HELLENICA

By Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

 Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 B. C. He was a pupil of Socrates. He marched with the Spartans, and was exiled from Athens. Sparta gave him land and property in Scillus, where he lived for many years before having to move once more, to settle in Corinth. He died in 354 B. C. 

 The Hellenica is his chronicle of the history of the Hellenes from 411 to 359 B. C. , starting as a continuation of Thucydides, and becoming his own brand of work from Book III onwards. 

PREPARER'S NOTE

This was typed from Dakyns' series, "The Works of Xenophon, " afour-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though there isdoubt about some of these) is:

 Work Number of books

 The Anabasis 7 The Hellenica 7 The Cyropaedia 8 The Memorabilia 4 The Symposium 1 The Economist 1 On Horsemanship 1 The Sportsman 1 The Cavalry General 1 The Apology 1 On Revenues 1 The Hiero 1 The Agesilaus 1 The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2

Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into Englishusing an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The diacritical markshave been lost. 

HELLENICA

BOOK I

I

B. C. 411. To follow the order of events (1). A few days laterThymochares arrived from Athens with a few ships, when another sea fightbetween the Lacedaemonians and Athenians at once took place, in whichthe former, under the command of Agesandridas, gained the victory. 

 (1) Lit. "after these events"; but is hard to conjecture to what events the author refers. For the order of events and the connection between the closing chapter of Thuc. Viii. 109, and the opening words of the "Hellenica, " see introductory remarks above. The scene of this sea-fight is, I think, the Hellespont. 

Another short interval brings us to a morning in early winter, whenDorieus, the son of Diagoras, was entering the Hellespont with fourteenships from Rhodes at break of day. The Athenian day-watch descrying him, signalled to the generals, and they, with twenty sail, put out to sea toattack him. Dorieus made good his escape, and, as he shook himself freeof the narrows, (2) ran his triremes aground off Rhoeteum. When theAthenians had come to close quarters, the fighting commenced, and wassustained at once from ships and shore, until at length the Atheniansretired to their main camp at Madytus, having achieved nothing. 

 (2) Lit. "as he opened" {os enoige}. This is still a mariner's phrase in modern Greek, if I am rightly informed. 

Meanwhile Mindarus, while sacrificing to Athena at Ilium, had observedthe battle. He at once hastened to the sea, and getting his own triremesafloat, sailed out to pick up the ships with Dorieus. The Athenians ontheir side put out to meet him, and engaged him off Abydos. From earlymorning till the afternoon the fight was kept up close to the shore. (3) Victory and defeat hung still in even balance, when Alcibiadescame sailing up with eighteen ships. Thereupon the Peloponnesiansfled towards Abydos, where, however, Pharnabazus brought them timelyassistance. (4) Mounted on horseback, he pushed forward into the sea asfar as his horse would let him, doing battle himself, and encouraginghis troopers and the infantry alike to play their parts. Then thePeloponnesians, ranging their ships in close-packed order, and drawingup their battle line in proximity to the land, kept up the fight. Atlength the Athenians, having captured thirty of the enemy's vesselswithout their crews, and having recovered those of their own whichthey had previously lost, set sail for Sestos. Here the fleet, with theexception of forty vessels, dispersed in different directions outsidethe Hellespont, to collect money; while Thrasylus, one of the generals, sailed to Athens to report what had happened, and to beg for areinforcement of troops and ships. After the above incidents, Tissaphernes arrived in the Hellespont, and received a visit fromAlcibiades, who presented him with a single ship, bringing with himtokens of friendship and gifts, whereupon Tissaphernes seized him andshut him up in Sardis, giving out that the king's orders were to go towar with the Athenians. Thirty days later Alcibiades, accompanied byMantitheus, who had been captured in Caria, managed to procure horsesand escaped by night to Clazomenae. 

 (3) The original has a somewhat more poetical ring. The author uses the old Attic or Ionic word {eona}. This is a mark of style, of which we shall have many instances. One might perhaps produce something of the effect here by translating: "the battle hugged the strand. "

 (4) Or, "came to their aid along the shore. "

B. C. 410. And now the Athenians at Sestos, hearing that Mindarus wasmeditating an attack upon them with a squadron of sixty sail, gavehim the slip, and under cover of night escaped to Cardia. Hither alsoAlcibiades repaired from Clazomenae, having with him five triremes anda light skiff; but on learning that the Peloponnesian fleet had leftAbydos and was in full sail for Cyzicus, he set off himself by land toSestos, giving orders to the fleet to sail round and join him there. Presently the vessels arrived, and he was on the point of putting out tosea with everything ready for action, when Theramenes, with a fleet oftwenty ships from Macedonia, entered the port, and at the same instantThrasybulus, with a second fleet of twenty sail from Thasos, bothsquadrons having been engaged in collecting money. Bidding theseofficers also follow him with all speed, as soon as they had taken outtheir large sails and cleared for action, Alcibiades set sail himselffor Parium. During the following night the united squadron, consistingnow of eighty-six vessels, stood out to sea from Parium, and reachedProconnesus next morning, about the hour of breakfast. Here they learntthat Mindarus was in Cyzicus, and that Pharnabazus, with a body ofinfantry, was with him. Accordingly they waited the whole of this day atProconnesus. On the following day Alcibiades summoned an assembly, and addressing the men in terms of encouragement, warned them that athreefold service was expected of them; that they must be ready for asea fight, a land fight, and a wall fight all at once, "for look you, "said he, "we have no money, but the enemy has unlimited supplies fromthe king. "

Now, on the previous day, as soon as they were come to moorings, he hadcollected all the sea-going craft of the island, big and little alike, under his own control, that no one might report the number of hissquadron to the enemy, and he had further caused a proclamation to bemade, that any one caught sailing across to the opposite coast would bepunished with death. When the meeting was over, he got his ships readyfor action, and stood out to sea towards Cyzicus in torrents of rain. Off Cyzicus the sky cleared, and the sun shone out and revealed to himthe spectacle of Mindarus's vessels, sixty in number, exercising at somedistance from the harbour, and, in fact, intercepted by himself. ThePeloponnesians, perceiving at a glance the greatly increased number ofthe Athenian galleys, and noting their proximity to the port, made hasteto reach the land, where they brought their vessels to anchor in abody, and prepared to engage the enemy as he sailed to the attack. ButAlcibiades, sailing round with twenty of his vessels, came to land anddisembarked. Seeing this, Mindarus also landed, and in the engagementwhich ensued he fell fighting, whilst those who were with him took toflight. As for the enemy's ships, the Athenians succeeded in capturingthe whole of them (with the exception of the Syracusan vessels, which were burnt by their crews), and made off with their prizes toProconnesus. From thence on the following day they sailed to attackCyzicus. The men of that place, seeing that the Peloponnesians andPharnabazus had evacuated the town, admitted the Athenians. HereAlcibiades remained twenty days, obtaining large sums of money fromthe Cyzicenes, but otherwise inflicting no sort of mischief on thecommunity. He then sailed back to Proconnesus, and from there toPerinthus and Selybria. The inhabitants of the former place welcomed histroops into their city, but the Selybrians preferred to give money, and so escape the admission of the troops. Continuing the voyage thesquadron reached Chrysopolis in Chalcedonia, (5) where they built afort, and established a custom-house to collect the tithe dues whichthey levied on all merchantmen passing through the Straights from theBlack Sea. Besides this, a detachment of thirty ships was left thereunder the two generals, Theramenes and Eubulus, with instructions notonly to keep a look-out on the port itself and on all traders passingthrough the channel, but generally to injure the enemy in any way whichmight present itself. This done, the rest of the generals hastened backto the Hellespont. 

 (5) This is the common spelling, but the coins of Calchedon have the letters {KALKH}, and so the name is written in the best MSS. Of Herodotus, Xenophon, and other writers, by whom the place is named. See "Dict. Of Greek and Roman Geog. " "Chalcedon. "

Now a despatch from Hippocrates, Mindarus's vice-admiral, (6) had beenintercepted on its way to Lacedaemon, and taken to Athens. It ranas follows (in broad Doric): (7) "Ships gone; Mindarus dead; the menstarving; at our wits' end what to do. "

 (6) "Epistoleus, " i. E. Secretary or despatch writer, is the Spartan title of the officer second in command to the admiral. 

 (7) Reading {'Errei ta kala} (Bergk's conjecture for {kala}) = "timbers, " i. E. "ships" (a Doric word). Cf. Aristoph. , "Lys. " 1253, {potta kala}. The despatch continues: {Mindaros apessoua} (al. {apessua}), which is much more racy than the simple word "dead. " "M. Is gone off. " I cannot find the right English or "broad Scotch" equivalent. See Thirlwall, "Hist. Gr. " IV. Xxix. 88 note. 

Pharnabazus, however, was ready to meet with encouragement thedespondency which afflicted the whole Peloponnesian army and theirallies. "As long as their own bodies were safe and sound, why needthey take to heart the loss of a few wooden hulls? Was there not timberenough and to spare in the king's territory?" And so he presented eachman with a cloak and maintenance for a couple of months, after which hearmed the sailors and formed them into a coastguard for the security ofhis own seaboard. 

He next called a meeting of the generals and trierarchs of the differentStates, and instructed them to build just as many new ships in thedockyards of Antandrus as they had respectively lost. He himself was tofurnish the funds, and he gave them to understand that they mightbring down timber from Mount Ida. While the ships were building, theSyracusans helped the men of Antandrus to finish a section of theirwalls, and were particularly pleasant on garrison duty; and that is whythe Syracusans to this day enjoy the privilege of citizenship, with thetitle of "benefactors, " at Antandrus. Having so arranged these matters, Pharnabazus proceeded at once to the rescue of Chalcedon. 

