by Nix » Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:02 pm
Two generals:the better known Belasrius, the lessor known but more impressive Epimondias.
Belsarius while always outnumbered and with sometimes lower quality troops first put such a thumping on the Persians that they backed off for 20 years, while he reconquered Italy, North Africa, and Southern Spain from various German tribes. His success was his undoing. Justinian the Great, his emperor and another good general feared his success and he stripped Belasarius of command and according to the source either had Belarius blinded or place under house arrest.
Epimondias the Theban deicated his whole life to breaking Sparta. Starting as a revolutionary, he toppled the Spartan controlled puppet government, reorganied the Theban army, changed sufferage so with a population smaller than Sparta he built an larger and better army, revolutionized hoplite tactics, never lost a battle to Sparta, his forces killed a half dozen Spartan Kings, and led a punitive raid to the outskirts of Sparta that Sparta never recovered from. His reward was similiar to Belasarius, the Theban council stripped him of his command, and he died as a common soldier fighting in the front rank, in a hard fought battle over Sparta and most of Thebes former allies.-Nix
'God is always on the side of the big battalions.' -Hernry Turenne, Marshall of France