The Macedonian-Achaean victory ended Spartan dominance in the Peloponnese and led to the first foreign occupation of Sparta.
Key Facts
- Date
- Summer 222 BC
- Location
- Sellasia, northern frontier of Laconia
- Victors
- Macedon and the Achaean League
- Spartan commander
- King Cleomenes III
- Macedonian commander
- Antigonus III Doson
- Macedonian invasion of Peloponnese
- 224 BC
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Beginning in 229 BC, Cleomenes III of Sparta launched campaigns against the Achaean League, defeating it repeatedly and making Sparta the dominant power in the Peloponnese. Achaean leader Aratus of Sicyon sought Macedonian military aid, and Antigonus III Doson agreed on the condition that Acrocorinth be surrendered to Macedon. The Macedonians then led a Greek alliance into the Peloponnese in 224 BC, gradually confining Cleomenes to Laconia by 222 BC.
In the summer of 222 BC, the combined Macedonian and Achaean army advanced to Sellasia on Laconia's northern border, where Cleomenes had positioned his forces on the fortified heights of Olympus and Evas. Antigonus launched coordinated assaults on both flanks. The Macedonian right routed the Spartan left on Evas, and though Spartan forces initially pushed back the Macedonian phalanx on the other flank, superior Macedonian numbers ultimately drove them from the field.
Cleomenes III was forced into exile in Alexandria, ending his reformist reign. Antigonus III Doson became the first non-Spartan general to occupy the city of Sparta, marking a decisive shift of power in the Peloponnese back toward Macedon and the Achaean League.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Antigonus III Doson, Aratus of Sicyon.
Side B
1 belligerent
Cleomenes III.