Epaminondas

Politician and military leader

Born: c. 410 b. c.e.; Thebes, Greece Died: 362 b. c.e.; Mantinea, Greece Category: Military; government and politics

Life Of a venerable family, Epaminondas (ih-pam-uh-NAHN-duhs) received an excellent education and became prominent in Boeotian politics. In 371 b. c.e., he was ambassador to the peace conference at Sparta, at which he opposed the Spartan king Agesilaus II. War ensued, and at the Battle of Leuctra (371 b. c.e.), he decisively defeated the Spartans. He thus initiated a period in which Thebes became the leading power in Greece. In 370 b. c.e., he encouraged a Theban alliance with Elis, Arcadia, and Argos to combat Sparta; and in the following year, he led a devastating allied in-

Epaminondas, standing in the center. (F. R. Niglutsch)

Vasion of Laconia, after which he liberated the Messenians, whom Sparta had enslaved for 230 years.

Upon his return home, he won easy acquittal of charges of misconduct leveled by jealous rivals, but despite his fame, he never dominated local politics. Nonetheless, in 369 b. c.e., he again invaded the Peloponnese, attacked Corinth, and won over several major cities. Another invasion in 366 b. c.e. brought him little success. Equally disappointing were his efforts to sponsor with Persia a common peace in Greece. Nonetheless, again with Persian support, he led a naval campaign to win Greek allies in the Aegean. At last in 362 b. c.e., he conducted his final campaign to Mantinea to regain allied support for Thebes. At the ensuing Battle of Mantinea, he again defeated Sparta but was killed in battle.

Influence His military genius influenced subsequent warfare. The conqueror of Sparta, he created the Theban hegemony. Despite his many military campaigns, he genuinely but unsuccessfully sought a solution to the political problems of Greece.

Further Reading

Buckler, J. The Theban Hegemony, 371-362 B. C. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980.

Hanson, Victor Davis. The Soul of Battle. New York: Free Press, 1999.

John Buckler

See also: Agesilaus II of Sparta; Leuctra, Battle of; Mantinea, Battles of.