 This victory he owed mainly to the valour of the Sacred Band, an elite corps of 300 seasoned soldiers.At the battle of Leuctra (371 BC) he contributed greatly to the success of Epaminondas's new tactics by the rapidity with which he made the Sacred Band close with the Spartans.At Leuctra Epaminondas, a brilliant and intuitive general, used the oblique order for the first time.