Epaminondas
Great Ruler of Thebes
Epaminondas was described by Cicero as "the first man of Greece". He was the most major conqueror of the Greek states prior to the Hellenistic period, a force guided by the Gods who attacked tyranny and injustice throughout the lands, bringing his native Thebes to the zenith of its power against the combined formidable forces of Sparta, Athens and other Greek states.
His policies of cultural union and liberation of oppressed peoples in Greece presaged the union of the Hellenic world under Phillip and Alexander. Equivalent to Pericles in Athens and King Leonidas in Sparta, Epaminondas’ name is written in history as the most legendary leader of Thebes.
EARLY LIFE
He did not come from a particularly privileged aristocratic background, yet it was one of great fame as he claimed descent from Cadmus, the legendary ancestor of the Theban people. Epaminondas as a child studied intensively under Lysis, a major Pythagorean philosopher from the colonial city of Tarentum who would contribute heavily to his views of statecraft. The Pythagorean had sought refuge after being persecuted and lived in the house of his father.
Quickly he became a prodigy in music and other areas. He showed extreme devotion to Lysis and aided his tutor throughout his life. In general, the Theban created an inner circle of learned men throughout his life that continued to help him in his quest to unite Greece.
From a young age, Epaminondas was known for his measured and virtuous habits that inspired devotion in others. He maintained a particularly frugal type of living and practiced many kinds of selflessness in relation to other people, including the poor. He found bribes to be unconscionable and was generous to his friends, particularly the learned, whose counsel he valued strongly and felt they should be compensated for.:
Therefore, to the bodily strength that he acquired there were added still greater mental gifts; for he was temperate, prudential, serious, and skilful in taking advantage of opportunities, he was practised in war, of great personal bravery and of high spirit; such a lover of the truth that he never lied even when jesting. Furthermore, he was in control of himself, kind, and forbearing to a surprising degree, putting up with wrongs, not only from the people, but even from his friends; he was most particular in keeping secrets, a quality which is sometimes no less valuable than eloquence, and he was a good listener; for he thought that to be the easiest way of acquiring information. Therefore, whenever he was in a gathering where there was an argument about affairs of state or philosophical discussion, he would never leave until the conversation was ended.
He found it so easy to endure difficult means that from his public services he gained nothing but glory, and he denied to use the wealth of his friends for his own necessities. In aiding others, on the contrary, he made such use of their trust in him that one might suppose that he and his friends shared all their possessions in common.1
Numerous times, the Persians had attempted to bribe him with extreme amounts of money personally via the initiative of Artaxerxes, the King of Kings. Each and every time, Epaminondas said no.
His best friend from a young age was Pelopidas, someone who continually and faithfully enacted whatever Epaminondas wished, coming to act as a second leader in Thebes. Their relationship was cemented when the latter saved Pelopidas’ life. Many biographers later found strong parallels in his life with that of Alexander a generation later – it is known that Alexander held both Cyrus of Persia and Epaiminondas as role models in equal measure.
Angling to join the military force of Thebes from a young age, Epaminondas demonstrated unfliching valor in several battles, graduating to become a commander on account of his extreme precocity. He soon came to join the Sacred Band, a group of elite cavalrymen who were regarded as the steely core of the Theban army. The military side of Epaminondas lined up with some of the cruder elements of his personality.
Nonetheless, Thebes itself had long been put under the yoke of Sparta. Phoebidas, the Spartan commander, took advantage of a military manoeuver to occupy the Cadmea, the formidable fortress of the city. The Spartans used this to expel their enemies and to keep a vigilant eye on the populace. For fifteen years, this situation had dominated Theban affairs.
The young soldier perceived that this was a consequence of decay – in his eyes, many aspects of Theban life needed urgent ethical, cultural and political reform. He was also anxious about the resurgent power of Persia attempting to enforce its rule over Greece at the exact same time that Sparta had pursued a policy of extreme aggression, weakening the other Greeks. For Epaminondas and Pelopidas, it was time to strike.
SEIZURE OF THEBES
The two men, along with Gorgidas, leader of the Sacred Band, carefully created dissent among the ranks of the Theban army and prepared to overthrow the Spartan garrison in the Cadmea. They recruited the help of some Athenian hoplites and made a speech to the assemblymen. It was a dangerous and prohibitively risky move to attempt to attack the most valiant force in Greece. Sparta was only outmatched by the forces with three days of relentless man-to-man battles and risky ambush tactics, yet with the odds stacked against them, the duo and their men made the Spartans abandon the city.
Epaminondas soon set to work creating a new order in Thebes, some of which were based on Pythagorean principles that had been tested in Croton and other areas before. The reforms of the populace under Pythagorean principles and the strengthening of the military meant that Thebes soon became the main power in Greece.
Sparta continued to ruin, lay waste to and spoil the rural areas of Boeotia, the region that Thebes lay in. This move, however, only continued to promote the popularity of the new ruler of much of Greece.
