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Battle of the Great Foss

Date	c. 682 BC?
Location	Peloponnesus
Result	Spartan victory

Belligerents

Messenia
Arcadia

Sparta

Commanders and leaders

Aristomenes
Androcles
Fidas
Aristocrates II

v t e Second Messenian War
Deres Boar's sign Fares Great Foss Eira

The Battle of the Great Foss occurred in 682 BC during the Second Messenian War (685–668 BC). The word "foss" derives from the Latin fossa, meaning "ditch" or "trench."^[1] According to Pausanias the outcome of the battle was determined by trickery. The Spartans bribed Aristocrates of Orchomenus, the king of the Arcadians, to withdraw his men just as the battle was beginning. This resulted in the slaughter of the Messenians.^[2] Aristocrates was later stoned to death by the Arcadians for this treachery.

References and further reading

^ Croker, Temple Henry; Clark, Samuel; (Londres), John Coote; Williams, Thomas; (Londres), James Fletcher; (Dublin), William Smith (1765). The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. In which the Whole Circle of Human Learning is Explained, and the Difficulties Attending the Acquisition of Every Art, Whether Liberal Or Mechanical, are Removed, in the Most Easy and Familiar Manner ... authors, and sold.
^ Montagu, Battles of the Greek and Roman Worlds, 49.

Sources

Montagu, John Drogo. Battles of the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Chronological Compendium of 667 Battles to 318BC. Mechanicsburg, PA: Greenhill Books, 2000.