Plutarch, Lives that Made Greek History

Pelopidas (c. 410–364 BCE) was one of only two Theban leaders Plutarch featured in the Lives; the other was Epaminondas, close ally and contemporary of Pelopidas, but that Life has been lost. Hence Pelopidas gives us Plutarch’s only focused treatment of the so-called Theban hegemony, the period in the 370s and 360s when Thebes became superpower of European Greece and inflicted two major defeats on the Spartans. The same period is dealt with more briefly in later chapters of Plutarch’s Agesilaus, as well as in Xenophon’s Hellenica (books 6 and 7) and Diodorus’ Library of History (15.50–88).

[3] The family of Pelopidas, son of Hippocles, was distinguished in Thebes, as was that of Epaminondas. Reared in affluence, and inheriting, while still a young man, a splendid house, Pelopidas hastened to assist worthy men in need, that he might truly be seen as a master of wealth, not a slave to it. For most wealthy men, as Aristotle says, either make no use of their wealth through stinginess, or misuse it through prodigality, and thus they are forever enslaved, the latter by their pleasures, the former by their busyness. Everyone else who profited by Pelopidas’ liberality and generosity was grateful to him; Epaminondas was the only one of his friends he could not persuade to accept a share of his wealth.… Now Epaminondas made his poverty, which was habitual and hereditary, even more manageable and easy by studying philosophy and choosing from the start to lead a solitary life. Pelopidas, on the other hand, made a brilliant marriage and had a number of children; but by neglecting moneymaking none the less, and devoting himself to the city, he was constantly depleting his fortune.

[4] Both men were equally well-endowed by nature to excel in every sphere, though Pelopidas delighted more in physical exercise, Epaminondas in acquiring knowledge, the one devoting his leisure to wrestling and hunting, the other to lectures and philosophy. But among the many noble traits for which the two are esteemed, sensible men consider none so great as the unquestionable good will and friendship they maintained from beginning to end, through so many struggles, campaigns, and public services.¹ For if anyone examines the political careers of Aristides, Themistocles, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias, or Alcibiades, and sees how full they were of quarrels, jealousies, and mutual rivalry, and then considers the good will and respect Pelopidas felt for Epaminondas, he must admit that these two men are more rightly and fairly described as colleagues and comrades-inarms than those who applied themselves more to contending against one another than against their enemies.…

Most people think that their firm friendship dated from the campaign in Mantinea,² where they fought alongside the Spartans, who were still their friends and allies and whom they were sent from Thebes to assist. For they were posted together among the hoplites and fought opposite the Arcadians; and when the Spartan wing to which they had been assigned gave way and most of its men were routed, they locked their shields together and warded off their attackers. And when Pelopidas, who sustained seven wounds in front, fell upon a heap of dead friends and enemies, Epaminondas, though he thought that Pelopidas was no longer alive, came and stood over his body and his arms, and braved great danger, one man against many, determined to die rather than leave Pelopidas lying there. And when he, too, was in a bad way, wounded in the chest by a spear and in the arm by a sword, Agesipolis, the Spartan king,³ came to the rescue from the other wing and unexpectedly saved both men.

[5] Thereafter, though the Spartans ostensibly dealt with the Thebans as friends and allies, they in fact viewed Thebes’ arrogance and power with suspicion. They especially hated the party of Ismenias and Androcleides, to which Pelopidas belonged, since it was thought to be liberal and democratic.⁴ Accordingly, Archias, Leontidas, and Philip, wealthy oligarchs whose views were far from moderate, persuaded Phoebidas the Spartan to lead an army to Thebes, seize the Cadmeia⁵ without warning, expel those who thwarted them, and by installing an oligarchy make the Theban government subservient to the Spartans. Phoebidas was persuaded; and when he attacked the Thebans unexpectedly (they were holding their Thesmophoria)⁶ and got control of the citadel, Ismenias was seized and carried off to Sparta, where he was soon put to death. But Pelopidas, Pherenicus, and Androcleidas fled with many others and were banished by proclamation. Epaminondas, however, remained at home, as he was not taken seriously; it was assumed he was a man whom philosophy rendered inactive and poverty powerless.

[6] When the Spartans had removed Phoebidas from power and fined him 100,000 drachmas,⁷ but continued to occupy the Cadmeia with a garrison, all the other Greeks marveled at the absurdity of punishing the doer while esteeming the deed. As for the Thebans, they had lost their ancestral polity and been enslaved by Archias and Leontidas, nor could they even hope for any deliverance from the tyranny, which they saw was protected by the Spartan hegemony and would be impossible to overthrow until someone managed to bring Sparta’s supremacy on land and sea to an end. Nevertheless, when Leontidas and his associates learned that the Theban exiles were living in Athens and were beloved by the people and honored by the nobility, they plotted against them in secret.

