The battlefield of Leuctra, about 11 kilometres southwest of Thiva, is where the Theban general Epaminondas shattered Spartan military supremacy on 6 July 371 BC. Sparta had dominated Greek affairs for a century; within an hour of fighting at Leuctra, its infantry had been destroyed and its political power fatally undermined. The oblique attack formation Epaminondas used — concentrating his best troops on the left wing — influenced military thinking through to Napoleon.
A modest monument and trophy marking the battle survive. The site itself is agricultural land, with little infrastructure for visitors. It requires some imagination and a knowledge of the battle to appreciate it, but for those interested in ancient military history, it is a genuinely significant place. Best reached by car from Thiva.