THEBES 1. Return of exiles to Thebes. Incited rebellion. Rumour that Alexander was dead in Illyria. 2.

Very dangerous for Alex, disaffection could spread. Rapid march down south and his troops were at Onchestus, 6 miles from Thebes before they knew it. 3. Disbelief in the city. Offered terms, but did not accept. Rapid sortie and attack on fringes of Macedonian troops. Alex still waited. Many Thebans wanted to accept terms, but ruling party dominated. 4. Perdiccas began the attack without orders from Alex. Forced a breach in the palisade. Alex then had to order an attack to save them. Perdiccas badly wounded. Fierce counter-attack by Thebans. 5. Alex responded with full attack by infantry and the retreat became a rout. Panic, and failure to close gates behind them. Disastrous mistake. Thebans held out for a while. Slaughter especially by Macedonian allies who were traditional enemies of Thebes. 6. Remarkable features: Importance and size of the city; scale of violence; unexpectedness of the event by all. Huge effect on the rest of Greece. Even greater than the disastrous Sicilian Expedition for Athens. 7. The horror of it (see Arrian p. 61) meant all thought this was the wrath of God. This, perhaps was the punishment for Thebess collaboration with the Persians in the Persian Wars. 8. You can see Arrians bias against the Thebans here as he lists their crimes. He says there were many omens , recognised later, of this event. 9. City razed to the ground, all sold into slavery, house of the poet Pindar spared. 10. Huge impact on the rest of the city states. Athens now sent envoys swearing undying loyalty and asking for mercy. Interesting to note Alexs very different response to Athens. He looked for certain men to be handed over and looked for hostages and tribute.