Epaminondas (; ; 419/411–362 BC) was a Greek general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a pre-eminent position in Greek politics called the Theban Hegemony. In the process, he broke Spartan military power with his victory at Leuctra and liberated the Messenian helots, a group of Peloponnesian Greeks who had been enslaved under Spartan rule for some 230 years following their defeat in the Second Messenian War ending in 600 BC. Epaminondas reshaped the political map of Greece, fragmented old alliances, created new ones, and supervised the construction of entire cities. He was also militarily influential and invented and implemented several important battlefield tactics, such as the oblique order.
Xenophon, the historian and contemporary, is the main source for Epaminondas's military prowess, and Xenophon describes his admiration for him in his major work Hellenica (book VII, chap. 5, 19). Accordingly, in later centuries the Roman orator Cicero called him "the first man of Greece", and in more recent times Michel de Montaigne judged him one of the three "worthiest and most excellent men" who had ever lived. The changes Epaminondas wrought on the Greek political order did not long outlive him, as the cycle of shifting hegemonies and alliances continued unabated. A mere twenty-seven years after his death, a recalcitrant Thebes was obliterated by Alexander the Great. Thus Epaminondas—who had been praised in his time as an idealist and liberator—is today largely remembered for a decade (371 BC to 362 BC) of campaigning that established a decade long Theban hegemony but also sapped the strength of the great city-states and paved the way for Macedonian hegemony.
Historical sources The life of Epaminondas is very poorly attested in the ancient sources, especially compared to some of his near contemporaries (e.g. Philip II of Macedon and Pelopidas). One principal reason for this is the loss of Plutarch's biography of him. Epaminondas was one of approximately 50 ancient figures given an extensive biography by Plutarch in his Parallel Lives, in which he is paired with the Roman statesman Scipio Africanus; however, both of these parts of Lives are now lost. Plutarch wrote his biography over 400 years after Epaminondas's death and is therefore very much a secondary source, but he often explicitly names his sources, which allows some degree of verification of his statements.
Some episodes of Epaminondas's life can be found in Plutarch's Lives of Pelopidas and Agesilaus II, who were contemporaries. There is also a surviving (and possibly abridged) biography of Epaminondas by the Roman author Cornelius Nepos from the first century BC which, in the absence of Plutarch's, becomes a major source for Epaminondas's life.
The period of Greek history from 411–362 BC is primarily attested by the historian, contemporary and direct witness Xenophon, his work being a continuation of Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War. Xenophon, who was partial to Sparta and its king, Agesilaus, does not always mention Epaminondas himself and does not note his presence at the Battle of Leuctra. However, Xenophon tells us of Epaminondas's last battle and death, which is told in the last and seventh book of the Hellenica.
Epaminondas's role in the conflicts of the 4th century is also described, much later, by Diodorus Siculus, in his Bibliotheca historica. Diodorus was writing in the 1st century BC, and is also very much a secondary source, though useful for corroborating details found elsewhere.
Early life Epaminondas was born at Thebes to a family of high standing which, according to tradition, claimed descent from the mythical Spartoi. His year of birth cannot be determined with precision, and estimates have varied between 419 and 411 BC. What has been recorded of Epaminondas's immediate family is that his father was called Polymnis, he had a brother named Caphisias, and both parents lived to see his victory at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. His education was regarded as excellent and comprehensive. He learned how to handle a cither, to play the flute, and to dance, and, while exercising in the gymnasium (traditionally a cornerstone of Theban education), he demonstrated a preference for agility over sheer strength. Epaminondas was taught philosophy by Lysis of Tarentum, a Pythagorean who had escaped persecution in Magna Graecia and was allowed to settle in Epaminondas's father's own house.
Lysis had a significant influence on Epaminondas, who grew devoted to his aged teacher, embraced his Pythagorean philosophy, and later reportedly took special care of his grave. Epaminondas was said to have displayed all the desirable virtues of the age, including patriotism, incorruptibility, selflessness, and modesty. In order to limit his needs and increase his independence, he led a frugal lifestyle and even seems to have lived in voluntary poverty. The ancient sources also draw attention to his skill in military matters and eloquence, as well as his taciturn demeanor, steadfast wit, and aptitude for crude humor. Epaminondas never married, which he compensated, in Pythagorean manner, by assiduously cultivating friendships, most famously with his lifelong companion Pelopidas.
Political and military career
Background Epaminondas lived at a particularly turbulent point in Greek history. Following its victory in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, Sparta had embarked upon an aggressively unilateralist policy towards the rest of Greece and quickly alienated many of its former allies. Thebes, meanwhile, had greatly increased its own power during the war and sought to gain control of the other cities of Boeotia (the region of ancient Greece northwest of Attica). This policy, along with other disputes, brought Thebes into conflict with Sparta. By 395 BC, Thebes, alongside Athens, Corinth, and Argos, found itself arrayed against Sparta (a former ally) in the Corinthian War. That war, which dragged on inconclusively for eight years, saw several bloody Theban defeats at Spartan hands. By the time of its conclusion, Thebes had been forced to check its expansionist ambitions and return to its old alliance with Sparta.
