accurate estimation of the Argive population is improbable. However, Aristotle in his fifth book ‘Politics’, recorded a Spartan population of ten thousand. If the assumption was made that we could assume a similar Argive population during the Battle of Sepeia, the losses of six thousand would have compromised a large majority of young and middle-aged Argive men. Ultimately, the Battle of Sepeia was one of the most decisive battles during Ancient Greek history. The Significance The Battle of Sepeia severely depleted Argos’ military power. The Argives were unable to engage in battle for a generation. The next time Sparta and Argos fought would be in the Peloponnesian wars. Additionally, this Battle holds profound political consequences, provoking an upheaval of the Argive administrative system. Due to the high number of casualties during the Battle of Sepeia, Argos lost majority of their young and middle-aged men. Consequently, the city was in need of men to fulfil the political and administrative roles of recently deceased noblemen. Ultimately, due to the high number of widowed women and shortage of noble Argive men, many doûloι married into political and administrative positions. Prior to the Battle of Sepeia, the doûloι were slaves and belonged in the bottom echelons of society. The Battle of Sepeia essentially allowed for a political revolution, elevating the status of the doûloι, until Argive born noble men reached maturity. Furthermore, the Argives defeat at Sepeia anticipated the enhanced social status and role of Argive women. Herodotus glorifies the actions of the Argive women after the Battle of Sepeia. In the absence of Argive hoplite and men, a woman named Telesilla organised the city’s defence, rallying the young, the old men and the women to take up arms against the Cleomenes and his forces. Telesilla and her fellow Argive citizens have been recorded to have used the underlying attached to their households (known as oιkétaι) to wield as weapons. Consequently, based on the Agrarian economy and serf labour, women of the Dorian ruling class enjoyed greater political, social and economic freedoms (compared to women from Sparta and Crete) during the classical period. Ultimately, the actions of Telesilla and the Argive women, underpinned the acceleration of Greek women’s autonomy during the classical period. References 494 BC Sepeia 494 BC 5th century BC Sepeia 490s BC Sepeia