Epaminondas: Encyclopedia II - Epaminondas - Early career

Epaminondas - Early career

Epaminondas lived at a particularly turbulent point in Greek and Theban history. Following the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, Sparta had embarked upon an aggressively unilateralist policy towards the rest of Greece and quickly alienated many of its former allies. Thebes, meanwhile, had greatly increased its own power during the war and sought to gain control of the other cities of Boeotia (the central territory of ancient Greece). This policy, along with other disputes, brought Thebes into conflict with Sparta. By 395 BC Thebes, alongside Athens, Corinth, and Argos, found itself arrayed against Sparta (a former ally) in the Corinthian War. That war, which dragged on inconclusively for eight years, saw several bloody Theban defeats at Spartan hands. By the time of its conclusion, Thebes had been forced to check its expansionist ambitions and return to its old alliance with Sparta.

In 382 BC, however, the Spartan commander Phoebidas made a strategic error that would soon turn Thebes against Sparta for good and pave the way for Epaminondas' rise to power. Passing through Boeotia on campaign, Phoebidas took advantage of civil strife within Thebes to secure entrance to the city for his troops. Once inside, he seized the Cadmea (the Theban acropolis), and forced the anti-Spartan party to flee the city. However, Epaminondas, although associated with that faction, was allowed to remain; he was believed to be nothing more than a harmless, impoverished philosopher^[6].

Epaminondas - Theban coup

In the years following the Spartan takeover, the Thebans exiled by the new government regrouped at Athens and prepared, with the covert support of the Athenians, to retake their city. They communicated with Epaminondas, who began preparing young men inside Thebes for a coup attempt. In 379 BC a small group of exiles, led by Pelopidas, infiltrated the city and assassinated the leaders of the pro-Spartan government. Epaminondas and Gorgidas led a group of young men who broke into armories, took weapons, and surrounded the Spartans on the Cadmea, assisted by a force of Athenian hoplites (heavy infantry). In the Theban assembly the next day, Epaminondas and Gorgidas brought Pelopidas and his men before the audience and exhorted the Thebans to fight for their freedom. The assembly responded by acclaiming Pelopidas and his men as liberators. Fearing for their lives, the Spartan garrison surrendered and were evacuated. The Thebans of the pro-Spartan party were also allowed to surrender; they were subsequently killed by the victorious insurgents^[7].

Epaminondas - After the coup

When news of the uprising at Thebes reached Sparta, an army under Agesilaus was dispatched to subdue the restive city. The Thebans refused to meet the Spartan army in the field, instead occupying a stronghold outside the city; the Spartans ravaged the countryside but nonetheless departed, leaving Thebes independent^[8]. In short order the Thebans were able to reconstitute their old Boeotian confederacy in a new, democratic form. The cities of Boeotia united as a federation with an executive body composed of seven generals, or Boeotarchs, elected from seven districts throughout Boeotia. This political fusion was so successful that henceforth the names Theban and Boeotian were used interchangeably in a nod to the newfound solidarity of the region. Seeking to squelch this new state, the Spartans invaded three times over the next seven years. At first fearing a head-to-head battle, the Boeotians eventually gained enough confidence to take the field and were able to fight the Spartans to a standstill. The advantage was furthered when, in 375 BC, an outnumbered force of Boeotians under Pelopidas cut their way through the heart of a Spartan phalanx during the Battle of Tegyra. Although Sparta remained the supreme land power in Greece, the Boeotians had demonstrated that they, too, were a martial threat and a politically cohesive power. At the same time, Pelopidas, an advocate of an aggressive policy against Sparta, had established himself as a major political leader in Thebes. In years to come, he would collaborate extensively with Epaminondas in designing Boeotian foreign policy^[9].

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki