Researchers locate Submerged Lost Ancient City where Athens and Sparta Fought a Battle

Ancient Origins

Researchers have found the location of the lost island city of Kane, known since ancient times as the site of a naval battle between Athens and Sparta in which the Athenians were victorious but later executed six out of eight of their own commanders for failing to aid the wounded and bury the dead.
Some historians say the loss of leadership may have contributed to Athens’ loss of the Peloponnesian War. But a scholar who wrote a book on the battle says the Spartans would have won whether or not Athens executed the generals.
The ancient city of Kane was on one of three Arginus Islands in the Aegean Sea off the west coast of Turkey. The exact location of the city was lost in antiquity because earth and silt displaced the water and connected the island to the mainland.
Geo-archaeologists working with other experts from Turkish and German institutions discovered Kane, where the Athens and Sparta did battle in 406 BC. Athens won the Battle of Arginusae, but its citizens tried and executed six of eight of the city-state’s victorious commanders.

Depiction of a battle between Athens and Sparta in the Great Peloponnese War, 413 BC. (Image source)

 “The Athenian people soon regretted their decision, but it was too late,” writes J. Rickard at History of War. “The execution of six victorious generals had a double effective—it removed most of the most able and experienced commanders, and it discouraged the survivors from taking command in the following year. This lack of experience may have played a part in the crushing Athenian defeat at Aegospotami that effectively ended the war.”
Debra Hamel, a classicist and historian who wrote the book The Battle of Arginusae, however, says she thinks Athens would have lost anyway.
“Sparta at that point was being funded by Persia, so they could replace ships and hire rowers indefinitely,” Dr. Hamel wrote to Ancient Origins in electronic messages. “Athens did not have those resources. Allies had revolted. They weren’t taking in the money they had in earlier days.”

Google Earth image shows the general vicinity of the islands, near Bademli Village in Turkey on the Aegean Sea.

Dr. Hamel, via e-mail, describes how the Battle of Arginusae was likely fought:

The Battle of Arginusae was only fought at sea. …  The state-of-the-art vessel of the period was the trireme, a narrow ship about 120 feet [36.6 meters] long that was powered by 170 oarsmen, who sat in three rows on either side of the ship. There was a bronze-clad ram that extended about six and a half feet [2 meters] at waterline from the prow of the vessel. The purpose of the ram was to sink enemy ships. The goal of a ship's crew—the 170 oarsmen and various officers onboard—was to maneuver a trireme so that it was in position to punch a hole in the side of an enemy ship while avoiding getting rammed oneself. In order to do this you needed to have a fast ship--one that wasn't waterlogged or weighed down by marine growths--and you needed a well-trained crew.

Athens sent 150 ships, the Spartans 120. The Athenian line was about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) long or longer because it was interrupted by one of the Arginusae islands. The Spartan line was a bit less than 1.5 miles [2.4 km] long, Dr. Hamel estimates.

Greek trireme, drawing by F. Mitchell; note the battering ram on the prow to the right at the waterline. (Wikimedia Commons)

Dr. Hamel’s book on the battle explores not just the battle but its aftermath too. Winning the battle “was a great triumph, saving Athens—at least temporarily—from almost certain defeat in the war,” she wrote in e-mail. “The victory was cause for celebration, but paradoxically, because of what happened afterwards, it was also one of the worst disasters to befall Athens in the war: A series of legal proceedings led ultimately to the Athenians' execution of (most of) their victorious generals. This was the stuff of tragedy.

Because the Battle of Arginusae is tied intimately with the legal proceedings that it led to, I was able to discuss in my book not only the battle itself and the intricacies of naval warfare (which are really very interesting), but also the proceedings back in Athens and Athens' democracy and democratic institutions. All of this was necessary to round out the story for readers who are approaching the book without any prior knowledge of the period.

