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96-580: Although initially successful in resisting Spartan influence in Arcadia, the league was soon divided in the power struggles that engulfed Greece in the 4th century BC. Thebes , which had been instrumental in the founding of the league, soon came into conflict with Mantinea. At the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) , the cities of the league fought against each other, Mantinea fighting alongside Sparta and Athens , while Tegea and others sided with Thebes. Beginning in

192-606: A strategos , based on the various Thracian tribes and subtribes. At the time of the kingdom's annexation into the Roman Empire in 46 AD, there were 50 such districts, which were initially retained in the new Roman province , and only gradually fell out of use. It was not until c. 136 that the last of them were abolished. Under the Roman Republic and later through the Principate , Greek historians often used

288-655: A Jewish population of 2,000, the largest Jewish community in any Byzantine city of the 12th century, except for Constantinople. Though severely plundered by the Normans in 1146, Thebes quickly recovered its prosperity and continued to grow rapidly until its conquest by the Latins of the Fourth Crusade in 1205. Thanks to its wealth, the city was selected by the Frankish dynasty de la Roche as its capital, before it

384-458: A Theban victory, was followed by a Common Peace which brought peace to the region for a time. Although it never regained the prominence it had held during the 360s BC, an Arcadian league in some form—whether a continuation or a recreation of the original league is unclear—continued to exist in the years after the Battle of Mantinea. Various references indicate that the league endured at least into

480-434: A close eye on their strategoi . Like other magistrates, at the end of their term of office they were subject to euthyna and in addition there was a vote in the ekklesia during every prytany on the question whether they were performing their duties well. If the vote went against anyone, he was deposed and as a rule tried by jury. Pericles himself in 430 was removed from office as strategos and fined, and in 406 six of

576-540: A contingent of 400 was sent to Thermopylae and remained there with Leonidas before being defeated alongside the Spartans, the governing aristocracy soon after joined King Xerxes I of Persia with great readiness and fought zealously on his behalf at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks subsequently punished Thebes by depriving it of the presidency of the Boeotian League and an attempt by

672-515: A democratic constitution was set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta, the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas , proved itself formidable (see also: Sacred Band of Thebes ). Years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 BC in a remarkable victory over the Spartans at Leuctra . The winners were hailed throughout Greece as champions of

768-444: A democratic constitution, although how widely the franchise was extended is unclear. The body of voting citizens was known as the myrioi , or "ten thousand." If this number is taken as a rough estimate of the actual size of the body, the body would have consisted only of citizens of hoplite class or higher—the upper middle class and up. If, on the other hand, the word is interpreted in its figurative meaning of "a very large number," it

864-622: A few official duties, his legal or constitutional position is not very clear. This position was featured in Orson Scott Card 's novel Ender's Game . In the novel, the position of Strategos was charged with overall command of solar system defense. The Strategos, along with the positions of Polemarch (responsible for the International Fleet of space warships), and the Hegemon (the political leader of Earth, rather like

960-538: A hostage, and had learnt much of the art of war from Pelopidas . Philip had honoured this fact, always seeking alliances with the Boeotians, even in the lead-up to Chaeronea. Thebes was also revered as the most ancient of Greek cities, with a history of over 1,000 years. Plutarch relates that, during his later conquests, whenever Alexander came across a former Theban, he would attempt to redress his destruction of Thebes with favours to that individual. Following Alexander

1056-449: A power vacuum throughout much of Greece, which contributed, in part, to Thebes' besiegement by Demetrius Poliorcetes in 293 BC, and again after a revolt in 292 BC . This last siege was difficult and Demetrius was wounded, but finally he managed to break down the walls and to take the city once more, treating it mildly despite its fierce resistance. The city recovered its autonomy from Demetrius in 287 BC, and became allied with Lysimachus ,

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1152-611: A severe defeat on an invading force of Athenians at the Battle of Delium , and for the first time displayed the effects of that firm military organization that eventually raised them to predominant power in Greece. After the downfall of Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Thebans, having learned that Sparta intended to protect the states that Thebes desired to annex, broke off the alliance. In 404 BC, they had urged

1248-492: A special Athenian embassy, led by Phocion , an opponent of the anti-Macedonian faction, was able to persuade Alexander to give up his demands for the exile of leaders of the anti-Macedonian party, and most particularly Demosthenes and not sell the people into slavery. Ancient writings tend to treat Alexander's destruction of Thebes as excessive. Plutarch, however, writes that Alexander grieved after his excess, granting them any request of favors, and advising they pay attention to

