Thebes (Greece)

Definition

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.

More about: Thebes (Greece)

Timeline

  • 3000 BCE
    First evidence of habitation at Thebes.
  • 2000 BCE
    First shaft graves at Thebes.
  • 1500 BCE - 1300 BCE
    Mycenaean Thebes at its peak of prosperity and influence.
  • 1250 BCE - 1200 BCE
    Mycenaean chamber tombs constructed at Thebes.
  • 560 BCE
    The 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.
  • 480 BCE
    Thebes sides with Persia during Xerxes invasion of Greece.
  • 431 BCE - 404 BCE
    Thebes sides with Sparta against Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
  • c. 420 BCE - 362 BCE
    Life of Theban general Epaminondas.
  • 395 BCE - 386 BCE
    The Corinthian Wars between Sparta and an alliance of Athens, Corinth, Argos, Boeotia and Thebes.
  • 395 BCE
    Spartan general Lysander is killed by Theban forces at the Battle of Hallartos.
  • 394 BCE
    Spartan king Agesilaus II defeats a Theban coalition at the battle of Coronea.
  • 386 BCE
    Theban general Epaminondas saves the life of Pelopidas at Mantinea.
  • 382 BCE - 379 BCE
    Sparta establishes a garrison at Thebes.
  • 379 BCE
    Pelopidas is first made Boeotarch at Thebes.
  • c. 379 BCE
    Pelopidas removes the Spartan garrison from the Theban acropolis.
  • 375 BCE
    Thebes defeats Sparta at the Battle of Tegyra.
  • 371 BCE
    Thebes, led by Epaminondas, defeats Sparta in the Battle of Leuctra.
  • 371 BCE - 362 BCE
    Thebes is the dominant city-state in Greece.
  • 369 BCE
    Theban general Epaminondas is tried for treason but the charges are dropped.
  • 369 BCE
    Theban generals Pelopidas and Epaminondas are both charged with exceeding their term of office but are acquitted.
  • 368 BCE - 365 BCE
    Young Philip II is captured by Pelopidas and held hostage in Thebes.
  • 367 BCE
    Theban general Epaminondas rescues fellow general Pelopidas from Alexander of Pherai in Thessaly.
  • 367 BCE
    Celtic mercenaries fight with the Spartans against Thebes.
  • 366 BCE
    Theban general Epaminondas builds a fleet to harass the Athenian Empire.
  • 364 BCE
    Theban general Pelopidas is victorious but killed at the Battle of Kynoskephalai.
  • 362 BCE
    Indecisive Battle of Matinea where Thebes fought against Sparta and Athens. Theban general Epaminondas is killed.
  • 338 BCE
    Philip of Macedonia defeats the Greek allied forces of Athens, Thebes and Corinth in the Battle of Chaironeia.
Membership