Battle of Ampheia (739 BC): First Messenian War: How Sparta Gained Their Helots

Today we delve into the ancient origins of Sparta and the war that gained them their helots. The helots were actually fellow Greek Messenians, who inhabited the more fertile lands to the west of Sparta.

Both peoples were historically enmeshed, being ruled by Dorian elites, however their deadly and ancient rivalry exploded in 743 BC with the twenty-year conflict known to us as the First Messenian War.

The major battle of this war was arguably early on at Ampheia for reasons explored in this video, and would set the foundations for the later, more famous Spartiates that took on the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC.

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