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?