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Epaminondas
Epaminondas (; ; 419/411–362 BC) was a Greeks, Greek general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek polis, city-state of Thebes, Greece, 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 Battle of Leuctra, 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 Third 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. Xenophon, the historian and contemporary, is the main source for Epaminondas's military prowess, and Xenophon describes his admiration for him in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Leuctra
The Battle of Leuctra (, ) was fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebes (Greece), Thebans, and the History of Sparta, Spartans along with their allies amidst the post–Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the vicinity of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae. The Theban victory shattered Sparta's immense influence over the Greek peninsula, which Sparta had gained with its victory in the Peloponnesian War a generation earlier. Prelude In 371 BC, the newly established democracy of Thebes had elected four Boeotarchs, the traditional title of the generals of the Boeotia, Boeotian League, and so proclaimed their intention of reconstituting the aforementioned league that Sparta had disbanded.Tritle 1987, p. 80 During this period, Thebes had an ally in Athens, but Athens was far from happy with the treatment Plataea had received. When it came to swearing an oath to respect the treaty, Sparta swore on behalf of itself and its al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelopidas
Pelopidas (; ; died 364 BC) was an important Theban statesman and general in Greece, instrumental in establishing the mid-fourth century Theban hegemony. Biography Athlete and warrior Pelopidas was a member of a distinguished family and possessed great wealth, which he expended on his friends and on public service while he himself was content to lead the rough life of an athlete.T Duff ed., ''Plutarch: The Age Of Alexander'' (Penguin 2011) p. 48-9 In 384 BC, he served in a Theban contingent sent to the support of the Spartans during the Siege of Mantinea, where he was dangerously wounded by the Arcadians, but was saved by Epaminondas and Agesipolis. ::Pelopidas, after receiving seven wounds in front, sank down upon a great heap of friends and enemies who lay dead together; but Epaminondas, although he thought him lifeless, stood forth to defend his body and his arms, and fought desperately, single-handed against many, determined to die rather than leave Pelopidas lying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Mantinea
The siege of Mantinea occurred in 385 BC, and resulted in a victory of the Spartans over the city of Mantinea, which was defeated and dismembered. Spartans wanted to ensure that Mantinea could not be a threat, and forced them to take down their walls but they refused. With that excuse, the spartans diverted the river onto the walls by breaking dams and digging canals to make them crumble, since mantineans wouldn't come out and were able to resist a siege for many months ahead. Once trapped in the flooded city they had to fight, and the spartans pushed the theban forces on the forefront only to attack with their cavalry at the end and finish the enemy. On this occasion, Epaminondas, then fighting on the side of the Spartans, famously rescued his fellow Theban Pelopidas. Mantinea had been opposed to the Spartans in the Peloponesian War. As a result, Mantinea first fell in 417 BC, and it was then destroyed in the siege of 385 BC. However, the Arcadians were able to recover and re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thebes, Greece
Thebes ( ; , ''Thíva'' ; , ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major center for the area along with Livadeia and Tanagra. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. One myth had the city founded by Agenor, which gave rise to the (now somewhat obscure) name "Agenorids" to denote Thebans. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age. Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of Classical Athens, ancient Athens, and sided with the Achaemenid Empire, Persians during the Second Persian invasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agesilaus II
Agesilaus II (; ; 445/4 – 360/59 BC) was king of Sparta from 400 to 360 BC. Generally considered the most important king in the history of Sparta, Agesilaus was the main actor during the period of Spartan hegemony that followed the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). Although brave in combat, Agesilaus lacked the diplomatic skills to preserve Sparta's position, especially against the rising power of Thebes, which reduced Sparta to a secondary power after its victory at Leuctra in 371 BC. Despite the traditional secrecy fostered by the Spartiates, the reign of Agesilaus is particularly well-known thanks to the works of his friend Xenophon, who wrote a large history of Greece (the '' Hellenica'') covering the years 411 to 362 BC, therefore extensively dealing with Agesilaus' rule. Xenophon furthermore composed a panegyric biography of his friend, perhaps to clean his memory from the criticisms voiced against him. Another historical tradition—much more hostile to Agesilaus t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellenica
