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The siege of Thebes in 479 followed the Greek
victory over the invading Persians at Plataea, and ended after the main Persian
supporters in Thebes surrendered. When Xerxes invaded Greece in 480 BC the
Thebans had decided to side with the Persians. A Theban contingent had fought
on the Greek side at Thermopylae, but had surrendered on the third day, and
their involvement was probably not entirely voluntary. As Xerxes moved south,
Thebes publicly supported him, and as a result Boeotia was left untouched as
the Persians marched into Attica. The Persians then suffered a naval defeat at
Salamis, and Xerxes decided to return home. Part of his army, under the command
of his brother-in-law Mardonius, was left in Thessaly to continue the war in
the following year. In 479 Mardonius returned to Attica and occupied Athens for
a second time, but this (and severe Athenian pressure) finally convinced the
Peloponnesians to move north to fight the Persians in Attica or Boeotia. The
decisive battle was eventually fought at Plataea, just inside Boeotia, and the
Greeks won a crushing victory. The defeated Persians and their Greek allies
retreated in different directions. The Persians moved towards Phocis and the
long road home, while the Greeks took refuge in Thebes. The victorious Greeks
spent some time burying their dead (and arguing about who had performed best at
the battle). They then decided to move against Thebes. They reached Thebes ten
days after the battle, and demanded the surrender of the main Persian
supporters and in particular Timagenidas and Attaginus. The Thebans refused to
surrender their leaders, and so the Greeks began a siege of the city, both
attacking the walls and devastating Theban farmland in the hope that this would
force the city to surrender. This policy paid off. After twenty days
Timagenidas offered to surrender in order to avoid more suffering, as long as
Thebes agreed to provide money to pay any ransom. Unsurprisingly the Thebans
accepted this offer, and the surrender was soon negotiated. Attaginus was
clearly more aware of their likely fate, and managed to escape, but Timagenidas
and the other ringleaders surrendered. Pausanias was also aware that some of
his fellow Greeks were likely to accept bribes to arrange for the freedom of
the Theban leaders, and so he quickly took them back to Corinth and had them
executed. At the same time the Greek army was dissolved, ending the campaign in
mainland Greece. Fighting did continue in Asia Minor and the Hellespont region.
On the same day as Plataea the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet in a land
battle at Mycale, and then went on to besiege their headquarters in the
Hellespont region at Sestos.
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