STRATEGY & CONSEQUENCE

Follow the field.

Three battles. Different landscapes, different turning points. Select a phase to see how positions and decisions changed the fighting.

The pass today. Photograph of the surviving site or modern landscape.

480 BCE · FOUR PHASES

Thermopylae

The coalition holds the pass

The landscape of Plataea. Photograph of the surviving site or modern landscape.

479 BCE · FOUR PHASES

Plataea

Opposing positions

The restored Theban victory monument at Leuctra under a blue sky.

371 BCE · FOUR PHASES

Leuctra

The Theban left concentrates

Reconstructing a battle

These original teaching diagrams interpret ancient accounts and modern research. Terrain, forces, and routes are schematic. They are not archaeological site plans, measured troop formations, or a simulation of exact timing. Each phase provides the same explanation in text, with sources and uncertainties.

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