It was at this date that the Syracusan generals received news from homeof their banishment by the democratic party. Accordingly they called ameeting of their separate divisions, and putting forward Hermocrates(8) as their spokesman, proceeded to deplore their misfortune, insistingupon the injustice and the illegality of their banishment. "And now letus admonish you, " they added, "to be eager and willing in the future, even as in the past: whatever the word of command may be, showyourselves good men and true: let not the memory of those glorious seafights fade. Think of those victories you have won, those ships youhave captured by your own unaided efforts; forget not that long list ofachievements shared by yourselves with others, in all which youproved yourselves invincible under our generalship. It was to a happycombination of our merit and your enthusiasm, displayed alike on landand sea, that you owe the strength and perfection of your discipline. "

 (8) Hermocrates, the son of Hermon. We first hear of him in Thuc. Iv. 58 foll. As the chief agent in bringing the Sicilian States together in conference at Gela B. C. 424, with a view to healing their differences and combining to frustrate the dangerous designs of Athens. In 415 B. C. , when the attack came, he was again the master spirit in rendering it abortive (Thuc. Vi. 72 foll. ) In 412 B. C. It was he who urged the Sicilians to assist in completing the overthrow of Athens, by sending a squadron to co-operate with the Peloponnesian navy--for the relief of Miletus, etc. (Thuc. Viii. 26, 27 foll. ) At a later date, in 411 B. C. , when the Peloponnesian sailors were ready to mutiny, and "laid all their grievances to the charge of Astyochus (the Spartan admiral), who humoured Tissaphernes for his own gain" (Thuc. Viii. 83), Hermocrates took the men's part, and so incurred the hatred of Tissaphernes. 

With these words they called upon the men to choose other commanders, who should undertake the duties of their office, until the arrival oftheir successors. Thereupon the whole assembly, and more particularlythe captains and masters of vessels and marines, insisted with loudcries on their continuance in command. The generals replied, "It wasnot for them to indulge in faction against the State, but rather it wastheir duty, in case any charges were forthcoming against themselves, at once to render an account. " When, however, no one had any kind ofaccusation to prefer, they yielded to the general demand, and werecontent to await the arrival of their successors. The names of thesewere--Demarchus, the son of Epidocus; Myscon, the son of Mencrates; andPotamis, the son of Gnosis. 

The captains, for their part, swore to restore the exiled generals assoon as they themselves should return to Syracuse. At present witha general vote of thanks they despatched them to their severaldestinations. It particular those who had enjoyed the society ofHermocrates recalled his virtues with regret, his thoroughness andenthusiasm, his frankness and affability, the care with which everymorning and evening he was wont to gather in his quarters a group ofnaval captains and mariners whose ability he recognised. These were hisconfidants, to whom he communicated what he intended to say or do: theywere his pupils, to whom he gave lessons in oratory, now calling uponthem to speak extempore, and now again after deliberation. By thesemeans Hermocrates had gained a wide reputation at the council board, where his mastery of language was no less felt than the wisdom of hisadvice. Appearing at Lacedaemon as the accuser of Tissaphernes, (9) hehad carried his case, not only by the testimony of Astyochus, but bythe obvious sincerity of his statements, and on the strength of thisreputation he now betook himself to Pharnabazus. The latter did not waitto be asked, but at once gave him money, which enabled him to collectfriends and triremes, with a view to his ultimate recall to Syracuse. Meanwhile the successors of the Syracusans had arrived at Miletus, wherethey took charge of the ships and the army. 

 (9) The matter referred to is fully explained Thuc. Viii. 85. 

It was at this same season that a revolution occurred in Thasos, involving the expulsion of the philo-Laconian party, with the Laconiangovernor Eteonicus. The Laconian Pasippidas was charged with havingbrought the business about in conjunction with Tissaphernes, and wasbanished from Sparta in consequence. The naval force which he had beencollecting from the allies was handed over to Cratesippidas, who wassent out to take his place in Chios. 

About the same period, while Thrasylus was still in Athens, Agis(10) made a foraging expedition up to the very walls of the city. ButThrasylus led out the Athenians with the rest of the inhabitants of thecity, and drew them up by the side of the Lyceum Gymnasium, ready toengage the enemy if they approached; seeing which, Agis beat a hastyretreat, not however without the loss of some of his supports, a few ofwhom were cut down by the Athenian light troops. This success disposedthe citizens to take a still more favourable view of the objects forwhich Thrasylus had come; and they passed a decree empowering him tocall out a thousand hoplites, one hundred cavalry, and fifty triremes. 

 (10) The reader will recollect that we are giving in "the Deceleian" period of the war, 413-404 B. C. The Spartan king was in command of the fortress of Deceleia, only fourteen miles distant from Athens, and erected on a spot within sight of the city. See Thuc. Vii. 19, 27, 28. 

Meanwhile Agis, as he looked out from Deceleia, and saw vessel aftervessel laden with corn running down to Piraeus, declared that it wasuseless for his troops to go on week after week excluding the Atheniansfrom their own land, while no one stopped the source of their cornsupply by sea: the best plan would be to send Clearchus, (11) the sonof Rhamphius, who was proxenos (12) of the Byzantines, to Chalcedon andByzantium. The suggestion was approved, and with fifteen vessels dulymanned from Megara, or furnished by other allies, Clearchus set out. These were troop-ships rather than swift-sailing men-of-war. Three ofthem, on reaching the Hellespont, were destroyed by the Athenian shipsemployed to keep a sharp look-out on all merchant craft in those waters. The other twelve escaped to Sestos, and thence finally reached Byzantiumin safety. 

 (11) Of Clearchus we shall hear more in the sequel, and in the "Anabasis. "

 (12) The Proxenus answered pretty nearly to our "Consul, " "Agent, " "Resident"; but he differed in this respect, that he was always a member of the foreign State. An Athenian represented Sparta at Athens; a Laconian represented Athens at Sparta, and so forth. See Liddell and Scott. 

So closed the year--a year notable also for the expedition againstSicily of the Carthaginians under Hannibal with one hundred thousandmen, and the capture, within three months, of the two Hellenic cities ofSelinus and Himera. 

II

B. C. 409. Next year (1)... The Athenians fortified Thoricus; andThrasylus, taking the vessels lately voted him and five thousand ofhis seamen armed to serve as peltasts, (2) set sail for Samos at thebeginning of summer. At Samos he stayed three days, and then continuedhis voyage to Pygela, where he proceeded to ravage the territory andattack the fortress. Presently a detachment from Miletus came to therescue of the men of Pygela, and attacking the scattered bands of theAthenian light troops, put them to flight. But to the aid of the lighttroops came the naval brigade of peltasts, with two companies of heavyinfantry, and all but annihilated the whole detachment from Miletus. They captured about two hundred shields, and set up a trophy. Next daythey sailed to Notium, and from Notium, after due preparation, marchedupon Colophon. The Colophonians capitulated without a blow. Thefollowing night they made an incursion into Lydia, where the corn cropswere ripe, and burnt several villages, and captured money, slaves, andother booty in large quantity. But Stages, the Persian, who was employedin this neighbourhood, fell in with a reinforcement of cavalry sent toprotect the scattered pillaging parties from the Athenian camp, whilstoccupied with their individual plunder, and took one trooper prisoner, killing seven others. After this Thrasylus led his troops back to thesea, intending to sail to Ephesus. Meanwhile Tissaphernes, who had windof this intention, began collecting a large army and despatching cavalrywith a summons to the inhabitants one and all to rally to the defence ofthe goddess Artemis at Ephesus. 

 (1) The MSS. Here give a suspected passage, which may be rendered thus: "The first of Olympiad 93, celebrated as the year in which the newly-added two-horse race was won by Evagorias the Eleian, and the stadion (200 yards foot-race) by the Cyrenaean Eubotas, when Evarchippus was ephor at Sparta and Euctemon archon at Athens. " But Ol. 93, to which these officers, and the addition of the new race at Olympia belong, is the year 408. We must therefore suppose either that this passage has been accidentally inserted in the wrong place by some editor or copyist, or that the author was confused in his dates. The "stadium" is the famous foot-race at Olympia, 606 3/4 English feet in length, run on a course also called the "Stadion, " which was exactly a stade long. 

 (2) Peltasts, i. E. Light infantry armed with the "pelta" or light shield, instead of the heavy {aspis} of the hoplite or heavy infantry soldiers. 

On the seventeenth day after the incursion above mentioned Thrasylussailed to Ephesus. He disembarked his troops in two divisions, his heavyinfantry in the neighbourhood of Mount Coressus; his cavalry, peltasts, and marines, with the remainder of his force, near the marsh on theother side of the city. At daybreak he pushed forward both divisions. The citizens of Ephesus, on their side, were not slow to protectthemselves. They had to aid them the troops brought up by Tissaphernes, as well as two detachments of Syracusans, consisting of the crews oftheir former twenty vessels and those of five new vessels which hadopportunely arrived quite recently under Eucles, the son of Hippon, and Heracleides, the son of Aristogenes, together with two Selinuntianvessels. All these several forces first attacked the heavy infantrynear Coressus; these they routed, killing about one hundred of them, anddriving the remainder down into the sea. They then turned to deal withthe second division on the marsh. Here, too, the Athenians were put toflight, and as many as three hundred of them perished. On this spot theEphesians erected a trophy, and another at Coressus. The valour of theSyracusans and Selinuntians had been so conspicuous that the citizenspresented many of them, both publicly and privately, with prizes fordistinction in the field, besides offering the right of residence intheir city with certain immunities to all who at any time might wish tolive there. To the Selinuntians, indeed, as their own city had latelybeen destroyed, they offered full citizenship. 