[7] But Pelopidas,⁸ though he was among the youngest, was inciting each of the exiles in private, and at their meetings declared that it was neither noble nor honorable to allow their country to be enslaved and garrisoned, or to be content only to save themselves and survive, relying on the decrees of the Athenians and forever flattering and fawning on clever speakers to persuade the people.⁹ Instead they should be braving danger for the sake of an ideal and adopting as a model the courage and prowess of Thrasybulus: just as he had previously set out from Thebes and deposed the tyrants in Athens,¹⁰ so they, in turn, should march from Athens and liberate Thebes. Persuaded by these arguments, they secretly sent word to the friends they had left in Thebes, telling them what had been decided. These men approved; and Charon, a man of great distinction, agreed to offer them his house.

[8] When a day had been fixed for the undertaking,¹¹ the exiles decided that Pherenicus should assemble the others and remain in the Thriasian plain while a few of the youngest tried to enter the city; and if these men came to grief at the hands of the enemy, all the rest should see to it that neither their children nor their parents suffered any want. Pelopidas was the first to undertake the exploit.… Twelve men in all, they embraced those who remained behind, sent a messenger ahead to Charon, and marched forth wearing short cloaks, accompanied by hunting dogs and carrying poles hung with nets, so that they might be taken for hunters tramping about the country, and not arouse suspicion in anyone who encountered them. When their messenger reached Charon and said that they were on the way, Charon himself did not change his mind despite the imminent danger, but kept his word and offered them his house.

[9] Pelopidas and his friends, after changing into farmers’ clothes, separated and stole into the city at various points while it was still day. There was some wind and snow, as the weather was beginning to change, which greatly assisted their concealment, since most people were fleeing to their houses to avoid the storm. But those whose business it was to know what was happening received the men when they arrived and immediately brought them to Charon’s house. They numbered forty-eight, including the exiles.

The tyrants’ affairs stood thus. Phillidas the secretary was in sympathy with the exiles, collaborated with them in everything, and well in advance of that day had invited Archias and his friends to a carousal and a party that included some married women, his plan being that when they were completely relaxed by their pleasures and the wine, he would hand them over to the conspirators. But when the drinking had barely begun, some news reached them about the exiles, not false, but uncertain and very vague, to the effect that they were being concealed in the city. Phillidas tried to turn the conversation, but Archias sent one of his attendants to Charon, ordering him to come at once. It was evening, and Pelopidas and his friends in the house were preparing themselves, having already donned breastplates and taken up their swords. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Someone ran to it, and after learning from the attendant that he had come from the polemarchs to summon Charon, returned in great confusion, bringing the news. It immediately occurred to everyone that their plot had been revealed and that they would perish before they had done anything worthy of their valor. Nevertheless, it was decided that Charon should obey and present himself to the magistrates to allay suspicion.

[10] When Charon had reached the door, Archias came out with Phillidas and said, “Charon, I have heard that certain men have entered the city and are concealing themselves, and that some of the citizens are collaborating with them.” At first Charon was upset; but then, when he asked who had arrived and who was hiding them, he saw that Archias had no definite information; and suspecting that the report had not come from knowledgeable sources, he said, “Don’t let yourself be disturbed by an empty rumor. Nevertheless, I shall look into the matter; for I suppose no rumor should be taken lightly.” Phillidas, who was present, approved of this, and after leading Archias back, engaged him in a long bout of heavy drinking and diverted the party with his hopes of a visit from the women. But when Charon returned home and found the men there equipped not as if they were expecting victory or deliverance, but as if they were about to die gloriously after a great slaughter of their enemies, he told Pelopidas the truth, but deceived the rest, pretending that Archias had talked to him about something else.¹²

[11] Now that the right moment for their venture seemed to have come, they set out in two bands: one with Pelopidas and Damocleidas against Leontidas and Hypates, who lived near one another, the other with Charon and Melon against Archias and Philip. The men in the latter band had thrown women’s clothing over their breastplates and wore dense garlands of fir and pine that kept their faces in shadow, which was why, when they stood at the door of the drinking party, the company raised a rumpus and applauded, thinking that the women they had long been expecting had arrived. When the visitors, after looking around at the party and taking careful note of each of the reclining guests, drew their swords, rushed among the tables toward Archias and Philip, and revealed who they were, Phillidas persuaded a few of the company to keep still; the rest, who rose up together and sought to defend themselves with the polemarchs, were easily dispatched, since they were drunk.

The men with Pelopidas met with a more difficult task; for they were going after Leontidas, a sober and clever man, and found the door of his house barred, since he had already retired; and though they knocked for a long time, no one heard them. When Leontidas’ servant finally heard the knocking, he came out and released the bolt from inside. As soon as the door yielded and gave way, they all burst in together, toppled the servant, and dashed toward the bedroom. Guessing from the din and the running what was afoot, Leontidas stood up from his bed and drew his dagger, but did not think to tip over the lamps and make the men fall against one another in the dark. Seen in full light, he met them at his bedroom door and struck and killed Cephisodorus, the first man to enter. When Cephisodorus had fallen and Leontidas came to blows with Pelopidas, their struggle was frustrated and hampered both by the narrowness of the doorway and the fact that it was now blocked by Cephisodorus’ corpse. But Pelopidas prevailed, and after dispatching Leontidas led his men against Hypates. They stole into his house in the same way; and though he became aware at once and fled for protection to his neighbors, they pursued him closely, and caught and killed him.

