New Insight Into the Ancient Battles at Mantinea From a Geostrategic Perspective

Mantinea is an ancient city located in the eastern part of Arcadia, in the central Peloponnese. Several important battles took place in its immediate vicinity in antiquity, four of which have left a significant mark in the historical sources. This paper explains the impact that geographical conditions and political conflicts had on Mantinea becoming the site of these battles. During the Classical period, the Mantinean Plain was the scene of two battles, in 418 and 362 BCE, and of a siege in 385 BCE, while in the Hellenistic period two more battles were fought there, in 294 and 207 BCE. The starting point of the paper is the question: why did so many conflicts in antiquity occur at this very site? The introduction presents the historical sources that describe these battles, with special attention to differences in the reliability and origin of individual accounts. Next, relying on recent scholarly literature, we outline the chronological course of all the battles, while analyzing the political relations between Mantinea and other Greek poleis. In conclusion, we present the results of the research and the reasons why this area was the site of so many notable ancient battles