The Battle of Pylos was a major battle of the Peloponnesian War which was fought on the southern coast of Messenia in 425 BC. The Spartan army attacked an Athenian base which had been established on Spartan territory at the Bay of Navarino, but the Athenians defeated the Spartan army with combined land and sea assaults and also obtained the surrender of nearly 300 Spartan survivors on the island of Sphacteria after another battle.
History[]
After war broke out between Athens and Sparta in 431 BC, the Athenians could not prevent the Spartans from raiding up to the walls of Athens. They hit back by landing a garrison, led by Demosthenes, on the Peloponnesian coast at Pylos and using this base to launch raids into Sparta. In 425 BC the Spartans failed to retake Pylos with a combined land and sea operation. Even worse, hoplites they had placed on the nearby island of Sphacteria were cut off by the arrival of an Athenian fleet. Demosthenes himself then landed on the island with 800 hoplites and a large number of skirmishers. Driven back by the arrows of these troops, the Spartans were unable to engage in battle. Those that the Athenians did not kill they took prisoner.