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Killing by numbers: the mathematics of warfare

Greece:  Leuctra (371 BC)

The city-states of Greece have constantly fought for supremacy in the region. A brief period of peace has come to an end, as the currently dominant Sparta has openly challenged the city of Thebes’ political position. For refusing to abolish the Boeotian Confederacy, a political union of city-states which Thebes heads, Sparta has declared war. The city of Thebes and her allies have amassed 7,200 foot-soldiers (called hoplites) and, lead by Epaminondas, they look over the fields of Leuctra, where entrenched in their camp rest 9,600 Spartan hoplites.

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