Kephisodorus, the first man who entered. As he fell dead Leontidas grappled with the next, Pelopidas. The struggle was a fierce one and rendered difficult by the narrow passage and the corpse of Kephisodorus lying in it, but at length Pelopidas gained the upper hand, and having despatched him, immediately went with his party to attack Hypates. And in the same way they broke into his house, but he heard them sooner, and fled away to the neighbours, but was pursued and slain.

XII. Having accomplished this, and joined Mellon's party, they sent word to the remaining exiles in Attica, and called together the citizens to complete their deliverance, and as they came, gave them arms, taking down the trophies which hung in the public colonnades, and breaking into the workshops of spear-makers and sword-cutlers. And Epameinondas and Gorgidas, with their party, came to help them, armed; for they had collected together no small number of the younger men and the strongest of the elder ones. By this time the whole city was roused, and there was great confusion, lights flitting about, and people running to one another's houses, but the people had not yet assembled, but being alarmed at what had happened, and knowing nothing for certain, they waited for daylight. And here the generals of the Lacedæmonian garrison seem to have missed an opportunity in not at once sallying out and attacking them, for the garrison itself consisted of 1500 men, and many people kept running to them for refuge from the city; however, alarmed at the shouts and fires and mass of people assembling from all parts, they remained quiet, holding the Kadmeia only. At daybreak arrived the exiles from Attica, fully armed, and the public assembly met. Epameinondas and Gorgidas led forward the band of Pelopidas, surrounded by the priests, who crowned them with wreaths, and called upon the citizens to fight for their country and their gods. The whole assembly, with shouts and applause, rose at the sight, and received them as their benefactors and saviours.

XIII. After this, Pelopidas, who was chosen Bœotarch,[8] with Mellon and Charon as colleagues, at once blockaded the citadel, and made assaults upon it on all sides, being eager to drive out the Lacedæmonians and recover the Kadmeia before an army should come upon them from Sparta. And so little time had he to spare, that the garrison, when going home after their capitulation, met at Megara Kleombrotus, marching with a great force against Thebes. Of the three men who had been governors of Thebes, the Spartans condemned two, Herippidas and Arkissus, to death, and the third, Lysanorides, was heavily fined and banished.

This adventure was called by the Greeks the "sister" of that of Thrasybulus, as it resembled it in the bravery and personal risk of its chief actors, and was, like the other, favoured by fortune. It is difficult to mention any other persons, who with fewer numbers and scantier means than these, conquered men more numerous and powerful than themselves, by sheer daring and ability, or who conferred greater blessings on their own countries; and that which made this more remarkable was the change which it effected. The war which destroyed the prestige of Sparta, and put an end to her empire by sea and land, began in that night, in which Pelopidas, without having made himself master of any fort, stronghold, or citadel, but merely coming to a private house with eleven others, loosed and broke to pieces, if we may use a true metaphor, the chains of Lacedæmonian supremacy, which seemed fixed and immovable.

XIV. Now when a great Lacedæmonian army invaded Bœotia, the Athenians manifested great alarm. They repudiated their alliance with the Thebans, and impeached those who had shown Bœotian sympathies; some of these men were put to death, others fined and banished. The case of the Thebans seemed desperate, as no one offered to help them; but Pelopidas, who with Gorgidas was Bœotarch, contrived to alienate the Athenians from Sparta by the following plot. Sphodrias, a Spartan, of great renown in the wars, but somewhat flighty and prone to wild enterprises and reckless ambition, had been left near Thespiæ with an army, to receive and assist those Thebans[9] who were now sent into exile because they favoured the Lacedæmonians. Pelopidas sent secretly to this man a merchant, a friend of his own, who gave him a bribe, and also made proposals which fascinated him more than the money, that he should attempt some enterprise on a great scale, and surprise Peiræus by a sudden attack when the Athenians were off their guard: for the Lacedæmonians would be better pleased with the capture of Athens than with anything else, and the Thebans would not assist them, for they were at variance with them and regarded them as traitors. At length Sphodrias was prevailed upon to agree to this, and, with his soldiery, invaded Attica by night. He got as far as Eleusis, but there the soldiers lost heart, and the attempt was detected. So, having involved the Spartans in a war of no slight importance, he retired to Thespiæ.

XV. Upon this the Athenians again most eagerly allied themselves with the Thebans, and, aspiring to supremacy at sea, sent embassies round to the other maritime states, and brought over to their own side those who were willing to revolt from the Spartans. Meanwhile the Thebans, alone in their country of Bœotia, constantly skirmishing with the Lacedæmonians, and not fighting any great battles with them, but organising themselves with the greatest care and discipline, began to pluck up spirit, gaining skill from practice, and becoming confident from the result of these encounters. This was why they say that Antalkidas the Spartan, when King Agesilaus was being carried home wounded from Bœotia, said to him, "Indeed, you are receiving nice lessons from the Thebans, now that you have taught them how to fight against their will." But their real teacher was not Agesilaus, but those who, seizing fit opportunities, and with due management, skilfully used to let them loose upon their enemies, as men train young mastiffs, and then when they had tasted victory and self-confidence brought them safely back. Of these leaders Pelopidas received the chief credit. From the year in which he was first elected general they never ceased to re-elect him, and he was always either in command of the Sacred Band or most commonly acting as Bœotarch until his death. There took place also about Platæa and Thespiæ defeats and routs of the Lacedæmonians, in which Phœbidas, who seized the Kadmeia, perished; and Pelopidas routed a number of them near Tanagra, and slew Panthoides the governor. Still, although these skirmishes raised the spirits and confidence of the victors, yet they did not cast down the pride of the vanquished; for they were not regular battles, but the Thebans won their successes by well-timed charges and harassing the enemy by alternate retreat and advance.

However, the affair at Tegyra, which in a manner was preliminary to that at Leuktra, won Pelopidas a great reputation; for there was no question of any other general having assisted in the design of the battle, nor of the enemy being thoroughly routed. The city of Orchomenus had taken the Spartan side, and had received two moras