Thebes is a town in central Greece which has been continuously inhabited for five millennia. It was an important Mycenaean centre in the middle to late Bronze Age and was a powerful city-state in the Classical period, participating in both the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, reaching its peak of influence in the early 4th century BCE when it was the most powerful city in Greece.
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Definition
Timeline
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3000 BCEFirst evidence of habitation at Thebes.
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2000 BCEFirst shaft graves at Thebes.
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1500 BCE - 1300 BCEMycenaean Thebes at its peak of prosperity and influence.
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1250 BCE - 1200 BCEMycenaean chamber tombs constructed at Thebes.
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560 BCEThe oracles of Delphi and Thebes both tell King Croesus of Lydia that if he attacks the Medes, he will destroy a great empire. Seeing this as a good omen, he goes to war, loses, and the Lydian Empire is destroyed.
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480 BCEThebes sides with Persia during Xerxes invasion of Greece.
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431 BCE - 404 BCEThebes sides with Sparta against Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
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c. 420 BCE - 362 BCELife of Theban general Epaminondas.
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395 BCE - 386 BCEThe Corinthian Wars between Sparta and an alliance of Athens, Corinth, Argos, Boeotia and Thebes.
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395 BCESpartan general Lysander is killed by Theban forces at the Battle of Hallartos.
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394 BCESpartan king Agesilaus II defeats a Theban coalition at the battle of Coronea.
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386 BCETheban general Epaminondas saves the life of Pelopidas at Mantinea.
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382 BCE - 379 BCESparta establishes a garrison at Thebes.
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379 BCEPelopidas is first made Boeotarch at Thebes.
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c. 379 BCEPelopidas removes the Spartan garrison from the Theban acropolis.
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375 BCEThebes defeats Sparta at the Battle of Tegyra.
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371 BCEThebes, led by Epaminondas, defeats Sparta in the Battle of Leuctra.
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371 BCE - 362 BCEThebes is the dominant city-state in Greece.
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369 BCETheban general Epaminondas is tried for treason but the charges are dropped.
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369 BCETheban generals Pelopidas and Epaminondas are both charged with exceeding their term of office but are acquitted.
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368 BCE - 365 BCEYoung Philip II is captured by Pelopidas and held hostage in Thebes.
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367 BCETheban general Epaminondas rescues fellow general Pelopidas from Alexander of Pherai in Thessaly.
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367 BCECeltic mercenaries fight with the Spartans against Thebes.
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366 BCETheban general Epaminondas builds a fleet to harass the Athenian Empire.
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364 BCETheban general Pelopidas is victorious but killed at the Battle of Kynoskephalai.
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362 BCEIndecisive Battle of Matinea where Thebes fought against Sparta and Athens. Theban general Epaminondas is killed.
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338 BCEPhilip of Macedonia defeats the Greek allied forces of Athens, Thebes and Corinth in the Battle of Chaironeia.
