k`trə), village of ancient Greece, in Boeotia, 7 mi (11.3 km) SW of Thebes. There the Spartans were defeated (371 B.C.) by the Thebans under Epaminondas Epaminondas , d. 362 B.C., Greek general of Thebes. He was a pupil of Lysias the Pythagorean, but his early life is otherwise obscure. As the Theban delegate to the peace conference of 371 B.C. he refused to surrender his claim to represent all Boeotia...... Click the link for more information. . A brilliant tactical success, the battle also dealt a severe blow to Spartan hegemony.
Leuctra
Leuctra
a city in Boeotia (central Greece), 11 km from Thebes, near which occurred a battle between the Spartans, commanded by King Cleombrotus (10,000 hoplites and 1,000 horsemen), and the Thebans, commanded by Epaminondas (about 6,000 hoplites and 1,500 horsemen) on Aug. 5, 371 B.C.
Epaminondas deployed his troops in what was called an oblique formation, concentrating a striking force 50 ranks deep and a reserve force of 300 crack troops on his left flank, while positioning a phalanx eight ranks deep in the center and along his right flank against the 12-rank phalanx (along the entire front) of the Spartans. An attack with superior forces against the crack troops of the Spartans, who were on the Thebans’ right flank, decided the outcome of the battle, which ended with the rout of the Spartans, who were previously invincible on land, and the death of Cleombrotus.
In the words of F. Engels, the Battle of Leuctra was the first time that “a great tactical principle” was applied: “the unequal deployment of troops along a front with the aim of concentrating one’s forces for the main blow at the decisive point” (Izbr. voen. proizvedeniia, 1956, p. 181). As a result of the defeat, Sparta lost its hegemony in Greece. The Peloponnesian League fell apart, and the short-lived hegemony of Thebes began.
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