2.
Rembrandt’ self portraits: *
1629 1634 1640
1629
1643 1659 1669
Like Messenia, Arcadia was threatened by Spartan aggression but successfully resisted; at the battle of the Fetters (550 BC) they defeated the Spartans. Following this the Spartans changed their tactics, from conquest to alliance building and the Peloponnesian League emerged.
For the next 2 centuries Sparta dominated the city states of the Peloponnesus. In 370, in an attempt to maintain some prestige & status (following their defeat by Thebes at Leuctra, 371 BC) they invaded Arcadia. The latter appealed to Boeotia (home of the polis Thebes). Boeotia responded and a large army (led by Epaminondas) marched on Sparta and then Messenia where the helots were already rebelling. Epaminondas made that rebellion permanent by fortifying the city of Messene.
