23. The Warrior who broke Sparta’s back, and destroyed Spartan hegemony
Epaminondas’s first revolutionary innovation was to depart from the norm of lines of a uniform depth – usually 8 to 12 men deep. Instead, he stacked the left side of his line 50 deep, by thinning the rest of his line. That is, he concentrated force at the decisive point. Second, instead of advancing in line abreast, Epaminondas echeloned his army so that his powerful left was the first to reach the enemy, and his right was the last. The Spartan right, stacked twelve deep, shattered upon impact with Epaminondas’ fifty deep left.
The Spartans lost 1000 men, including 400 elite citizens, plus the Spartan King Cleombrotus I. The myth of Spartan invincibility never recovered. Epaminondas then invaded Sparta and freed the Helots, who formed an independent state. Since its society and economy depended on slave labor, Sparta was forever after reduced to minor player status. Epaminondas died in 362 BC, killed while dealing Sparta another crushing defeat. His innovations formed the bedrock of King Phillip II of Macedon’s military principles, and those of his son, Alexander the Great.