Later, from 191 to 190 BC, Roman forces used the city of Kane’s harbor in the war against Antiochas III’s Seleucid Empire. That war lasted from 192 to 188 BC and ended when Antiochus capitulated to Rome’s condition that he evacuate Asia Minor. Most of Antiochus’ cities in Asia Minor had been conquered by the Romans anyway. He also agreed to pay 15,000 Euboeic talents. The Romans did not leave a garrison in Asia Minor but wanted a buffer zone on their eastern frontier.
The island on which Kane was situated, which is known from ancient historians’ texts, is in the sea off İzmir Province’s Dikili district Researchers, led by the German Archaeology Institute, included those from the cities of İzmir, Munich, Kiel, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Southampton and Rostock. Prehistorians, geographers, geophysics experts and topographers all worked on the project.
“During surface surveys carried out near Dikili’s Bademli village, geo-archaeologists examined samples from the underground layers and learned one of the peninsulas there was in fact an island in the ancient era, and its distance from the mainland was filled with alluviums over time,” reports Hurriyet Daily News. “Following the works, the quality of the harbors in the ancient city of Kane was revealed. Also, the location of the third island, which was lost, has been identified.”
Featured image: Main: Google Earth image shows the general vicinity of the islands, near Bademli Village in Turkey on the Aegean Sea. Inset: A representation of an ancient Greek ship on pottery (Photo by Poecus/Wikimedia Commons)
By Mark Miller

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry V and the battle of Agincourt

History Extra

Henry V © Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library / Alamy

Now, in the 600th anniversary year of the famous battle, Teresa Cole explores the life and legacy of the medieval warrior king in her new book, Henry V: The Life of the Warrior King & the Battle of Agincourt 1415. Here, writing for History Extra, she reveals 10 lesser-known facts about Henry V…

1) Nobody knows when he was born

Henry V was born at Monmouth castle, perched high above the River Monnow, but there is no record of his birth, and even the year is uncertain. Some say his birthday was 9 August 1387, but an alternative date is 16 September 1386. The latter comes from a horoscope drawn up for the king and apparently commissioned by him just before the Agincourt campaign.
However, the French astrologer who drew the horoscope was later accused in Paris of being an English spy, and it is possible the work was just an excuse for the man to come to England and meet with Henry. The king apparently showed no interest in the horoscope afterwards.

2) He was in Ireland with Richard II when his father seized the throne

When his father, Henry Bolingbroke, seized the throne, the young Henry was in the custody of King Richard II as a hostage for his father’s good behaviour. Had it been a few centuries earlier he could have expected, at the least, to be blinded if not put to death.
Richard, however, was made of different stuff. He had treated the boy well, spent time with him, took him with him on the expedition to Ireland, and even knighted him on the way. Even when he heard of the attack on his crown, he made no threats against him.
It seems that, in return, Henry saw Richard as something of a father figure. According to one account, when his own father – now secure in the palace of Westminster – sent for him, Henry went instead to Richard in the Tower, and only at his insistence went on to his father. When Henry himself became king he had Richard’s body exhumed from its obscure grave and reburied in Westminster Abbey.

 

3) His first battle was nearly his last

Henry’s first battle [before he was king] was not against the French, but the English. At Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403 the 16-year-old Henry, Prince of Wales, lined up alongside his father to face the forces of the rebel lord, Henry Percy.
At Shrewsbury Henry led his forces well, and made a major contribution to the victory. In the course of the battle, however, he was shot in the face by an arrow that entered below his eye, missed both brain and spinal cord and stuck in the bone at the back of the skull. To remove the embedded arrowhead, special tongs had to be designed, made and carefully inserted nearly six inches into the wound to grip and extract the metal.
It took a further three weeks to cleanse and close up the hole – and all this in the days before anaesthetics.

4) He learnt his military tactics in Wales

The tactics used by Henry V in his French wars were first tried out in Wales. At about the same time that he became Prince of Wales (aged 13), Owain Glyndwr began a violent rebellion against the English. The king’s policy of attack and withdraw was unsuccessful, and Glyndwr rapidly spread his influence from north Wales to almost the whole country.
When, however, in his late teens, Henry was given a freer hand, he changed tactics. Now he concentrated on taking strategic castles which were then garrisoned and held securely, cutting off supply routes and enabling further advances. Gradually Glendower was forced back to two strongholds on the west coast – Aberystwyth and Harlech. Each was besieged and battered by traditional siege weapons, and, for what is thought to have been the first time in Britain, cannon were used.
Eventually Glyndwr’s supporters were starved into submission, and though Glyndwr himself was never captured, the war was ended. A few years after this, using the same tactics, Henry conquered first Normandy, and then a large part of northern France.

5) Legend has it his claim to France resulted from a Templar’s curse

In 1307, Philippe IV of France seized the property of the wealthy Order of Knights Templar, and tortured and put to death its members. The story is told that, as the last Grand Master died, he laid a curse on Philippe and his descendants, saying the king would die within a year. Eight months later Philippe died in a hunting accident.
Two years after that his son, Louis X died, aged 26, after a strenuous game of tennis. His son, John I, born five months later, lived only five days, and in the next 12 years the last direct male descendants of Philippe also died.
Those closest in line to the empty throne were Jeanne, daughter of Louis and Jeanne of Navarre, and Edward III of England, whose mother was Philippe’s daughter. Navarre and England, however, were equally unacceptable, and Philippe de Valois, a cousin of the last king [Charles IV], was crowned instead. Edward challenged this starting the so-called Hundred Years’ War, and it was his claim that was later revived by Henry V.

