The undergraduate thesis analyses how ancient historians described the events that took place in Thebes in 379 B.C., when a group of anti-Spartan exiles sneaked into the polis, murdered the pro-Spartan polemarchs, and mobilised forces in the city that later defeated Spartan troops that were occupying the theban acropolis, called the Cadmea. While comparing different accounts of the events, I will also, with the help of contemporary historiography, try to figure out which personal beliefs and biases guided the ancient historians in their accounts of these events. I will also be interested in questioning the wider narratives of the historians' work, and how the accounts of the events in Thebes fit into these narattives. After a quick glance at the consequences of the events in Thebes, I will, once again with much help from contemporary historiography, analyse some historical interpretations of anticipations surrounding the end of the Spartan hegemony.
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