Explanation: In Classical Greece, Athens exercised a broad hegemony over Greek city-states in the 5th century BCE. Oligarchic Sparta eventually overtook them in this position of hegemony - only to be overtaken in turn by democratic Thebes.
Thebes, unfortunately, would end up against the weird Macedonian fellows to the north, and found out the hard way that "Pikes twice as long as your spears" is a pretty hard advantage to beat.