Lives of the Great Commanders by Curtius Quintus

Author:Curtius, Quintus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fortress of the Mind Publications
Published: 2019-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

Epaminondas

XVI. Pelopidas [C. 410 B.C.—364 B.C.]

1. Pelopidas the Theban is more well-known to specialist historians than he is to the average person. I am not entirely sure of the best way to discuss his virtues; for if I attempt to describe his career, I may appear to be composing a general history of his times rather than a biographical sketch of the man himself. Yet if I discuss only the key events of his life, it may not be clear to those unschooled in Greek literature just how great a man he was. As far as I can, I will adapt myself to each of these considerations, and will remain mindful of my readers’ lack of familiarity with the topic, as well as of the fatigue produced by reciting excessive details.

When Phoebidas the Lacedaemonian was guiding his army to Olynthus along a route through Thebes,[242] he occupied the town’s citadel—which was called the Cadmea—at the prompting of a few Thebans. These Thebans wanted some way more easily to resist an adversary faction, and so aligned themselves with Lacedaemonian interests. Phoebidas, however, acted on his own; he had received no official authorization for his decision. The result of this rash step was that the Lacedaemonians removed him from command and directed him to pay a fine. Nevertheless, they declined to give the citadel back to the Thebans; they reasoned that since they had already aroused the other side’s hatred, it was better to keep them under continuous pressure than to liberate them.

After the Peloponnesian War and the defeat of Athens, they saw the Thebans as potential challengers to their regional dominance, and considered them the only power that might try to oppose their designs. With this consideration in mind, the Spartans gave the most powerful positions in Thebes to their puppets, and either executed or exiled the majority of the leaders of the opposing faction. Pelopidas, whose career I have begun to record, was among these exiled individuals: he was thrown out, and lost his homeland.

2. Nearly all of these exiles made their way to Athens. They were not there to languish in inactivity, but to struggle to recover their country at the first opportunity that fate might see fit to grant them. Thus once it seemed that the time for taking action had arrived—and coordinating jointly with those Thebans who shared their views—they agreed on a day to overthrow their enemies and liberate Thebes. They decided on a day when the city’s chief magistrates would be assembling together for a banquet.[243]

Great deeds in history have often been carried out by a relatively small number of men. But certainly never has the downfall of a power so fearsome proceeded from an origin so unassuming. For out of the many who had been exiled, twelve young men banded together in a common cause; and in all there were not more than a hundred willing to assume such risks. Yet the power of the Lacedaemonians was brought to heel by a force of such apparently negligible size.

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