Spartolus or Spartolos () was the chief city of the

Bottiaeans The Bottiaeans or Bottiaei (Ancient Greek: ) were an ancient people of uncertain origin, living in Central Macedonia. Sometime, during the Archaic period, they were expelled by Macedonians from Bottiaea to Bottike. During the Classical era, they ...

, perhaps in

Bottike Bottike or ''Bottice'' (Greek: ) was a western region of ancient Chalcidice, inhabited by Bottiaeans, who, were expelled from their homeland Bottiaea by Macedonians sometime in the Archaic period . Their chief polis was Spartolos. Bottiaeans were ...

, in the northwest of the

ancient Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; , alternatively Halkidiki), also known as Chalcidice, is a peninsula and regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedon ...

, at no great distance from

Olynthus Olynthus ( ''Olynthos'') is an ancient city in present-day Chalcidice, Greece. It was built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, Cha ...

. It was a member of the

Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...

under the

Thracian phoros The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

, paying 2 or 3.5 talents, until the beginning of the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

, when the

Bottiaean The Bottiaeans or Bottiaei (Ancient Greek: ) were an ancient people of uncertain origin, living in Central Macedonia. Sometime, during the Archaic Greece, Archaic period, they were expelled by Macedonians from Bottiaea to Bottike. During the Classic ...

and the

Chalkidian League The Chalcidian League (, ''Koinon tōn Chalkideōn'', "League of the Chalcidians"), also referred to as the Olynthians or the Chalcidians in Thrace (, ''Chalkideis epi Thrakēs'') to distinguish them from the Chalcidians in Euboea, was a federa ...

revolted against

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 ...

in 429 BCE. The ensuing

Battle of Spartolos The Battle of Spartolos took place in 429 BC between Athens and the Chalcidian League and their allies, in the early part of the Peloponnesian War. The fall of Potidaea had not succeeded in quelling the rebellion against Athens in Chalcidice. ...

, fought under the walls of Spartolos, saw the rout of the

Athenian 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 ...

forces by the Chalcideans. It was of sufficient importance to be mentioned in the treaty establishing the

Peace of Nicias The Peace of Nicias was a peace treaty signed between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta in March 421 BC that ended the first half of the Peloponnesian War. Background In 425 BC, the Spartans had lost the battles of Pylos and Sphacteri ...

between Athens and

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 ...

in the tenth year of the

, in 421 BCE, leaving the town neutral. It seems however that sometime later it became again an Athenian allied member. It is mentioned again in connection with the

Teleutias Teleutias () was the brother of the Spartan king Agesilaus II, and a Spartan naval commander in the Corinthian War. He first saw action in the campaign to regain control of the Corinthian Gulf after the Spartan naval disaster at Cnidus in 394 BC, ...

' attack on

in 381 BCE. The last mention of Spartolos is not as a city but among other agricultural territories () in a royal decree of

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

about land leasing to a certain Perdikkas son of Koinos (the lands had partly been awarded by

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

to Polemokrates, his grandfather). Its site is located in the western part of the Chalcidice.

References

*Studies in the ancient Greek polis By Mogens Herman Hansen, Kurt A. Raaflau
Page 119
(1995) {{coord, 40.316347, N, 23.159843, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/32168.html Populated places in ancient Macedonia Former populated places in Greece Geography of ancient Chalcidice Cities in ancient Macedonia Members of the Delian League