 The Spartan army contained some 10,000 hoplites, 700 of whom were the elite warriors known as Spartiates.The Boeotians opposite them numbered about 6,000, but were bolstered by a cavalry superior to that of the Peloponnesians.Epaminondas was given charge of the Boeotian army, with the other six Boeotarchs in an advisory capacity.