Table of Contents
How did the Thebans defeat the Spartans?
The center and right of his line, weak and depleted, he held back from contact with the Spartan phalanx, screened by skirmishers and horsemen. Advancing obliquely to the attack, the Thebans delivered a crushing blow to the Spartan right, smashing it apart with heavy losses.
Who despised the Spartans?
Alcibiades, (born c. 450 bce, Athens [Greece]—died 404, Phrygia [now in Turkey]), brilliant but unscrupulous Athenian politician and military commander who provoked the sharp political antagonisms at Athens that were the main causes of Athens’ defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 bce).
What is Thebes biggest enemy?
Throughout the Classical Period, Thebes was one of Athens’ biggest enemy poleis, and this complex relationship is often mirrored in the dramas that feature Thebes and Thebans in principal roles.
Why did Thebes fight Sparta?
The Theban–Spartan War of 378–362 BC was a series of military conflicts fought between Sparta and Thebes for hegemony over Greece. Sparta had emerged victorious from the Peloponnesian War against Athens (431–404 BC), and occupied an hegemonic position over Greece.
How did Spartans sleep?
At age 12, initiates were deprived of all clothing save for a red cloak and forced to sleep outside and make their own beds from reeds.
What are the cons of Spartan society?
The weaknesses weighed Sparta down, so here are some of those weaknesses. Sparta lacked in education, they were too harsh on the children in military training, and the Spartans didn’t allow traveling. To begin with Sparta completely discarded all advanced education.
Who opposed Sparta in the Corinthian war?
This war, called the Corinthian War (395–386) because much of it took place on Corinthian territory, was fought against Sparta by a coalition of Athens (with help from Persia), Boeotia, Corinth, and Argos. Sparta eventually won the war, but only after the Persians had switched support from Athens to Sparta.
Did Thebes beat Sparta?
The Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE gave Thebes a decisive victory over Sparta and established Thebes as the most powerful city-state in Greece.
How many helots were in Sparta?
The total population of helots at that time, including women, is estimated as 170,000–224,000. Since the helot population was not technically chattel, their population was reliant on native birth rates, as opposed to prisoners of war or purchased slaves.
What happened between Sparta and Thebes?
Thebans, however, did not like to share glory with Spartans and it is said that their plot against Spartans was influenced by Persian gold. In 395BC, a war broke out between Sparta and Thebes which resulted for Thebes being occupied by Spartans and stripped out of political control over other cities in Boeotian lands.
Why did the Spartans and Athenians dislike each other?
For most of their shared history, Athens and Sparta were on neutral or friendly terms and their interests aligned or at least did not conflict. So saying the Spartans and Athenians disliked each other is a generalisation akin to saying that the English and the French have had amicable relations throughout their shared history.
How did the Spartans defeat the Theban army?
The Spartan forces were held up for several days by Theban forces manning the earthen stockades at the perimeter of Theban territory. The Spartans eventually breached the fortifications and entered the Theban countryside, devastating the Theban fields in their wake.
What happened to the young Spartan who failed to become a similar?
Upon reaching age twenty, the young Spartan sought induction into one of the collectivized mess units around which the lives of the Similars were organized. A youth who failed to be inducted into one of the units never became a true Similar; he was forced to join an inferior caste, his life in ruins before it had properly begun.