1344-565: A stronger version of the Secretary-General of the United Nations ), was one of the three most powerful people alive. During an earlier war described in the novel, because of a belief in their inherent luck and brilliance—specifically, that no Jewish general had ever lost a war—all three positions were filled with Jewish people: an American Jew as Hegemon, an Israeli Jew as Strategos, and a Russian Jew as Polemarch. The defeat of

1440-730: A working committee of the Boule . The league created the Epariti , a military unit with the role to preserve the independence of the Arcadian towns and defend the common interests of the league. They were 5,000 and were paid by the state. After its establishment in 370 BC, the Arcadian League took an active role in the politics of the Peloponnese. Arcadian soldiers campaigned with a Theban army during Epaminondas's second invasion of

1536-518: Is a city in Boeotia , Central Greece , and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major center for the area along with Livadeia and Tanagra . It played an important role in Greek myths , as the site of the stories of Cadmus , Oedipus , Dionysus , Heracles and others. One myth had the city founded by Agenor , which gave rise to

1632-774: Is called taxíarchos , after a táxis (in modern usage taxiarchía ), which means brigade. The ranks of antistrátigos and ypostrátigos are also used by the Hellenic Police (and the Greek Gendarmerie before), the Greek Fire Service and the Cypriot National Guard , which lack the grade of full stratigós . The oldest use of the term strategos in fiction may be found in the Callirhoe of Chariton of Aphrodisias which

1728-613: Is dated in the first century A.D. There, Hermocrates is the "strategos" of Syracuse and the father of Callirhoe, living in the 5th century B.C. In fact, he was a historical person, the victor over the Athenians in 413 B.C., an event which stopped Athenian expansion to the West. His role as a character in the novel is rather limited. Although his position in Syracuse gives Callirhoe a background, and he gives consent to her marriage and fulfills

1824-516: Is no Athenian variant of them, as they are exclusively Spartan. They are powerful units found in forts and camps, second in power only to that of the Polemarch . They wield heavy blades and shield. In Xenoblade Chronicles 3 , Strategos is the name of an optional character class, given by the character Isurd. The main protagonist in David Gemmell 's Lion of Macedon and Dark Prince ,

1920-473: Is possible that the body may have been much larger, possibly including all free males. A smaller council, the Boule , was composed of an unknown number of representatives from the various cities of the federation. This council probably handled administrative matters, and, if it served a similar function to the council of the same name at Athens, may have prepared resolutions to be debated by the myrioi . Finally, 50 officials known as demiourgoi probably served as

2016-630: Is used in Greek to mean military general . In the Hellenistic world and the Eastern Roman Empire the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic Army , it is the highest officer rank. Strategos is a compound of two Greek words: stratos and agos . Stratos (στρατός) means "army", literally "that which is spread out", coming from the proto-Indo-European root *stere- "to spread". Agos (ἀγός) means "leader", from agein (ἄγειν) "to lead", from

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2112-402: Is −7.9 °C (17.8 °F), recorded on 10 January 2017. In contrast, the city can be very hot in the summer during heat waves , having reached a record high of 44.5 °C (112.1 °F) on 3 August 2021. Strategos Strategos , plural strategoi , Latinized strategus , ( Greek : στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί ; Doric Greek : στραταγός, stratagos ; meaning "army leader")

2208-399: The polemarchos , who had hitherto been the senior military commander. At the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC (according to Herodotus ) they decided strategy by majority vote, and each held the presidency in daily rotation. At this date the polemarchos had a casting vote , and one view among modern scholars is that he was the commander-in-chief; but from 486 onwards the polemarchos , like

2304-563: The Athens–Thessaloniki railway connect Thebes with Athens and northern Greece. The municipality of Thebes covers an area of 830.112 km (320.508 sq mi), the municipal unit of Thebes 321.015 km (123.945 sq mi) and the community 143.889 km (55.556 sq mi). According to the nearby weather station of Aliartos , Thebes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ) with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. During

2400-491: The Battle of Mantinea (418 BC) . After the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, Sparta, under king Agesilaus , took several opportunities over the ensuing years to discipline a number of restive allies. In 385 BC, the Spartans attacked Mantinea and forced the city to dissolve, splitting it into five separate villages, each of which was governed by a Spartan-backed oligarchy . Oligarchic governments throughout

