Battle for Megara

Attack on Megara and Nisaia

Part of: Peloponnesian War

date	424 BC Chr.
place	Megara on the Isthmus of Corinth
Casus Belli	Megarian edict , attack on Salamis
output	Stalemate
consequences	Nisaia occupied by Athens

Parties to the conflict
Athens , (Megarian conspirators)	Megara , Sparta , Boiotia , Corinth , Sicyon , Phleius
Commander
Demosthenes , Hippocrates	Brasidas
Troop strength
4,600 hoplites , skirmishers, 600 horsemen	6,000 hoplites, 600 riders

The attack on Megara was an operation by Athens' armed forces during the Peloponnesian War in 424 BC. After the intervention of a Peloponnesian relief army, it ended in a stalemate : Athens captured the port of Nisaia, but not the city.

The dispute

Athens' decision to boycott its neighboring city of Megara ( Megaric Edict ) was one of the points of contention that rose in 431 BC. Led to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War.

In order to secure its sea connection, Megara had drawn its walls based on the Athenian model as far as the port of Nisaia on the coast of the Saronic Gulf . End of 429 BC The Spartan general Brasidas used this port to attack the island of Salamis between Athens and Megara, which brought him into the immediate vicinity of Piraeus . The Athenians were completely taken by surprise by this unexpected attack on their nearest island and thereafter viewed Megara and Nisaia as an even stronger threat.

The first reaction took place in the summer of 427, when the Attic general Nikias occupied the island of Minoa immediately before Nisaia and erected a watchtower to allow the suspicious port to be observed at close range in the future.

The betrayal

Remaining in the Peloponnesian League turned out to be more and more of a burden for the trading city of Megara, and doubts arose in the city as to whether further resistance would make sense. The leaders of the People's Party therefore considered changing the alliance in favor of Athens, especially since the Long Walls seemed to promise security more towards the Peloponnesian army than towards the Attic fleet. Finally they contacted the Athenian generals Demosthenes and Hippocrates to give them the city.

The raid

Hoplite fight

According to the agreed plan, the Athenians drove to Minoa that night, from there first to take the Long Walls and thus prevent the Peloponnesian garrison in Nisaia from intervening. With a ruse against the guard on duty, the conspirators opened the gate and let in the Athenians lurking nearby. The first to cross it were the skirmishers from Plataiai and the Ephebe under the command of Demosthenes and then about 600 hoplites under Hippocrates. The Athenians immediately occupied the walls and the Peloponnesian guards, if they had not yet been killed, fled to the citadel of Nisaia.

Ephebe

After Megara became aware, the conspirators in the city tried to convince their fellow citizens of the necessity of a failure in order to open the gates here too. However, when someone in the know revealed the attack, the decision was made differently and the gates remained locked. The Athenians, who had brought their entire army with 4,000 hoplites and 600 riders to the city over the Strait of Eleusis overnight , then turned against Nisaia to block it with a quickly erected roadblock. The Peloponnesians in the citadel, without food reserves and believing that they had been betrayed by the Megarians, lost hope of salvation and surrendered the following day.

The march

Cavalry battle

In the meantime, however, the general Brasidas, who was encamped with an army near Corinth, had become aware and was approaching, hurrying ahead with 300 chosen ones. Disagreed and indecisive, however, the Megarians refused to let him in. The following morning an army of the Boiotians with 2,200 hoplites and 600 riders arrived from the north. After the Boiotic cavalry surprised the Attic skirmishers in the plains and drove them back to the coast, the Attic cavalrymen for their part moved out and held a lengthy equestrian meeting, in which they killed the Boiotic cavalry leader, but were otherwise unable to gain any decisive advantage.

After Brasidas had brought his main power with 2,200 hoplites from Corinth, 600 from Sikyon and 400 from Phleius , the three armies faced each other on the plain without either side daring an attack. The allied Peloponnesians and Boiotians had a numerical advantage with over 6,000 hoplites, but since the Athenians cleverly positioned themselves along the Long Walls of Megara and Nisaia, they had to fear the archers on the battlements.

The withdrawal

The Athenian generals were the first to be satisfied with what had been achieved and ordered a retreat behind the walls of Nisaia. Then there was also a clarification in Megara, and it was decided to let Brasidas in. The heads of the conspiracy ran away, and the rest struggled for an oath-confirmed reconciliation. However, when strict aristocratic rule established in the city soon afterwards, a hundred men were sentenced to death and executed.

Battle of Megara

Part of: Peloponnesian War

date	409 BC Chr.
place	Megara on the Isthmus of Corinth
Casus Belli	Megara recaptures Nisaias
output	Athens wins

Parties to the conflict
Athens	Megara , Sparta , Sicilian allies
Commander
Leotrophidas, Timarchus
Troop strength
1,000 hoplites , 400 horsemen	much more
losses
	many Megarians, only 20 Spartans

The reconquest

The Long Walls were recaptured by the Megarians in the winter of 424/23 and laid down to the ground in order to finally nip in the bud the latent temptation to change sides.

Nisaia, on the other hand, remained in Attic hands even during the Peace of Nikias , until it was lost again in 409 in a surprise coup by the Megarians. The Athenians then sent the generals Leotrophidas and Timarchus with 1,000 hoplites and 400 horsemen. Although they were in the minority against the advancing Megarians, they won. In pursuit, the Athenians showed their exasperation at the loss of the port by slaying large numbers of Megarians while letting the Spartans escape, of whom only 20 fell.

At the Battle of Megara, the brothers Platons , Adeimantos and Glaukon , were distinguished by their particular bravery.

The result

Athens had started a conflict because of insignificant trade competition, which, contrary to Pericles' predictions, turned into a catastrophe, which ended with the total loss of the empire. Megara was permanently damaged by the long-standing conflict and after the war, although it was one of the victors, had almost completely lost its former importance.

Remarks

1. ↑ Thucydides , II 93f.
2. ↑ Thucydides, III 51.
3. ↑ Thucydides, IV 66.
4. ↑ Thucydides, IV 67f.
5. ↑ Thucydides, IV 68f.
6. ↑ Thucydides, IV 70-73.
7. ↑ Thucydides, IV 73f.
8. ^ Thucydides, IV 109.
9. ^ Diodorus , Bibliothek , XIII 65.
10. ↑ Plato, Politeia , II 368 St.
11. ^ Mark Thumann: Stasis on the example of the city of Megara , Grin Verlag, Norderstedt 1998, pp. 12-14.