The Brutal Fate of Defeated Enemies in Ancient Greek Warfare

The article examines the fate of defeated soldiers in ancient Greek warfare, focusing on the period of the Peloponnesian War. It details how the collapse of the hoplite phalanx led to mass slaughter, with light infantry (peltasts and psiloi) and cavalry pursuing fleeing soldiers. Those captured could be enslaved or ransomed under the system known as lytron, with ransom prices determined by social status. The article also describes the sacred truce (spondai) that allowed for the recovery of the dead, and the rare instances when bodies were used as bargaining chips, as after the Battle of Delium in 424 BC. The most extreme consequence was andrapodismos, the total enslavement and destruction of a city, exemplified by the Athenian treatment of Melos in 416 BC and Scione. The article further explores the fate of women and children, who were often enslaved, and the unprecedented brutality of the Sicilian expedition (415–413 BC) and the Battle of Aegospotami, where captured Athenians were executed or enslaved. The text draws on historical sources such as Thucydides and the plays of Euripides to illustrate these practices.