Battle of Nemea

Battle context

The Battle of Nemea, fought in Corinthian territory at the dry bed of the Nemea River, was a decisive Spartan victory over the coalition of Argos, Athens, Corinth, and Thebes. Despite being outnumbered — Spartan forces numbered between 18,000 and 19,000 against a coalition force of roughly 24,000 — Sparta inflicted heavier aggregate losses, with coalition casualties at Thebes alone reaching 2,800 against Spartan losses of 1,100. Taken together with the Battle of Coronea later in the same year, Nemea gave Sparta the dominant position in the early phase of the ground war on the Greek mainland. The two victories stabilized Spartan strategic standing at a moment when the Corinthian War had drawn together a broad anti-Spartan coalition, checking the coalition's ability to translate numerical advantage into territorial or political gains in the conflict's opening campaigns.