Battle of Mantinea ( 362 BC ) 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 Mantinea ns . 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 of yet another defeat on the Spartans 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 . Battle . The two armies met near Mantinea in 362 BC . The Spartans , Athenians , Eleans and Mantineans were led by the Spartan king , Agesilaus II . The Theban army also included contingents from city - states of the pro - Theban Boeotian League . Epaminondas ' Thebans were assisted by the Arcadians loyal to the League , principally those from the city - states of Megalopolis ( founded by the Thebans when they were last in the Peloponnese , as the Arcadian federal capital ) and Tegea ( the traditional leading city - state of the Arcadians ) . Though both generals were highly competent , Epaminondas prevailed at Mantinea . Using a modified version of the tactics he had successfully pioneered at Leuctra , he organised the Boeotian troops on the left wing of his army into an unusually deep column of hoplites . This formation of troops , in conjunction with the echelon , sought to establish local superiority of numbers while delaying the battle on the weaker center and right side . As Greek battles were pushing - matches , it allowed the large , dense section of the line to force its way through the thinner classical phalanx . Epaminondas personally led this column from the front line . Xenophon ( " Hellenika " 5 . 2 . 1 - 3 ) described the left wing of that Theban army as " like a trireme , with the spur of the prow out in front . " Epaminondas charged and routed the Spartan right wing , winning the battle . Having fought in the front line , however , he was fatally wounded . The Theban leaders Iolaidas and Daiphantus , whom he intended to succeed him , were also killed . On his deathbed , Epaminondas , upon hearing of the deaths of his fellow leaders , instructed the Thebans to make peace , despite having won the battle . Without his leadership , Theban hopes for hegemony faded . The Spartans , however , having been again defeated in battle , were unable to replace their losses . The ultimate result of the battle was to pave the way for the Macedonian rise as the leading force in Greece , by ensuring the weakness of both the Thebans and the Spartans .