Irlandos at 08:29, April 27, 2011

2011-04-27T08:29:39Z

Irlandos: Created page with "The '''Battle of Mantinea''' was fought on July 4 362 BC between the Thebans, led by Epaminondas and supported by the Arcadians and the Boeotian league ag..."

2011-04-27T08:27:32Z

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The '''Battle of Mantinea''' was fought on [[July 4]] [[362 BC]] between the [[Thebans]], led by [[Epaminondas]] and supported by the [[Arcadia]]ns and the [[Boeotia]]n league against the [[Sparta]]ns, led by King [[Agesilaus II]] and supported by the [[Elis|Eleans]], [[Athens|Athenians]], and [[Mantinea]]ns. The battle was to decide the hegemony over [[Greece]], but the death of Epaminondas and the defeat of the Spartans paved the way for [[Macedon]]ian conquest by [[Phillip II of Macedon]].

== Background ==
After the [[Battle of Leuctra]] in [[371 BC]] had shattered the foundations of [[Spartan hegemony]], [[Thebes]]' chief politician and general [[Epaminondas]] attempted to build a new hegemony centered on his city. Consequently, the Thebans had marched south, into the area traditionally dominated by the [[Sparta]]ns, and set up the [[Arcadia]]n League, a federation of city-states of the central [[Peloponnese|Peloponnesian]] plateau, to contain Spartan influence in the Peloponnese and thereby maintain overall Theban control. In years prior to the Battle of Mantinea, the Spartans had joined with the [[Elis|Eleans]] (a minor Peloponnesian people with a territorial grudge against the Arcadians) in an effort to undermine the League. When the Arcadians miscalculated and seized the [[Greeks|Pan-Hellenic]] sanctuary of [[Zeus]] at [[Olympia]] in Elis, one of the Arcadian city-states, [[Mantinea]], detached itself from the League. The Spartans and Eleans joined the Mantineans in a military attack on the Arcadian League. Athens decided to support the Spartans, as she resented the growing Theban power. The Athenians also recalled that at the end of [[Peloponnesian War]], the Thebans demanded that Athens be destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved; the Spartans had resisted these demands. An Athenian army was sent by sea to join the Spartan-led forces, in order to avoid being intercepted on land by Theban forces. Epaminondas then led a Theban army into the Peloponnese to restore order and re-establish Theban/Arcadian hegemony there.
== Battle ==
The two armies met near Mantinea in [[362 BC]]. The Spartans, Athenians, Eleans and Mantineans were led by the Spartan king, [[Agesilaus II]]. The Theban army also included contingents from city-states of the pro-Theban [[Boeotian League]]. Epaminondas' Thebans were assisted by the Arcadians loyal to the League, principally those from the city-states of [[Megalopolis]] (founded by the Thebans when they were last in the Peloponnese, as the Arcadian federal capital) and [[Tegea]] (the traditional leading city-state of the Arcadians). Though both generals were highly competent, Epaminondas prevailed at Mantinea. Using a modified version of the tactics he had successfully pioneered at Leuctra, he organised the Boeotian troops on the left wing of his army into an unusually deep column of hoplites. This formation of troops, in conjunction with the [[echelon formation|echelon]], sought to establish local superiority of numbers while delaying the battle on the weaker center and right side. As Greek battles were pushing-matches, it allowed the large, dense section of the line to force its way through the thinner classical phalanx. Epaminondas personally led this column from the front line. [[Xenophon]] (''Hellenika'' 5.2.1-3) described the left wing of that Theban army as "like a [[trireme]], with the spur of the prow out in front."

Epaminondas charged and routed the Spartan right wing, winning the battle. Having fought in the front line, however, he was fatally wounded. The Theban leaders [[Iolaidas]] and [[Daiphantus]], whom he intended to succeed him, were also killed. On his deathbed, Epaminondas, upon hearing of the deaths of his fellow leaders, instructed the Thebans to make peace, despite having won the battle. Without his leadership, Theban hopes for hegemony faded. The Spartans, however, having been again defeated in battle, were unable to replace their losses. The ultimate result of the battle was to pave the way for the [[Macedon]]ian conquest of Greece, by ensuring the weakness of both the Thebans and the Spartans.

== Notes ==
[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Xen.+Hell.+5.2.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0206] [[Xenophon]] ''Hellenika'' 5.2.1-3 on Perseus

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Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) - Revision history

Irlandos at 08:29, April 27, 2011

Irlandos: Created page with "The '''Battle of Mantinea''' was fought on July 4 362 BC between the Thebans, led by Epaminondas and supported by the Arcadians and the Boeotian league ag..."