The Athenians, after picking up their dead under a truce, set sailfor Notium, and having there buried the slain, continued their voyagetowards Lesbos and the Hellespont. Whilst lying at anchor in the harbourof Methymna, in that island, they caught sight of the Syracusan vessels, five-and-twenty in number, coasting along from Ephesus. They put out tosea to attack them, and captured four ships with their crews, and chasedthe remainder back to Ephesus. The prisoners were sent by Thrasylus toAthens, with one exception. This was an Athenian, Alcibiades, who was acousin and fellow-exile of Alcibiades. Him Thrasylus released. (3) FromMethymna Thrasylus set sail to Sestos to join the main body of the army, after which the united forces crossed to Lampsacus. And now winter wasapproaching. It was the winter in which the Syracusan prisoners who hadbeen immured in the stone quarries of Piraeus dug through the rock andescaped one night, some to Decelia and others to Megara. At LampsacusAlcibiades was anxious to marshal the whole military force therecollected in one body, but the old troops refused to be incorporatedwith those of Thrasylus. "They, who had never yet been beaten, withthese newcomers who had just suffered a defeat. " So they devoted thewinter to fortifying Lampsacus. They also made an expedition againstAbydos, where Pharnabazus, coming to the rescue of the place, encountered them with numerous cavalry, but was defeated and forcedto flee, Alcibiades pursuing hard with his cavalry and one hundred andtwenty infantry under the command of Menander, till darkness intervened. After this battle the soldiers came together of their own accord, andfreely fraternised with the troops of Thrasylus. This expedition wasfollowed by other incursions during the winter into the interior, wherethey found plenty to do ravaging the king's territory. 

 (3) Reading {apelusen}. Wolf's conjecture for the MSS. {katelousen} = stoned. See Thirlwall, "Hist. Gr. " IV. Xxix. 93 note. 

It was at this period also that the Lacedaemonians allowed theirrevolted helots from Malea, who had found an asylum at Coryphasium, todepart under a flag of truce. It was also about the same period that theAchaeans betrayed the colonists of Heracleia Trachinia, when they wereall drawn up in battle to meet the hostile Oetaeans, whereby as manyas seven hundred of them were lost, together with the governor (4) fromLacedaemon, Labotas. Thus the year came to its close--a year markedfurther by a revolt of the Medes from Darius, the king of Persia, followed by renewed submission to his authority. 

 (4) Technically {armostes} (harmost), i. E. Administrator. 

III

B. C. 408. The year following is the year in which the temple of Athena, in Phocaea, was struck by lightning and set on fire. (1) With thecessation of winter, in early spring, the Athenians set sail with thewhole of their force to Proconnesus, and thence advanced upon Chalcedonand Byzantium, encamping near the former town. The men of Chalcedon, aware of their approach, had taken the precaution to deposit all theirpillageable property with their neighbours, the Bithynian Thracians;whereupon Alcibiades put himself at the head of a small body of heavyinfantry with the cavalry, and giving orders to the fleet to followalong the coast, marched against the Bithynians and demanded back theproperty of the Chalcedonians, threatening them with war in case ofrefusal. The Bithynians delivered up the property. Returning to camp, not only thus enriched, but with the further satisfaction of havingsecured pledges of good behaviour from the Bithynians, Alcibiades set towork with the whole of his troops to draw lines of circumvallation roundChalcedon from sea to sea, so as to include as much of the river aspossible within his wall, which was made of timber. Thereupon theLacedaemonian governor, Hippocrates, let his troops out of the city andoffered battle, and the Athenians, on their side, drew up their forcesopposite to receive him; while Pharnabazus, from without the lines ofcircumvallation, was still advancing with his army and large bodies ofhorse. Hippocrates and Thrasylus engaged each other with their heavyinfantry for a long while, until Alcibiades, with a detachment ofinfantry and the cavalry, intervened. Presently Hippocrates fell, and the troops under him fled into the city; at the same instantPharnabazus, unable to effect a junction with the Lacedaemonian leader, owing to the circumscribed nature of the ground and the close proximityof the river to the enemy's lines, retired to the Heracleium, (2)belonging to the Chalcedonians, where his camp lay. After this successAlcibiades set off to the Hellespont and the Chersonese to raise money, and the remaining generals came to terms with Pharnabazus in respectof Chalcedon; according to these, the Persian satrap agreed to pay theAthenians twenty talents (3) in behalf of the town, and to grant theirambassadors a safe conduct up country to the king. It was furtherstipulated by mutual consent and under oaths provided, that theChalcedonians should continue the payment of their customary tributeto Athens, being also bound to discharge all outstanding debts. TheAthenians, on their side, were bound to desist from all hostilitiesuntil the return of their ambassadors from the king. These oathswere not witnessed by Alcibiades, who was now in the neighbourhood ofSelybria. Having taken that place, he presently appeared before thewalls of Byzantium at the head of the men of Chersonese, who came outwith their whole force; he was aided further by troops from Thrace andmore than three hundred horse. Accordingly Pharnabazus, insisting thathe too must take the oath, decided to remain in Chalcedon, and to awaithis arrival from Byzantium. Alcibiades came, but was not prepared tobind himself by any oaths, unless Pharnabazus would, on his side, takeoaths to himself. After this, oaths were exchanged between them byproxy. Alcibiades took them at Chrysopolis in the presence of tworepresentatives sent by Pharnabazus--namely, Mitrobates and Arnapes. Pharnabazus took them at Chalcedon in the presence of Euryptolemus andDiotimus, who represented Alcibiades. Both parties bound themselves notonly by the general oath, but also interchanged personal pledges of goodfaith. 

 (1) The MSS. Here give the words, "in the ephorate of Pantacles and the archonship of Antigenes, two-and-twenty years from the beginning of the war, " but the twenty-second year of the war = B. C. 410; Antigenes archon, B. C. 407 = Ol. 93, 2; the passage must be regarded as a note mis-inserted by some editor or copyist (vide supra, I. 11. )

 (2) I. E. Sacred place or temple of Heracles. 

 (3) Twenty talents = 4800 pounds; or, more exactly, 4875 pounds. 

This done, Pharnabazus left Chalcedon at once, with injunctions thatthose who were going up to the king as ambassadors should meet himat Cyzicus. The representatives of Athens were Dorotheus, Philodices, Theogenes, Euryptolemus, and Mantitheus; with them were two Argives, Cleostratus and Pyrrholochus. An embassy of the Lacedaemonians was alsoabout to make the journey. This consisted of Pasippidas and his fellows, with whom were Hermocrates, now an exile from Syracuse, and his brotherProxenus. So Pharnabazus put himself at their head. Meanwhile theAthenians prosecuted the siege of Byzantium; lines of circumvallationwere drawn; and they diversified the blockade by sharpshooting atlong range and occasional assaults upon the walls. Inside the city layClearchus, the Lacedaemonian governor, and a body of Perioci with asmall detachment of Neodamodes. (4) There was also a body of Megariansunder their general Helixus, a Megarian, and another body of Boeotians, with their general Coeratadas. The Athenians, finding presently thatthey could effect nothing by force, worked upon some of the inhabitantsto betray the place. Clearchus, meanwhile, never dreaming that any onewould be capable of such an act, had crossed over to the oppositecoast to visit Pharnabazus; he had left everything in perfect order, entrusting the government of the city to Coeratadas and Helixus. Hismission was to obtain pay for the soldiers from the Persian satrap, and to collect vessels from various quarters. Some were already in theHellespont, where they had been left as guardships by Pasippidas, orelse at Antandrus. Others formed the fleet which Agesandridas, who hadformerly served as a marine (5) under Mindarus, now commanded on theThracian coast. Others Clearchus purposed to have built, and with thewhole united squadron to so injure the allies of the Athenians as todraw off the besieging army from Byzantium. But no sooner was he fairlygone than those who were minded to betray the city set to work. Theirnames were Cydon, Ariston, Anaxicrates, Lycurgus, and Anaxilaus. Thelast-named was afterwards impeached for treachery in Lacedaemon on thecapital charge, and acquitted on the plea that, to begin with, he wasnot a Lacedaemonian, but a Byzantine, and, so far from having betrayedthe city, he had saved it, when he saw women and children perishing ofstarvation; for Clearchus had given away all the corn in the city to theLacedaemonian soldiers. It was for these reasons, as Anaxilaus himselfadmitted, he had introduced the enemy, and not for the sake of money, nor out of hatred to Lacedaemon. 

