ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a scholarly survey of the history and archaeology of the city, Thebes. There is very little information about Thebes for a couple of decades following the Persian Wars. Because the Thebans had sided with the Persians at the battle of Plataea, they probably lost their ability to persuade any of the Boeotian communities to follow their lead in war or politics. It is possible that in the 470s Thebes was on friendly terms with the Athenians, who probably would have had to grant Theban delegates access to the island of Delos, the center of Athens's newly formed Delian League. Maintaining a stable balance of power in Greece was always a primary concern of Greek statesmen, but the growing antagonism between Sparta and Athens eventually led to the First Peloponnesian War. Throughout the Classical Age, both Athens and Sparta engaged in power politics more often than they adhered to consistent ideological and ethical standards.
