battle of Delium
Delium, battle of (also Delion, now Dhilesi) (424 bc). This was a battle of the Peloponnesian war, probably fought in November. An Athenian army of 7, 000 hoplites, under Hippocrates, had crossed the border into Boeotia and fortified a temple to Delian Apollo on the coast opposite Euboea. After leaving a cavalry garrison, the retreating Athenians were caught just inside Athenian territory by a Boeotian army under Pagondas. The Boeotians also had 7, 000 hoplites, 1, 000 cavalry, and large numbers of light troops, although these appear to have played no part in the battle. When the hoplites closed, the Boeotian left was defeated. But on the right the Thebans, massed 25 deep, were steadily pushing back the 8-deep Athenians when two squadrons of Boeotian cavalry, sent by Pagondas to support his reeling left, suddenly appeared from behind a ridge. Thinking that their appearance heralded the approach of another army, the Athenian right broke and fled and was soon followed by their left. Although night cut short the pursuit, the Athenian losses of nearly 1, 000 hoplites killed, including Hippocrates (14 per cent of those engaged), were proportionately the worst ever suffered by a hoplite army.
Bibliography
- Kagan, Donald, The Archidamian War (London, 1974).
- Thucydides, 4. 90-7
— John Lazenby
