4. Q. What did Epaminondas, with Pelopidas, organize that filled Hellas with the fame of its achievements, and fell only when the autonomy of Hellas disappeared? A. The famous lochos, or band, composed of three hundred picked men, bound together by the closest ties of friendship, and devoted to each other to the death.
5. Q. What was the effect upon the Spartans of the war against the Thebans, the latter being assisted by the Athenians, during the first part of the fourth century before Christ? A. The Spartans were daily losing their prestige and becoming humbled.
6. Q. What was the most noted of the combats of the Thebans with the Lacedæmonians in Bœotia at this time, which served as a sort of prelude to that of Leuktra? A. The battle of Tegyra, in which the Thebans, led by Pelopidas, achieved a splendid victory.
7. Q. What disastrous visitations heightened the despondency of the Spartans in 372 B. C.? A. The terrible earthquakes and rains which during that year occurred in the Peloponnesus, and which they regarded as tokens of the wrath of the god Poseidon.
8. Q. What was the result of the Athenians having established their new naval dominion on the Ionian Sea? A. They had no longer ground on which to continue the war, and they therefore sent to Sparta for peace.
9. Q. What was the result of the congress of the Hellenic nation which followed in the year 371 B. C.? A. Agesilaus, on behalf of Sparta, caused the names of the Thebans to be struck from the roll, and declared war against them upon the spot.
10. Q. What celebrated battle was fought soon after in Bœotia between the Lacedæmonians and the Thebans? A. The battle of Leuktra.
11. Q. Previous to this time how had Hellenic armies been drawn up in order of battle? A. In parallel lines.
12. Q. What plan did Epaminondas adopt on this occasion? A. He massed upon the center a greater force than his opponent, and concentrated a superior number upon the right wing.
13. Q. What is said of the adoption of this arrangement of the forces of an army afterward by military leaders? A. It was afterward largely adopted by military leaders, and by its successful application some of the greatest battles of the world have been gained by such generals as Frederick of Prussia and Napoleon.