2496-599: The Boeotian League and the Thessalian League had different titles, Boeotarch and Tagus respectively. In the Hellenistic empires of the Diadochi , notably Lagid Egypt , for which most details are known, strategos became a gubernatorial office combining civil with military duties. In Egypt, the strategoi were originally responsible for the Greek military colonists ( klerouchoi ) established in

2592-598: The Formics by half- Māori Mazer Rackham changed this position. Bean (Julian Delphiki) was given the title of Strategos by Peter Wiggin after he assumed the role of Hegemon. The prequel novel Earth Awakens establishes that the position of Strategos was named after the Strategoi, a group of international military commanders in charge of the Mobile Operations Police, which served as the model for

2688-667: The Latin Archbishop of Thebes , Simon Atumano . Latin hegemony in Thebes lasted to 1458, when the Ottomans captured it. The Ottomans renamed Thebes "İstefe" and managed it until the Greek War of Independence (1821, nominally to 1832) except for a Venetian interlude between 1687 and 1699. In the modern Greek State, Thebes was the capital of the prefecture of Boeotia until the late 19th century, when Livadeia became

2784-551: The Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes I . Theban forces under the command of Epaminondas ended Spartan hegemony at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, with the Sacred Band of Thebes , an elite military unit of male lovers, celebrated as instrumental there. Macedonia would rise in power at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC , bringing decisive victory to Philip II over an alliance of Thebes and Athens. Thebes

2880-461: The Roman period , where the epistrategos was subdivided in three to four smaller offices, and the procurator ad epistrategiam was placed in charge of the strategoi . The office largely retained its Ptolemaic functions and continued to be staffed by the Greek population of the country. The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace was also divided into strategiai ('generalships'), each headed by

2976-428: The dative - locative case), 𐀳𐀣𐀆 , te-qa-de , for * Tʰēgʷasde ( Θήβασδε , Thēbasde , i.e. "to Thebes"), and 𐀳𐀣𐀊 , te-qa-ja , for * Tʰēgʷaja ( Θηβαία , Thēbaia , i.e. "Theban woman"). * Tʰēgʷai was one of the first Greek communities to be drawn together within a fortified city, and that it owed its importance in prehistoric days—as later—to its military strength. Deger-Jalkotzy claimed that

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3072-457: The monarchy , but has not been retained by the current Third Hellenic Republic . Under the monarchy, the rank of full stratigós in active service was reserved for the King and a few other members of the royal family, with very few retired career officers promoted to the rank as an honorary rank. Since c.  1970 , in accordance with NATO practice for the member nations' chiefs of defence ,

3168-621: The strategos epi tas symmorias ( στρατηγὸς ἐπὶ τὰς συμμορίας ), responsible for the equipment of the warships. This was generalized in Hellenistic times, when each strategos was given specific duties. In the Roman Imperial period , the strategos epi ta hopla ( στρατηγὸς ἐπὶ τὰ ὅπλα ) became the most prominent magistrate in Athens. The other generals had disappeared by the end of the first century BC. The Athenian people kept

3264-431: The tyrant of that city. A Theban army had invaded the Peloponnese in 366 BC, but the purpose of that expedition was to establish Achaea as a counterweight to Arcadian influence; although this effort was largely a failure, it antagonized leading Arcadians. Accordingly, in that same year, Lycomedes persuaded the myrioi to make an alliance with Athens; the Athenians, although reluctant to ally with enemies of their allies

3360-595: The (now somewhat obscure) name "Agenorids" to denote Thebans. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age . Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of ancient Athens , and sided with

3456-648: The 3rd century BC. According to an obscure passage in Pausanias, the Arcadian League may have experienced a short period of revival between 250 and 245 BC, after the liberation of Megalopolis from tyranny. The date of its final disappearance is uncertain, but at the latest it had vanished by the 230s BC, as the Arcadian cities joined the Achaean League . Thebes, Greece Thebes ( / ˈ θ iː b z / ; Greek : Θήβα , Thíva [ˈθiva] ; Ancient Greek : Θῆβαι , Thêbai [tʰɛ̂ːbai̯] )

3552-509: The 6th century BC and continuing through the 5th and early 4th centuries, Sparta dominated the Peloponnese, and compelled its neighbors to join its Peloponnesian League and fight in its wars. This dominance naturally aroused anger amongst these neighboring states, and Sparta's allies proved themselves willing to rise up against their overlord on several occasions. In 418 BC, Mantinea joined a league of Peloponnesian democratic states that briefly pursued an anti-Spartan policy before being defeated at

