The period of history covered by this little book is full both of interest and of importance. Athens yet numbered among her sons Sokrates, Xenophon, and Thrasyboulos: Sparta at no time in her history had produced more notable citizens than Lysandros and Agesilaos; and Thebes was lifted for a moment above her Boiotian provincialism by the military genius and broad statesmanship of Epamcinondas. But, in addition to the interest which must be felt in the careers of men like these, this epoch has an importance of its own.