the great statesman and general with magnanimous humility acted as a street-magistrate, and served as a private soldier. The folly of his judges was shown at once by a revolution which tore Achaia from Thebes; and the army despatched into Thessaly to rescue Pelopidas, was only saved from destruction by the presence of Epaminondas in the ranks. He was sent back at the head of a second army, and delivered his friend.
The relations of the Arcadians with Thebes were growing unsatisfactory. Epaminondas went to try to regain their obedience. His mission failed, and they made alliance with Athens. Soon after, the northern states of the Peloponnesus made a treaty with Thebes. They had sent proposals to Sparta; but Sparta would ally herself with none who acknowledged the existence of Messenia, and was now therefore bare of allies. Two years after this, in 364, Epaminondas entered Thebes on a novel experiment. He hated Athens, and resolved to humble her. The Athenian Æschines avers that he had vowed to transfer the Propylæa from the Acropolis to the Cadmea; but this saying probably had its birth in the fear, hatred, and jealousy of the Athenians themselves. We are not surprised to hear that he met with opposition when he proposed to equip a fleet, and it is hard to see what permanent hopes he could have rested on it. In a cruise of a year on the coast of Asia and the Bosporus, he effected little except, perhaps, unsettling the dependencies of Athens. On his return he was shocked to hear of the bloody vengeance taken in his absence on the Orchomenians, whose lives and freedom had been saved some years before by his humanity. His grief was deepened by the death of his faithful friend Pelopidas in Thessaly.
A slight incident soon after precipitated the rupture of the Arcadians with Thebes. They sent to demand the death of the Theban governor of Tegea, who had insulted them by arresting their representatives, who had met there to conclude peace with Elis. "His mistake," replied Epaminondas severely, "was not in arresting, but in releasing them. You have been unmindful of your benefactors. I will come shortly, and bring you to reason." Ere long he entered the Peloponnesus for the fourth and last time. He met his allies at Tegea, for two hundred years the staunch friend of Sparta, now the great stronghold of Thebes. On a sudden he appeared before Sparta; and had not old Agesilaus, who had gone to join the Arcadian army, received intelligence and rapidly returned, he would have destroyed it "like a nest of young birds." He marched back to Tegea, and no sooner had he reached that city than he despatched his wearied cavalry to surprise Mantinea. This attempt also was balked; a troop of Athenian horse had arrived in the town shortly before. But it shows the devotion of the soldiers to Epaminondas, that after the first failure, they should have consented to go on such a service. Nothing was left but to decide the contest by a pitched battle. The enemy had mustered at Mantinea, and Epaminondas moved forward in that direction. Disunited, without head or common counsel, the allies suffered themselves to be almost surprised. After an obstinate resistance the terrible phalanx of Epaminondas again prevailed, and the enemy's ranks were broken. But they had gained more than if they had conquered, for Epaminondas was dead. He was carried out of the light mortally wounded; and his victorious army was instantaneously paralyzed. He asked for his shield; he inquired the event of the battle, and the fate of his two subordinates. When he heard that both of these officers were dead, he said mournfully—"Thebes must make peace." The spearhead was then drawn from the wound, and he expired. The eagerness with which the honour of slaying him was contested, marks the importance attached to his death. His death, like that of Mirabeau, drew much with it. "He shook old Greece from its base." When he died, there was no state that could head a confederacy, none that would submit to a superior. The battle of Leuctra had destroyed the power of Sparta; the disintegration which ensued on the battle of Mantinea placed Greek independence in the power of Macedon.—G. R. L.