3648-463: The Arcadians soon obtained the assistance they sought. A massive Boeotian army, led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas , was dispatched to the Peloponnese. Reaching Arcadia, this army was swelled to some 50,000 to 70,000 men by the arrival of Argive , Elean , and Arcadian forces. For the Spartans to challenge such a massive force in the field would have been little short of suicidal; accordingly, over

3744-882: The Evangelist is also in Thebes and contains Luke's tomb and relics. Modern Thebes is the largest town of the regional unit of Boeotia. In 2011, as a consequence of the Kallikratis reform , Thebes was merged with Plataies , Thisvi , and Vagia to form a larger municipality , which retained the name Thebes. The other three became units of the larger municipality. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to Mycenaean times containing weapons, ivory, and tablets written in Linear B . Its attested name forms and relevant terms on tablets found locally or elsewhere include 𐀳𐀣𐀂 , te-qa-i , understood to be read as * Tʰēgʷai̮s (Ancient Greek: Θήβαις , Thēbais , i.e. "at Thebes", Thebes in

3840-550: The Great while he was campaigning in the north was punished by Alexander and his Greek allies with the destruction of the city (except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar and the temples), and its territory divided between the other Boeotian cities. Moreover, the Thebans themselves were sold into slavery . Alexander spared only priests, leaders of the pro-Macedonian party and descendants of Pindar. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission. According to Plutarch,

3936-505: The Great's death in 323 BC, Thebes was re-established in 315 BC by Cassander , one of the diadochi who was ruling in Greece. In restoring Thebes, Cassander sought to rectify the perceived wrongs of Alexander – a gesture of generosity that earned him much goodwill throughout Greece. In addition to currying favor with the Athenians and many of the Peloponnesian states, Cassander's restoration of Thebes provided him with loyal allies in

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4032-588: The Lacedaemonians at the misfortune of the Arcadians – so vexed had they become by this time at their presumption." After this defeat, the Arcadians hurried the completion of the fortifications at Megalopolis to prevent further Spartan incursions. The league's military fortunes revived over the next few years, however, and in 365 BC the league fought and won a war against Elis . In 364 BC, the Arcadian strategos Aeneas of Stymphalos intervened in Sicyon , expelling

4128-440: The Peloponnese in 369 BC, and continued to campaign in 368 BC, defeating a joint Athenian and Corinthian force, then raiding successfully into Spartan territory, but in the summer of 368 BC, a Spartan force invaded Arcadia and wiped out an Arcadian force without suffering a single casualty, in what became known as the "tearless battle." Xenophon asserts that the Arcadians' allies, the Thebans and Eleans, "were almost as well pleased as

4224-515: The Spartans to expel it from the Delphic amphictyony was only frustrated by the intercession of Athens. In 457 BC Sparta , needing a counterpoise against Athens in central Greece, reversed her policy and reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. The great citadel of Cadmea served this purpose well by holding out as a base of resistance when the Athenians overran and occupied the rest of

4320-412: The Spartans, could not pass up such a chance to undermine Theban influence. By 362 BC, the question of whether to continue as an ally of Thebes had become so pressing as to divide the Arcadian League, with Mantinea siding with Sparta and Athens while Tegea and Megalopolis remained loyal to Thebes. Thus, the cities of the league fought on different sides at the Battle of Mantinea in that year. That battle,

4416-456: The Spartans. The result of the war was especially disastrous to Thebes, as the general settlement of 387 BC stipulated the complete autonomy of all Greek towns and so withdrew the other Boeotians from its political control. Its power was further curtailed in 382 BC, when a Spartan force occupied the citadel by a treacherous coup de main . Three years later, the Spartan garrison was expelled and

4512-483: The Theban exiles who returned to resettle the site. Cassander's plan for rebuilding Thebes called for the various Greek city-states to provide skilled labor and manpower, and ultimately it proved successful. The Athenians, for example, rebuilt much of Thebes' wall. Major contributions were sent from Megalopolis , Messene , and as far away as Sicily and Italy. Despite the restoration, Thebes never regained its former prominence. The death of Cassander in 297 BC created

4608-428: The aid of Mantinean troops, and the formation of the league proceeded. A Spartan army under Agesilaus was sent to attempt to restore the oligarchs, but achieved nothing. After driving off the Spartans, the Arcadians began work on the new city of Megalopolis , a strongly fortified capital city positioned to serve as a bulwark against Sparta. Although this first attempt to break up the new league had ended without success,

