Acquire Ancient Warfare Magazine Vol Ix.2 - Smitten With Heracles' Club

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

Topic: owen rees, the theban ascendance - historical introduction

The women of sparta screamed as they saw the flames burning right in front of the bridge over the eurotas. their men, gripped by panic, rushed to prepare and defend the unwalled city. fighting had broken out in the nearby town of amyclae. the lacedaemonians were falling dead to the ground. the soil of sparta had been invaded for the first time in centuries. the most powerful warriors in greece were at the mercy of a new order in the hellenic world. thebes had finally risen 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 romans were two nations with a single culture. it is not false, but we must remain critical. his texts are not without pitfalls.

Topic: david balfour, first among the greeks - epaminondas

The architect of the theban hegemony was the brilliant philosopher-general epaminondas. the theban predominance in greece began in 371 b.c. with his crushing defeat of the spartans at leuctra and ended when he fell at mantinea in 362. in the brief interval framed by these events, epaminondas tore down the foundations of sparta's military supremacy. the universal praise from ancient writers for the man who won independence and freedom for all greeks (pausanias 9.15.6) was summarized 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

When 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 remains of an enemy once considered invincible. while their enemy had been trained since 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 the theban predominance.


Topic: 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 b.c.) may have left sparta as the most powerful state in greece, but the following years were turbulent. the corinthian war of 395-387 b.c. 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 managed to turn greek opinion against sparta through their arrogance and brutal foreign policy. one reckless measure was the seizure of cadmea, the acropolis of thebes, in 382, which was then garrisoned by spartan soldiers. the spartan hegemony, as it is known, was an imperial dominion backed by naked military power.

Topic: matthew beazley, the theban education of philip of macedon - 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's success on the battlefield would plant the seed of the city's own destruction. thebes's military success led numerous governments to send their young nobles to the city as hostages, who were instructed in a variety of subjects, one of which was military instruction and tactics. in an effort to curry favor, ptolemy, the macedonian usurper, sent one such hostage to the city. his name was philip.

Topic: 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 eventually 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 again leave the peloponnese. a centuries-old power had been broken.

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

During the 5th and 4th centuries b.c., some ancient greek city-states deployed units of elite warriors. for the most part, greek cities mustered their troops only when necessary. however, elite units sometimes served year-round. these "chosen" troops (the greek word is epilektoi) were kept at the city's expense 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, from the spirits of the departed - roman military tombstones

The many stories, biographies, legal texts, and treatises that make up the historical record tell us most of what we know today about the roman army, 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? although 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 death.

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. one cannot deny the obvious parallels between the two great empires, each run by a bureaucratic civil service and served by a professional army, prepared to defend long borders against the barbarians lying 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 to the far east?
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