Leuctra or Leuktra () or Leuctrum or Leuktron (τὸ Λεῦκτρον) was a town of Aegytis on the confines of Arcadia and

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, described by

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

as on the confines of Laconia toward

Mount Lycaeus Mount Lykaion (, ''Lýkaion Óros''; ) is a mountain in Arcadia, Greece. Lykaion has two peaks: ''Stefani'' to the north and St. Ilias (, ''Agios Īlías'') to the south where the altar of Zeus is located.Cook, A.B. ''Zeus'', 81. 1914. The north ...

, and by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

. It was originally an Arcadian town, but was included in the territory of Laconia. It commanded one of the passes leading into Laconia, by which a portion of the Theban army penetrated into the country on their first invasion under

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 ...

. It was detached from

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 rive ...

by Epaminondas, and added to the territory of

Megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...

. It appears to have stood on the direct road from Sparta to Megalopolis. Leuctra's site is located near modern Leontari.

References

Populated places in ancient Arcadia Populated places in ancient Laconia Former populated places in Greece {{AncientArcadia-geo-stub