All battles

10 battles on the list. Linked battles have a full record; the rest are proposed and will be written in turn.

Period P03 500-1 BCE

Date	Battle	Sides	Why it mattered	Region
490 BCE	Marathon	Athens and Plataea under Miltiades against Persia under Datis and Artaphernes	Stopped the first Persian invasion of Greece	ME
480 BCE	Thermopylae	Greek allies under Leonidas I against Persia under Xerxes I	Famous delaying stand at a narrow pass	ME
480 BCE	Salamis	Greek fleet under Themistocles against Persian fleet under Xerxes I	Naval victory that turned back the Persian invasion	ME
371 BCE	Leuctra	Thebes under Epaminondas against Sparta under Cleombrotus I	Deep oblique attack broke Spartan military supremacy	ME
331 BCE	Gaugamela	Macedon under Alexander the Great against Persia under Darius III	Decided the fall of the Persian Empire	ME
216 BCE	Cannae	Carthage under Hannibal against Rome under Varro and Paullus	The model double envelopment, studied ever since	ME
202 BCE	Zama	Rome under Scipio Africanus against Carthage under Hannibal	Ended the Second Punic War; Rome became master of the western Mediterranean	ME
168 BCE	Pydna	Rome under Aemilius Paullus against Macedon under Perseus	Roman legion beat the Macedonian phalanx on rough ground	ME
53 BCE	Carrhae	Parthia under Surena against Rome under Crassus	Horse archers destroyed a Roman army; set Rome's eastern limit	ME
31 BCE	Actium	Octavian's fleet under Agrippa against Mark Antony and Cleopatra	Made Octavian sole ruler and ended the Roman Republic	ME