4704-522: The balance of power against its ally, preventing the formation of a Theban empire. With the death of Epaminondas at the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) , the city sank again to the position of a secondary power. In the Third Sacred War (356–346 BC) with its neighbor Phocis , Thebes lost its predominance in central Greece. By asking Philip II of Macedon to crush the Phocians, Thebes extended

4800-454: The battlefield where the Battle of Plataea took place. The proximity to other, more famous travel destinations, like Athens and Chalkis , and the undeveloped archaeological sites have kept the tourist numbers low. A notable portion of the inhabitants of Thebes are Arvanites . The record of the earliest days of Thebes was preserved among the Greeks in an abundant mass of legends that rival

4896-430: The capital. Today, Thebes is a bustling market town , known for its many products and wares. Until the 1980s, it had a flourishing agrarian production with some industrial complexes. However, during the late 1980s and 1990s the bulk of industry moved further south, closer to Athens . Tourism in the area is based mainly in Thebes and the surrounding villages, where many places of interest related to antiquity exist such as

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4992-428: The city served as a regional administrative center, home to a local elite, a major producer of silk textiles, and an important regional market, all of which contributed to urban and demographic growth. Although there is no specific data on Thebes' overall population, estimates suggest it housed between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants, typical for a major Byzantine provincial city. Benjamin of Tudela reported that Thebes had

5088-406: The civil kritai ("judges"). Senior military leadership also devolved on the hands of a new class of officers titled doukes or katepano , who were placed in control of regional commands combining several themes. By the 13th century, the term strategos had reverted to the generic sense of "general", devoid of any specific technical meaning. The Byzantines also used a number of variations of

5184-423: The civil governance of the theme. The first themes were few and very large, and in the 8th century, the provincial strategoi were in constant antagonism with the emperor at Constantinople , rising often in rebellion against him. In response, the themes were progressively split up and the number of strategoi increased, diluting their power. This process was furthered by the conquests of the 10th century, which saw

5280-466: The civilian rhetores in the later 5th century, the strategoi were limited to their military duties. Originally, the strategoi were appointed ad hoc to various assignments. On campaign, several—usually up to three— strategoi might be placed jointly in command. Unlike other Greek states, where the nauarchos commanded the navy, the Athenian strategoi held command both at sea and on land. From

5376-437: The complete destruction of Athens; yet, in 403 BC, they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. At the Battle of Haliartus (395 BC) and the Battle of Coronea (394 BC), they again proved their rising military capacity by standing their ground against

5472-415: The country (457–447 BC). In the Peloponnesian War , the Thebans, embittered by the support that Athens gave to the smaller Boeotian towns, and especially to Plataea, which they vainly attempted to reduce in 431 BC, were firm allies of Sparta, which in turn helped them to besiege Plataea and allowed them to destroy the town after its capture in 427 BC. In 424 BC, at the head of the Boeotian levy, they inflicted

5568-491: The country. Quickly, they assumed a role in the administration alongside the nomarches , the governor of each of the country's nomes , and the oikonomos , in charge of fiscal affairs. Already by the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus ( r.  283–246 BC), the strategos was the head of the provincial administration, while conversely his military role declined, as the klerouchoi were progressively demilitarized. Ptolemy V Epiphanes (r. 204–181 BC) established

5664-468: The eight strategoi who commanded the fleet at the Battle of Arginusae were all removed from office and condemned to death. The title of strategos appears for a number of other Greek states in the Classical period, but it is often unclear whether this refers to an actual office, or is used as a generic term for military commander. The strategos as an office is attested at least for Syracuse from

5760-641: The establishment of several new and smaller frontier themes: while in c. 842 the Taktikon Uspensky lists 18 strategoi , the Escorial Taktikon , written c. 971–975, lists almost 90. Throughout the middle Byzantine period (7th–12th centuries), the strategos of the Anatolic theme enjoyed precedence over the others and constituted one of the highest offices of the state, and one of the few from which eunuchs were specifically barred. At

5856-508: The former's power within dangerous proximity to its frontiers. The revulsion of popular feeling in Thebes was expressed in 338 BC by the orator Demosthenes , who persuaded Thebes to join Athens in a final attempt to bar Philip's advance on Attica. The Theban contingent lost the decisive battle of Chaeronea and along with it every hope of reassuming control over Greece. Philip was content to deprive Thebes of its dominion over Boeotia; but an unsuccessful revolt in 335 BC against his son Alexander

