Analysis of The Military Strategies of The Campaign of Mantinea
Analysis Of The Military Strategies Of The Campaign Of Mantinea The Peloponnesian War spanned many, many years in which two main factions, the Spartans and the Athenians, were warring for the domination of Greece along with the many surrounding villages; many with their own agendas. I will be doing an analysis of one particular campaign; the campaign of Mantinea fought in the year 362 B.C.E. To do this I first must bring to light some of the key players in this campaign, especially Epaminondas. Epaminondas, a Theban general, was charged with the task to make the Peloponnese as weak as possible so they may overtake it with the least resistance. To do this the Thebans must play both sides of the war. The Thebans were supposedly allied with the Spartans but in those times that mattered little, treaties were broke and regained on a daily basis. Epaminondas had with him all the Boeotians, the Euboeans and many of the Thessalians; and while the Phocians were bound by treaty to assist the Thebans they found no reasoning in the treaty to justify them assisting with a foreign invasion. This was of little concern to Epaminondas seeing as once they were in the Peloponesse they had the help of the Argives, Messenians, the Tegeans,
The Athenians turn and take many casualties. The Athenians had decided instead of marching to Peloponnese they would sail into the gulf of Argolis in Spartan territory; then proceed to march through the same hostile territory to the assistance of the Arcadians. Epaminondas was running out of time and his campaign was coming to an end. They lined up as though to fight the enemy forces presented to them. In fact, a truce was made and the factions were able to retrieve their dead. His intelligence stated that the enemy had taken up a stronghold near Mantinea and had sent for Agesilaus, the Spartan King, the full force of the Spartan army and had already reached Pellene (some 45 miles from Tegea and another 30 miles from there to Sparta). The attack is a huge success, but is at the same time a failure sadly. the Megalopolitans, the Aseans, and the Pallantians. In essence nothing was lost and nothing was gained the two just more uncertainty as to who exactly was the "ruler" of all they were fighting for. And so it came to one final battle. Epaminondas had his men so well trained that they would do anything he ordered even when tired, weary, beaten, and starving. Epaminondas carried this illusion one step further by having his men put down their arms. Upon reaching Sparta Epaminondas demonstrated another keen sense of judgment. He assumed any loss to the Athenians would ultimately benefit Thebes and rally his allies and discourage those of the Athenians.
Common topics in this essay:
Tegea Epaminondas,
Sparta Epaminondas,
Tegea Ultimately,
Mantineans Epaminondas',
Theban Thessalian,
Spartans Athenians,
Epaminondas Theban,
Argolis Spartan,
Thessalians Phocians,
II Epaminondas,
bad luck,
spartan king,
campaign mantinea,
outside city,
spartan king agesilaus,
sparta epaminondas,
king agesilaus,
infantry athenians,
inside city,
epaminondas' army,
city walls,
outside city walls,
|
Acceptance Essays