He resurrected the alliance and confederacy of cities in Boeotia that once had been under the control of the resurgent city state. Epaminondas tried to be conscious of resentment against aristocracy that he had been informed of from his hieratic friends and instituted a somewhat democratic form of government, albeit one more limited than that of Athens. The Boeotarch of the province was elected every year.
BATTLE OF LEUCTRA
A peace agreement with Persian elements took place shortly. It was a demand from the Spartan side, backed by Persia, that things returned to the order they had been prior. Failure to comply would mean the destruction of Thebes.
Consequently, Thebes prepared for war. Following the failure of the peace agreement, the Spartan king Cleombrotus marched his way into the territory from Phocis, another region in Greece.
Epaminondas showed some of his military genius in this battle. Traditionally in Greece, the most powerful parts of any army fought on opposite sides. Instead of concentrating all force in the traditional right-flank, he pivoted to the left, putting his most important cavalry and massed infantry in a tightly bound flank. In doing so, he chose to make his most skilled and fearsome warriors attack the most skilled element of the Spartan army head on, a revolutionary idea.
He opted for timing and technique instead of tradition. The swift and rapid strike against Cleombrotus caught the latter by complete surprise, particularly as the Spartans were mid-manouver. Expertise in driving soldiers in an orderly formation full of complex movements was shown by the Theban leader in a way that no one had seen in Greece before. Even Xenophon, hostile to Thebes, commended Epaminondas for his ability to train all the Theban forces.
These methods of surprise in battle would shortly be followed by Philip II, Alexander and other conquerors in history.
The Peace Congress shortly after the battle was no less brutal. Epaminondas attacked Sparta in a speech so visceral that many of Sparta’s allies simply defected on the spot. He asserted the right of Thebes to control Boeotia and claimed any suggestion to the contrary was hypocrisy.
After this, the Arcadian cities north of Sparta such as Argea decided to form an alliance to protect their interests. Sparta was outraged at this lack of submission and lay waste to that region once again. At this point, Epamonindas led his armies into the Peloponnese to assist the Arcadian alliance, which further shattered the hegemony of Sparta.
THE THEBAN HEGEMONY
As soon as he came back to Thebes, he was put under trial for forcing leaders and magistrates to fight for their country beyond their term limits. As always, Epaminondas was defiant and refuted their accusations by saying they were attempting to put the man who had liberated Thebes itself in prison, an oxymoron that allowed him to walk free triumphantly.
minted c. 364–362 BCE by Epaminondas, whose name EΠ-AMI is inscribed on the reverse
Although Epaminondas had achieved the power of Thebes over the rest of Greece, the other states of the land began to resent the glory of the resurgent city. Epaminondas attempted many times to sue for peace in Greece, even getting Artaxerxes involved to promise no future interventions, but to little aval.
Despite these tensions, Epaminondas focused on consolidating Theban hegemony through diplomacy and targeted military maneuvers. He orchestrated fresh coalitions among smaller Peloponnesian states eager to resist Spartan or Athenian dominance, and he continued championing the cause of regional autonomy for allies such as the Arcadians and Messenians. However, maintaining these alliances proved difficult: the complex rivalries and shifting loyalties across Greece demanded constant vigilance, and Theban resources were stretched thinner with each campaign.
BATTLE OF MANTINEA
Growing hostilities culminated in the Battle of Mantinea, where Epaminondas led the Theban army into what he hoped would be a decisive clash against Sparta to cement Theban leadership.
Although the Thebans emerged tactically victorious on the field, Epaminondas himself was mortally wounded, and his death deprived Thebes of its most visionary commander. The death of the Boeotarch shocked Greece. On the one hand, Sparta’s power now lay in ruins for eternity. Yet without his guiding influence, the Theban coalition began to fracture. Thebes went back to its old ways of dissolution prompted by those resenting him. This ended the brief Theban supremacy and ushered in renewed competition among the major Greek powers, with one taking precedence: namely Macedon to the north.
By my counsels Sparta was shorn of her glory, and holy Messene at long last takes back her sons: by Theban arms has Megale Polis been crowned, and all Hellas rules itself in freedom.
Inscription on Statue of Epaminondas
Emperor Hadrian built an entirely new statue to Epaminondas next to the one erected in ancient Thebes (one of the only things left standing next to the house of Pindar after Alexander’s destruction of the city), a testament to his grandeur in ancient times. He was admired as a leader of great ingenuity on the battlefield and in reforming morals of any state to orient it towards the Gods. As the model of philosopher-king, Epaminondas also served as a major role model for Alexander who was keen to not repeat the same issues plaguing Thebes, prompting him to go beyond the limited confines of Macedonia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1 The Book on the Great Generals of Foreign Nations, Cornelius Nepos
Hellenica, Xenophon
CREDIT:
Karnonnos [TG]
