fact, the victory was a symbolically significant event for both sides. Diodorus Siculus records that the victory at Tegyra marked the first time the Thebans had erected a trophy of victory over a Spartan force—for while the Thebans had defeated the Spartans before, these victories had generally been in much smaller skirmishes. For the Spartans, on the other hand, their defeat at Tegyra marked the first occasion on which one of their formations had been defeated by a force of equal or lesser size in set battle. For these reasons, Plutarch saw in Pelopidas' victory at Tegyra a "prelude to Leuctra", with the limited victory in 375 anticipating the day 4 years later when a similarly outnumbered Theban phalanx would deal Sparta a blow from which it would never recover. References General Diodorus Siculus, Library (Online texts from the Perseus Project.) Plutarch, Life of Pelopidas Tegyra Tegyra Tegyra 375 BC Theban hegemony