[13] Thereafter, elected boeotarch¹³ with Melon and Charon, Pelopidas immediately blockaded the Acropolis and mounted attacks from all directions, since he was eager to oust the Spartans and liberate the Cadmeia before an army approached from Sparta. And he anticipated the Spartans by so small a margin that after releasing the men under a truce, they had only reached Megara when they were met by Cleombrotus marching against Thebes with a large force. Of the three Spartan governors in Thebes, the Spartans condemned and executed Herippas and Arcissus; the third, Lysanoris, was fined an enormous sum and emigrated from the Peloponnese.

This exploit, similar to that of Thrasybulus¹⁴ with respect to the courage, dangers, and struggles of its participants, and likewise favored by good fortune, was declared by the Greeks to be a sister to it. For one cannot easily mention other instances where men so bereft of numbers and resources prevailed by daring and cleverness and gained credit for conferring such benefits on their countries. And the change it wrought in their political fortunes made the exploit particularly estimable. For the war that destroyed the prestige of Sparta and ended the Spartan supremacy on land and sea began on that night when Pelopidas, not by seizing a garrison or a wall or a citadel, but by entering a house with eleven others, shattered and severed—if one may employ a metaphor to express the truth—the bonds of the Spartan hegemony that were thought to be indissoluble and unbreakable.

A Spartan army, led by King Cleombrotus, invaded Boeotia in the aftermath of the coup of 379 BCE but failed to restore the Spartan garrison on the Cadmeia. King Agesilaus led a second invasion the following year, which resulted in the dramatic Theban victories described below.

[15] Both at Plataea and Thespiae the Spartans were defeated and put to flight. Phoebidas, who had seized the Cadmeia, died at Thespiae; he had also routed many Spartans at Tanagra, where he killed Panthoidas, the governor. But these clashes, though they instilled pride and confidence in the victors, did not altogether vanquish the spirit of the defeated. For it was not in pitched battles or engagements having any visible or proper order, but by making opportune charges, undertaking routs and pursuits, and fighting with the enemy at close quarters that the Thebans were enjoying success.

[16] But the engagement at Tegyra,¹⁵ which in some sense turned out to be a preliminary contest before the battle of Leuctra, greatly exalted Pelopidas’ reputation, since it left his co-commanders no basis on which to rival his success, and the enemy no excuse for their defeat. Against the city of Orchomenus, which had sided with the Spartans and received two of their detachments to provide security, he was constantly plotting and watching for an opportunity; and when he heard that its garrison had gone on a campaign to Locris, he marched to Orchomenus with the Sacred Band¹⁶ and a small number of horsemen, expecting to find the city deserted. But when he approached the city and found that a relief force had arrived from Sparta, he led the expedition back through Tegyra, which afforded the only circuit along the foot of the mountains; for the country’s entire plain is made impassable by the river Melas, whose waters are dispersed right from their source into navigable marshes and lakes.

[17] The Thebans, after leaving Orchomenus, entered Tegyra at the same time as the Spartans, who were returning from Locris—the two forces arriving from opposite directions. When the Spartans were first seen marching through the pass and someone ran up to Pelopidas and said, “We have fallen into our enemies’ hands,” he replied, “And why not they into ours?” He at once ordered his entire cavalry to ride up from the rear in order to charge, while he himself gathered his three hundred hoplites¹⁷ into a compact array, expecting that wherever his phalanx charged it would cut through the enemy, who outnumbered them. There were two divisions of Spartans. (Ephorus says a division consisted of five hundred men, Callisthenes of seven hundred, and other writers, of whom Polybius is one, of nine hundred.) Full of confidence, the Spartan polemarchs, Gorgoleon and Theopompus, advanced against the Thebans. A forceful onslaught being made chiefly where the commanders from both sides were posted, the Spartan polemarchs, first of all, clashed with Pelopidas and fell; then, when those around them were being struck and slain, their entire army was seized with fear and opened a lane for the Thebans in the belief that they wished to pass through and escape. But when Pelopidas used the opening to lead his men against the enemy soldiers who were still in array, and slew them as he went by, they all fled headlong. The pursuit was carried only a little way, however, since the Thebans feared the Orchomenians, who were nearby, as well as the relief force of the Spartans. But they had succeeded in defeating the enemy decisively and forcing their way through the entire defeated army. After setting up a trophy and stripping the corpses,¹⁸ they headed homeward, exultant. For in all their previous wars with Greeks and barbarians, it seems that the Spartans, when superior in number, had never before been overpowered by an inferior force, nor, indeed, in a pitched battle against an enemy whose numbers equaled theirs.

[18] The Sacred Band, it is said, was first formed by Gorgidas¹⁹ from three hundred handpicked men, for whom the city provided training and board and who encamped in the Cadmeia;²⁰ that was why they were also called the City Band; for in those days the citadels were appropriately called cities. Some say that this company was made up of lovers and beloveds.²¹ … The corps bound together by the friendship of lovers is indissoluble and unbreakable, since lovers who love their beloveds, and beloveds who feel shame before their lovers, stand firm in danger for one another’s sake.… Thus it was natural that the band be called sacred, since even Plato called the lover a divinely inspired friend.²² It is said that the band remained undefeated until the battle of Chaeronea;²³ and when, after the battle, Philip was surveying the corpses and stopped at the place where the three hundred lay dead in their armor, having faced his phalanx’s spears, he was astonished; and when he learned that this was the band of lovers and beloveds, he wept and said, “May they perish basely who suppose that these men did or suffered anything shameful.”

