Analysis of The Military Strategies of The Campaign of Mantinea

A detailed Summary of 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,

Epaminondas shows extremely good judgment in deciding to move to and take up fortifications inside the city of Tegea. Ultimately this position is safer and less revealing of his movements within the city; he was able to attain all he needed inside the city and monitor the movements of an enemy force outside the city. Now Epaminondas seems to be plagued by bad luck all throughout this campaign; first the Athenians decide to go around his position at Nemea and now they seemed to not come past the city of Tegea. 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). (Thucydides. Map II)

Now it's been my experience that in most battles of this magnitude that there is only one victor. That victor goes on to be the dominant power and thus would take power of the region. That is not the case with this battle; both the warring factions claim victory and both of the factions are fine with the fact that the other claims victory. In fact, a truce was made and the factions were able to retrieve their dead. In short this battle caused more confusion than there had been before the battle.

Upon reaching Sparta Epaminondas demonstrated another keen sense of judgment. Rather than simply attacking or laying siege to the city on level ground where he may be exposed to an aerial attack from the roof-tops where his numerical advantage wouldn't not make a difference, he instead seeks higher ground which gives him the advantage of descending into the city rather than climbing into it. But again Epaminondas' terrible luck comes into play; Archidamus, having less than one hundred men, advanced to attack Epaminondas' army. Weathering terrain thought to impede the Spartans and marching uphill towards Epaminondas, Archidamus the son of the Spartan King Agesilaus made quick work of the front ranks of Epaminondas' army. Knowing the Arcadians were more than likely marching to Sparta to support them in their defense; Epaminondas retreated as fast as he could to Tegea.

Epaminondas was running out of

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Approximate Word count = 1486
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History