Thebes, Greek Thívai, Ancient city, Boeotia, east-central Greece, one of the chief Greek city-states. Traditionally said to have been founded by Cadmus, it was the seat of the legendary Oedipus and the setting for many classic Greek tragedies. The building of its celebrated seven-gated wall is usually attributed to Amphion. It was a centre of Mycenaean power in the Bronze Age (c. 1500–1200 bc). Hostility to Athens led it to side with the Persians in the Persian Wars and with Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Thebes and Sparta subsequently clashed, and the victorious Spartans occupied it. It revolted c. 380 bc and defeated Sparta at the battles of Tegyra (375 bc) and Leuctra (371 bc). For the next 10 years it was the chief military power in Greece. It joined Athens against Philip II of Macedon and shared the defeat at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 bc. It was sacked by Alexander the Great in 336 and eventually fell to Rome in the 1st century bc. Among the few ancient remains are remnants of the city walls, the Mycenaean palace (c. 1450–1350 bc), and a temple of Apollo.
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