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The Boeotian or Theban War broke out in 378 as the result of a revolt
in Thebes against Sparta. The war saw Thebes become dominant in the Greek World
at the expense of Sparta. However by the end of the war Thebes’ greatest
leaders, Pelopidas and Epaminondas, were both dead and Thebes power already
waning, allowing for the Rise of Macedon.
Opponents:
Peloponessian League versus Boeotian League
Commanders and leaders:
Spartans: Agesilaus II
Cleombrotus I
Thebans: Epaminondas Pelopidas Pammenes
Casualties and losses - unknown and unknown
After the end of the Corinthian War, which had
saw many of Sparta’s allies abandon her, Sparta began reconstructing
it’s hegemony and punishing many disloyal allies. In 385 Sparta attacked
Mantinea claiming they had failed to fulfil their allied obligations. When
Sparta took the city they split it into four settlements, as that was what it
had used to be. In the north the city of Olynthus grew in power and violated
the terms agreed upon at the end of the Corinthian War. Because of this Sparta
sent an army against the city under the command of Phoebidas. When the army was
in Boeotia around 383 or 382, Leontiades, who was leader of the oligarchic
party in Thebes, asked Phoebidas to occupy the Theban Citadel as Leontiades
felt threatened by the democratic party. The Spartans were ruled by kings and,
therefore, were supportive of oligarchic governments in other Greek cities.
Because of this Phoebidas agreed, occupying the city and practically taking
control of Thebes.
Outbreak of the War:
Upon the seizure of the Theban citadel by the Spartans, Pelopidas and other
leading Theban democrats fled to Athens where Pelopidas took the lead in a
conspiracy to liberate Thebes. In 379 the democratic party surprised and killed
their chief political opponents in Thebes (members of the aristocratic party
that supported the Spartans), and roused the people against the Spartan
garrison, which surrendered to an army gathered by Pelopidas. A Spartan
expedition against Thebes was mounted, led by the Agiad Spartan king
Cleombrotus. It achieved little but left a garrison in Thespiae under
Sphodrias. That winter Sphodrias attempted a raid on Piraeus which ended in a
fiasco. Sphodrias had not acted under orders and was brought to trial. However,
he was acquitted, which led Athens to declare for Thebes.
The War:
The Spartan Eurypontid king Agesilaus led two expeditions against Thebes but
achieved little. It is likely that the Dema wall was built at this time to
defend Attica. An expedition in 376 led by King
Cleombrotus was
blocked at the passes of Cithaeron. As the Spartans failed to get over the
Cithaeron Mountains, this gave the Thebans the chance to take the attack to the
Spartans, and in doing so they conquered the Spartans' remaining strongholds in
Boeotia while the Spartan base in Thespiae was also lost. The Spartans were
only left with some land in the south and Orchomenus in the north-west. Because
the Spartans were having a hard time attacking Thebes over land, they decided
to change their strategy and rather use a naval force to try and block support
for the Athenians. In response, the Athenians sent a powerful fleet towards
Sparta. The Spartan general Pollis then led his small fleet to try and stop the
siege, but was killed during a naval battle against the Athenian general
Chabrias. This naval
victory was the first ever victory by an Athenian naval fleet since the
Peloponnesian War.
Later in 376 Chabrias raided Laconia, and possibly reached Sellasia which is to
the north-east of Sparta. In 375 Athens mounted two successful expeditions -
one into the northern Aegean under Chabrias and a second which sailed around
the Peloponnese to western Greece. This force was led by
Timotheos, son of Conon,
who won the battle of Alyzeia in Acarnania.
In 375 there was a renewal of the King's Peace, but this lasted but a few
months. The capture of Plataea by the Thebans put the Theban-Athenian Alliance
under strain, as the Plataeans were expelled from their city and found asylum
in Athens, where they were a strong voice against Thebes. Though the alliance
held, Athens insisted on negotiations with Sparta. A peace treaty was agreed
but significant disagreements arose at the treaty signing.
Epaminondas insisted
that he should sign for the Boeotians as a whole rather than just for Thebes.
In response, the Spartan king Agesilaus struck the name of Thebes off the list
of signatories. Both sides then left the conference and prepared for renewed
hostilities. As a result of the failure to come to terms with Thebes, the
Spartans under Cleombrotus marched against Thebes in 371 however were defeated
at Leuctra by the
Boeotians led by the Thebans. Due to this battle, Spartan supremacy was
effectively overthrown and a new era of Theban hegemony was set up.
In 370 Epaminondas invaded the Peloponnese but the Spartans refused to engage
his now superior army in battle. Instead of marching on Sparta, Epaminondas set
up the city of Megalopolis and re-founded the city of Messene, an old enemy of
Sparta. Having two new powerful enemies close to its capital severely limited
Sparta’s power. He launched a second expedition in 369 but not much was
achieved on either side. Meanwhile
Pelopidas was active in
Thessaly as many cities there had asked for help against the tyrannical ruler
of Thessaly, Alexander of
Pherae. In his first expedition Pelopidas was successful but after further
complaints about Alexander’s rule he was sent again, this time as an
ambassador. Alexander had him imprisoned. In 368 Thebes sent an army into
Thessaly to deal with Alexander, with Epaminondas serving as a soldier due to
his enemies in Thebes blocking his election to Boeotarch. The army failed to
defeat Alexander and was saved from destruction by Epaminondas who led the
retreat. In 367 another army this time under the full command of Epaminondas
was sent into Thessaly. Epaminondas outmanoeuvred Alexander and got him to
release the prisoners without much of a fight. Pelopidas now had a hatred for
Alexander and would eventually return with an army. He defeated Alexander in
the Battle of Cynoscephalae but in his haste to kill the tyrant was himself
killed. Alexander was then forced to make peace with Thebes As Thebes grew in
power, more Greek states began to oppose it, chief among them Athens, who now
feared Thebes. Another was Mantinea, a city in the Peloponnese who began to act
against Thebes.
In 362 Epaminondas and his Arcadian allies marched against Mantinea, who was
supported by Sparta and Athens. The Spartans has been rebuilding their army and
decided to fight Epaminondas at Mantinea.
In the resulting battle the Thebans won the day but at an extremely heavy cost,
including the loss of Epaminondas himself. The death of their leader convinced
the Thebans to seek peace and pursue a more defensive policy in the future. By
the end of the war Spartan supremacy had been broken but Thebes were no longer
in a position to fill the vacuum. Athens was once again the most powerful state
in Greece but only by a small margin and they wouldn’t be powerful enough
to combat the rise of Macedon in the following years.
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