Aeimnestus () is an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word, also spelled and that means "unforgettable", literally "of everlasting memory". It was the name of multiple revered Greek warriors. A

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n soldier Aeimnestus killed the Persian general Mardonius by crushing Mardonius' head with a rock during the

Battle of Plataea The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Polis, Greek city-states (including Sparta, Cla ...

in 479 BC. The event was described in Book 9 of the '' Histories'' of

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

calls the same man "Arimnestus" (). Another Spartan by the same name led three hundred men against the whole Messenian army in the

Messenian Wars Messenian Wars refers to the wars between Messenia and Sparta in the 8th and 7th centuries BC as well as the 4th century BC. *First Messenian War The First Messenian War was a war between Messenia_(ancient_region), Messenia and Sparta. It bega ...

; both he and his company were killed to the last man. A

Plataea Plataea (; , ''Plátaia'') was an ancient Greek city-state situated in Boeotia near the frontier with Attica at the foot of Mt. Cithaeron, between the mountain and the river Asopus, which divided its territory from that of Thebes. Its inhab ...

n general

Arimnestos Arimnestos (; early 5th century BCE) was the commander of the Plataean contingent at the battles of Marathon and Plataea during the Greco-Persian Wars. Battle of Plataea Plutarch relates that Arimnestos was responsible for selecting the lo ...

led his city's host in the battles of

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

and

Notes

Ancient Spartan soldiers 5th-century BC Greek people Ancient Greeks killed in battle People of the Greco-Persian Wars {{AncientGreece-bio-stub