Boeotian War

Outbreak of the War

Theban exiles which also included including Epaminondas and Pelopidas (the 'Liberators') rose against the spartans and their supporters. They also had a small Athenian arm help them. However, the Thebans hoped to stay on good terms with the Spartans. In 378 BCE a revolt in Thebes led to the assassination of the ruling three-man junta and the expulsion of the Spartan garrison. An expedition against Thebes was mounted, led by Cleombrotus. It achieved little but left a garrison in Thespiae under Sphodrias. That winter Sphodrias attempted a raid on Piraeus which ended in fiasco. Sphodrias had not acted under orders and was brought to trial. However, he was acquitted, which led Athens to declare for Thebes as well,

The War

Two expeditions against Thebes led by King Agesilaus achieved little. Mark Munn argues that it is likely that the Dema wall was built at this time to defend Attica. An expedition in 376 BCE led by King Cleombrotus was blocked at the passes of Cithaeron. The Spartans failed to get over the Cithaeron Mountains it gave the Thebans a chance to take attack the Spartans, and in doing so they conquered their remaining strongholds in Boeotia and their base in Thespiae was lost. The only land the Spartans had left was some plateaus in the south and Orchomenus in the north-west. In 376 Since the Spartans were having a hard time attacking across the land they decide to change up their attack strategy which was to have a fresh fleet go and block aide the Athenians. In return though the Athenians sent a powerful fleet toward the Spartans. So the Spartans had Pollis take his small fleet and try and stop the siege, but in the end he was killed with his naval fleet by the Athenian Leader Chabrias. This naval victory was the first ever victory for a independent Athenian naval fleets since the Great Peloponnese war. Later on in that year Chabrias also raided Laconia, and possibly reached Sellasia which is to the north-east of Sparta. In 375 BCE Athens mounted two successful expeditions - one to the north Aegean under Chabrias and a second round the Peloponnese to western Greece under Timotheos, son of Conon, who won the battle of Alyzeia in Acarnania.

In 375 BCE there was a renewal of the King's Peace, but this lasted but a few months. The capture of Plataea by the Thebans put the Theban-Athenian under strain, as the Plataeans were expelled from their city and found asylum in Athens, where they were a strong voice against Thebes. Though the alliance held, Athens insisted on negotiations with Sparta. A peace treaty was agreed but things went seriously awry at the signing - Epaminondas insisted that he should sign for the Boeotians as a whole rather than just Thebes, at which the Spartan king Agesilaus struck the name of Thebes off the list of signatories.

After the peace

In 371 the Boeotian war ended and a treaty was signed between the Spartans and the Thebans. The Theban king asked the spartan king to sign in behalf of all the Boeotian Confederacy, and the spartan king said no. Epaminondas said if they won’t sign for the Boeotian then they should be able to sign for other cities of Laconia (these are cities directly controlled by Sparta.) This Angered, the Spartan co-ruler Agesilaus so he struck the Thebans' name from the treaty, and both sides then left the conference and prepared for renewed hostilities. Which this leads into the Battle of Leuctra. Most of Greece implemented the treaty which meant that Thebes faced the Spartan expedition against her alone. However the resulting battle at Leuktra would be a decisive Spartan defeat and usher the era of Theban hegemony.