_{The battle of Agincourt. © 19th era / Alamy}

6) Dick Whittington contributed to Henry’s wars

A large slice of the money needed to pay for the French campaigns was raised by loans rather than taxes. In May 1415 Henry sent letters appealing for money to individuals, and to towns. Typically a town would decide on the amount of the loan, and then every citizen would be assessed to contribute even a few pennies to the sum agreed.
Royal jewels, plate and regalia were handed out as security for repayment. Not only did this raise a large amount of money, but it meant almost everyone had an interest in the outcome of the French wars.
One individual in London who lent money to Henry was Sir Richard Whittington, a rich cloth merchant who was indeed the same Dick Whittington as in the children’s story. He was lord mayor of London three times.

7) ‘The Dauphin’ was three different people

With the French king subject to fits of madness, his son the dauphin plays a prominent role in the accounts of Henry’s campaigns. The impression is often given that ‘the dauphin’, who, if Shakespeare is to be believed, insulted Henry with a gift of tennis balls [a sign of mockery], was the same ‘dauphin’ who would later be crowned Charles VII by Joan of Arc at Rheims cathedral.
In fact there were three different dauphins over this period. The first was Louis of tennis ball fame, who, though kept away from the battle of Agincourt, died soon after, possibly of dysentery or pneumonia. Louis was followed by his brother John, who was the son-in-law of the Burgundian leader, John the Fearless.
This dauphin died suddenly in April 1417, some said by poison, and he was succeeded by his last remaining brother, Charles, who after the death of Henry V, and with a great deal of help from his mother-in-law, Yolande of Aragon, finally became Charles VII in 1429.

8) A French commander told Henry how to win at Agincourt

The French plan at Agincourt was to use massed cavalry to charge down the English archers. Henry V learnt of this from a French prisoner some days before the battle, and immediately took steps to counter it: every archer was to drive a sharpened stake into the ground in front of him on the battlefield to stop a charging horse.
The plan worked very well but was probably not Henry’s own plan. The French commander, Marshal Boucicaut, had earlier fought against the Turks at the battle of Nicopolis, and had seen a cavalry charge halted by a similar mass of sharpened stakes. He had written an account of this and it is possible that either Henry himself, or perhaps one of his commanders, Edward Duke of York, had read it and remembered the effectiveness of the tactic.

9) A number of those who died at Agincourt were suffocated

There are no reliable figures for the size of the French army at Agincourt, but they numbered many thousands, and in their eagerness to get at the English most of the leading figures were crammed into the front ranks.
When the action was triggered by a flight of arrows from the English side, the French charged forward in accordance with their battle plan. Funnelled into a narrower part of the field where Henry had taken up his position, the French were crammed together, and though many did not reach the English ranks, many more did. As these were cut down, those pressing behind climbed over them, and anyone who slipped or fell in the muddy ground had little chance of getting up again.
As the battle progressed the pile of bodies rose higher, and any who were wounded or simply knocked over were crushed beneath the weight of those coming behind. Very few were found alive when the heaps of bodies were at last unpicked after the battle.

10) Henry V died of dysentery and is buried in Westminster Abbey

Sieges were dangerous places for both those inside and out: insanitary conditions and a shortage of fresh water frequently led to outbreaks of dysentery among the besieged and the besiegers, and it is likely that Henry contracted his final illness at the siege of Meaux – though it took some time to weaken him and claim his life.
His body was brought back to England for burial, and after considerable ceremony he was laid to rest behind the altar in Westminster Abbey, close to his hero Edward the Confessor, and within yards of the tomb of Richard II. A magnificent chapel was erected around him, and a life-sized effigy placed on the tomb with a head of solid silver.
Sadly the silver was stolen in the 16th century, and the later Tudor building dwarfs his resting place. Thousands of tourists pass the spot without realising he is there, and all that can be seen of the effigy is the soles of its feet.

To find out more about Teresa Cole’s Henry V: The Life of the Warrior King & the Battle of Agincourt 1415 (Amberley Publishing, 2015) click here.

