Leûktra 371 BCE: Sparta's twilight

A decisive afternoon in 371 BCE saw Thebes shatter Sparta’s hoplite supremacy at Leuctra, ending its hegemony and ushering in a new era of tactical innovation under Epameinondas.

The famous Spartan débâcle at Leūktra was a gamechanger both politically and militarily. Having won the Peloponnesian War and inherited the Athenian hegemony of the Greek world, Sparta for the next three decades had proven unbeatable in hoplite battle. All that was to change during one afternoon in the high summer o...