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The battle of Leucimme in 435 was a naval victory won by Corcyra over
the Corinthians that gave them control of the seas around the western coast of
Greece and allowed them to launch raids on Corinth's allies for much of the
next year (Corinth-Corcyra War, 435-431. The war was caused by a despute
between Corinth and her ancient colony of Corcyra (Corfu) over the right to
interfere in the affairs of Epidamnus. That city, on the Illyrian coast, had
been founded by Corcyra, but with a Corinthian as her official founder, at a
time before the relationship between Corinth and Corcyra broke down. Like most
Greek city states Epidamnus suffered from conflict between Aristocratic and
Democratic factions, and was also threatened by the neighbouring Illyrians.
Just before the outbreak of the war the Democrats had expelled the Aristocrats
from the city. The exiles had united with the Illyrians to attack Epidamnus,
carrying out a series of piratical raids. Both factions attempted to gain aid
from Corcyra, and the Aristocrats were clearly more successful. After failing
to gain aid from their mother city the Epidamnians turned to Corinth, offering
to surrender control of the city in return for help. The Corinthians agreed to
provide both military aid and new colonists, and the first batch of colonists
made their way overland to Epidamnus. When the Corcyraeans discovered this they
laid siege to Epidamnus. In response the Corinthians gathered a relief force,
which eventually consisted of 75 ships and 2,000 hoplites. At this date Corcyra
was clearly the more important navel power - her fleet alone contained 120
ships, while Corinth could only raise thirty of their own, with the remaining
ships coming from their allies. Once the Allied fleet was ready it set sail for
Epidamnus. The Corcyraeans were able to split their fleet, using 80 ships to
oppose the Corinthians, while 40 took part in the ongoing siege of Epidamnus.
The Corinthian fleet reached Actium, at the mount of the Ambracian Gulf, where
they were met by a herald from Corcyra, who attempted to convince them not to
attack. When this effort failed, the Corcyraean fleet formed line, and the
battle began. Sadly Thucydides, our main source for this campaign, didn't
record any details of the battle itself, but only that it ended as a decisive
Corcyraean victory. They captured fifteen Corinthian ships, then executed all
of their prisoners, apart from the Corinthians, who were kept as hostage. The
battle probably took place some way to the north of the Ambracian Gulf, as
after the battle the Corcyraeans erected their victory trophy on Cape Leucimme
(or Leukimme) at the southern end of Corcyra. On the same day the defenders of
Epidamnus surrendered (although the distance between the two places means that
the two events must have been unconnected). These two victories meant that for
most of the next year the Corcyraeans had the advantage in the war, and were
able to launch raids on Corinth's allies, but about a year after the battle the
Corinthians returned to the same area. This time a deadlock developed that
lasted until the winter of 434-433, and that encouraged Corcyra to seek an
alliance with Athens that eventually saw the war expand to include most of
Greece Peloponnesian
War.
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