Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1172

 1148 TIIEBAE BOEOTIAE. the other Boeotian towns. A democratical form of government was established in the different cities, and the olis;archical leaders were driven into exile. (Thuc. i. 108; Diod. xi. 81.) This .state of thino:s ]asted barely ten years; the democracy established at Thebes was ill-conducted (Arist. Pol. v. 2. § C) ; and in b. c. 447 the various Boeoti.Hn exiles, combining their forces, made themselves masters of Orchomenus, Chaeroneia, and some other places. The Athenians sent an army into Boeotia under the conmiand of Tolmides; but this general was slain in battle, together with many of his men, while a still larger number wei-e taken prisoners. To recover these prisoners, the Athenians agreed to relinquish their power over Thebes and the other Boeotian cities. The democratical governments were overthrown ; the exiles were restored; and Thebes again became the bitter enemy of Athens. (Thuc. i. 113, iii. 62; Diod. xii. 6.) The Thebans were indeed more anti- Athenian than were the Spartans themselves, and w'ere the first to commence the I'eioponnesian War by their attempt to surprise Plataea in the night, B.C. 431. The history of this attempt, and of the subsequent siege and capture of the city, belongs to the history of Plataea. [Plataea.] Throughout the Peloponnesian War the Thebans continued the active and bitter enemies of the Athenians; and upon its close after the battle of Aegospotami they joined the Corinthians in urging the Lacedaemonians to destroy Athens, and sell its population into slavery. (Xen. Hell. ii. 2. § 19.) But soon after this event the feelings of the Thebans towards Athens became materially changed in consequence of their jealousy of Sparta, who had refused the allies all participation in the spoils of the war, and who now openly aspired to the supremacy of Greece. (Plut. Lys. 27 ; Justin, vi. 10.) They consequently viewed with hostility the Thirty Tyrants at Athens as the supporters of the Spartan power, and gave a friendly welcome to the Athenian exiles. It was from Thebes that Thrasy- buhis and the other exiles started upon their enter- prise of seizing the Peiraeeus; and they were sup- ported upon this occasion by Ismenias and other Theban citizens. (Xen. Ildl. ii. 4. § 2.) So im- portant was the assistance rendered by the Thebans on this occasion that Thasybulus, after his success, showed his gratitude by dedicating in the temple of Hercules colossal statues of this god and Athena. (Paus. i.'?. 11. § G.) The liostile feelings of Thebes towards Sparta continued to increase, and soon produced the most important results. When Agesilaus was crossing over into Asia in b. c. 397, in order to carry on war against the Persians, the Thelians refused to take any part in the expedition, and they rudely interrupted Agesilaus when he w.as in the act of offering sacrifices at Aulis, in imitation of Aga- memnon;— an insult which the Spartan king never forgave. (Xen. Hell. iii. 5. § 5; Plut. Ages. 6; Pans. iii. 9. §§ 3 — 5.) During tlie absence of Agesilaus in Asia, Tithraustes, the .satrap of Asia Minor, sent an envoy to Greece to distribute large sums of money among the leading men in the Grecian cities, in order to persuade them to make ■war against Sparta. But before a coalition could be formed for this purpose, a separate war broke out between Thebes and Sparta, called by Diodorus (xiv. 81) the Boeotian war. A quarrel having arisen between the Opuntian Locrians and the Phocians respecting a strip of border land, the Thebans espoused the cause of the former and TIIEBAE BOEOTIAE. invaded Phocis. Thereupon the Phocians invoked the aid of the Lacedaemonians, who were delighted to have an opportunity of avenging the aflVonts they had received from the Thebans. (Xen. J J ell. iii. .5. §§ 3—5; Paus. iii. 9. § 9.) The Lacedae- monians made active preparations to invade Boeotia. L3'sander, who had been foremost in promoting the war, was to lay siege to Hahartu.s, under the walls of which town Pausanias was to join him on a given day with the united Lacedaemonian and Peloponnesian forces. Thus menaced, the Thebans applied for assistance to their ancient enemies, the Athenians, who readily resjxinded to their apj^eal, though their city was still undefended by walls, and they had no ships to resist the maritime power of Sparta. (Xen. Hell. iii. .5. § 16; Dem. de Cor. p. 258.) Orchomenus, however, seized the oppur- tunity to revolt from Thebes, and joined Lysander in his attack upon Haliartus. (Xen. Hell. iii. 5. §17; Plut. Lys. 28.) The death of Lysander under the walls of Haliartus, which w.as followed by the retreat of Pausanias from Boeotia, emboldened the enemies of Sparta; and not only Athens, but Corinth, Argos, and some of the other Grecian states joined Thebes in a league against Sparta. In the following year (b. c. 394) the war was transferred to the territory of Corinth; and so powerful were the confederates that the Lacedaemonians recalled Agesilaus from Asia. In the month of August Agesilaus reached Boeotia on his homeward march, and found the confederate army drawn up in the plain of Coroneia to oppose him. The right wing and centre of his army were victorious, but the Thebans completely defeated the Orchomenians, who formed tlie left wing. The victorious Thebans now faced about, in order to regain the rest of their army, which had retreated to Mount Helicon. Agesilaus advanced to meet them; and the conflict which ensued was one of the most terrible that had yet taken place in Grecian warfare. Tiie Thebans at length succeeded in forcing their way through, but not without great lo.ss. This was the first time that the Thebans had fought a pitched battle with the Spartans; and the valour which they showed on this occasion was a prelude to the victories which were soon to overthrow the Spartan supremacy in Greece. (Xen. Mell. iv. 3. §§ 15—21.) We have dwelt upon these events somewhat at length in order to explain the rise of the Theban power; but the subsequent history must be related more briefly. After the battle of Coroneia the course of events appeared at first to deprive Thebes of the ascendency she had lately acquired. The peace of Antalcidas (b. c. 387), which was concluded under the influence of Sparta, guaranteed the independence of all the Grecian cities ; and though the Thebans at flrst claimed to take the oath, not in their own behalf alone, but for the Boeotian confederacy in general, they were compelled by their enemy Agesilaus to swear to the treaty for their own city alone, since otherwise they would have had to contend single- handed with the whole power of Sparta and her allies. (Xen. Hell. v. 1. §§ 32, 33.) By this oath the Thebans virtually renounced their supremacy over the Boeotian cities; and Agesilaus hastened to exert all the Spartan power for the purpose of weakening Thebes. Not only was the independence of the Boeotian cities proclaimed, and a legal oligarchy organised in each city hostile to Thebes and favour- able to Sparta, but Lacedaemonian garrisons were