Smith, Jeffrey The Battle of Leuctra, 371 BC

The Collapse of Sparta’s Empire and the Rise of the Theban Hegemony

After its victory over a coalition of Athens, Thebes, Persia, and other Greek city-states at the end of the Corinthian War in 387 BC, Sparta ruled with almost absolute power over all of Greece. However, its empire had been weakened by generations of war and a severely unfavorable demographic trenda drastic decline in the number of Spartan soldiers and citizens. Sparta's weakness led to a desperate consolidation of control over Greece. And Sparta's famous king, Agesilaus II, harbored a particular hatred for Thebes. After capturing the city in 382 BC, Sparta crushed Thebes, intending to resolve the "Theban Problem" once and for all. But Thebes proved resilient in the face of Sparta's cruelty, not only surviving the Spartan occupation but soon overthrowing Sparta and seeking the destruction of its empire. Against all odds, Thebes succeeded. Their victory was due to the indomitable spirit of two men: the impeccable general Epaminondas and the astute statesman Pelopidas. The two founded a local resistance movement that, in 378 BC, first liberated their homeland from Spartan oppression and then openly challenged the Spartan Empire in the Theban-Spartan War. In 371 BC, at the Battle of Leuctra, their vision of a free Thebes and a broken Sparta was realized, and the infamous Spartan war machine was finally defeated. For the first time since the age of myth, Thebes ruled Greece. Leuctra was the pivotal moment of the new Theban hegemony and ushered in a new era of the Greek Empirethe first power in centuries that was neither Athens nor Sparta.