upper hand in the [[Battle of the Great Foss]] when they bribed theAristocrates, Messenianking alliesof Messenia-allied Arcadia, into retreating through the Messenian lines when the Spartans advanced into battle.<ref>Pausanias, Description of Greece, 4.17.2 </ref> Again, this loss forced the Messenians into a fortified city at Mt. Eira (Ira). It was, while fortified here, that the Messenians started to use the land as enemy territory and several raids were made of the surrounding towns, some even led by Aristomenes himself.

During this time Aristomenes was captured. Before he could be executed he escaped his holding and made it back to Eira. The Messenians held Eira for over ten years before the Spartans made their last attack. Before Eira fell, however, the Spartans allowed the women and children to be released along with Aristomenes. The ones who did not escape Eira were again turned into helots and most of the ones who escaped fled to Italy. Aristomenes himself left for Rhodes where he died and was honored as a hero.<ref>Xanthippos, Demetrios. (2003 June 6) The Second Messenian War. Retrieved February 3, 2008 from {{cite web |url=http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/157630 |title=ArchivedThe copySecond Messenian War |access-date=2008-02-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429190218/http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/157630 |archive-date=2007-04-29 }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=April 2020}}

FurthermoreUltimately, the Spartans were able to quell the revolts following the death of the Argive commander. With the aid, and supportfurther ofsuppressed the AthenianMessenians schoolmaster and poet [[Tyrtaeus]], the [[Spartan Army]] was ableback to crush the Messenians and re-establish theira helot status. As a result of this war, Spartan society became a strong militaristic power in the Mediterranean in order to control the masses along the Peloponnese and to prevent further rebellions brought on by the helots who later did manage to break away from Spartan rule around 350 BC.<ref>Saunders,{{Citation Dr.L.J.needed|date=November ''History 223''. Montreal: Concordia University. October 31,2024}} 2007</ref>

[[Category:7th-century BC conflicts|Messenian]]

[[Category:Wars involving Sparta|Messenian]]