Pelopidas, << puh LOP ih duhs >> (?-364 B.C.), was a general and statesman in ancient Thebes. In 382 B.C., the Spartans seized Thebes, and Pelopidas fled. Returning in 379 B.C., he drove the Spartans out. Aided by Epaminondas, another general, he trained the Thebans in military discipline and strategy. Pelopidas led a special group of 300 soldiers known as the Sacred Band. He also helped reorganize the Boeotian and Thessalian leagues, two former groups of Greek cities that had become inactive. Pelopidas and Epaminondas led the Boeotian League to victory over Sparta in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 B.C., and Thebes became the most powerful state in Greece. In 364 B.C., Pelopidas was killed in battle. Epaminondas died in war two years later, and the Theban supremacy collapsed.