[19] Gorgidas, by distributing the members of this Sacred Band into the front ranks and deploying them with the entire phalanx of hoplites, did not make the men’s valor conspicuous, nor did he deploy the band on a venture of its own, since its members were distributed and dispersed throughout the large body of inferior troops. But Pelopidas, after their valor shone out at Tegyra, where they fought on their own and around his own person, stopped dividing or separating them, and deployed them, in his most important battles, as a single unit.²⁴

[20] When the Spartans had made peace with all the other Greeks and launched a war solely against the Thebans,²⁵ and King Cleombrotus invaded with ten thousand hoplites and one thousand horsemen, the Thebans’ danger was not what it had been formerly; they faced an outright threat and a proclamation calling for their removal, and fear possessed Boeotia as never before.… On proceeding to the camp and finding that the boeotarchs were not of one mind, Pelopidas was the first to support the judgment of Epaminondas, who voted to do battle with the enemy. (Pelopidas had not been appointed boeotarch;²⁶ but he served as leader of the Sacred Band and was rightly trusted as a man who had given his country signal proof that he was devoted to her freedom.)

[23] In the battle,²⁷ when Epaminondas drew the phalanx at an oblique angle toward the left wing so that the Spartans’ right wing might be farthest from the other Greeks and he could thrust Cleombrotus back by attacking in flank with all his men at once, the enemy soldiers, on learning what was afoot, began to change their own formation, opening out their right wing and drawing it around so as to encircle and encompass Epaminondas with their superior numbers. At that point Pelopidas dashed forward and rallied his three hundred,²⁸ arriving on the run before Cleombrotus had time to expand his wing or gather it back to the same spot and close his ranks, and fell on the Spartans when they were out of formation and throwing one another into disarray. And yet the Spartans, who of all men are consummately skilled in the military arts, had trained and accustomed themselves above all else not to straggle or become distressed when their phalanx was disrupted, but to resume formation, with captains and hoplites all arrayed together, and to position themselves wherever the danger lay, remain united, and fight as well as ever. But on the present occasion, when Epaminondas’ phalanx was aiming his charge only at the Spartans and ignoring the other Greeks, Pelopidas, displaying incredible speed and daring, so confounded their resolution and skill that he achieved a flight and slaughter of Spartans greater than any that had ever been seen before. For this reason, whereas Epaminondas was a boeotarch and Pelopidas was not, the latter, though he commanded only a small portion of the entire force, nevertheless shared equally in the glory of their victory and success.

[24] Both boeotarchs invaded the Peloponnese and won over most of its peoples, causing Elis, Argos, all of Arcadia, and most of Laconia itself to revolt from the Spartans. But since the winter solstice was upon them and only a few days remained of the last month of the year, it was necessary either that other commanders assume office at the start of the new year,²⁹ or that those who would not cede command be put to death. The other boeotarchs, dreading the law and wishing to avoid a winter campaign, were eager to lead the army home; but Pelopidas, who was the first to vote with Epaminondas, helped him hearten the citizens and led them to Sparta and across the Eurotas. He seized many of the enemy’s cities and plundered the entire country as far as the sea, leading an expedition that included seventy thousand Greeks, less than a twelfth of whom were Thebans.³⁰ … In that campaign, they united all of Arcadia in one force, and on severing the Messenian territory from its Spartan masters, summoned and restored the old inhabitants of Messenia, with whom they settled Ithome.³¹ Heading home through Cenchreae, they defeated the Athenians who tried to hinder their march by skirmishing with them at the passes.³²

[25] In recognition of these achievements, all the other Greeks made much of their prowess and marveled at their good fortune; but the political jealousy of their fellow citizens, which increased with the men’s glory, was preparing no appropriate or honorable reception for them. For both men, on their return, were prosecuted on a capital charge for violating the law stipulating that the office of boeotarch be surrendered to others in the first month of the year, which they call Bucation. Epaminondas and Pelopidas had retained authority for four additional months, during which time they had conducted their campaigns in Messenia, Arcadia, and Laconia. Pelopidas was brought to trial first and was therefore in greater danger, but both men were acquitted.³³

The last years of Pelopidas’ life, 368–364 BCE, saw several Theban incursions into the northern regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. Traditionally these regions were part of the Athenian sphere of influence, but Thebes, as its power grew, began to assert itself as well, especially when called in by one faction or another in the dynastic disputes there. One regional development in particular troubled the progressive, democratic regime at Thebes: the rise of a cruel and aggressive tyrant, Alexander of Pherae, who took power in Thessaly thanks to the support of a large corps of mercenaries. Pelopidas felt both an ideological and personal hatred of this man, and he devoted intense efforts to controlling or removing him.

