| ← Previous Item | Tegyra (375 BC) |
Next Item → |
Title
Tegyra (375 BC)
Description
In 379 BC, an insurrection ejected the Spartan garrison at Thebes, and the city set about reestablishing its control over the Boeotian League. After several years, the Thebans succeeded in driving Spartan garrisons out of every city in Boeotia, except …
Subject
Source
Publisher
Date
-375
Scenario#
622
Scenario Description
In 379 BC, an insurrection ejected the Spartan garrison at Thebes, and the city set about reestablishing its control over the Boeotian League. After several years, the Thebans succeeded in driving Spartan garrisons out of every city in Boeotia, except Orchomenus. In 375 BC, Pelopidas set out with the Sacred Band and a small force of cavalry to seize Orchomenus. However, learning that a sizable force had been dispatched from Sparta to reinforce the garrison there, Pelopidas retreated. Before the Thebans could reach safety, they encountered the Spartan reinforcements. The Spartans fielded over 1,000 men; the Thebans, only 300. Plutarch reports that one Theban soldier, upon seeing the enemy force, said to Pelopidas “We are fallen into our enemies’ hands”, to which he replied “And why not they into ours?” Pelopidas then ordered the Theban cavalry to charge, while the infantry formed up into a dense formation. When the two forces came together, the compact Theban formation broke through the Spartan line and then turned to attack the Spartans to either side. The Spartan force broke and fled. The Theban victory had little immediate military significance. However, it marked the first occasion on which a Spartan formation had been defeated by a force of equal or lesser size in a set battle.
Location
Orchomenus, Greece
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
The Battle of Tegyra was an ancient Greek battle between Theban and Spartan hoplite forces. In the battle, a Theban army under Pelopidas was challenged by a substantially larger Spartan force while retreating from an abortive attack on Orchomenus, but successfully attacked and routed the Spartans. The battle marked the first occasion in the historical record in which a Spartan force had been defeated by a numerically inferior enemy in a set battle.
Narrative Source
Wikipedia: Battle of Tegyra
Scenario Link
External Link
Combatants
Theban
Spartan
Additional Information
The Spartan Hegemony