[The following takes place during a period of Greek history known as the Theban Hegemony, spanning roughly from 371 to 362 BCE.]
When he reached Tegea with his allies, he discovered that the Lacedaemonians had arrived at Mantinea with their whole army, and had gathered their allies in order to bring the Thebans to battle. He thereupon ordered his troops to take their evening meal at an early hour, and a little while after dark he led them out on the pretext that he was anxious to occupy some points of vantage before the coming battle. He gave this impression to the rank and file, but then continued his advance and made straight for Sparta, which he reached at about the third hour of the day. He achieved complete surprise, and finding no one to defend the city, he forced his way right up to the market-place and occupied all that quarter which faces the river.
But here he encountered a stroke of bad luck. A deserter had escaped to Mantinea during the night and had informed King Agesilaus of what was happening, so that a Spartan relief force arrived just as the city was about to be occupied, and so frustrated Epaminondas’ hopes.
However, after giving his men their morning meal on the banks of Eurotas, and allowing them a short rest to recover their strength after their hard march, he set off back at once by the same road, for he reckoned that since the Lacedaemonians and their allies had hurried to the rescue of Sparta, Mantinea would now be left without defenders in its turn, and this proved to be the case.
So he called upon the Thebans to make yet another effort, and pressing ahead by forced marches through the night, he reached Mantinea by about midday and found it almost completely undefended. But just then the Athenians, who were vigorously supporting the Lacedaemonians [AKA Spartans] in their struggle against the Thebans, arrived to help the former, in accordance with the terms of their treaty. And so at the very moment when the vanguard of the Theban army reached the temple of Poseidon, which is a little under a mile from the city, it so happened that the Athenians appeared as if by design on the hill which overlooks Mantinea. When they saw these troops, the few Maninteans who had been left behind summoned up enough courage to man the walls and drive off the Theban attack.
Source:
Polybius, et al. “Affairs in Italy.” The Rise of the Roman Empire. Penguin, 2003. 392-93. Print.
Further Reading:
Epaminondas (Greek: Ἐπαμεινώνδας, Epameinondas)
Agesilaus II (Greek: Ἀγησίλαος Agesilaos)
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