Ancient Warfare Magazine Vol. IX.2 - Struck With The Club Of Heracles

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Ancient warfare magazine vol ix.2 - the rise of thebes



Topic: owen rees, the theban ascendant - historical introduction



The women of sparta screamed as they watched the flames burning just in front of the bridge over the eurotas. Their panicked men rushed to prepare and defend the unwalled city. Fighting had broken out in the nearby village of amyclae. Lacedaemonians were falling dead to the ground. the soil of sparta had been invaded for the first time in centuries. the mightiest warriors of greece were at the mercy of a new order in the hellenic world. thebes had finally ascended to its place of power and control. all it needed to do was learn from the mistakes sparta had made.



Source: Jona Lendering, Plutarch of Chaeronea - biographer and moralist



Charming, wise, humane: Plutarch of Chaeronea (ca. 42-ca. 122) is one of the most accessible authors of antiquity. He was also influential. For centuries, no one dared to question his idea that the Greeks and the Romans were two nations with a single culture. It is not false, but we must remain critical. His texts are not free from pitfalls.



Topic: David Balfour, First Among the Greeks - Epaminondas



The architect of Theban hegemony was the brilliant philosopher-general Epaminondas. Theban ascendancy in Greece began in 371 BC with its crushing defeat of the Spartans at Leuctra and ended with its fall at Mantinea in 362. In the brief interval framed by these events, Epaminondas overthrew the foundations of Sparta's military supremacy. The universal praise of ancient writers for the man who won independence and freedom for all Greeks (Pausanias 9.15.6) was summed up by Cicero in two words, princeps graeciae (1.2.4): Epaminondas was the first among the Greeks.



The reenactor: Friedrich Wilhelm Miesen, a hoplite at the dawn of the Theban hegemony - on the fields of Leuctra



As night fell on the battlefield near the small Boeotian town of Leuctra, the power of the Spartan army had been crushed. The soldiers of Thebes stood triumphant over the scattered remnants of an enemy once thought invincible. While their enemy had been trained from childhood, the Theban hoplites were a classic city-state army. Aristocrats, merchants, and artisans, as well as peasants, filled their ranks rather than professional soldiers. It was their general, Epaminondas, who made the difference. His superior tactics and formidable use of the forces at his disposal paved the way for Theban predominance.



Subject: Marc G. Desantis, the siege of Corcyra, 374-372 BC - Spartan eclipse



The defeat of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) may have left Sparta as the most powerful state in Greece, but the following years were turbulent. The Corinthian War of 395–387 BC found Sparta at war with Thebes, Athens, Argos and Corinth until peace was made under the auspices of the Great King of Persia. The political acumen of Sparta’s rulers was very limited and they succeeded in turning Greek opinion against Sparta through their arrogance and brutal foreign policy. One unwise move was the seizure of Cadmea, the Theban acropolis, in 382, ​​which was then garrisoned by Spartan soldiers. Spartan hegemony, as it is known, was imperial rule backed by naked military power.



Subject: Matthew Beazley, The Theban Education of Philip of Macedonia - Sowing the Seeds of Destruction



The rapid rise of Thebes as the dominant power in Greece obviously benefited the city in the short term. However, in the long term, Epaminondas’ success on the battlefield would plant the seed of the city’s own destruction. The military success of Thebes led numerous governments to send their young nobles to the city as hostages, who were tutored in a variety of subjects, one of which was military drill and tactics. In an effort to curry favor, Ptolemy, the Macedonian usurper, sent one such hostage to the city. His name was Philip.



Theme: roel konijnendijk, on the dance floor of ares - the battle of leuctra



The Boeotian victory at Leuctra was the most decisive event in the history of classical Greece. Athens had finally recovered from its complete defeat in the Peloponnesian War, but Sparta, crushed in battle on the Boeotian Plain, was defeated forever. No Spartan army would ever leave the Peloponnese again. A centuries-old power had been broken.



Topic: ryszard tokarczuk, the sacred theban band - a select few



During the 5th–4th centuries BC, some ancient Greek city-states fielded units of elite warriors. For the most part, Greek cities raised their troops only when needed. However, elite units sometimes served year-round. These “picked” troops (the Greek word is epilektoi) were either maintained at the expense of the city or were wealthy enough to devote their time and efforts to military pursuits. Of these elite units, one of the most famous is the Theban sacred band (hieros lochos).



Special: Joseph Hall, Of the Spirits of the Deceased - Roman Military Gravestones



The numerous histories, biographies, legal texts and treaties that make up the historical record tell us most of what we know today about the Roman military, and archaeology further complements this picture by providing evidence of the physical world within which the legions operated. But what about the soldiers themselves? Where is their story told? Though brief and often fragmentary, it is through the words inscribed on their own tombstones that we see how these men lived, sometimes how they died, what deeds they wanted posterity to remember, and who mourned their passing.



The Debate: Duncan B. Campbell, Did the Romans Have Links to the Far East? - Rome and China



Writers and scholars have periodically flirted with the idea of ​​historical links between Rome and China. There is no denying the obvious parallels between the two great empires, each run by a bureaucratic civil service and staffed by a professional army, prepared to defend long frontiers against the barbarians beyond. However, there has been a tendency to assume that two empires of such sophistication must have maintained communications with each other. So is it likely that the Romans had links with the Far East?
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