Thebes

The Boeotian city of Thebes: its rivalry with Sparta and Athens, and the Theban hegemony of 371-362 BCE under Epaminondas and Pelopidas.

Category: States

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1. April 4, 431 BCE
   The Peloponnesian War breaks out

   On 4 April 431 BCE Thebes attacks Plataea, an Athenian ally. Sparta then votes that Athens has broken the Thirty Years' Peace and King Archidamus II invades Attica, starting the Archidamian War. Athenians shelter inside their walls.

   Greek city-statesAthensSpartaPeloponnesian WarThebes📍 Plataea
2. 395 BCE
   Corinthian War

   From 395 to 387 BCE Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, funded by Persian gold, fight Sparta. Sparta wins at Nemea and Coronea (394), but Persia's fleet destroys the Spartan navy at Cnidus. The war ends with the King's Peace.

   Greek city-statesAthensSpartaThebesAchaemenid Persia📍 Sparta📍 Thebes
3. 387 BCE
   The King's Peace

   In 387 BCE Artaxerxes II imposes a peace negotiated by the Spartan Antalcidas. Persia gets the Greek cities of Asia and Cyprus, other Greek cities are declared autonomous, and Thebes must dissolve the Boeotian League. Sparta enforces it.

   Greek city-statesSpartaThebesAchaemenid Persia📍 Susa
4. 382 BCE
   Sparta seizes the Cadmea at Thebes

   In 382 BCE the Spartan Phoebidas, passing through Boeotia, takes Thebes's citadel, the Cadmea, with the help of local oligarchs. Sparta backs a pro-Spartan regime there. Some sources date it to 383.

   Greek city-statesSpartaThebes📍 Thebes
5. 379 BCE
   Thebes is liberated

   In 379-378 BCE Pelopidas, Epaminondas and other exiles slip back into Thebes and free it from its Spartan garrison. Later Spartan expeditions fail, and Sparta suffers a symbolic defeat at Tegyra in 375.

   Greek city-statesSpartaThebes📍 Thebes
6. July 6, 371 BCE
   Battle of Leuctra

   On 6 July 371 BCE Epaminondas defeats the Spartans under King Cleombrotus at Leuctra, massing his deepest force on the left. Cleombrotus dies and Sparta loses about a quarter of its full citizens. Aristotle calls it the blow that ended Spartan dominance.

   Greek city-statesSpartaThebes📍 Thebes
7. c. 370 BCE
   Epaminondas invades the Peloponnese; Messenia freed

   In 370-369 BCE Epaminondas leads Theban forces into Laconia and frees the Messenian helots and rebuilds Messene. He also encourages an Arcadian league and the founding of Megalopolis as a counterweight to Sparta.

   Greek city-statesSpartaThebes📍 Messene📍 Megalopolis📍 Messenia
8. July 4, 362 BCE
   Battle of Mantinea

   On 4 July 362 BCE Thebes and its allies beat Sparta and its allies at Mantinea, but Epaminondas is mortally wounded and Thebes cannot follow up. Theban hegemony ends, and Greece is left open to Macedon.

   Greek city-statesSpartaThebes📍 Thebes
9. 356 BCE
   Third Sacred War

   The Amphictyonic League, dominated by Thebes, fines Phocis for farming sacred land, and in 356 BCE the Phocians seize Delphi and use its treasure to hire armies. The war draws in Philip II, who ends it in 346 on his own terms and gains Phocis's seats in the Amphictyonic council.

   Greek city-statesMacedonPhilip II of MacedonWarThebes📍 Thebes
10. August 338 BCE
    Battle of Chaeronea

    In August 338 BCE Philip II defeats Athens and Thebes in Boeotia, with his 18-year-old son Alexander commanding the left wing. Thebes's Sacred Band is wiped out. Philip becomes master of Greece.

    MacedonPhilip II of MacedonAlexander the GreatGreek city-statesAthensThebesWar📍 Chaeronea
11. 335 BCE
    Alexander destroys Thebes

    In 335 BCE Thebes revolts and Alexander punishes it with his Greek allies. The city is razed and its people sold into slavery, except, by tradition, Pindar's house and the temples. Its territory is shared among other Boeotian cities.

    MacedonAlexander the GreatGreek city-statesThebes📍 Thebes