Premise: Thebes reached it peak in the New Kingdom era (c. 1540 1100 b.c. ). By the time the Romans arrived it was already in decline, having lost influence when Assyrian raiders seized control in the seventh century b.c. and the Ptolemaic leaders made their base at Alexandria in the fourth century b.c.

Hypothesis: Thebes was flourishing when the Romans arrived.  
Relation: contradiction