 (4) According to the constitution of Lacedaemon the whole government was in Dorian hands. The subject population was divided into (1) Helots, who were State serfs. The children of Helots were at times brought up by Spartans and called "Mothakes"; Helots who had received their liberty were called "Neodamodes" ({neodamodeis}). After the conquest of Messenia this class was very numerous. (2) Perioeci. These were the ancient Achaean inhabitants, living in towns and villages, and managing their own affairs, paying tribute, and serving in the army as heavy-armed soldiers. In 458 B. C. They were said to number thirty thousand. The Spartans themselves were divided, like all Dorians, into three tribes, Hylleis, Dymanes, and Pamphyli, each of which tribes was divided into ten "obes, " which were again divided into {oikoi} or families possessed of landed properties. In 458 B. C. There were said to be nine thousand such families; but in course of time, through alienation of lands, deaths in war, and other causes, their numbers were much diminished; and in many cases there was a loss of status, so that in the time of Agis III. , B. C. 244, we hear of two orders of Spartans, the {omoioi} and the {upomeiones} (inferiors); seven hundred Spartans (families) proper and one hundred landed proprietors. See Mullers "Dorians, " vol. Ii. Bk. Iii. Ch. X. S. 3 (Eng. Trans. ); Arist. "Pol. " ii. 9, 15; Plut. ("Agis"). 

 (5) The greek word is {epibates}, which some think was the title of an inferior naval officer in the Spartan service, but there is no proof of this. Cf. Thuc. Viii. 61, and Prof. Jowett's note; also Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " viii. 27 (2d ed. )

As soon as everything was ready, these people opened the gates leadingto the Thracian Square, as it is called, and admitted the Atheniantroops with Alcibiades at their head. Helixus and Coeratadas, incomplete ignorance of the plot, hastened to the Agora with the wholeof the garrison, ready to confront the danger; but finding the enemy inoccupation, they had nothing for it but to give themselves up. They weresent off as prisoners to Athens, where Coeratadas, in the midst of thecrowd and confusion of debarkation at Piraeus, gave his guards the slip, and made his way in safety to Decelia. 

IV

B. C. 407. Pharnabazus and the ambassadors were passing the winter atGordium in Phrygia, when they heard of the occurrences at Byzantium. Continuing their journey to the king's court in the commencement ofspring, they were met by a former embassy, which was now on its returnjourney. These were the Lacedaemonian ambassadors, Boeotius and hisparty, with the other envoys; who told them that the Lacedaemonians hadobtained from the king all they wanted. One of the company was Cyrus, the new governor of all the seaboard districts, who was prepared toco-operate with the Lacedaemonians in war. He was the bearer, moreover, of a letter with the royal seal attached. It was addressed to all thepopulations of Lower Asia, and contained the following words: "I senddown Cyrus as 'Karanos'" (1)--that is to say, supreme lord--"over allthose who muster at Castolus. " The ambassadors of the Athenians, evenwhile listening to this announcement, and indeed after they had seenCyrus, were still desirous, if possible, to continue their journey tothe king, or, failing that, to return home. Cyrus, however, urged uponPharnabazus either to deliver them up to himself, or to defer sendingthem home at present; his object being to prevent the Athenians learningwhat was going on. Pharnabazus, wishing to escape all blame, for thetime being detained them, telling them, at one time, that he wouldpresently escort them up country to the king, and at another time thathe would send them safe home. But when three years had elapsed, heprayed Cyrus to let them go, declaring that he had taken an oath tobring them back to the sea, in default of escorting them up to the king. Then at last they received safe conduct to Ariobarzanes, with orders fortheir further transportation. The latter conducted them a stage further, to Cius in Mysia; and from Cius they set sail to join their mainarmament. 

 (1) {Karanos. } Is this a Greek word, a Doric form, {karanos}, akin to {kara} (cf. {karenon}) = chief? or is it not more likely a Persian or native word, Karanos? and might not the title be akin conceivably to the word {korano}, which occurs on many Indo- Bactrian coins (see A. Von Sallet, "Die Nachfolger Alexanders des Grossen, " p. 57, etc. )? or is {koiranos} the connecting link? The words translated "that is to say, supreme lord, " {to de karanon esti kurion}, look very like a commentator's gloss. 

Alcibiades, whose chief desire was to return home to Athens with thetroops, immediately set sail for Samos; and from that island, takingtwenty of the ships, he sailed to the Ceramic Gulf of Caria, where hecollected a hundred talents, and so returned to Samos. 

Thrasybulus had gone Thrace-wards with thirty ships. In this quarter hereduced various places which had revolted to Lacedaemon, includingthe island of Thasos, which was in a bad plight, the result of wars, revolutions, and famine. 

Thrasylus, with the rest of the army, sailed back straight to Athens. On his arrival he found that the Athenians had already chosen as theirgeneral Alcibiades, who was still in exile, and Thrasybulus, who wasalso absent, and as a third, from among those at home, Conon. 

Meanwhile Alcibiades, with the moneys lately collected and his fleet oftwenty ships, left Samos and visited Paros. From Paros he stood out tosea across to Gytheum, (2) to keep an eye on the thirty ships of warwhich, as he was informed, the Lacedaemonians were equipping in thatarsenal. Gytheum would also be a favourable point of observationfrom which to gauge the disposition of his fellow-countrymen and theprospects of his recall. When at length their good disposition seemedto him established, not only by his election as general, but by themessages of invitation which he received in private from his friends, hesailed home, and entered Piraeus on the very day of the festival of thePlunteria, (3) when the statue of Athena is veiled and screened frompublic gaze. This was a coincidence, as some thought, of evil omen, and unpropitious alike to himself and the State, for no Athenian wouldtransact serious business on such a day. 

 (2) Gytheum, the port and arsenal of Sparta, situated near the head of the Laconian Gulf (now Marathonisi). 

 (3) {ta Plunteria}, or feast of washings, held on the 25th of the month Thargelion, when the image of the goddess Athena was stripped in order that her clothes might be washed by the Praxiergidae; neither assembly nor court was held on that day, and the Temple was closed. 

As he sailed into the harbour, two great crowds--one from the Piraeus, the other from the city (4)--flocked to meet the vessels. Wonderment, mixed with a desire to see Alcibiades, was the prevailing sentiment ofthe multitude. Of him they spoke: some asserting that he was the bestof citizens, and that in his sole instance banishment had beenill-deserved. He had been the victim of plots, hatched in the brainsof people less able than himself, however much they might excel inpestilent speech; men whose one principle of statecraft was to look totheir private gains; whereas this man's policy had ever been to upholdthe common weal, as much by his private means as by all the power of theState. His own choice, eight years ago, when the charge of impiety inthe matter of the mysteries was still fresh, would have been to submitto trial at once. It was his personal foes, who had succeeded inpostponing that undeniably just procedure; who waited till his back wasturned, and then robbed him of his fatherland. Then it was that, beingmade the very slave of circumstance, he was driven to court the men hehated most; and at a time when his own life was in daily peril, he mustsee his dearest friends and fellow-citizens, nay, the very State itself, bent on a suicidal course, and yet, in the exclusion of exile, be unableto lend a helping hand. "It is not men of this stamp, " they averred, "who desire changes in affairs and revolution: had he not alreadyguaranteed to him by the Democracy a position higher than that of hisequals in age, and scarcely if at all inferior to his seniors? Howdifferent was the position of his enemies. It had been the fortune ofthese, though they were known to be the same men they had always been, to use their lately acquired power for the destruction in the firstinstance of the better classes; and then, being alone left surviving, tobe accepted by their fellow-citizens in the absence of better men. "

 (4) Or, "collected to meet the vessels from curiosity and a desire to see Alcibiades. "

Others, however, insisted that for all their past miseries andmisfortunes Alcibiades alone was responsible: "If more trials were stillin store for the State, here was the master mischief-maker ready at hispost to precipitate them. "

When the vessels came to their moorings, close to the land, Alcibiades, from fear of his enemies, was unwilling to disembark at once. Mountingon the quarterdeck, he scanned the multitude, (5) anxious to makecertain of the presence of his friends. Presently his eyes lit uponEuryptolemus, the son of Peisianax, who was his cousin, and then on therest of his relations and other friends. Upon this he landed, and so, in the midst of an escort ready to put down any attempt upon his person, made his way to the city. 

 (5) Or, "he looked to see if his friends were there. "

In the Senate and Public Assembly (6) he made speeches, defendinghimself against the charge of impiety, and asserting that he had beenthe victim of injustice, with other like topics, which in the presenttemper of the assembly no one ventured to gainsay. 

 (6) Technically the "Boule" ({Boule}) or Senate, and "Ecclesia" or Popular Assembly. 

He was then formally declared leader and chief of the State, withirresponsible powers, as being the sole individual capable of recoveringthe ancient power and prestige of Athens. Armed with this authority, hisfirst act was to institute anew the processional march to Eleusis;for of late years, owing to the war, the Athenians had been forced toconduct the mysteries by sea. Now, at the head of the troops, he causedthem to be conducted once again by land. This done, his next step wasto muster an armament of one thousand five hundred heavy infantry, onehundred and fifty cavalry, and one hundred ships; and lastly, withinthree months of his return, he set sail for Andros, which had revoltedfrom Athens. 

The generals chosen to co-operate with him on land were Aristocrates andAdeimantus, the son of Leucophilides. He disembarked his troops on theisland of Andros at Gaurium, and routed the Andrian citizens who salliedout from the town to resist the invader; forcing them to return and keepclose within their walls, though the number who fell was not large. This defeat was shared by some Lacedaemonians who were in the place. Alcibiades erected a trophy, and after a few days set sail himself forSamos, which became his base of operations in the future conduct of thewar. 

