- published: 01 Mar 2014
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The Battle of Leuctra (or Leuktra) was a battle fought on July 6, 371 BC, between the Boeotians led by Thebans and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the neighbourhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae. Theban victory shattered Sparta’s immense influence over the Greek peninsula which Sparta had gained since its victory in the Peloponnesian War.
In 379 BC the newly established democracy of Thebes had elected 4 Boeotarchs, the traditional title of the generals of the Boeotian League and so proclaimed their intention of reconstituting the Peloponesian League that Sparta had disbanded. During this period Thebes had had an ally in Athens but Athens was far from happy with the treatment Plataea had received. When it came to swearing an oath to respect the treaty, Sparta swore on behalf of herself and her allies. When Epaminondas came forward asking to swear on behalf of the whole Boeotian League, the Spartans refused saying he could swear as the representative of Thebes or not at all. This Epaminondas refused. (According to Xenophon, the Thebans signed as "the Thebans", and asked the next day to change their signature to "the Boeotians", but the Spartan king, Agesilaus, would not allow it.) In this Sparta saw an opportunity to reassert their shaky authority in central Greece. Hence, they ordered the Spartan king, Cleombrotus I, to march to war from Phocis.
Leuctra (Greek: Λεῦκτρα) was a village in ancient Greece, in Boeotia, seven miles southwest of Thebes. It is primarily known today as the site of the important 371 BC Battle of Leuctra in which the Thebans, under Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. The Spartan hegemony was fallen after that battle, and the Thebans became a new power within the Hellenic world, until the rise of Macedon.
A modern Greek village (whose name is often transcribed "Lefktra" in accordance with modern Greek pronunciation) is now part of the municipality of Plataies.
Lefktra is a traditional Greek village of Central Greece (Roumeli), located in the foothill of Kithairon (300 meters attribute). The population of Lefktra is 1,300 people nowadays. Thebes (the capital town of county Thivon) is sixteen kilometers away and Athens 70 km away, from the old national road. There are bus lines from Thebes to Lefktra and vice versa daily, and from Athens to Lefktra at the weekends.
Residents' main occupations are agriculture and stockbreeding.