page_title: Siege of Gythium
section_title: Siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Gythium / Siege
context_page_description: The Siege of Gythium was fought in 195 BC between Sparta and the coalition of Rome, Rhodes, the Achaean League, and Pergamum. As the port of Gythium was an important Spartan base, the allies decided to capture it before they advanced inland to Sparta. The Romans and the Achaeans were joined outside the city by the Pergamese and Rhodian fleets. The Spartans held out, but one of the joint commanders, Dexagoridas, decided to surrender the city to the Roman legate. When Gorgopas, the other commander, found out, he killed Dexagoridas and took sole command of the city. After Dexagoridas' murder, the Spartans held out more vigorously. However, Titus Quinctius Flamininus of the allied forces arrived with 4,000 more men and the Spartans decided to surrender the city on the condition that the garrison could leave unharmed. The result of this siege forced Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, to abandon the surrounding land and withdraw to the city of Sparta. Later that year, Sparta capitulated to the allies.
context_section_description: Some coastal cities surrendered to the Romans which allowed them to have a base in the coastal regions of Laconia. Gythium was a large city and had been made by the Spartans as their main port and naval arsenal. The Romans advanced upon the city and they were joined there by the combined Rhodian and Pergamese fleets. The sailors from the Roman, Pergamese, and Rhodian fleets built siege engines which had devastating effects on the walls. One of the city's joint commanders, Dexagoridas, offered to surrender the city to the Roman legate in charge of the fleet while Flamininus was gone. When the other commander Gorgopas found out, he murdered Dexagoridas.
  Now with the city under Gorgopas' command the defenders became reinvigorated. The siege was proving more difficult until Flamininus arrived with 4,000 Roman soldiers. With the arrival of the new soldiers, the allied soldiers were encouraged and began bombarding the city again with their siege engines while the Rhodian and Pergamese fleet continued to put pressure on the Spartans from the sea. The Spartans knew that they did not have much of a chance of withstanding the renewed allied assault and Gorgopas decided to surrender the city to the Romans under the condition that the garrison was allowed to leave the city unharmed.
caption: Macedonia and the Aegean world.
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