V

At a date not much earlier than that of the incidents just described, the Lacedaemonians had sent out Lysander as their admiral, in the placeof Cratesippidas, whose period of office had expired. The new admiralfirst visited Rhodes, where he got some ships, and sailed to Cos andMiletus, and from the latter place to Ephesus. At Ephesus he waited withseventy sail, expecting the advent of Cyrus in Sardis, when he at oncewent up to pay the prince a visit with the ambassadors from Lacedaemon. And now an opportunity was given to denounce the proceedings ofTissaphernes, and at the same time to beg Cyrus himself to show as muchzeal as possible in the prosecution of the war. Cyrus replied that notonly had he received express injunction from his father to the sameeffect, but that his own views coincided with their wishes, which he wasdetermined to carry out to the letter. He had, he informed them, broughtwith him five hundred talents; (1) and if that sum failed, he had stillthe private revenue, which his father allowed him, to fall back upon, and when this resource was in its turn exhausted, he would coin the goldand silver throne on which he sat, into money for their benefit. (2)

 (1) About 120, 000 pounds. One Euboic or Attic talent = sixty minae = six thousand drachmae = 243 pounds 15 shillings of our money. 

 (2) Cf. The language of Tissaphernes, Thuc. Viii. 81. 

His audience thanked him for what he said, and further begged him tofix the rate of payment for the seamen at one Attic drachma per man, (3)explaining that should this rate of payment be adopted, the sailors ofthe Athenians would desert, and in the end there would be a savingof expenditure. Cyrus complimented them on the soundness of theirarguments, but said that it was not in his power to exceed theinjunctions of the king. The terms of agreement were precise, thirtyminae (4) a month per vessel to be given, whatever number of vessels theLacedaemonians might choose to maintain. 

 (3) About 9 3/4 pence; a drachma (= six obols) would be very high pay for a sailor--indeed, just double the usual amount. See Thuc. Vi. 8 and viii. 29, and Prof. Jowett ad loc. Tissaphernes had, in the winter of 412 B. C. , distributed one month's pay among the Peloponnesian ships at this high rate of a drachma a day, "as his envoy had promised at Lacedaemon;" but this he proposed to reduce to half a drachma, "until he had asked the king's leave, promising that if he obtained it, he would pay the entire drachma. On the remonstrance, however, of Hermocrates, the Syracusan general, he promised to each man a payment of somewhat more than three obols. "

 (4) Nearly 122 pounds; and thirty minae a month to each ship (the crew of each ship being taken at two hundred) = three obols a day to each man. The terms of agreement to which Cyrus refers may have been specified in the convention mentioned above in chap. Iv, which Boeotius and the rest were so proud to have obtained. But see Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. P. 192 note (2d ed. )

To this rejoinder Lysander at the moment said nothing. But after dinner, when Cyrus drank to his health, asking him "What he could do to gratifyhim most?" Lysander replied, "Add an obol (5) to the sailors' pay. "After this the pay was raised to four instead of three obols, as ithitherto had been. Nor did the liberality of Cyrus end here; he not onlypaid up all arrears, but further gave a month's pay in advance, so that, if the enthusiasm of the army had been great before, it was greater thanever now. The Athenians when they heard the news were proportionatelydepressed, and by help of Tissaphernes despatched ambassadors to Cyrus. That prince, however, refused to receive them, nor were the prayers ofTissaphernes of any avail, however much he insisted that Cyrus shouldadopt the policy which he himself, on the advice of Alcibiades, hadpersistently acted on. This was simply not to suffer any single Hellenicstate to grow strong at the expense of the rest, but to keep them allweak alike, distracted by internecine strife. 

 (5) An obol = one-sixth of a drachma; the Attic obol = rather more than 1 1/2 pence. 

Lysander, now that the organisation of his navy was arranged to hissatisfaction, beached his squadron of ninety vessels at Ephesus, andsat with hands folded, whilst the vessels dried and underwent repairs. Alcibiades, being informed that Thrasybulus had come south of theHellespont and was fortifying Phocaea, sailed across to join him, leaving his own pilot Antiochus in command of the fleet, with ordersnot to attack Lysander's fleet. Antiochus, however, was tempted to leaveNotium and sail into the harbour of Ephesus with a couple of ships, hisown and another, past the prows of Lysander's squadron. The Spartan atfirst contented himself with launching a few of his ships, and startedin pursuit of the intruder; but when the Athenians came out with othervessels to assist Antiochus, he formed his whole squadron into line ofbattle, and bore down upon them, whereupon the Athenians followed suit, and getting their remaining triremes under weigh at Notium, stood out tosea as fast as each vessel could clear the point. (6) Thus it befell inthe engagement which ensued, that while the enemy was in due order, theAthenians came up in scattered detachments and without concert, and inthe end were put to flight with the loss of fifteen ships of war. Of thecrews, indeed, the majority escaped, though a certain number fell intothe hands of the enemy. Then Lysander collected his vessels, and havingerected a trophy on Cape Notium, sailed across to Ephesus, whilst theAthenians retired to Samos. 

 (6) {os ekastos enoixen}, for this nautical term see above. 

On his return to Samos a little later, Alcibiades put out to sea withthe whole squadron in the direction of the harbour of Ephesus. At themouth of the harbour he marshalled his fleet in battle order, and triedto tempt the enemy to an engagement; but as Lysander, conscious of hisinferiority in numbers, refused to accept the challenge, he sailedback again to Samos. Shortly after this the Lacedaemonians capturedDelphinium and Eion. (7)

 (7) This should probably be Teos, in Ionia, in spite of the MSS. {'Eiona}. The place referred to cannot at any rate be the well- known Eion at the mouth of the Strymon in Thrace. 

But now the news of the late disaster at Notium had reached theAthenians at home, and in their indignation they turned upon Alcibiades, to whose negligence and lack of self-command they attributedthe destruction of the ships. Accordingly they chose ten newgenerals--namely Conon, Diomedon, Leon, Pericles, Erasinides, Aristocrates, Archestratus, Protomachus, Thrasylus, and Aristogenes. Alcibiades, who was moreover in bad odour in the camp, sailed away witha single trireme to his private fortress in the Chersonese. 

After this Conon, in obedience to a decree of the Athenian people, set sail from Andros with the twenty vessels under his command in thatisland to Samos, and took command of the whole squadron. To fill theplace thus vacated by Conon, Phanosthenes was sent to Andros with fourships. That captain was fortunate enough to intercept and capturetwo Thurian ships of war, crews and all, and these captives were allimprisoned by the Athenians, with the exception of their leader Dorieus. He was the Rhodian, who some while back had been banished from Athensand from his native city by the Athenians, when sentence of death waspassed upon him and his family. This man, who had once enjoyed theright of citizenship among them, they now took pity on and released himwithout ransom. 

When Conon had reached Samos he found the armament in a state of greatdespondency. Accordingly his first measure was to man seventy ships withtheir full complement, instead of the former hundred and odd vessels. With this squadron he put to sea accompanied by the other generals, and confined himself to making descents first at one point and then atanother of the enemy's territory, and to collecting plunder. 

And so the year drew to its close: a year signalled further by aninvasion of Sicily by the Carthaginians, with one hundred and twentyships of war and a land force of one hundred and twenty thousand men, which resulted in the capture of Agrigentum. The town was finallyreduced to famine after a siege of seven months, the invaders havingpreviously been worsted in battle and forced to sit down before itswalls for so long a time. 

VI

B. C. 406. In the following year--the year of the evening eclipse of themoon, and the burning of the old temple of Athena (1) at Athens (2)--theLacedaemonians sent out Callicratidas to replace Lysander, whose periodof office had now expired. (3) Lysander, when surrendering the squadronto his successor, spoke of himself as the winner of a sea fight, whichhad left him in undisputed mastery of the sea, and with this boasthe handed over the ships to Callicratidas, who retorted, "If you willconvey the fleet from Ephesus, keeping Samos (4) on your right" (thatis, past where the Athenian navy lay), "and hand it over to me atMiletus, I will admit that you are master of the sea. " But Lysanderhad no mind to interfere in the province of another officer. ThusCallicratidas assumed responsibility. He first manned, in additionto the squadron which he received from Lysander, fifty new vesselsfurnished by the allies from Chios and Rhodes and elsewhere. When allthese contingents were assembled, they formed a total of one hundred andforty sail, and with these he began making preparations for engagementwith the enemy. But it was impossible for him not to note the strongcurrent of opposition which he encountered from the friends of Lysander. Not only was there lack of zeal in their service, but they openlydisseminated an opinion in the States, that it was the greatest possibleblunder on the part of the Lacedaemonians so to change their admirals. Of course, they must from time to time get officers altogether unfit forthe post--men whose nautical knowledge dated from yesterday, and who, moreover, had no notion of dealing with human beings. It would be veryodd if this practice of sending out people ignorant of the sea andunknown to the folk of the country did not lead to some catastrophe. Callicratidas at once summoned the Lacedaemonians there present, andaddressed them in the following terms:--

 (1) I. E. As some think, the Erechtheion, which was built partly on the site of the old temple of Athena Polias, destroyed by the Persians. According to Dr. Dorpfeld, a quite separate building of the Doric order, the site of which (S. Of the Erechtheion) has lately been discovered. 

 (2) The MSS. Here add "in the ephorate of Pityas and the archonship of Callias at Athens;" but though the date is probably correct (cf. Leake, "Topography of Athens, " vol. I. P. 576 foll. ), the words are almost certainly a gloss. 

 (3) Here the MSS. Add "with the twenty-fourth year of the war, " probably an annotator's gloss; the correct date should be twenty- fifth. Pel. War 26 = B. C. 406. Pel. War 25 ended B. C. 407. 

 (4) Lit. On the left (or east) of Samos, looking south from Ephesus. 

