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Author : Timayenis Telemachus Thomas
Title : A history of Greece from the earliest times to the present Volume 2
Year : 1883

Link download : Timayenis_Telemachus_Thomas_-_A_history_of_Greece_from_the_earliest_times_to_the_present_Volume_2.zip

We have already alluded to the character and life of the Breotians and Thebans. The Thebans were certainly not among the noblest tribes in Hellas: They possessed neither the advantages which the Athenians derived from their matchless intelligence, nor those which the Spartans obtained through their wonderful political and military organization. The very sentiment of Hellenic autonomy was for a long time weak among the Thebans. They had openly united with Xerxes and Mardonius during the invasion of the Persians. But the Thebans were brave soldiers, and possessed souls, if not always noble, yet ever resolute ; bodies, if not prepossessing, yet athletic and well prepared, by exercise and thorough drill from early childhood, for every military duty. The Thebans in the fifth century B. c. repeatedly obtained the honor of having defeated the Athenian hoplites, then in their glory. ...