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5952-579: The invasion of Asia, and that if he failed, Thebes might once again become the ruling city-state. Although Thebes had traditionally been antagonistic to whichever state led the Greek world, siding with the Persians when they invaded against the Athenian-Spartan alliance, siding with Sparta when Athens seemed omnipotent, and famously derailing the Spartan invasion of Persia by Agesilaus . Alexander's father Philip had been raised in Thebes, albeit as

6048-605: The king of Thrace, and the Aetolian League . After the dissolution of the Boeotian League after the Achaean War of 146 BC, Thebes came under Roman rule. In 27 BC, the city was included in the newly established Province of Achaia. Thebes was assigned to the Eastern Roman Empire after the imperial division of 395. During the early Byzantine period it served as a place of refuge against foreign invaders. In

6144-529: The late 5th century BC, Erythrae , and in the koinon of the Arcadians in the 360s BC. The title of strategos autokrator was also used for generals with broad powers, but the extent and nature of these powers was granted on an ad hoc basis. Thus Philip II of Macedon was elected as strategos autokrator (commander-in-chief with full powers) of the League of Corinth . Under Philip II of Macedon ,

6240-519: The late 6th century BC, the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians , who helped the small village of Plataea to maintain its independence against them, and in 506 BC repelled an inroad into Attica. The aversion to Athens best serves to explain the apparently unpatriotic attitude which Thebes displayed during the Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). Though

6336-660: The late 7th century, Justinian II created the Theme of Hellas with Thebes as the capital. The Holy church of Luke the Evangelist was built around the 10th century to commemorate the saint's tomb and relics at the location of his death. During the Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927 , Thebes was sacked by Simeon I of Bulgaria . From the 10th century, Thebes became a centre of the new silk trade, its silk workshops boosted by imports of soaps and dyes from Athens. The growth of this trade in Thebes continued to such an extent that by

6432-565: The late LHIIIB, according to Palaima, * Tʰēgʷai was able to pull resources from Lamos near Mount Helicon , and from Karystos and Amarynthos on the Greek side of the isle of Euboia . As attested already in Homer 's Iliad , Thebes was often called "Seven-Gated Thebes" (Θῆβαι ἑπτάπυλοι, Thebai heptapyloi ) ( Iliad , IV.406) to distinguish it from " Hundred-Gated Thebes " (Θῆβαι ἑκατόμπυλοι, Thebai hekatompyloi ) in Egypt ( Iliad , IX.383). In

6528-441: The league. Cities entering the Arcadian league seem to have surrendered a large degree of their autonomy to the federal government. The league maintained a standing army, and a section of the new capital at Megalopolis was filled with federal buildings and barracks for that army. The league conducted a unified foreign policy, led by a chief executive or executives—which is not clear—holding the title of strategos . The league had

6624-580: The loosest resemblance to what they originally meant. The position of 'Strategos' was also featured in the English version of the Sunrise anime The Vision of Escaflowne ; the character Folken occupied the position when he served the Zaibach empire. It is also used in the webcomic Ava's Demon for Strategos Six. The term is also used in the 2018 Ubisoft video game Assassin's Creed Odyssey . There

6720-473: The middle of the 12th century, the city had become the biggest producer of silks in the entire Byzantine empire, surpassing even the Byzantine capital, Constantinople . The women of Thebes were famed for their skills at weaving. Theban silk was prized above all others during this period, both for its quality and its excellent reputation. Benjamin of Tudela visited Thebes around 1161 or 1162. At that time,

6816-409: The middle of the 4th century, the strategoi increasingly were given specific assignments, such as the strategos epi ten choran ( στρατηγὸς ἐπὶ τὴν χώραν ) for the defence of Attica ; the strategos epi tous hoplitas ( στρατηγὸς ἐπὶ τοὺς ὁπλίτας ), in charge of expeditions abroad; the two strategoi epi ton Peiraia ( στρατηγοὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ ), responsible for the war harbour of Piraeus ; and

6912-573: The myths of Troy in their wide ramification and the influence that they exerted on the literature of the classical age. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished: The Greeks attributed the foundation of Thebes to Cadmus, a Phoenician king from Tyre (now in Lebanon) and the brother of Queen Europa . Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building the Acropolis , which

