In what year did Alexander destroy the city of Thebes?

Alexander the Great destroyed the city of Thebes in 335 BC. Thebes had rebelled against Macedonian authority while Alexander was campaigning in the Balkans, and its revolt threatened to encourage other Greek city-states to resist him.

Alexander moved south with remarkable speed and appeared before Thebes before the city’s allies could provide meaningful help. Fighting broke out around the walls, and Macedonian forces, supported by troops from the League of Corinth, captured the city. Ancient accounts report that roughly 6,000 Thebans were killed and about 30,000 were enslaved, although ancient casualty figures should be treated cautiously.

The destruction was deliberately punitive. Alexander spared the temples and the house of the poet Pindar, but much of Thebes was razed and its territory was divided among neighboring communities. The harsh settlement shocked Greece and discouraged further rebellion.

The date is sometimes confused with 336 BC, the year Philip II was assassinated and Alexander became king. It also came before Alexander’s invasion of Persia in 334 BC, making 335 BC a crucial transitional year.