The Battle of Eleon was a battle of the Peloponnesian War which occurred in 432 BC near the Boeotian town of Eleon, 5 miles east of Thebes. The army of the Boeotian League, led by Pagondas, attacked two Athenian armies as they marched north through Boeotia, hoping to spare Thebes an Athenian siege, and prevent the Athenians from capturing the undefended town of Opous. However, the outnumbered Boeotian army was overwhelmed and destroyed in a battle which cost both sides dearly, and the Athenian leader Pericles settled for a half-hearted siege of Thebes before his army withdrew upon receiving news of the approach of Theagenes' army from Delphi.
History[]
At the start of the Peloponnesian War in 432 BC, the Boeotian League - situated in central Greece, and allied with the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League - came under imminent threat from the Athenians in Attica to the south, Naupactus to the west, and Chalcis to the east. When two Athenian armies, commanded by Pericles and Diodotus, marched north from Attica and through Boeotia, the Boeotian general Pagondas, in command of the army defending Thebes, grew concerned that the Athenians might either target the undefended town of Opous in Boeotian-ruled Locris or besiege Thebes itself. Unwilling to risk either situation, Pagondas led his 1,200-strong army out of Thebes to attack the two Athenian armies near the town of Eleon, just 5 miles east of Thebes.
Battle[]
Pagondas' plan was to destroy Diodotus' Athenian army before Pericles' army could join forces with his ally; the Boeotian army was superior in number to Diodotus' force, and Pagondas was convinced that his men would emerge victorious once the two armies' phalanxes met. However, Pericles' army arrived on the battlefield quicker than expected, and ahead of the Boeotian right flank, posing a threat to Pagondas' right wing. Nevertheless, Pagondas decided to focus his attention on destroying Diodotus' army, sending Theban cavalry to harass Pericles' archers as his light cavalry skirmished with Diodotus' force. The second major setback for the Boeotians came when the Boeotian cavalry units were routed from the field by both Athenian forces, depriving the Boeotians of their mobile strike force. The Boeotian phalanxes proceeded to meet the Athenians in battle, and, while the Boeotians routed several Athenian militia hoplites and even one of their cavalry units, they faltered after Pagondas was wounded, and the Boeotian army was gradually overwhelmed as the Boeotian forces on the left and the right were encircled separately and routed. The Boeotians were routed with heavy losses, and Hipparkos took command of the army's remnants and withdrew towards Thebes. Pericles pursued his army and destroyed it with 113 losses, forcing the Theban general Theagenes to retreat from his siege of Naupactus and come to Thebes' rescue as Pericles' army encamped outside of the city. The Battle of Eleon was not an unmitigated disaster, however; the Athenian army also suffered heavy losses, and Pericles' army became isolated after Diodotus' army marched north via Euboea instead of through Locris.
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