The war for the possession of the Lelantine plain is perhaps the first conflict between Hellenic cities recorded in history. This plain is the site of medicinal springs and of copper and iron mines. It was the possession of these sources of wealth that was the main cause of the war. The protagonists were Chalcis and Eretria, two of the strongest cities in the Geometric and Archaic periods and leaders in the colonizing movement. Power was held by an aristocratic family in both instances: at Chalcis by the Hippobotae and at Eretria by the Hippeis. As Thucydides tells us: "The Hellenic cities were divided into two and ranged themselves with one or other side, chiefly in the war that once happened in days of old between the people of Chalcis and the people of Eretria". What Thucydides does not mention is the date of the war and who won. The allies of Chalcis mentioned are Corinth, Sparta, Erythrae, Thessaly and Samos. The allies of Eretria mentioned are Megara, Chios, Messenia, Argos and Miletus. Whichever of the two cities won, however, there would have been consequences for the economy of the trading partners of the combatants. Yet we must not isolate the Lelantine War from the other outbreaks of hostilities during this period - the 1st Messenian War and the 1st Sacred War. It is worth noting that there was a treaty between the opponents in the Lelantine War. Strabo mentions this, with reference to abstention from the use of long-range weapons (bows and slings).