In 382 BC, however, the Spartan commander Phoebidas committed an act that would ultimately turn Thebes against Sparta for good and pave the way for Epaminondas's rise to power. Passing through Boeotia on campaign, Phoebidas took advantage of civil strife within Thebes to secure entrance to the city for his troops. Once inside, he seized the Cadmeia (the Theban acropolis), and forced the anti-Spartan party to flee the city. Epaminondas, although associated with that faction, was allowed to remain; since "his philosophy made him to be looked down upon as a recluse, and his poverty as impotent". The Spartans installed a puppet government in Thebes, and garrisoned the Cadmeia to ensure the behaviour of the Thebans.
Early career
Epaminondas supposedly served in a Theban contingent that aided Sparta in its attack against the city of Mantinea in 385 BC, during which he is said to have saved the life of Pelopidas, an act that cemented their friendship. The anecdote, reported by Plutarch and Pausanias, has been dismissed as an unhistorical doublet of Socrates's saving of Alcibiades at the Battle of Delium in 424 BC. While some historians at least accept that Epaminondas served with the Spartans in 385 BC, one author has questioned altogether the existence of a Spartan–Theban alliance during this period.
Theban coup of 378 BC In the years following the Spartan takeover, the exiled Thebans regrouped in Athens and, at the instigation of Pelopidas, prepared to liberate their city. Meanwhile, in Thebes, Epaminondas began preparing the young men of the city to fight the Spartans. In the winter of 379 BC, a small group of the exiles, led by Pelopidas, infiltrated the city. They then assassinated the leaders of the pro-Spartan government, and supported by Epaminondas and Gorgidas, who led a group of young men, and a force of Athenian hoplites, they surrounded the Spartans on the Cadmeia. The following day, Epaminondas and Gorgidas brought Pelopidas and his men before the Theban assembly and exhorted the Thebans to fight for their freedom; the assembly responded by acclaiming Pelopidas and his men as liberators. The Cadmeia was surrounded, and the Spartans attacked; Pelopidas realised that they must be expelled before an army came from Sparta to relieve them. The Spartan garrison eventually surrendered on the condition that they were allowed to march away unharmed. The narrow margin of the conspirators' success is demonstrated by the fact that the Spartan garrison met a Spartan force on the way to rescue them as they marched back to Sparta.
Aftermath, 378–371 BC When news of the uprising at Thebes reached Sparta, an army under Cleombrotus I had been dispatched to subdue the city, but turned back without engaging the Thebans. Another army under Agesilaus II was then dispatched to attack the Thebans. However, the Thebans refused to meet the Spartan army in battle, instead building a trench and stockade outside Thebes, which they occupied, preventing the Spartans advancing on the city. The Spartans ravaged the countryside but eventually departed, leaving Thebes independent. This victory so heartened the Thebans that they undertook operations against other neighboring cities as well. In short order the Thebans were able to reconstitute their old Boeotian confederacy in a new, democratic form. The cities of Boeotia united as a federation with an executive body composed of seven generals, or Boeotarchs, elected from seven districts throughout Boeotia. This political fusion was so successful that henceforth the names Theban and Boeotian were used interchangeably in a nod to the newfound solidarity of the region.
Seeking to crush the Thebans, the Spartans would invade Boeotia three times over the next few years (378 BC, 377 BC, ? possibly Leuctra). At first, the Thebans feared facing the Spartans head on, but the conflict gave them much practice and training, and they "had their spirits roused and their bodies thoroughly inured to hardships, and gained experience and courage from their constant struggles". Although Sparta remained the dominant land power in Greece, the Boeotians had demonstrated that they, too, were a martial threat and a politically cohesive power. At the same time, Pelopidas, an advocate of an aggressive policy against Sparta, had established himself as a major political leader in Thebes.
Epaminondas's role in the years prior to 371 BC is difficult to piece together. Certainly, he served with the Theban armies in the defence of Boeotia in the 370s BC, and by 371 BC, he had become a Boeotarch. It seems safe to assume, given their close friendship and their close collaboration after 371 BC, that Epaminondas and Pelopidas also collaborated closely on Theban policy in the period of 378–371 BC.
Peace conference of 371 BC The years following the Theban coup had seen desultory fighting between Sparta and Thebes, with Athens also drawn into the conflict. A feeble attempt at a common peace had been made in 375 BC, but desultory fighting between Athens and Sparta had resumed by 373 BC (at the latest). By 371 BC, Athens and Sparta were again war-weary, and in 371 BC a conference was held at Sparta to discuss another attempt at a common peace.