"For my part, " he said, "I am content to stay at home: and if Lysanderor any one else claim greater experience in nautical affairs than Ipossess, I have no desire to block his path. Only, being sent out by theState to take command of this fleet, I do not know what is left tome, save to carry out my instructions to the best of my ability. Foryourselves, all I beg of you, in reference to my personal ambitions andthe kind of charges brought against our common city, and of which youare as well aware as I am, is to state what you consider to be the bestcourse: am I to stay where I am, or shall I sail back home, and explainthe position of affairs out here?"

No one ventured to suggest any other course than that he should obey theauthorities, and do what he was sent to do. Callicratidas then went upto the court of Cyrus to ask for further pay for the sailors, butthe answer he got from Cyrus was that he should wait for two days. Callicratidas was annoyed at the rebuff: to dance attendance at thepalace gates was little to his taste. In a fit of anger he cried outat the sorry condition of the Hellenes, thus forced to flatter thebarbarian for the sake of money. "If ever I get back home, " he added, "I will do what in me lies to reconcile the Athenians and theLacedaemonians. " And so he turned and sailed back to Miletus. FromMiletus he sent some triremes to Lacedaemon to get money, and convokingthe public assembly of the Milesians, addressed them thus:--

"Men of Miletus, necessity is laid upon me to obey the rulers at home;but for yourselves, whose neighbourhood to the barbarians has exposedyou to many evils at their hands, I only ask you to let your zeal in thewar bear some proportion to your former sufferings. You should setan example to the rest of the allies, and show us how to inflict thesharpest and swiftest injury on our enemy, whilst we await the returnfrom Lacedaemon of my envoys with the necessary funds. Since one of thelast acts of Lysander, before he left us, was to hand back to Cyrus thefunds already on the spot, as though we could well dispense with them. Iwas thus forced to turn to Cyrus, but all I got from him was a series ofrebuffs; he refused me an audience, and, for my part, I could not inducemyself to hang about his gates like a mendicant. But I give you my word, men of Miletus, that in return for any assistance which you can renderus while waiting for these aids, I will requite you richly. Only byGod's help let us show these barbarians that we do not need to worshipthem, in order to punish our foes. "

The speech was effective; many members of the assembly arose, and notthe least eagerly those who were accused of opposing him. These, in someterror, proposed a vote of money, backed by offers of further privatecontributions. Furnished with these sums, and having procured from Chiosa further remittance of five drachmas (5) a piece as outfit for eachseaman, he set sail to Methyma in Lesbos, which was in the hands of theenemy. But as the Methymnaeans were not disposed to come over to him(since there was an Athenian garrison in the place, and the men at thehead of affairs were partisans of Athens), he assaulted and took theplace by storm. All the property within accordingly became the spoil ofthe soldiers. The prisoners were collected for sale by Callicratidasin the market-place, where, in answer to the demand of the allies, whocalled upon him to sell the Methymnaeans also, he made answer, that aslong as he was in command, not a single Hellene should be enslaved ifhe could help it. The next day he set at liberty the free-born captives;the Athenian garrison with the captured slaves he sold. (6) To Cononhe sent word:--He would put a stop to his strumpeting the sea. (7) Andcatching sight of him, as he put out to sea, at break of day, he gavechase, hoping to cut him off from his passage to Samos, and prevent histaking refuge there. 

 (5) About 4d. 

 (6) Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. P. 224 (2d ed. ), thinks that Callicratidas did not even sell the Athenian garrison, as if the sense of the passage were: "The next day he set at liberty the free-born captives with the Athenian garrison, contenting himself with selling the captive slaves. " But I am afraid that no ingenuity of stopping will extract that meaning from the Greek words, which are, {te d' usteraia tous men eleutherous apheke tous de ton 'Athenaion phrourous kai ta andrapoda ta doula panta apedoto}. To spare the Athenian garrison would have been too extraordinary a proceeding even for Callicratidas. The idea probably never entered his head. It was sufficiently noble for him to refuse to sell the Methymnaeans. See the remarks of Mr. W. L. Newman, "The Pol. Of Aristotle, " vol. I. P. 142. 

 (7) I. E. The sea was Sparta's bride. 

But Conon, aided by the sailing qualities of his fleet, the rowers ofwhich were the pick of several ships' companies, concentrated in a fewvessels, made good his escape, seeking shelter within the harbour ofMitylene in Lesbos, and with him two of the ten generals, Leon andErasinides. Callicratidas, pursuing him with one hundred and seventysail, entered the harbour simultaneously; and Conon thus hindered fromfurther or final escape by the too rapid movements of the enemy, wasforced to engage inside the harbour, and lost thirty of his ships, though the crews escaped to land. The remaining, forty in number, hehauled up under the walls of the town. Callicratidas, on his side, cameto moorings in the harbour; and, having command of the exit, blocked theAthenian within. His next step was to send for the Methymnaeans in forceby land, and to transport his army across from Chios. Money also came tohim from Cyrus. 

Conon, finding himself besieged by land and sea, without means ofproviding himself with corn from any quarter, the city crowded withinhabitants, and aid from Athens, whither no news of the late eventscould be conveyed, impossible, launched two of the fastest sailingvessels of his squadron. These he manned, before daybreak, with the bestrowers whom he could pick out of the fleet, stowing away the marines atthe same time in the hold of the ships and closing the port shutters. Every day for four days they held out in this fashion, but at evening assoon as it was dark he disembarked his men, so that the enemy might notsuspect what they were after. On the fifth day, having got in a smallstock of provisions, when it was already mid-day and the blockaders werepaying little or no attention, and some of them even were taking theirsiesta, the two ships sailed out of the harbour: the one directing hercourse towards the Hellespont, whilst her companion made for the opensea. Then, on the part of the blockaders, there was a rush to the sceneof action, as fast as the several crews could get clear of land, inbustle and confusion, cutting away the anchors, and rousing themselvesfrom sleep, for, as chance would have it, they had been breakfasting onshore. Once on board, however, they were soon in hot pursuit of theship which had started for the open sea, and ere the sun dipped theyoverhauled her, and after a successful engagement attached her by cablesand towed her back into harbour, crew and all. Her comrade, making forthe Hellespont, escaped, and eventually reached Athens with news ofthe blockade. The first relief was brought to the blockaded fleet byDiomedon, who anchored with twelve vessels in the Mitylenaean Narrows. (8) But a sudden attack of Callicratidas, who bore down upon him withoutwarning, cost him ten of his vessels, Diomedon himself escaping with hisown ship and one other. 

 (8) Or, "Euripus. "

Now that the position of affairs, including the blockade, was fullyknown at Athens, a vote was passed to send out a reinforcement of onehundred and ten ships. Every man of ripe age, (9) whether slave or free, was impressed for this service, so that within thirty days the whole onehundred and ten vessels were fully manned and weighed anchor. Amongstthose who served in this fleet were also many of the knights. (10)The fleet at once stood out across to Samos, and picked up the Samianvessels in that island. The muster-roll was swelled by the addition ofmore than thirty others from the rest of the allies, to whom the sameprinciple of conscription applied, as also it did to the ships alreadyengaged on foreign service. The actual total, therefore, when all thecontingents were collected, was over one hundred and fifty vessels. 

 (9) I. E. From eighteen to sixty years. 

 (10) See Boeckh. "P. E. A. " Bk. II. Chap. Xxi. P. 263 (Eng. Trans. )

Callicratidas, hearing that the relief squadron had already reachedSamos, left fifty ships, under command of Eteonicus, in the harbour ofMitylene, and setting sail with the other one hundred and twenty, hoveto for the evening meal off Cape Malea in Lesbos, opposite Mitylene. Itso happened that the Athenians on this day were supping on the islandsof Arginusae, which lie opposite Lesbos. In the night the Spartan notonly saw their watch-fires, but received positive information that"these were the Athenians;" and about midnight he got under weigh, intending to fall upon them suddenly. But a violent downpour of rainwith thunder and lightning prevented him putting out to sea. By daybreakit had cleared, and he sailed towards Arginusae. On their side, theAthenian squadron stood out to meet him, with their left wingfacing towards the open sea, and drawn up in the followingorder:--Aristocrates, in command of the left wing, with fifteen ships, led the van; next came Diomedon with fifteen others, and immediately inrear of Aristocrates and Diomedon respectively, as their supports, camePericles and Erasinides. Parallel with Diomedon were the Samians, withtheir ten ships drawn up in single line, under the command of a Samianofficer named Hippeus. Next to these came the ten vessels of thetaxiarchs, also in single line, and supporting them, the three ships ofthe navarchs, with any other allied vessels in the squadron. The rightwing was entrusted to Protomachus with fifteen ships, and next to him(on the extreme right) was Thrasylus with another division of fifteen. Protomachus was supported by Lysias with an equal number of ships, andThrasylus by Aristogenes. The object of this formation was to preventthe enemy from manouvring so as to break their line by striking themamidships, (11) since they were inferior in sailing power. 

 (11) Lit. "by the diekplous. " Cf. Thuc. I. 49, and Arnold's note, who says: "The 'diecplus' was a breaking through the enemy's line in order by a rapid turning of the vessel to strike the enemy's ship on the side or stern, where it was most defenceless, and so to sink it. " So, it seems, "the superiority of nautical skill has passed, " as Grote (viii. P. 234) says, "to the Peloponnesians and their allies. " Well may the historian add, "How astonished would the Athenian Admiral Phormion have been, if he could have witnessed the fleets and the order of battle at Arginusae!" See Thuc. Iv. 11. 