7008-600: The newly created International Fleet. The first Strategos was Lieutenant Colonel Yulian Robinov of the Russian Ministry of Defense, who served as the chair of the Strategoi during the First Invasion. The dystopian slave-empire of the Draka , in the series of books by S. M. Stirling , also uses "Strategos" together with many other military ranks and terms drawn from Classical Antiquity , though often with only

7104-501: The next several months, Epaminondas twice led the army south into Spartan territory, first to ravage Laconia and then to liberate Messenia . This latter action, by depriving Sparta of much of her territory and placing a new hostile state on her borders, essentially ended any serious threat to the Arcadians. As the Theban army returned north, the Arcadians were free to go on with organizing their league without fear of Spartan interference. By 369 BC, most if not all Arcadian states had joined

7200-420: The number of the tribes was increased, the number of strategoi remained constant at ten. In the early part of the 5th century, several strategoi combined their military office with a political role, with Themistocles , Aristides , Cimon , or Pericles among the most notable; nevertheless their power derived not from their office, but from their own personal political charisma. As political power passed to

7296-495: The office of epistrategos ( ἐπιστράτηγος , lit.   ' over-general ' ) to oversee the individual strategoi . The latter had become solely civilian officials, combining the role of the nomarches and the oikonomos , while the epistrategos retained powers of military command. In addition, hypostrategoi (sing. hypostrategos , ὐποστράτηγος , 'under-general') could be appointed as subordinates. The Ptolemaic administrative system survived into

7392-589: The oppressed. They carried their arms into Peloponnesus and at the head of a large coalition, permanently crippled the power of Sparta, in part by freeing many helot slaves, the basis of the Spartan economy. Similar expeditions were sent to Thessaly and Macedon to regulate the affairs of those regions. The predominance of Thebes was short-lived, as the states that it protected refused to subject themselves permanently to its control. Thebes renewed its rivalry with Athens, which had joined with them in 395 BC in fear of Sparta, but since 387 BC had endeavoured to maintain

7488-462: The other archontes , was appointed by lot. The annual election of the strategoi was held in the spring, and their term of office coincided with the ordinary Athenian year, from midsummer to midsummer. If a strategos died or was dismissed from office, a by-election might be held to replace him. The strict adherence to the principle of a strategos from each tribe lasted until c.  440 BC , after which two strategoi could be selected from

7584-505: The pelasgic root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move". In its most famous attestation, in Classical Athens , the office of strategos existed already in the 6th century BC, but it was only with the reforms of Cleisthenes in 501 BC that it assumed its most recognizable form: Cleisthenes instituted a board of ten strategoi who were elected annually, one from each tribe ( phyle ). The ten were of equal status, and replaced

7680-635: The rank is held in active service by the Chief of the General Staff of National Defence , when he is an Army officer, and is granted to the retiring Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff . All but one of the other Greek general officer ranks are derivations of this word: antistrátigos (Antistrategos) and ypostrátigos (Hypostrategos), for Lieutenant General and Major General , respectively. A Brigadier General however

7776-502: The rest of Arcadia also received Spartan support. The Spartan military dominance that enabled this interference in Arcadian affairs was suddenly ended in 371 BC, when Epaminondas and his Boeotian army decisively defeated a Spartan army at Leuctra , killing a sizable portion of the elite Spartiate class. This development upset the balance of power in the Peloponnese and opened new possibilities for action by anti-Spartan factions. The first sign of rebellious activity in Arcadia came in

7872-639: The same time, the Eastern (Anatolian) themes were senior to the Western (European) ones. This distinction was especially marked in the pay of their presiding strategoi : while those of the Eastern themes received their salary directly from the state treasury, their counterparts in the West had to raise their—markedly lower—pay from the proceeds of their provinces. During the 11th century, the strategoi were gradually confined to their military duties, their fiscal and administrative responsibilities being taken over by

7968-410: The same tribe and another tribe be left without its own strategos , perhaps because no suitable candidate might be available. This system continued at least until c.  356/7 BC , but by the time Aristotle wrote his Constitution of the Athenians in c.  330 BC , the appointments were made without any reference to tribal affiliation. Hence, during the Hellenistic period , although

8064-453: The spring of 370 BC, when the city of Mantinea began reassembling from the villages it had been divided into, under democratic leadership. Shortly after this, a number of Arcadian communities began to assemble into a league for mutual protection against Sparta, an effort led by Lycomedes , a Mantinean. Substantial resistance was encountered at Tegea , where an oligarchic government was in power, but Tegean democrats overthrew this government with

