Leuctra, battle of (371 bc), fought during the Greek city-state wars. Near a small hamlet in central Greece in 371 bc the Theban general Epaminondas and his Boeotian confederates crushed the Spartan army. The battle marked a dramatic end to three centuries of Spartan infantry superiority and prompted four subsequent Theban invasions of the Peloponnese itself. Ancient sources disagree over what led to this astounding victory, but modern students emphasize Epaminondas' mass column of 50 shields deep on the Theban left wing that ploughed through the Spartan élite right, killed their king, and left nearly a thousand Lacedaemonians dead on the battlefield.
Bibliography
- Anderson, J. K., Military Theory and Practice in the Age of Xenophon (Berkeley, 1970).
- Lazenby, J. F., The Spartan Army (Warminster, 1985)
— Victor D. Hanson
