BC370-351 Epaminondas of Thebes

In the twenty years from 370-351 BC Thebes came to prominence with the victories of Pelopidas and the philosopher general Epaminondas (pictured) over Sparta.

Although Sparta remained the supreme land power in Greece, the Thebans had reconstituted their old Boeotian confederacy and war was declared when Sparta refused to acknowledge a Theban delegation's right to sign on behalf of the confederacy.

The Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas won a decisive victory at Leuctra (371 BC) which ended Spartan supremacy.

While Thebes enjoyed dominance, it was short-lived because in the meantime Athens was fast recovering its former power and Macedon was about to enter Greek politics.

When Epaminondas died after a mortal would at Mantinea in 362 BC, news of his death on the battlefield passed from soldier to soldier and hostilities immediately ceased -- a testament to his centrality to the war effort.

With his dying words, Epaminondas is said to have advised the Thebans to make peace, as there was no one left to lead them but his successors then blundered into an ineffectual ten-year war with Phocis which eventually drew them into asking for help from Philip II of Macedon.

On a more pleasant note, in 370 BC the first encyclopedia was compiled by Speusippus, a nephew of Plato.

In Rome, the previous defeat by the Gauls led to a weakened city that needed time to rebuild, regroup and recover while fighting back more Gaul raiding parties.

During this period the plebeians demanded further rights and in 367 BC the first plebeian consul was elected.

The Licinian-Sextian laws demanded that at least one consul be a plebeian, and after the completion of the term of consular office the consul would become a member of the Senate. When the plebeians gained full access to the office of the consul, the patrician hold on the Senate had, in part, been broken.