   the battle of mantinea was fought on july 4 362 bc between the thebans, led by epaminondas and supported by the arcadians and the boeotian league against the spartans, led by king agesilaus ii and supported by the eleans, athenians, and mantineans. the battle was to determine which of the two alliances would have hegemony over greece. however, the death of epaminondas and his intended successors coupled with the impact on the spartans of yet another defeat weakened both alliances, and paved the way for macedonian conquest led by phillip ii of macedon. == background ==  after the battle of leuctra in 371 bc had shattered the foundations of spartan hegemony, thebes' chief politician and general epaminondas attempted to build a new hegemony centered on his city. consequently, the thebans had marched south, into the area traditionally dominated by the spartans, and set up the arcadian league, a federation of city-states of the central peloponnesian plateau, to contain spartan influence in the peloponnese and thereby maintain overall theban control. in years prior to the battle of mantinea, the spartans had joined with the eleans (a minor peloponnesian people with a territorial grudge against the arcadians) in an effort to undermine the league. when the arcadians miscalculated and seized the pan-hellenic sanctuary of zeus at olympia in elis, one of the arcadian city-states, mantinea, detached itself from the league. the spartans and eleans joined the mantineans in a military attack on the arcadian league. athens decided to support the spartans, as she resented the growing theban power. the athenians also recalled that at the end of peloponnesian war, the thebans demanded that athens be destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved; the spartans had resisted these demands. an athenian army was sent by sea to join the spartan-led forces, in order to avoid being intercepted on land by theban forces. epaminondas then led a theban army into the peloponnese to restore order and re-establish theban/arcadian hegemony there. [[file:362bcthebanhegemony.png|thumb|right|
362_BC 4th-century_BC_conflicts Ancient_Arcadia Battles_involving_Athens Battles_involving_Sparta Battles_involving_Thebes Late_Classical_Greece Theban_hegemony