8160-545: The statue base from Kom el-Hetan in Amenhotep III 's kingdom ( LHIII A:1) mentions a name similar to Thebes, spelled out quasi-syllabically in hieroglyphs as d-q-e-i-s , and considered to be one of four tj-n3-jj ( Danaan ?) kingdoms worthy of note (alongside Knossos and Mycenae). * Tʰēgʷai in LHIIIB lost contact with Egypt but gained it with "Miletus" ( Hittite : Milawata ) and "Cyprus" (Hittite: Alashija ). In

8256-698: The term strategos when referring to the Roman political/military office of praetor . Such a use can be found in the New Testament : Acts of the Apostles 16:20 refers to the magistrates of Philippi as strategoi . Correspondingly, antistrategos ( ἀντιστράτηγος , 'vice-general') was used to refer to the office of propraetor . The term continued in use in the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire . Initially,

8352-514: The term hypostrategos ( ὐποστράτηγος , "under-general") denoted a second-in-command, effectively a lieutenant general . The city of Messina in Sicily also had a Strategos. In 1345 Orlando d'Aragona , illegitimate son of Frederick II of Sicily , held that position. In the modern Hellenic Army , a stratigós (the spelling remains στρατηγός ) is the highest officer rank. The superior rank of stratárchis ( Field Marshal ) existed under

8448-545: The term was used along with stratelates and, less often, stratopedarches , to render the supreme military office of magister militum (the general in command of a field army ), but could also be employed for the regional duces . In the 7th century, with the creation of the Theme system , their role changed: as the field armies were resettled and became the basis for the territorial themes, their generals too assumed new responsibilities, combining their military duties with

8544-426: The threat of further military intervention prompted the Arcadians to dispatch ambassadors to Athens , requesting protection. The Athenians were theoretically bound by the terms of a treaty signed in late 371 BC to protect the autonomy of all Greek states, but their desire to maintain the strength of Sparta as a check on the ambitions of the Thebans led them to refuse the Arcadians' request. Continuing to Thebes, however,

8640-481: The title strategos : strategetes (στρατηγέτης, "army leader") was an infrequently used alternative term; the term monostrategos (μονοστράτηγος, "single-general") designated a general placed in command over other strategoi or over the forces of more than one theme; the terms strategos autokrator , archistrategos ( ἀρχιστράτηγος , "chief-general") and protostrategos (πρωτοστράτηγος, "first-general") designated commanders vested with supreme authority; and

8736-400: The title of strategos was used for commanders on detached assignments as the quasi-representatives of the king, often with a title indicating their area of responsibility, e.g. strategos tes Europes ('general of Europe'). In several Greek city leagues the title strategos was reserved for the head of state. In the Aetolian League and the Achaean League , where the strategos

8832-524: The winter months, Thebes is sometimes affected by the Aegean sea-effect snow , with snow depths reaching over 50 centimetres (20 in) on several occasions. Due to its inland location, Thebes may also record very low minimums. In recent years, as registered by the meteorological station operated by the National Observatory of Athens within the city limits, the record minimum temperature

8928-590: Was a major force in Greek history prior to its destruction by Alexander the Great in 335 BC, and was the most dominant city-state at the time of the Macedonian conquest of Greece. During the Byzantine period, the city was famous for its silks. The modern city contains an archaeological museum, the remains of the Cadmea (Bronze Age and forward citadel), and scattered ancient remains. The Holy Church of Luke

9024-671: Was annually elected, he was the eponymous chief of civil government and the supreme military commander at the same time. Two of the most prominent leaders re-elected many times to the office in the Achaean League, were Aratus of Sicyon and Philopoemen of Megalopolis . Strategoi are also reported in the Arcadian League , in the Epirote League and in the Acarnanian League , whereas the leaders of

9120-570: Was named the Cadmeia in his honor and was an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center. Thebes is situated in a plain, between Lake Yliki (ancient Hylica ) to the north, and the Cithaeron mountains, which divide Boeotia from Attica , to the south. Its elevation is 215 m (705 ft) above mean sea level . It is about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Athens , and 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Lamia . The A1 motorway and

9216-651: Was permanently moved to Athens. After 1240, the Saint Omer family controlled the city jointly with the de la Roche dukes. The castle built by Nicholas II of Saint Omer on the Cadmea was one of the most beautiful of Frankish Greece. After its conquest in 1311 the city was used as a capital by the short-lived state of the Catalan Company . In 1379, the Navarrese Company took the city with the aid of

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