By their abilities they raised Thebes, hitherto of but little political importance, to the first rank in power among the Grecian states. They have been thus described by the historian CURTIUS: "Pelopidas was the heroic champion and pioneer who, like Miltiades and Cimon, with full energy accomplished the tasks immediately at hand; while Epaminondas was a statesman whose glance took a wider range, who organized the state at home, and established its foreign relations upon a thoroughly thought-out plan. He created the bases of the power of Thebes, as Themistocles and Aristides had those of the power of Athens; and he maintained them, so long as he lived, by the vigor of his mind, like another Pericles. And, indeed, it would be difficult to find in the entire course of Greek history any other two great statesmen who, in spite of differences of character and of outward conditions of life, resembled each other so greatly, and were, as men, so truly the peers of each other, as Pericles and Epaminondas." The successes of Thebes revived the jealousy and distrust of Athens, which concluded a peace with Sparta, and subsequently formed an alliance with her. But the Thebans continued to be successful, and at Teg'yra Pelopidas defeated a greatly superior force and killed the two Spartan generals; while at Leuc'tra Epaminondas, with a force of six thousand Thebans, defeated the Lacedæmonian army of more than double that number (371 B.C.). Leuctra has been called "the Marathon of the Thebans," as their defensive war was turned by it into a war of conquest. Aided now by the Arca'dians, Ar'gives, and E'leans, Epaminondas invaded Laconia, appearing before the gates of Sparta, where a hostile force had not been seen in five hundred years; but he made no attempt upon the city, and, after laying waste with fire and sword the valley of the Euro'tas, he retraced his steps to the frontiers of Arcadia. Another expedition was undertaken against the Peloponnesus in 367 B.C., and the cities of Achaia immediately submitted, becoming the allies of Thebes. In 362 the Peloponnesus was invaded for the last time, and at Mantinea Epaminondas defeated the Spartans in the most sanguinary contest ever fought among Grecians; but he fell in the moment of victory, and the glory of Thebes departed with him. Before his death, having been told that those whom he intended to be his successors in command had been slain, he directed the Thebans to make peace. His advice was followed, and a general peace was soon after established, on the condition that each state should retain its respective possessions. CHAPTER XIV. THE SICILIAN GREEKS. Before proceeding to the history of the downfall of Greece, and her subjugation by a foreign power--a result that soon followed the events just narrated--we turn aside to notice the affairs of the Sicilian Greeks, as more especially presented in the history of Syracuse, in all respects the strongest and most prominent of the Sicilian cities.