Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of Mantinea

Battle of Mantinea was a battle fought in 418 BC at Mantineia, in what is now Greece. It was part of the Peloponnesian War, which ran from 431 BC to 404 BC. The recorded result: Spartan victory.

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территория спарты
территория спарты. Marsyas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought418 BC
WhereMantineia, Greece37.600N, 22.400E
OutcomeSpartan victory
BelligerentsSparta; Tegea; Heraea; Maenalia; Other Arcadian allies of SpartaagainstArgos; Athens; Mantinea; Other Arcadian allies of Argos
Part ofPeloponnesian War431 BC to 404 BC

Where it sits in the Peloponnesian War

Battle of Sybota, 433 BCBattle of Potidaea, 432 BCBattle of Plataea, 431 BCBattle of Naupactus, 429 BCBattle of Spartolos, 429 BCBattle of Rhium, 429 BCSiege of Plataea, 429 BCBattle of Corcyra, 427 BCBattle of Tanagra, 426 BCAetolian Campaign, 426 BCBattle of Sphacteria, 425 BCBattle of Pylos, 425 BCBattle of Solygeia, 425 BCBattle of Delium, 424 BCBattle of Megara, 424 BCBattle of Mantinea, 418 BCBattle of Orneae, 417 BCBattle of Melos, 415 BCBattle of Milet, 412 BCBattle of Abydos, 411 BCBattle of Cynossema, 411 BCBattle of Syme, 411 BCBattle of Eretria, 411 BCBattle of Cyzicus, 410 BCBattle of Ephesus, 409 BCSiege of Chalcedon, 409 BCSiege of Byzantium, 408 BCSiege of Andros, 408 BCBattle of Notium, 406 BCSiege of Athens, 404 BC433 BC404 BCBattle of Mantinea, 418 BC
30 placed engagements of the Peloponnesian War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date418 BC (year precision)
PlaceMantineia, Greece
37.600N, 22.400E
KindBattle, ancient
StrengthTotal: About 9,200; 3,600 Spartans; 2,000 Brasidian veterans and Neodamodes; 600 Sciritae; 3,000 Arcadians (including 1,500 Tegeans)Total: About 9,300; 4,000–5,000 Argives; 1,300 Athenians; 2,000–3000 Mantineans, Cleonaeans, Orneans, Aeginetans and other allied forces
Casualties and lossesAbout 300 Spartans with insignificant other allied casualtiesAbout 1,300 (800 Argives, 300 Mantineans, 200 Athenians and Aeginetans)
Commanders
  • Agis II
  • Laches (person)
  • Nicostratus (Athenian commander)
Battle of MantineaBattle of MantineaBattle of MantineaBattle of MantineaSiege of MantineaBattle of the TrenchSiege of TripolitsaSiege of TripolitsaAthensPatraKalamataAgrinioChalkidaPirgos100 km37.600N, 22.400E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Mantinea
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Mantinea today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-30. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 632 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 620 to 1,267 m, 647 m of relief, steep country and today it is 46% cropland, 30% grassland, 16% tree cover.

cropland: 46%grassland: 30%tree cover: 16%shrubland: 7%cropland 46%grassland 30%tree cover 16%shrubland 7%
west to east, 10.0 km631 to 1,134 mnorth to south, 10.0 km626 to 738 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 4 times between 418 BC and 207 BC.

In the same war

Battle of Mantinea is one of 102 engagements of the 5th century BC in the atlas and one of 529 in present-day Greece.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1362053, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Mantinea (418 BC), revision 1370268974, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.