[26] When Alexander of Pherae³⁴ was openly making war on most of the Thessalians, but plotting against them all, their cities sent an embassy to Thebes requesting a general and a force. Seeing that Epaminondas was occupied in the Peloponnese, Pelopidas offered and dedicated himself to the Thessalians, both because he could not bear to let his own expertise and ability lie idle, and because he thought that wherever Epaminondas was there was no need for a second commander. When he had marched to Thessaly with a force and immediately took Larissa, and Alexander arrived and pleaded for a reconciliation, Pelopidas tried to transform him from a tyrant into a man who would govern the Thessalians gently and according to law. But since Alexander was incorrigible and brutal, and was much denounced for his licentiousness and greed, Pelopidas grew exasperated and severe with him, whereupon Alexander departed, escaping by stealth with his guards. Pelopidas then left the Thessalians in great security from the tyrant and in concord with one another, and departed for Macedonia, since Ptolemy was making war on Alexander, the king of the Macedonians,³⁵ and both parties were summoning Pelopidas to be a mediator, judge, ally, and helper of the party that appeared to be wronged. When he arrived and had resolved their differences and restored the exiles, he took as hostages the king’s brother Philip and thirty other sons of the most prominent men and established them in Thebes, showing the Greeks that Thebes’ reputation for strength and fairness had made great strides.

This was the Philip who later went to war to enslave the Greeks;³⁶ but at the time he was a boy, living in Thebes with Pammenes. Consequently, he was thought to have become a zealous admirer of Epaminondas, perhaps because he understood the man’s effectiveness in wars and on campaigns, which was only a small part of his goodness; but in self-control, fairness, greatness of soul, and gentleness, by virtue of which Epaminondas was truly great, Philip had no share either by nature or as a result of imitation.

[27] After this, when the Thessalians again accused Alexander of Pherae of harassing their cities, Pelopidas was dispatched on an embassy with Ismenias; but since he arrived without a force from home, not having expected a war, he was forced to use the Thessalians themselves for the emergency. Meanwhile, Macedonian affairs were again in an uproar, since Ptolemy had killed the king³⁷ and seized power, and the friends of the dead man were calling for Pelopidas. Since he wished to intervene but had no soldiers of his own, Pelopidas hired some mercenaries on the spot and immediately marched with them against Ptolemy. When they were near one another, Ptolemy corrupted the mercenaries with bribes and persuaded them to come over to him; and because he feared Pelopidas’ renown and his very name, he met the man as his superior. After greeting him and begging his indulgence, Ptolemy agreed to act as regent for the brothers of the dead king, and to have the same enemies and friends as the Thebans;³⁸ as proof of his good faith, he offered as hostages his son Philoxenus and fifty of his companions. After dispatching these men to Thebes, Pelopidas himself, who resented the treachery of his mercenaries and had learned that most of their money, children, and wives had been placed for safety in Pharsalus, sought to exact sufficient revenge for their effrontery by gaining possession of these. Enlisting some of the Thessalians, he marched to Pharsalus. But just as he arrived, the tyrant Alexander³⁹ appeared with his force. Pelopidas and his party, thinking he had come to justify his conduct, went to him themselves, aware that he was abominable and murderous, but expecting that because of Thebes and their own prestige and renown, they would suffer no harm. But when Alexander saw them approaching alone and unarmed, he had them arrested at once, seized Pharsalus, and struck horror and fear in all his subjects, who assumed that after such recklessness and iniquity he would spare no one, but would behave toward all men, and in all matters, as one who had now utterly despaired of his life.

[28] The Thebans were displeased when they learned of this and immediately sent out an army, though from some anger at Epaminondas they appointed other commanders to lead it. When the tyrant had brought Pelopidas back to Pherae, he at first allowed anyone who wished to converse with him to do so, thinking Pelopidas had become pitiful and humble as a result of his misfortune. But when Pelopidas encouraged the downcast citizens of Pherae to take heart, since now the tyrant would certainly suffer punishment, and sent word to Alexander himself, saying it was strange that day after day he tortured and murdered his wretched citizens, who had done no wrong, but spared him, whom he certainly knew would avenge him if he escaped. Marveling at the man’s proud spirit and fearlessness, Alexander said, “Why is Pelopidas in a hurry to die?” to which Pelopidas replied, “That you may perish the sooner, by becoming more hateful to the gods than you are now.” After this, Alexander prevented outsiders from meeting with Pelopidas.

[29] When the Theban generals, on invading Thessaly, accomplished nothing, but either from inexperience or bad luck withdrew disgracefully, the city fined each of them a thousand drachmas and sent Epaminondas out with a force. There was at once a great stir among the Thessalians, who were elated by the renown of their commander; and the tyrant’s affairs were on the brink of destruction, so great was the fear that assailed the commanders and friends in his suite, and so great the desire of his subjects to revolt and their joy at the prospect of seeing the tyrant suffer punishment. Nevertheless Epaminondas, who considered his own glory less important than Pelopidas’ safety, and feared that Alexander, with his affairs in disarray, might in his desperation turn like a wild beast on Pelopidas, took his time with the war. By going about and attending to his preparations and his threatened action, he kept the tyrant guessing, and thus neither unleashed his boldness and audacity nor provoked his spite and passion. For he had learned of the man’s savagery and his contempt for honor and justice. He knew that Alexander sometimes buried men alive, and sometimes cloaked them in skins of wild boars and bears, set his hunting dogs at them, and either tore them apart or shot them down, treating this as a sport; and that at Meliboea and Scotusa, friendly allied cities, when the people were holding assemblies, he surrounded them with his guards and slaughtered their citizens from the youth upward.… But this man, intimidated by the renown and the name and the distinction of Epaminondas’ expedition,