The Lacedaemonians, on the contrary, trusting to their superiorseamanship, were formed opposite with their ships all in single line, with the special object of manouvring so as either to break the enemy'sline or to wheel round them. Callicratidas commanded the right wingin person. Before the battle the officer who acted as his pilot, theMegarian Hermon, suggested that it might be well to withdraw the fleetas the Athenian ships were far more numerous. But Callicratidas repliedthat Sparta would be no worse off even if he personally should perish, but to flee would be disgraceful. (12) And now the fleets approached, and for a long space the battle endured. At first the vessels wereengaged in crowded masses, and later on in scattered groups. At lengthCallicratidas, as his vessel dashed her beak into her antagonist, was hurled off into the sea and disappeared. At the same instantProtomachus, with his division on the right, had defeated the enemy'sleft, and then the flight of the Peloponnesians began towards Chios, though a very considerable body of them made for Phocaea, whilst theAthenians sailed back again to Arginusae. The losses on the side of theAthenians were twenty-five ships, crews and all, with the exception ofthe few who contrived to reach dry land. On the Peloponnesian side, nineout of the ten Lacedaemonian ships, and more than sixty belonging to therest of the allied squadron, were lost. 

 (12) For the common reading, {oikeitai}, which is ungrammatical, various conjectures have been made, e. G. 

 {oikieitai} = "would be none the worse off for citizens, " {oikesetai} = "would be just as well administered without him, "

 but as the readings and their renderings are alike doubtful, I have preferred to leave the matter vague. Cf. Cicero, "De Offic. " i. 24; Plutarch, "Lac. Apophth. " p. 832. 

After consultation the Athenian generals agreed that two captainsof triremes, Theramenes and Thrasybulus, accompanied by some of thetaxiarchs, should take forty-seven ships and sail to the assistanceof the disabled fleet and of the men on board, whilst the rest of thesquadron proceeded to attack the enemy's blockading squadron underEteonicus at Mitylene. In spite of their desire to carry out thisresolution, the wind and a violent storm which arose prevented them. Sothey set up a trophy, and took up their quarters for the night. As toEtenoicus, the details of the engagement ware faithfully reported tohim by the express despatch-boat in attendance. On receipt of the news, however, he sent the despatch-boat out again the way she came, withan injunction to those on board of her to sail off quickly withoutexchanging a word with any one. Then on a sudden they were to returngarlanded with wreaths of victory and shouting "Callicratidas has wona great sea fight, and the whole Athenian squadron is destroyed. " Thisthey did, and Eteonicus, on his side, as soon as the despatch-boat camesailing in, proceeded to offer sacrifice of thanksgiving in honour ofthe good news. Meanwhile he gave orders that the troops were to taketheir evening meal, and that the masters of the trading ships weresilently to stow away their goods on board the merchant ships and makesail as fast as the favourable breeze could speed them to Chios. Theships of war were to follow suit with what speed they might. This done, he set fire to his camp, and led off the land forces to Methymna. Conon, finding the enemy had made off, and the wind had grown comparativelymild, (13) got his ships afloat, and so fell in with the Atheniansquadron, which had by this time set out from Arginusae. To these heexplained the proceedings of Eteonicus. The squadron put into Mitylene, and from Mitylene stood across to Chios, and thence, without effectinganything further, sailed back to Samos. 

 (13) Or, "had changed to a finer quarter. "

VII

All the above-named generals, with the exception of Conon, werepresently deposed by the home authorities. In addition to Conon two newgenerals were chosen, Adeimantus and Philocles. Of those concerned inthe late victory two never returned to Athens: these were Protomachusand Aristogenes. The other six sailed home. Their names were Pericles, Diomedon, Lysias, Aristocrates, Thrasylus, and Erasinides. On theirarrival Archidemus, the leader of the democracy at that date, who hadcharge of the two obol fund, (1) inflicted a fine on Erasinides, andaccused him before the Dicastery (2) of having appropriated moneyderived from the Hellespont, which belonged to the people. He broughta further charge against him of misconduct while acting as general, andthe court sentenced him to imprisonment. 

 (1) Reading {tes diobelais}, a happy conjecture for the MSS. {tes diokelias}, which is inexplicable. See Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. P. 244 note (2d ed. )

 (2) I. E. A legal tribunal or court of law. At Athens the free citizens constitutionally sworn and impannelled sat as "dicasts" ("jurymen, " or rather as a bench of judges) to hear cases ({dikai}). Any particular board of dicasts formed a "dicastery. "

These proceedings in the law court were followed by the statement ofthe generals before the senate (3) touching the late victory and themagnitude of the storm. Timocrates then proposed that the otherfive generals should be put in custody and handed over to the publicassembly. (4) Whereupon the senate committed them all to prison. Thencame the meeting of the public assembly, in which others, and moreparticularly Theramenes, formally accused the generals. He insistedthat they ought to show cause why they had not picked up the shipwreckedcrews. To prove that there had been no attempt on their part to attachblame to others, he might point, as conclusive testimony, to thedespatch sent by the generals themselves to the senate and the people, in which they attributed the whole disaster to the storm, and nothingelse. After this the generals each in turn made a defence, which wasnecessarily limited to a few words, since no right of addressingthe assembly at length was allowed by law. Their explanation of theoccurrences was that, in order to be free to sail against the enemythemselves, they had devolved the duty of picking up the shipwreckedcrews upon certain competent captains of men-of-war, who had themselvesbeen generals in their time, to wit Theramenes and Tharysbulus, andothers of like stamp. If blame could attach to any one at all withregard to the duty in question, those to whom their orders had beengiven were the sole persons they could hold responsible. "But, " theywent on to say, "we will not, because these very persons have denouncedus, invent a lie, and say that Theramenes and Thrasybulus are to blame, when the truth of the matter is that the magnitude of the storm aloneprevented the burial of the dead and the rescue of the living. " Inproof of their contention, they produced the pilots and numerous otherwitnesses from among those present at the engagement. By these argumentsthey were in a fair way to persuade the people of their innocence. Indeed many private citizens rose wishing to become bail for theaccused, but it was resolved to defer decision till another meetingof the assembly. It was indeed already so late that it would have beenimpossible to see to count the show of hands. It was further resolvedthat the senate meanwhile should prepare a measure, to be introduced atthe next assembly, as to the mode in which the accused should take theirtrial. 

 (3) This is the Senate or Council of Five Hundred. One of its chief duties was to prepare measures for discussion in the assembly. It had also a certain amount of judicial power, hearing complaints and inflicting fines up to fifty drachmas. It sat daily, a "prytany" of fifty members of each of the ten tribes in rotation holding office for a month in turn. 

 (4) This is the great Public Assembly (the Ecclesia), consisting of all genuine Athenian citizens of more than twenty years of age. 

Then came the festival of the Aparturia, (5) with its family gatheringsof fathers and kinsfolk. Accordingly the party of Theramenes procurednumbers of people clad in black apparel, and close-shaven, (6) who wereto go in and present themselves before the public assembly in the middleof the festival, as relatives, presumably, of the men who had perished;and they persuaded Callixenus to accuse the generals in the senate. Thenext step was to convoke the assembly, when the senate laid before itthe proposal just passed by their body, at the instance of Callixenus, which ran as follows: "Seeing that both the parties to this case, towit, the prosecutors of the generals on the one hand, and the accusedthemselves in their defence on the other, have been heard in the latemeeting of the assembly; we propose that the people of Athens now recordtheir votes, one and all, by their tribes; that a couple of voting urnsbe placed for the convenience of each several tribe; and the publiccrier in the hearing of each several tribe proclaim the mode of votingas follows: 'Let every one who finds the generals guilty of not rescuingthe heroes of the late sea fight deposit his vote in urn No. 1. Let himwho is of the contrary opinion deposit his vote in urn No. 2. Further, in the event of the aforesaid generals being found guilty, let death bethe penalty. Let the guilty persons be delivered over to the eleven. Lettheir property be confiscated to the State, with the exception of onetithe, which falls to the goddess. '"

 (5) An important festival held in October at Athens, and in nearly all Ionic cities. Its objects were (1) the recognition of a common descent from Ion, the son of Apollo Patrous; and (2) the maintenance of the ties of clanship. See Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. P. 260 foll. (2d ed. ); Jebb, "Theophr. " xviii. 5. 

 (6) I. E. In sign of mourning. 

Now there came forward in the assembly a man, who said that he hadescaped drowning by clinging to a meal tub. The poor fellows perishingaround him had commissioned him, if he succeeded in saving himself, to tell the people of Athens how bravely they had fought for theirfatherland, and how the generals had left them there to drown. 

Presently Euryptolemus, the son of Peisianax, and others served anotice of indictment on Callixenus, insisting that his proposal wasunconstitutional, and this view of the case was applauded by somemembers of the assembly. But the majority kept crying out that it wasmonstrous if the people were to be hindered by any stray individual fromdoing what seemed to them right. And when Lysicus, embodying the spiritof those cries, formally proposed that if these persons would notabandon their action, they should be tried by the same vote along withthe generals: a proposition to which the mob gave vociferous assent; andso these were compelled to abandon their summonses. Again, when some ofthe Prytanes (7) objected to put a resolution to the vote which was initself unconstitutional, Callixenus again got up and accused them in thesame terms, and the shouting began again. "Yes, summons all who refuse, "until the Prytanes, in alarm, all agreed with one exception to permitthe voting. This obstinate dissentient was Socrates, the son ofSophroniscus, who insisted that he would do nothing except in accordancewith the law. (8) After this Euryptolemus rose and spoke in behalf ofthe generals. He said:--

 (7) Prytanes--the technical term for the senators of the presiding tribe, who acted as presidents of the assembly. Their chairman for the day was called Epistates. 

