Battle of Sepeia

Battle of Sepeia
Date 494 BC Location Sepeia, Tiryns Result Spartan victory
Belligerents
Sparta	Argos
Commanders and leaders
Cleomenes I
Casualties and losses
	6,000

At the Battle of Sepeia (Ancient Greek: Σήπεια) (c. 494 BC), the Spartan forces of Cleomenes I defeated the Argives, fully establishing Spartan dominance in the Peloponnese.

The closest thing to a contemporaneous source for the description of the battle is, as for many events in this time period, the Histories of Herodotus (written approximately fifty years later, c. 440 BC). According to Herodotus, the Spartan army tricked the Argives into believing that the Spartans were getting breakfast, and when the Argives did the same, the Spartans picked up their weaponry and attacked them, gaining an overwhelming victory. The battle is a controversial one in terms of the Spartan legend for, according to Herodotus, Spartan king Cleomenes massacred the remaining Argives most by burning them alive in the sacred grove of Argos to which they had fled for refuge. The battle was so devastating for the Argives that they were unable to aid the Greek cause during the Persian Invasion of 480-479 BC, both out of spite for the Spartan leadership of the Hellenic alliance and because of a lack of fighting-age men. This battle shattered Argive strength and the Argives did not challenge Sparta again until the Peloponnesian War.