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Epaminondas (; (ギリシア語:Ἐπαμεινώνδας), ''Epameinondas''; d. 362 BC), was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics. In the process he broke Spartan military power with his victory at Leuctra and liberated the Messenian helots, a group of Peloponnesian Greeks who had been enslaved under Spartan rule for some 230 years, having been defeated in the Messenian War ending in 600 BC. Epaminondas reshaped the political map of Greece, fragmented old alliances, created new ones, and supervised the construction of entire cities. He was militarily influential as well, inventing and implementing several major battlefield tactics. The Roman orator Cicero called him "the first man of Greece", and Montaigne judged him one of the three "worthiest and most excellent men" that had ever lived,〔''Essays'', Book II ch. 36〕 but Epaminondas has fallen into relative obscurity in modern times. The changes Epaminondas wrought on the Greek political order did not long outlive him, as the cycle of shifting hegemonies and alliances continued unabated. A mere twenty-seven years after his death, a recalcitrant Thebes was obliterated by Alexander the Great. Thus Epaminondas—who had been praised in his time as an idealist and liberator—is today largely remembered for a decade (371 BC to 362 BC) of campaigning that sapped the strength of the great land powers of Greece and paved the way for the Macedonian conquest. ==References== The life of Epaminondas is very poorly attested in the ancient sources, especially compared to some of his near contemporaries (e.g. Philip II of Macedon, Pelopidas). One principal reason for this is the loss of Plutarch's biography of him. Epaminondas was one of approximately 50 ancient figures given an extensive biography by Plutarch in his ''Parallel Lives'', in which he is paired with the Roman statesman Scipio Africanus; however, both these ''"Lives"'' are now lost.〔Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History'', 12〕 Plutarch was writing over 400 years after Epaminondas's death, and is therefore very much a secondary source, but he often explicitly names his sources, which allows some degree of verification of his statements.〔e.g. (Themistocles 25 ) has a direct reference to Thucydides 1.137〕 Some details of Epaminondas's life can be found in Plutarch's ''"Lives"'' of Pelopidas and Agesilaus II, who were contemporaries. There is also a surviving (and possibly abridged) biography of Epaminondas by the Roman author Cornelius Nepos from the first century BC, in the absence of Plutarch's, this becomes a major source for Epaminondas's life.〔Cornelius Nepos, (Epaminondas )〕 The period of Greek history from 411–362 BC is primarily attested by the historian Xenophon, who evidently saw his work as continuation of Thucydides's ''History of the Peloponnesian War''.〔Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', 1.1〕 Xenophon, who idolized Sparta and its king, Agesilaus, avoids mentioning Epaminondas wherever possible and does not even note his presence at the Battle of Leuctra.〔Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', 6.4 * Cawkwell, ''Introduction'', 35–36; Hanson, ''Hoplites'', 145; Hanson, ''The Soul of Battle''〕 Epaminondas's role in the conflicts of the 4th century is also described by Diodorus Siculus, in his ''Bibliotheca historica''. Diodorus was writing in the 1st century BC, and is also very much a secondary source,〔Green, ''Alexander the Great'', xxiv–xxv〕 though useful for corroborating details found elsewhere.〔Lazenby, ''The Defence of Greece'', 7〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Epaminondas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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