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siege, notable, ancient

Siege of Sparta

Siege of Sparta was a siege conducted in 272 BC at Sparta, in what is now Greece. It was part of Antigonus II Gonatas' struggle for the Macedonian throne, which ran from 285 BC to 272 BC. The recorded result: Spartan–Antigonid victory. Recorded strength: 27,000 men,; 24 elephants against 2,000 Spartan Youths, Periokoi, and Helots; 6,000–7,000 Spartan women.

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Siege of Sparta
François Topino-Lebrun, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought272 BC
WhereSparta, Greece37.082N, 22.424E
OutcomeSpartan–Antigonid victory
BelligerentsEpirusagainstSparta; Antigonid Macedon
Part ofAntigonus II Gonatas' struggle for the Macedonian thronePyrrhus' invasion of the Peloponnese

Where it sits in Antigonus II Gonatas' struggle for the Macedonian throne

Siege of Troezen, 278 BCSiege of Cassandreia, 277 BCSiege of Sparta, 272 BCPyrrhus' invasion of the Peloponnese, 272 BCBattle of Argos, 272 BC278 BC272 BCSiege of Sparta, 272 BC
5 placed engagements of Antigonus II Gonatas' struggle for the Macedonian throne in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date272 BC (year precision)
PlaceSparta, Greece
37.082N, 22.424E
KindSiege, ancient
Strength27,000 men,; 24 elephants2,000 Spartan Youths, Periokoi, and Helots; 6,000–7,000 Spartan women
Commanders
  • Areus I
  • Acrotatus (king of Sparta)
  • Ameinias the Phocian
Siege of SpartaSiege of SpartaBattle of SelasiaBattle of Agios VasileiosSiege of KastaniaBattle of KalamataBattle of KalamataBattle of Agios VasileiosSiege of KastaniaBattle of KalamataAthensPatraTripoliPirgos100 km37.082N, 22.424E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Siege of Sparta is one of 193 engagements of the 3rd century BC in the atlas and one of 529 in present-day Greece.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q581393, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Sparta, revision 1374176589, 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.