Unity of Thebes

Looking at the history of Thebes, the city certainly does have a long history and a important one, especiallly during the late Hellenic Period where before the rise of Phillip and Alexander it was able to carve itself up a nice empire in Greece. Though I am puzzled why it did not appear to be a contender before? From the looks of it this is because (besides Athen and Sparta exhausting each other out) while Thebes desired glory the other communities of Boeotia resisted the attempts by Thebes to unify the region under its own House (except the Boeotian League but its still a weak alliance system). So, is it possible that Thebes could hae risen to earlier and greater prominence if it was able to unify Boeotia properly?
 
I think it's more because of Thebes sided with Persians in Greco-Persian Wars...
Athens and Sparta, in contrast, strongly opposed the Persians, thus giving them more respects from other Greeks...
Thebes was just lucky to have a general as brilliant as Epaminondas...
 
I think it's more because of Thebes sided with Persians in Greco-Persian Wars...
Athens and Sparta, in contrast, strongly opposed the Persians, thus giving them more respects from other Greeks...
Thebes was just lucky to have a general as brilliant as Epaminondas...

It didn't stop the Spartans from allying them with the majority of the time. Thebes always wanted to dominate, with Epainondas it not only managed Boeotia but most of Greece. If they had a more cooperative homefront like Athens had in Attica (but not so much Sparta with Messina) they could have been able to be more dominative in affairs, heck even Athens dabbled around in their backyard (part of the reason why they were often so hellbent on destroying the Athenians).
 
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