Thebes
Posted on | February 9, 2008 |
Thebes was an important city in Greek myths as the site of the stories of Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Thebes was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and a major rival of Athens. It sided with the Persians during the invasion led by Xerxes. Theban forces started the decline of Spartan power at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of its great general Epaminondas. Before its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was the most dominant city-state in Greece.
In the late 6th century BC, the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians. Their annoyance with Athens explains why the Thebans sided with the Persians during their invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). The Thebans fought for the Persians at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks then punished Thebes by removing the surrounding Boeotian lands from their control.
Love-Hate Relationship with Sparta
In 457 BC Sparta needed an ally against Athens so they reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. In the Peloponnesian War the Thebans were firm allies of Sparta. After the downfall of Athens, the Thebans, not wanting to be annexed by Sparta, broke off the alliance. In 404 BC they urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in 403 BC they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy as a counterweight to Sparta.
A few years later, Thebes was the main part of the league against Sparta. At the Battle of Haliartus in 395 BC and the Battle of Coronea one year later, the Theban army stood their ground against the Spartans. But the peace treaty for the Greek city-states stipulated the complete autonomy of all polis. Therefore the other Boeotians were freed from Thebes’ political control.
In the next wars with Sparta, the Theban army, trained and led by the great generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself the best in Greece. 371 BC saw a remarkable victory over the Spartans at Leuctra. The Thebans were considered champions of the oppressed throughout Greece because they freed many of the slaves. This victory permanently crippled the power of Sparta, partially because the Thebans freed the helot slaves who did much of the work of Sparta.
Thebes was unable to form an empire, however. Athens again was Thebes’ rival. Epaminondas died at the Battle of Mantinea in 362 BC. The Thebans next went to war with the neighboring state of Phocis, but foolishly asked Philip of Macedon for help. Demosthenes persuaded Thebes to join Athens in attempting to prevent Philip’s entry into Attica, but the Theban contingent lost the battle of Chaeronea and Philip conquered Greece. Philip did not damage Thebes, but instead once again took away its extra Boeotian lands; however, this state of affairs was not to last. An unsuccessful revolt in 335 BC by Thebes against Alexander was punished by the destruction of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar and the temples.
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