Crouched like a slave, a fighting cock with folded wing,⁴⁰

and quickly sent along an embassy to justify his conduct. Epaminondas, however, could not bear to make such a man a friend and ally of the Thebans; instead he agreed to a thirty-day truce, got custody of Pelopidas and Ismenias, and withdrew.

[30] When the Thebans learned that embassies from Sparta and Athens were on their way to the Great King to secure an alliance,⁴¹ they sent Pelopidas out—an excellent plan in light of his reputation. For, in the first place, he traveled through the King’s provinces as a man well-known and celebrated, since the renown of his battles with the Spartans had not traveled slowly or to any slight extent across Asia; on the contrary, as soon as the report of the battle of Leuctra spread abroad, it was constantly enhanced by the addition of any new success, and reached the remotest regions; and then, when Pelopidas was seen by the satraps, generals, and commanders at the King’s court, they spoke admiringly of him, saying that this was the man who had expelled the Spartans from land and sea, and confined between Taygetus and the Eurotas that Sparta which only recently, under Agesilaus, had embarked on a war with the Great King and the Persians over Susa and Ecbatana.⁴² This naturally delighted Artaxerxes, who esteemed the man for his renown and heaped him with honors, eager as he was to be revered and courted by the greatest men. And when he saw Pelopidas in person and considered his proposals, which were more reliable than those of the Athenians and simpler than those of the Spartans, he grew even fonder of him, and, in a manner befitting a king, did not conceal his regard for the man, nor did the other envoys fail to notice that the King accorded Pelopidas his highest honors.… He sent him the finest and most splendid of the customary presents and granted what he requested, namely that the Greeks be independent, that Messene be inhabited,⁴³ and that the Thebans be regarded as hereditary friends of the King. Having obtained these answers, but declining all gifts other than tokens of gratitude and affection,⁴⁴ he set out for home.

[31] The embassy increased the good will felt for Pelopidas on his return, both because of the resettling of Messene and the autonomy of the other Greeks. But when Alexander of Pherae, reverting to his true nature, devastated several cities in Thessaly and made all the Achaeans of Phthiotis and the people of Magnesia subject to garrisons, her cities, informed that Pelopidas had returned, immediately sent embassies to Thebes requesting a force under his command. When the Thebans eagerly passed the decree, and all preparations were made and the commander about to march out, an eclipse of the sun occurred and darkness enveloped the city in daytime. Seeing everyone distressed by the visitation, Pelopidas did not think he should exert pressure on men who were terrified and despondent, or venture out with seven thousand citizens. Instead, offering the Thessalians only himself, and taking three hundred volunteers from among the foreign horsemen, he set forth, though the seers would not give their permission and the other citizens withheld their help; for the eclipse was thought to be a great sign from heaven and to have reference to a preeminent man. But Pelopidas, angered by the insults he had received, was incensed with Alexander.… And the beauty of the venture particularly encouraged him; for at a time when the Spartans were sending generals and governors to Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, and the Athenians had Alexander as their paymaster and had erected a bronze statue of him as their benefactor,⁴⁵ Pelopidas longed and aspired to show that now only the Thebans were waging war on behalf of peoples oppressed by tyrants, and were overthrowing Greece’s unlawful and violent dynasties.

[32] When he reached Pharsalus and mustered his force,⁴⁶ he marched at once against Alexander. And when Alexander saw that Pelopidas had few Thebans with him, while he himself had more than twice as many hoplites as the Thessalians,⁴⁷ he advanced to the temple of Thetis to meet him. When someone remarked to Pelopidas that the tyrant was coming against him with many men, Pelopidas replied, “So much the better, since there will be more for us to vanquish.”

At the place known as Cynoscephalae, high sloping hills jut out to the center of the plain; both men set out to occupy these with their infantry. Pelopidas sent his horsemen, a large company of brave men, against the enemy horsemen, and they routed and pursued them into the plain. But Alexander occupied the hills first, and when the Thessalian hoplites ascended later and tried to force their way to lofty and impregnable positions, Alexander attacked and killed the foremost, while the rest, sustaining blows, accomplished nothing. Observing this, Pelopidas recalled his horsemen and ordered them to charge at the enemy infantry where it was still in formation, while he himself, grabbing a spear, ran to join those who were fighting on the hills. And by thrusting himself from behind through the ranks to the front, he inspired so much might and zeal in all his men that the enemy thought them transformed in body and soul as they came on. Two or three of their assaults were repulsed by the enemy; but when Pelopidas’ soldiers saw that these men, too, were attacking vigorously and that the cavalry was returning from its pursuit, they yielded, retreating in good order. When Pelopidas, watching from the heights, saw that the entire enemy army, though not yet routed, was now full of disorder and confusion, he stood and looked about, searching for Alexander himself. And when he spotted him at the right wing, encouraging and arraying the mercenaries, his anger overpowered his judgment. Inflamed at the sight and surrendering himself and his command to passion, he leaped out far ahead of the others and charged forward, crying out and challenging the tyrant. Alexander did not receive or await his assault, but retreated and concealed himself among his guards. Of the mercenaries, the first to come to blows were beaten back by Pelopidas, and some were wounded and killed; but most of them, thrusting their spears through his armor from a distance, were wounding him, until the Thessalians, greatly distressed, raced to the rescue from the hills when he had already fallen, and the cavalry, charging up, routed the entire phalanx; they then engaged in a lengthy pursuit and filled the country with corpses, striking down more than three thousand men.

