Battle of Pylos and Sphacteria (425 BC): The Spartans Surrender

The Battle of Pylos and Sphacteria was fought in the summer of 425 BC on the coast of Messenia in south-western Greece, during the Peloponnesian War. An Athenian force fortified the headland of Pylos, trapped several hundred Spartan hoplites on the neighbouring island of Sphacteria and, after a long blockade, forced them to surrender. The capture of 292 men, about 120 of them full Spartan citizens, astonished the Greek world and gave Athens its strongest bargaining position of the war.

Background: a fort in enemy territory

By 425 BC the war had lasted six years. Sparta invaded Attica almost every summer, while Athens used its navy to raid the coasts of the Peloponnese. Neither side had found a way to strike a decisive blow.

That spring an Athenian fleet of 40 ships was sailing round the Peloponnese towards Corcyra and Sicily under the generals Eurymedon and Sophocles. With them was Demosthenes, an experienced general who had been allowed to use the fleet along the way. Storms forced the ships into the bay at Pylos, and Demosthenes persuaded the soldiers to fortify the rocky headland there.

Pylos lay in Messenia, whose people had been reduced to helots, the state-owned serfs who worked the land for Sparta. A garrison there could raid Spartan territory and encourage helots to flee or revolt. When the fleet sailed on, Demosthenes stayed behind with five ships.

The Spartans are trapped

Alarmed, the Spartans recalled their army from Attica after only fifteen days and attacked Pylos by land and sea. The future general Brasidas led his ships against the rocky shore and was badly wounded. To block the Athenians, the Spartans also landed 420 hoplites, chosen by lot from all their units, with their helot attendants on Sphacteria, the long wooded island that closes the bay.

The Athenian fleet, now about 50 ships, returned and defeated the Spartan ships inside the harbour. The men on the island were cut off. Shocked, the Spartan authorities agreed a truce: they handed over their warships in the area as a pledge and sent envoys to Athens to discuss peace.

In Athens the popular politician Cleon persuaded the assembly to demand harsh terms, and the talks failed. When the truce ended, the Athenians refused to return the Spartan ships, claiming minor breaches of the agreement.

Blockade and Cleon’s promise

The blockade dragged on. The Spartans offered freedom to helots who could smuggle food to the island, and divers swam across underwater towing skins filled with poppy seed and honey. The Athenians, short of water and shelter themselves, grew restless.

In Athens, Cleon criticised the generals for their slowness and claimed that he could do better. Nicias, one of the generals, offered to hand over his command, and the assembly held Cleon to his word. Cleon then promised to kill or capture the Spartans within twenty days.

The assault on Sphacteria

An accidental fire had burned much of the island’s woodland, revealing the Spartan positions and their numbers. At dawn, Demosthenes and Cleon landed about 800 hoplites, quickly overcame the outpost, and then brought ashore archers, light-armed troops and the rowers of over 70 ships.

Demosthenes avoided a head-on clash with the Spartan hoplites. Instead his lightly armed men attacked from all sides with arrows, javelins and stones, retreating whenever the Spartans charged. Ash and dust from the burned ground made it hard for the Spartans to see. Their commander, Epitadas, was killed.

The survivors withdrew to an old fort at the north end of the island. A Messenian commander then led a small force along the cliffs and appeared behind them. Surrounded and exhausted, the Spartans under their third-in-command, Styphon, asked permission to consult the authorities on the mainland. The answer allowed them to decide for themselves, provided they did nothing dishonourable. They laid down their arms.

Consequences

Of the 420 men who crossed to the island, 292 were taken alive, about 120 of them Spartiates, the full citizens who formed Sparta’s elite. The blockade had lasted 72 days. Cleon had kept his promise within the twenty days.

Thucydides writes that nothing in the war surprised the Greeks more. He records how a captured Spartan, mocked by an Athenian ally who asked if the brave ones had all died, replied that an arrow would be worth a great deal if it could pick out the brave.

The prisoners became hostages. Athens threatened to kill them if Sparta invaded Attica again, and Spartan invasions stopped until 413 BC. Messenian raiders based at Pylos caused helots to desert. Sparta repeatedly sought peace, which led to the Peace of Nicias in 421 BC and the return of the prisoners. A bronze Spartan shield inscribed as spoils taken from the Spartans at Pylos was found in the Athenian Agora excavations and is now displayed in the Agora Museum.

Timeline

• 425 BC, spring: an Athenian fleet shelters at Pylos; Demosthenes fortifies the headland.
• 425 BC, spring: the Spartans leave Attica after fifteen days and attack Pylos; Brasidas is wounded.
• 425 BC: the Athenian fleet defeats the Spartan ships in the bay, cutting off Sphacteria.
• 425 BC: a truce and peace talks in Athens fail.
• 425 BC, summer: Cleon and Demosthenes storm the island; 292 men surrender.
• 421 BC: the prisoners are returned under the Peace of Nicias.
• 409 BC: Sparta recaptures Pylos.

Why it matters

Sphacteria punctured the legend of Spartan invincibility and showed what light troops could do against heavy infantry. It gave Athens a powerful bargaining chip, raised Cleon to the height of his influence and pushed both sides towards the peace of 421 BC. The bay later saw the Battle of Navarino in 1827.