Second Battle of Mantinea

In 362 BC, the Theban general Epaminondas led a large army into the Peloponnese and fought a coalition of Sparta, Athens, Mantinea and their allies near Mantinea in Arcadia. It was one of the largest battles ever fought between Greeks. Since Leuctra, Thebes had dominated Greece, freeing Messenia and founding new cities to contain Sparta, but many Greeks now resented its power. Epaminondas repeated the tactic that had won at Leuctra, massing his troops in a deep column on one wing and supporting it with strong cavalry. The attack broke the enemy line, and victory seemed certain. But at the moment of triumph, Epaminondas was mortally wounded. According to ancient accounts, when he learned that the two officers he had chosen to succeed him had also been killed, he advised the Thebans to make peace. His death left the victory empty, and the battle settled nothing. The historian Xenophon ended his history of Greece with this battle, observing that it left more confusion and disorder in Greece than before. The exhausted city-states soon faced Philip II of Macedon.