A few hundred thebans and 1200 spartans? No, it was about 8500 under the Theban-Boeotian command and 10,000 under the Spartan command. As for the battle of Sphacteria, again, the Spartans were stupidly outnumbered, with about 400 men to their name stranded on that island against 3000 SOLDIERS PLUS 8000 rowers. Also, in the battle of Lechaeum* the numbers of men were so small it's barely worth mentioning, the mercenaries consisted of peltasts while all the Spartans had at that place and time were about 600 hoplites, melee infantry... caught out in the open. Details aside, the battle of Lachaeum was barely worth mentioning because Sparta still held a firm grip on the city of Lachaeum, it was no real loss on Spartas behalf.
Most of the fights you are referring to are situations where the Spartans were caught shit out of luck anyway. Either that, or situations where Spartan pride would not let them win, for example they often did lack cavalry and archers which cost them a few fights, but that is mainly because those roles in the spartan military were considered to be the most cowardly, and to be seen a coward in spartan society was so disgraceful to the extent that they would rather death.
The Spartans didn't get wiped out at Thermopylae, Leonidas and his guard did, Leonidas and his guard weren't the last of the Spartans... The rest of the spartan army went on to command the Battle of Plataea which was actually lead by Leonidas' nephew, Pausanias. Besides, I never claimed to give Sparta all the credit, I was just giving them credit specifically because the original post I was replying to discredited them. I haven't once DIScredited the Athenians or any other ancient Greek city state purposefully, The Athenian navy was a force to be reckoned with, If it wasn't for the Battle of Salamis I'm quite confident the Persians would have gained a much stronger hold on the ground they had already captured in Greece at the time of their arrival. Try not to assume that I'm one of those 300 fanboys just because I'm giving Sparta the credit it quite rightfully deserves.
By the way, the Spartans didn't actually "skimp out" on a navy, they made one during the Peloponnesian wars but as you so kindly pointed out previously, the Athenian navy were always superior, and thus the fleet was battered and bruised, but not until after the Spartan navarch (Admiral) Lysander launched a blockade on athens to support the siege laid down on Athens by king Pausanias and his men, which finally resulted in Athens surrender in 404BC.
