On 6 July 371 BCE, the Battle of Leuctra was fought between the Thebans under Epaminondas and the Spartans under Cleombrotus I during the Theban Wars.
Why did it happen?
Following its victory over Athens in 404 BCE, Sparta became the dominant power in Greece. However, many Greek city-states, including some of its allies, began to resent Spartan dominance and rose up against it. In 379 BCE, Thebes, under Epaminondas, revolted against the Spartans and won victories with the help of Athens at Naxos (376 BCE) and Tegyra (375 BCE). In 371 BCE, Sparta sought to open diplomatic negotiations with Thebes. However, when Epaminondas rejected the peace terms, the Spartan king Cleombrotus I gathered an army together and marched into Boeotia to confront the Thebans at Leuctra.
Who was involved?
The Theban force at Leuctra numbered 6,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry. Their leader, Epaminondas, adopted a unique battle formation. Instead of placing his elite troops, the 300-strong Sacred Band, on the right wing, he put them on the left wing opposite the Spartans in a column 48-ranks deep. In addition, he refused his centre and right wing, which consisted of his remaining hoplites and peltasts, from engaging the rest of the Spartan army. The Thebans planned to crush the Spartan right wing through the weight of numbers, turn to the side, and attack the Spartan allies in the flank. The Spartan army at Leuctra numbered 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. Under their king Cleombrotus, the 700 Spartan hoplites occupied the right wing, while the Phocians and Corinthians occupied the centre and left wing.
What happened?
The battle began when the Theban cavalry charged the Spartan cavalry and drove it back through the Spartan hoplites, disrupting their formation. Epaminondas then ordered the 300 Sacred Band hoplites to advance against the Spartan right wing. Cleombrotus and 400 Spartan hoplites were killed as the Sacred Band pushed them back. Having defeated the Spartan right wing, the Sacred Band struck the unprotected flank of the Phocians, who disintegrated and fled. The Corinthians on the Spartan left wing soon followed, only to be pursued and cut down by the Theban cavalry. In all, 1,000 Spartans, Phocians and Corinthians were killed, while Theban losses numbered 300: 47 infantry and 253 cavalry.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Leuctra was a Theban victory. In the aftermath of the battle, the Spartans retreated and ceded north and central Greece to Thebes, who became the dominant power in Greece. Eventually, Thebes was challenged by Athens, Sparta, and an alliance of other city-states who went to war with Epaminondas in 362 BCE. At the Battle of Mantinea, Thebes was once again victorious. However, it was a pyrrhic victory in that Epaminondas was killed, and Thebes fell from preeminence. Nevertheless, Epaminondas's use of the Oblique manoeuvre was revolutionary and was subsequently adopted by generals ranging from Philip II of Macedon to Frederick the Great of Prussia.
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Lokshin, Kirill. “Battle of Leuctra, 371 BC - Decisive Action.” Wikimedia Commons. Last revised July 18, 2010. www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Leuctra,_371_BC_-_Decisive_action.svg
Plutarch. Life of Pelopidas. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, Loeb Classical Library, 1917.
Webb, Jonathan. “Battle of Leuctra, 371 BC.” The Art of Battle. Last revised 2009. www.theartofbattle.com/battle-of-leuctra-371-bc/
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