Alexander was defeated and his kingdom was taken from him. But the Thessalians could not rejoice, because Pelopidas, to whom they owed their deliverance, had been slain. They buried him with great pomp on the field where he had fallen. Epaminondas was filled with grief at the loss of his dear friend. He tried to forget his sorrow in serving his country. In 362 B.C. he fought at Mantinea against the Spartans, on the field where long before he had saved the life of Pelopidas. Never had Epaminondas fought more bravely than on this day, leading the Bœotians against the foe ‘as a war-galley ploughs through the waves with its beak.’ The victory was well-nigh gained, when a Spartan thrust his pike through the breast of Epaminondas. He fell, and his men carried him off the field to a little hill, from which the battle could be seen. For a short time the great general lay unconscious, but at length he opened his eyes and asked if his shield was safe. He was told that it was safe and that the battle was won. Then he begged to see his two chief officers. They had fallen on the field, and when the news was broken to him, the dying man said, ‘Then you had better make peace.’ The head of the spear that had struck the general was still in the wound. As it was withdrawn he breathed his last. It was Epaminondas who had made Thebes great. After his death she slowly slipped back into her old insignificant position. CHAPTER LXXXIV THE TWO BROTHERS The city of Corinth stood upon the narrow isthmus that joined the mainland of Greece to the Peloponnesian peninsula. She had two harbours, a large fleet, and she carried on a prosperous trade with other countries. As the city grew strong and populous, she began to plant colonies in other lands. One of the wealthiest of these colonies was the town of Syracuse in Sicily. In 346 B.C. Syracuse was in the power of a tyrant named Dionysius. The other cities in Sicily would have been in the same plight had their inhabitants not fled to a neighbouring town, and sought the aid of a powerful prince named Icetes. Icetes had a large army, and with its help they hoped to be able to overthrow Dionysius. But trouble after trouble overtook the people, for the Carthaginians had sailed from Africa and had reached their shores. Sicily was in despair lest they should conquer the island and make it their own. In their distress, the Sicilians sent messengers to Corinth, their mother-city, to beg her to help them to get rid of both the Carthaginians and Dionysius. Icetes pretended to approve of this, but no sooner had the ambassadors set out for Corinth than he made friends with the Carthaginians. He hoped that if they drove Dionysius away, he himself would become tyrant of Sicily.