14. The gendercide of the male population of Hysiae
During the Peloponnesian War the armies of Sparta and Argos fought in the Battle of Hysiae in the year 417 BCE. The Spartans invaded Argos after a contingent of supporters of Sparta were evicted from Argive territory by an Athenian force commanded by Alcibiades, who was intent on establishing a democratic government in Argos following the Athenian model. The Spartans, led by King Agis II, failed to take the city of Argos but did capture the nearby fortress city of Hysiae, after destroying the Argive fortifications. The Spartans then, according to Thucydides, who was himself a veteran of the Peloponnesian War, seized all of the male population of Hysiae as hostages, demanding that the Athenians withdraw from Argos.
As Agis was unable to capture the city of Argos, reinforced as it was by the Athenians, and since the latter refused to withdraw as he demanded, he was saddled with hostages which relied on his supplies for sustenance. According to Thucydides, the Spartans could not simply release the hostages when they withdrew from the area and Agis ordered them executed. The entire male population of the conquered city of Argos was summarily killed by the Spartans, though the exact number of massacred remains unknown. The Spartans withdrew after leaving behind a garrison in the city of Orneae, which was subsequently ejected by the Athenians following a battle there the following winter, as the war between the Greek city states continued.