EPÉE, Charles Michael de l', born at Versailles, November 25th, 1712, was the son of an architect. Early in life he became an ecclesiastic, but for some time was unable to give his assent to the necessary formularies. Meanwhile he went to the bar, and was enrolled as an advocate at Paris; but Bossuet, the bishop of Troyes, drew him to his diocese, ordained him priest, and made him canon of the cathedral. He soon displayed a want of conformity, which exposed him to the censure of the archbishop of Paris, who placed him under an interdict, and even refused him permission to confess his pupils. He had a considerable fortune, which he consecrated entirely to the education of the deaf and dumb. Not content with giving his pupils careful instruction, he paid all the expenses of their maintenance. The liberality of the duc de Penthiévre and other charitable persons helped him in this noble undertaking. The abbé de l'Epée was like a father in the midst of his children. Sometimes, in pressing emergencies, he anticipated his future revenue, a circumstance which caused a quarrel with his brother. His zeal for the unfortunate involved him in romantic enterprises. In one case he fancied that he had discovered the heir to an opulent family. This affair furnished to Bouilly the subject of a comedy. De l'Epée was never able to persuade the French government to take up his work, though it excited the admiration of Europe. Full of his labours of love, and surrounded by his pupils, he expired, December 23rd, 1789. De l'Epée published several works on the treatment and instruction of deaf and dumb persons.—T. J.
EPHORUS, a distinguished Greek historian, lived in the earlier part of the fourth century b.c. He was born at Cumæ in Asia Minor, and was educated at Chios, where the celebrated rhetorician, Isocrates, had opened his school. He was at first unsuccessful, but by earnest study he became one of the sophist's most eminent pupils. Among his fellow-scholars was Theopompus. It is said that Ephorus was accused of having conspired against the life of Alexander, but cleared himself of the charge. The great work of his life was his "History of Greece." The names of several other treatises are mentioned, but they may all have been merely excerpts from this large work. It was in thirty books, every one of which was complete in itself, and headed by a special preface. Only a few fragments of it have come down to us. It began by one account with the siege of Troy, and it came down to 341 b.c., the year of the siege of Perinthus. One peculiarity of it was, that it did not confine itself to Greek history, but included also that of the barbarians. Before Ephorus no systematic attempt at a universal history had been made. So far as can now be ascertained, the value of his history was much impaired by the absence of critical judgment. He displayed almost as little discretion in admitting mythical stories as in endeavouring to rationalize them. Even where he had Thucydides and Herodotus to guide him, he gave a different version of facts from them, in a way that makes him an uncertain authority. He is much praised for his knowledge of maritime warfare, and Strabo passes commendation on the geographical part of his work, the fragments of which still extant contain fine descriptions.—G. R. L.
EPHRAEM, Saint, commonly called Ephraem the Syrian, the most distinguished teacher and writer of the Syrian church, flourished in the fourth century. He was a native of Mesopotamia, and Nisibis is said to have been his birthplace. His father was a heathen priest, who is said to have cast out his son, because he found him holding intercourse with the christians. Jacob, the bishop of Nisibis, received the outcast into his house, and brought him up in learning and piety. On the death of his patron Ephraem retired to Edessa, and became a monk in one of the monasteries there; hence he is sometimes called the Edessan. Here he gave himself to the study of sacred things, especially the scriptures, and gradually acquired such reputation as a preacher, that many attempts were made to remove him to more public spheres of labour. Having paid a visit to Basil the Great at Cæsarea, he had been by him ordained deacon somewhat against his own will. At Edessa he devoted himself to the refutation of those gnostic heresies which had crept in among the Syrian christians, especially these taught by Bardesanes. For this purpose he employed, not only orations, but hymns, following in this respect the example of his antagonist, and thus became the source from which the hymnology of the ancient Syrian church was chiefly derived. Whether he founded any school may be doubted; but it is certain that many came from different parts to receive his instructions. Fearing that the episcopate would be forced upon him, it is said that he feigned madness to escape that dignity. He died during the reign of the Emperor Valens; but in what year is doubtful. Such was his reputation in the church generally, that his writings were read even in the Greek churches after the reading of the scriptures (Hieron. Catal. c. 115). Of these writings many have come down to us; some in the original Syriac; others in an early