''Hellenica'' () simply means writings on Greek (Hellenic) subjects. Several histories of the 4th-century BC Greece have borne the conventional Latin title ''Hellenica'', of which very few survive.Murray, Oswyn, "Greek Historians", in John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, ''Greece and the Hellenistic World'' (Oxford History of the Classical World I, 1986; 1988) p. 192.Thomas, "Introduction," xxvi. The most notable of the surviving histories is the ''Hellenica'' of the Ancient Greek writer Xenophon (also known as ''Hellenika,'' or ''A History of My Times''). The work was intended as a continuation of Thucydides' ''History of the Peloponnesian War'', which was left unfinished and ends abruptly in the year 411 BC.Xenophon (2010), Thomas, David, "Introduction," p. x. Xenophon's ''Hellenica'' covers the years 411-362 BC, through the end of the Peloponnesian War and its aftermath.Thomas, "Introduction," ix. ''Hellenica'' is usually considered to be a difficult work for modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, and ''Moralia'', a collection of essays and speeches. Upon becoming a Roman citizen, he was possibly named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (). Family Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about east of Delphi, in the Greek region of Boeotia. His family was long established in the town; his father was named Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias. His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which speak of Timon in particular in the most affectionate terms. Studies and life Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy in Athens under Ammonius of Athens, Ammonius from AD 66 to 67. He attended th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parallel Lives
* Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero Depictions of Julius Caesar in literature Cultural depictions of Pompey Cultural depictions of Marcus Junius Brutus Cultural depictions of Marcus Licinius Crassus Cultural depictions of Theseus Cultural depictions of Romulus and Remus Cultural depictions of Cato the Younger Cultural depictions of Sulla Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great The ''Parallel Lives'' (, ''Bíoi Parállēloi''; ) is a series of 48 biographies of famous men written in Greek by the Greco-Roman philosopher, historian, and Apollonian priest Plutarch, probably at the beginning of the second century. The lives are arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings. While any historically valuable similarities are often forced, these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and communities. Prior to the Roman period, most of these regions were officially unified only once under the Kingdom of Macedon from 338 to 323 BC. In Western history, the era of classical antiquity was immediately followed by the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine period. Three centuries after the decline of Mycenaean Greece during the Bronze Age collapse, Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC, ushering in the Archaic period and the colonization of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the age of Classical Greece, from the Greco-Persian Wars to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, and which included the Golden Age of Athens and the Peloponnesian War. The u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparta
Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece. Sparta was recognized as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars, in rivalry with the rising naval power of Classical Athens, Athens. Sparta was the principal enemy of History of Athens, Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), from which it emerged victorious after the Battle of Aegospotami. The decisive Battle of Leuctra against Thebes, Greece, Thebes in 371 BC ended the Spartan hegemony, although the city-state maintained its Independence, political independence until its forced integration into the Achaean League in 192 BC. The city nevertheless recovered m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeotarch
Boeotarch (, ''Boiotarches'') was the title of the chief officers of the Boeotian Confederacy, founded in 379 BC after a rebellion freed the cities of Boeotia from Spartan dominance. There were seven Boeotarchs, democratically elected from seven electoral districts throughout Boeotia. As the largest city of the region, Thebes generally elected four of the Boeotarchs, while the other three represented outlying districts. The number of Boeotarchs, however, may not have remained constant at seven. They may have not even represented districts in the same way as the earlier Boeotian League. Failure to relinquish power was a capital offence. The function of the Boeotarchs were roughly equivalent to that of the Athenian ''strategos'', acting as both political leaders and generals in battle. And indeed, many other political, military, and judicial offices in the Boeotian League were copied from the Athenian model. The Boeotians also had an ''archon'', but unlike the Athenian ''archon'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cornelius Nepos
Cornelius Nepos (; c. 110 BC – c. 25 BC) was a Roman Empire, Roman biographer. He was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. Biography Nepos's Cisalpine birth is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him ''Padi accola'' ("a dweller on the River Po (river), Po", ''Naturalis historia'' III.127). He was a friend of Catullus, who dedicates his poems to him (I.3), Cicero and Titus Pomponius Atticus. Eusebius places him in the fourth year of the reign of Augustus, which is supposed to be when he began to attract critical acclaim by his writing. Pliny the Elder notes he died in the reign of Augustus (''Natural History'' IX.39, X.23). Works ''De viris illustribus'' Nepos's ''De viris illustribus'' consisted of parallel lives of distinguished Romans and foreigners, in sixteen books. It originally included "descriptions of foreign and Roman kings, generals, lawyers, orators, poets, historians, and philosophers". However, the sole surviving book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