Battered remains of medieval knight who died in bloodiest battle of England go on display

Ancient Origins

Long live the king, but which king? In March 1461, England had two men that had been named king, and the houses of Lancaster and York went to war (again) over who would reign. Thousands of people died in the Wars of the Roses, but one 10-hour battle was particularly deadly. Now archaeologists have done a post-mortem of a man, believed to have been a mounted knight, who fell in the Battle of Towton, the largest, longest battle on English soil, and have put his skeleton on display in York.
“The skeleton shows some extensive injuries,” Sarah Maltby, director of the York Archaeological Trust, told Culture 24. “He has a stab wound to his left foot, which shattered one of the bones and cut two more. Does this mean he was on horseback and combatants on the ground were slashing at him from below or was this an injury caused by downward blow of a sword? None of his injuries show any evidence of healing, so we can assume all these wounds took place on the battlefield.”

Armored men on horses and on foot attack each other with swords and polearms (Wikimedia Commons)

But what probably killed him was blunt force to the back of the head, she said. His lower jaw also has a cut mark. Archaeologists speculate the injury to the back of his head came from a war hammer or mace or possibly a sword or poleax if he was wearing a helmet.
“It is interesting to note that the cut he has on his jaw matches other individuals found at Towton. Was there a practice of forcibly removing helmets on the battlefield?” Maltby asks.
The man was about 6 feet 1 inch tall and was between 36 and 45. Archaeologists think he had high status in society. His remains have been pieced together by researchers from the Towton Battlefield Archaeology Project and put on display in York's Richard III Experience. His remains were under Towton Hall, apart from the battlefield's mass graves.

Video of a researcher piecing together the fallen knight's skeleton

There was a series of battles to decide whether the house of York or Lancaster would reign. The dispute over succession had been roiling since 1454, when a rival to the Lancastrians, Richard, Duke of York, was named protector of the realm and heir to the throne. He had been named protector because Henry VI had lapsed into insanity.
Henry VI later recovered and rescinded the Act of Settlement that transferred succession to Richard of York and his heirs. Henry VI and his wife, Queen Margaret, wanted the Lancasters in the person of their son to take the throne. The two houses, who had warred already, went to war again over which house would rule. Eventually the Duke of York was ambushed and killed. Nevertheless, his son Edward was proclaimed king, so England then had both King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster and King Edward IV of the House of York.

War of the Roses. Illustration of the Battle of Barnet (14 April 1471) on the Ghent manuscript, a late 15th-century document (Wikimedia Commons)

Edward raised a large army and marched north to establish his monarchy. Medieval claims were that he had 40,000 men, but historians say that is an exaggeration. The Lancasters, though, had an army at least equal to Edward's.
On March 28, 1461, the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians' vanguard at the river Aire by outflanking them. This set the stage for a Palm Sunday battle in a field between the villages of Towton and Saxton.

“It is said that Towton was the largest and longest battle fought on British soil, though it seems likely that, even more than usual, the medieval chronicles grossly exaggerate both the numbers engaged and the casualties incurred at Towton,” says the website UK Battlefields Resource Centre. It was claimed 30,000 men died that day, but modern historians say this is an exaggeration.

Engraving of Edward IV extolls his troops to fight their Lancastrian foes at the Battle of Towton, 29 March 1461 (Wikimedia Commons).

The article at the center says it was still an extremely significant battle in political, social and military terms. The Yorkists secured the throne for Edward IV at the Battle of Towton, but Henry, Margaret and their son escaped to Scotland.
In 1470 Henry's VI's supporters overthrew Edward and restored Henry to the throne. In 1471 Edward IV came back from exile in the Netherlands, defeated Margaret’s forces, imprisoned Henry and killed their son, the heir apparent. Henry VI was later murdered in the Tower of London. Edward IV ruled until he died in 1483, and his young son was crowned King Edward V.
Enough intrigue? Not quite. Edward IV's brother, Richard the III, imprisoned Edward V and his younger brother in the Tower of London, where they, still children, are believed to have been murdered. Richard III was later killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field at the hands of the Lancastrians under Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII, the first Tudor King. He married a daughter of Edward IV to unite the houses of York and Lancaster and end the Wars of the Roses.
“The War of Roses left little mark on the common English people but severely thinned the ranks of the English nobility,” says History.com.
Featured image: Three key players in the Battle of Towton, the Earl of Warwick, Edward IV and Richard III are depicted in a painting by John Augustus Atkinson (1775-18833). (Wikimedia Commons)