Amompharetus or Amompheretus, son of Poliadas, was a Spartan General at 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 name means "of irreproachable valor". Before the battle, both the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Persian armies camped in front of each other for 10 days on the plain of Plateaea, with only small raids on each side. However, the Persians diverted the Greek water supply and cut off their supply of food, so the Greeks were forced to find a new camp. The plan was for the main contingent of Greeks to set out first during the night, with the Spartans guarding the rear. After the main contingent of Greeks had left the encampment, and it was time for the Spartans to set off to take up the rear, Amompharetus refused to leave the field without a fight, insisting that the unalterable law of

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 ...

forbade retreat from the battlefield. It took some convincing and rank-pulling on behalf of the Spartan regent, Pausanias, and a not inconsiderable amount of time, to compel Amompharetus and his unit to follow the maneuvering of the rest of the army. On discovering the Greeks had abandoned their positions and their Spartan allies, the leader of the Persian forces, Mardonius, launched an attack in haste. The Persian offensive was in disarray before battle was joined, and Mardonius soon lay dead and the Persian army crushed. After the battle was over, Amompharetus was found dead, having been killed during the fighting. There is another mention of Amompharetus (in

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'', ...

Solon Solon (; ; BC) was an Archaic Greece#Athens, archaic History of Athens, Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. ...

) as one of the five Spartans arbitrating the dispute over the island of Salamis between the citizens of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Megara Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...

. The

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

was in favor of Athens.

References

*'' The Histories'' by

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amompharetus Ancient Spartan soldiers 5th-century BC Spartans Battle of Plataea Spartans of the Greco-Persian Wars