26. The Greek Commander Who Deliberately Sought to Take the Scary Spartans Head On
The end result of the Spartans’ constant drill and training was an elite Spartan phalanx, unmatched anywhere in the world for discipline and toughness. By the fourth century BC, Sparta was Greece’s preeminent power, and the Spartan phalanx was one that nobody wanted a piece of. That is, until Epaminondas showed up, and broke the spell of Spartan invincibility when he broke the Spartans at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. There, the Theban general led an army of 7000 hoplites, plus 600 cavalry, against a bigger Spartan army of 10,000 hoplites, plus 1000 cavalry.
The Theban phalanx was spearheaded by an elite unit of 300 warriors known as The Sacred Band, comprised of 150 pairs of homosexual lovers. The Spartan elite was a unit of 1000 full Spartan citizens, who had trained for war since childhood. The Greek norm was to place the best troops at the right side of their line. As such, it was rare for the best troops of both armies to face each other. Epaminondas changed that when he put his best troops on the left side of his line, directly opposite the Spartans. Then, as seen below, he introduced two innovations that revolutionized warfare.