[33] The fact that the Thebans who were present were distressed at the death of Pelopidas, calling him their father and savior and teacher of the greatest and noblest blessings, was not at all surprising; but the Thessalians and allies, after surpassing in their decrees every honor that can properly be bestowed on human excellence, showed even more by their grief how grateful they were to him. They say that those who were present at the engagement neither took off their breastplates nor unbridled their horses nor bound up their wounds when they learned of his death, but, still heated and in their armor, came to the corpse, and as if it were still sentient, heaped enemy spoils around the body, sheared their horses’ manes, and cut off their own hair; and when they departed to their tents, many neither kindled a fire nor took a meal, but silence and dejection overwhelmed the entire camp, as if they had not won the greatest and most conspicuous victory, but had been defeated by the tyrant and enslaved.

[35] Though Pelopidas’ death grieved his allies deeply, it also benefited them. For the Thebans, when they learned of Pelopidas’ death, did not defer their vengeance but marched out in haste with eight thousand hoplites and seven hundred horsemen under the command of Malcitas and Diogeiton. They came upon Alexander weakened and cut off from his forces, and compelled him to restore to the Thessalians the cities he had taken, to release the Magnesians and Achaeans in Phthiotis, to withdraw his garrisons, and to swear to follow the Thebans’ lead against any enemies they commanded him to fight.⁴⁸

1. The varying success with which political leaders get along with one another is a recurring theme of the Lives. The partnership of Epaminondas and Pelopidas at Thebes can be contrasted with the highly contentious and adversarial relations of Athenian contemporaries, as Plutarch goes on to say.

2. Thebes apparently participated in a Spartan attack on Mantinea in 385 BCE, though there is dispute about this, as some historians doubt Plutarch’s statement that Thebes was still allied with Sparta at this time.

3. Agesipolis reigned at Sparta between 393 and 381 BCE, in tandem with the more dominant monarch Agesilaus.

4. Thebes had become split into two factions in the 390s, one leaning toward Sparta as an ally and political model, the other toward Athens. Ismenias and Androcleides led the pro-Athenian faction, which increasingly gained ascendancy over that of the pro-Spartans, led by Leontidas and Archias.

5. The Cadmeia was an elevated and fortified sector of Thebes, a place from which the whole city could easily be controlled. The episode of Phoebidas’ attack on the Cadmeia is also discussed in Agesilaus 23.

6. A religious festival celebrated by the Thebans in summer. Theban women used the Cadmeia for their rituals during the festival, making it all the easier for an invader to capture it. The Spartan attack occurred in 382 BCE.

7. The response of the Spartan government to Phoebidas’ seizure of the Cadmeia, an act it had not authorized, is discussed in more detail in Agesilaus 23–24. Agesilaus mitigated Phoebidas’ punishment and may even have paid his fine (which was enormous).

8. The scene has now shifted to Athens, where Pelopidas (and other prodemocracy leaders) have fled following the seizure of the Cadmeia. The time scale is unclear in Plutarch’s narrative, but the exiles seem to have spent about three years in Athens.

10. The reference is to the fall of the Thirty at Athens in 403 BCE, engineered by Thrasybulus. This was another instance of an oligarchic government, supported by a Spartan garrison, being overthrown by the return of prodemocracy exiles.

11. Plutarch’s vivid account of the liberation of Thebes from Spartan control can be contrasted with that of Xenophon (Hellenica 5.4.2–12), in which Pelopidas is not even mentioned (as an admirer and supporter of Sparta, Xenophon was biased against Pelopidas and the Theban regime of the 370s and 360s BCE). The events described in what follows occurred in late 379. The generous space Plutarch gives to them is explained in his closing comment (chapter 13), that this was the beginning of almost two decades of warfare between Thebes and Sparta.

12. It is not clear why Charon deceives all of the exiles except Pelopidas. Perhaps he thought their morale would be harmed if they thought Archias even suspected their presence in the city.

13. The office of boeotarch combined the duties of military leader, diplomat, and foreign policy strategist. There were varying numbers of boeotarchs, sometimes eleven, at other times seven, elected for one-year terms. The office had been abolished after the Boeotian League was disbanded in 386 BCE, at Sparta’s insistence; so the reestablishment of it here is clearly an effort to throw off all Spartan influence in the region.

18. The erection of a trophy or monument on the field, and the stripping of armor from enemy dead, are both traditional signifiers of victory in battle.

19. A member of Pelopidas’ political faction who took part in the overthrow of the Spartan occupation force.

20. State-supplied training and pay for the men of the Sacred Band essentially made them a professional army corps, a rare thing in the classical Greek world.

21. The terms “lover” and “beloved” translate the Greek terms erastēs and erōmenos, denoting, respectively, the older, pursuing member of a male homosexual couple and the younger, pursued member. The normal pattern for such relationships involved an older man and an adolescent, rather than two men close in age.

22. See Plato’s Phaedrus 255b and Symposium 179a. The passage in the Symposium specifically mentions homosexual desire as a spur toward military bravery. Plato wrote that dialogue at about the same time that Gorgidas formed the Sacred Band, but it is not clear whether either was aware of the other’s ideas.

23. At Chaeronea in 338 BCE, the Macedonians under Philip and Alexander the Great defeated the combined armies of Athens and Thebes. Alexander personally oversaw the complete destruction of the Sacred Band (see Alexander 9).

24. Plutarch’s brief note about the redeployment of the Sacred Band as a unit bespeaks a huge change in battlefield tactics during the fourth century BCE. Greek generals were beginning to think not in terms of maintaining consistent strength along a long battle line but rather of concentrating deadly force at a single point and using it to break the enemy’s formation. Epaminondas (see chapter 23), and later Philip of Macedon and Alexander, were instrumental in developing this new approach.

25. The conflict referred to here resulted from the failure of the peace conference of 371 BCE, when Agesilaus and Epaminondas became embroiled in a dispute (see Agesilaus 28).

26. For boeotarchs, see note 13. A new board of boeotarchs was chosen at the end of December, as related in chapter 24.

30. This same invasion is recounted from the Spartan point of view in Agesilaus 31–33. The Thebans withdrew from Laconia before plundering the city of Sparta itself, for reasons about which Plutarch was unclear (see Agesilaus 32).

31. The Messenians, otherwise known as helots, had been enslaved by the Spartans for centuries. Their liberation by the Thebans was a blow aimed at the very heart of the Spartan system, by which helot agricultural labor freed Spartan citizens to train for war. Ithome was an easily defensible piece of high ground in central Messenia.

32. According to the peace conference arrangements of 371 BCE, the Athenians, as well as all other signatories, were obliged to support Sparta after it had come under attack by Thebes.

33. It is not surprising that Plutarch gives short shrift to this trial, since he reports elsewhere (Moralia 540d) that Pelopidas did himself no credit by weeping publicly and begging for mercy.

34. Alexander of Pherae was a Thessalian Greek who had usurped the office of tagos, the headship of the Thessalian League, and begun behaving cruelly and despotically (see chapter 29). He is not to be confused with Alexander the Great of Macedon, the subject of Alexander in this volume.

35. A dynastic dispute between Alexander II of Macedon (a different ruler from either Alexander of Pherae or Alexander the Great) and his brother-in-law Ptolemy (not the famous Ptolemy who served under Alexander the Great).

36. Philip II of Macedon would, two decades after this time, defeat the combined armies of Thebes and Athens at the battle of Chaeronea, together with his son Alexander the Great. As Plutarch here points out, Philip had learned while living at Thebes how to train and lead a first-rate army, techniques he later brought back to Macedonia and put into practice.

38. “To have the same enemies and friends” is a standard Greek formula for alliance.

39. The Thessalian usurper, Alexander of Pherae, not Alexander II of Macedon (now dead).

40. For dramatic effect, Plutarch quotes a line from some lost Greek tragedy. It is a line he particularly liked, since he also quoted it to describe Alcibiades humbled by his love of Socrates (see Alcibiades 4).

41. The Great King (Artaxerxes, ruler of the Achaemenid Persian empire) had for a long time now been arbitrating Greek disputes and treaty arrangements. In 367 BCE the Spartans and Athenians enlisted his help for yet another attempt at a general peace treaty to settle European Greek affairs. Thebes, naturally, felt isolated by such a move and tried to insert itself into the negotiations. The parley took place at Susa in what is now Iran. (As always in this volume, “King” when capitalized refers to the Great King of Persia.)

43. That is, that the new settlement established by the Thebans in Messenia, a home for the newly liberated helots, could continue to exist.

44. The Great King was fantastically wealthy, and Greek visitors to his court were often reviled by other Greeks for accepting his gifts.

45. The Athenians, less concerned than the Thebans about Alexander’s tyrannical ways, had concluded an alliance with him in 368 BCE. The reference in the previous clause is probably to Dionysius I of Syracuse, though he was succeeded at about this time by his son, Dionysius II. Both men were aggressive, expansionist rulers with whom the Spartans maintained friendly relations.

46. Pelopidas had increased his numbers with recruits from the Thessalians. Though he was still outnumbered, he had far more troops than his original corps of three hundred; otherwise, his invasion would have been suicidal.

47. That is, the Thessalian forces fighting on Pelopidas’ side. Alexander was largely supported by hired mercenaries.

48. As Plutarch goes on to relate, shortly after this, Alexander of Pherae was assassinated by his wife.