 (8) For the part played by Socrates see further Xenophon's "Memorabilia, " I. I. 18; IV. Iv. 2. 

"I stand here, men of Athens, partly to accuse Pericles, though he is aclose and intimate connection of my own, and Diomedon, who is my friend, and partly to urge certain considerations on their behalf, but chieflyto press upon you what seems to me the best course for the Statecollectively. I hold them to blame in that they dissuaded theircolleagues from their intention to send a despatch to the senate andthis assembly, which should have informed you of the orders given toTheramenes and Thrasybulus to take forty-seven ships of war and pick upthe shipwrecked crews, and of the neglect of the two officers to carryout those orders. And it follows that though the offence was committedby one or two, the responsibility must be shared by all; and in returnfor kindness in the past, they are in danger at present of sacrificingtheir lives to the machinations of these very men, and others whom Icould mention. In danger, do I say, of losing their lives? No, not so, if you will suffer me to persuade you to do what is just and right; ifyou will only adopt such a course as shall enable you best to discoverthe truth and shall save you from too late repentance, when you find youhave transgressed irremediably against heaven and your own selves. Inwhat I urge there is no trap nor plot whereby you can be deceived by meor any other man; it is a straightforward course which will enableyou to discover and punish the offender by whatever process you like, collectively or individually. Let them have, if not more, at any rateone whole day to make what defence they can for themselves; and trust toyour own unbiased judgment to guide you to the right conclusion. 

"You know, men of Athens, the exceeding stringency of the decree ofCannonus, (9) which orders that man, whosoever he be, who is guilty oftreason against the people of Athens, to be put in irons, and so to meetthe charge against him before the people. If he be convicted, he is tobe thrown into the Barathron and perish, and the property of such an oneis to be confiscated, with the exception of the tithe which falls to thegoddess. I call upon you to try these generals in accordance with thisdecree. Yes, and so help me God--if it please you, begin with my ownkinsman Pericles for base would it be on my part to make him of moreaccount than the whole of the State. Or, if you prefer, try them by thatother law, which is directed against robbers of temples and betrayersof their country, which says: if a man betray his city or rob a sacredtemple of the gods, he shall be tried before a law court, and if he beconvicted, his body shall not be buried in Attica, and his goods shallbe confiscated to the State. Take your choice as between these two laws, men of Athens, and let the prisoners be tried by one or other. Let threeportions of a day be assigned to each respectively, one portion whereinthey shall listen to their accusation, a second wherein they shall maketheir defence, and a third wherein you shall meet and give your votes indue order on the question of their guilt or innocence. By this procedurethe malefactors will receive the desert of their misdeeds in full, andthose who are innocent will owe you, men of Athens, the recovery oftheir liberty, in place of unmerited destruction. (10)

 (9) "There was a rule in Attic judicial procedure, called the psephism of Kannonus (originally adopted, we do not know when, on the proposition of a citizen of that name, as a psephism or decree for some particular case, but since generalised into common practice, and grown into great prescriptive reverence), which peremptorily forbade any such collective trial or sentence, and directed that a separate judicial vote should in all cases be taken for or against each accused party. " Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. P. 266 (2d ed. )

 (10) Reading {adikos apolountai}. 

"On your side, in trying the accused by recognised legal procedure, youwill show that you obey the dictates of pious feeling, and can regardthe sanctity of an oath, instead of joining hands with our enemies theLacedaemonians and fighting their battles. For is it not to fight theirbattles, if you take their conquerors, the men who deprived them ofseventy vessels, and at the moment of victory sent them to perditionuntried and in the teeth of the law? What are you afraid of, that youpress forward with such hot haste? Do you imagine that you may berobbed of the power of life and death over whom you please, should youcondescend to a legal trial? but that you are safe if you take shelterbehind an illegality, like the illegality of Callixenus, when he workedupon the senate to propose to this assembly to deal with the accused bya single vote? But consider, you may actually put to death an innocentman, and then repentance will one day visit you too late. Bethink youhow painful and unavailing remorse will then be, and more particularlyif your error has cost a fellow-creature his life. What a travesty ofjustice it would be if in the case of a man like Aristarchus, (11) whofirst tried to destroy the democracy and then betrayed Oenoe to ourenemy the Thebans, you granted him a day for his defence, consulting hiswishes, and conceded to him all the other benefits of the law; whereasnow you are proposing to deprive of these same privileges your owngenerals, who in every way conformed to your views and defeated yourenemies. Do not you, of all men, I implore you, men of Athens, act thus. Why, these laws are your own, to them, beyond all else you owe yourgreatness. Guard them jealously; in nothing, I implore you, act withouttheir sanction. 

 (11) See below, II. Iii; also cf. Thuc. Viii. 90, 98. 

"But now, turn for a moment and consider with me the actual occurrenceswhich have created the suspicion of misconduct on the part of our lategenerals. The sea-fight had been fought and won, and the ships hadreturned to land, when Diomedon urged that the whole squadron shouldsail out in line and pick up the wrecks and floating crews. Erasinideswas in favour of all the vessels sailing as fast as possible to dealwith the enemy's forces at Mitylene. And Thrasylus represented that bothobjects could be effected, by leaving one division of the fleet there, and with the rest sailing against the enemy; and if this resolution wereagreed to, he advised that each of the eight generals should leave threeships of his own division with the ten vessels of the taxiarchs, theten Samian vessels, and the three belonging to the navarchs. These addedtogether make forty-seven, four for each of the lost vessels, twelvein number. Among the taxiarchs left behind, two were Thrasybulus andTheramenes, the men who in the late meeting of this assembly undertookto accuse the generals. With the remainder of the fleet they were tosail to attack the enemy's fleet. Everything, you must admit, was dulyand admirably planned. It was only common justice, therefore, that thosewhose duty it was to attack the enemy should render an account forall miscarriages of operations against the enemy; while those who werecommissioned to pick up the dead and dying should, if they failed tocarry out the instructions of the generals, be put on trial to explainthe reasons of the failure. This indeed I may say in behalf of bothparites. It was really the storm which, in spite of what the generalshad planned, prevented anything being done. There are witnesses ready toattest the truth of this: the men who escaped as by a miracle, and amongthese one of these very generals, who was on a sinking ship and wassaved. And this man, who needed picking up as much as anybody at thatmoment, is, they insist, to be tried by one and the same vote as thosewho neglected to perform their orders! Once more, I beg you, menof Athens, to accept your victory and your good fortune, instead ofbehaving like the desperate victims of misfortune and defeat. Recognise the finger of divine necessity; do not incur the reproachof stony-heartedness by discovering treason where there was merelypowerlessness, and condemning as guilty those who were prevented by thestorm from carrying out their instructions. Nay! you will better satisfythe demands of justice by crowning these conquerors with wreaths ofvictory than by punishing them with death at the instigation of wickedmen. "

At the conclusion of his speech Euryptolemus proposed, as an amendment, that the prisoners should, in accordance with the decree of Cannonus, betried each separately, as against the proposal of the senate to try themall by a single vote. 

At the show of hands the tellers gave the majority in favour ofEuryptolemus's amendment, but upon the application of Menecles, whotook formal exception (12) to this decision, the show of hands was gonethrough again, and now the verdict was in favour of the resolution ofthe senate. At a later date the balloting was made, and by the votesrecorded the eight generals were condemned, and the six who were inAthens were put to death. 

 (12) For this matter cf. Schomann, "De Comitiis Athen. " p. 161 foll. ; also Grote, "Hist. Of Grece, " vol. Viii. P. 276 note (2d ed. )

Not long after, repentance seized the Athenians, and they passed adecree authorising the public prosecution of those who had deceived thepeople, and the appointment of proper securities for their persons untilthe trial was over. Callixenus was one of those committed for trail. There were, besides Callixenus, four others against whom true bills weredeclared, and they were all five imprisoned by their sureties. But allsubsequently effected their escape before the trial, at the time of thesedition in which Cleophon (13) was killed. Callixenus eventually cameback when the party in Piraeus returned to the city, at the date ofthe amnesty, (14) but only to die of hunger, an object of universaldetestation. 

 (13) Cleophon, the well-known demagogue. For the occasion of his death see Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. Pp. 166, 310 (2d ed. ); Prof. Jebb, "Attic Orators, " i. 266, ii. 288. For his character, as popularly conceived, cf. Aristoph. "Frogs, " 677. 

 (14) B. C. 403. 

BOOK II

I

To return to Eteonicus and his troops in Chios. During summer theywere well able to support themselves on the fruits of the season, orby labouring for hire in different parts of the island, but with theapproach of winter these means of subsistence began to fail. Ill-clad atthe same time, and ill-shod, they fell to caballing and arranging plansto attack the city of Chios. It was agreed amongst them, that in orderto gauge their numbers, every member of the conspiracy should carry areed. Eteonicus got wind of the design, but was at a loss how to dealwith it, considering the number of these reed-bearers. To make an openattack upon them seemed dangerous. It would probably lead to a rushto arms, in which the conspirators would seize the city and commencehostilities, and, in the event of their success, everything hithertoachieved would be lost. Or again, the destruction on his part of manyfellow-creatures and allies was a terrible alternative, which wouldplace the Spartans in an unenviable light with regard to the rest ofHellas, and render the soldiers ill-disposed to the cause in hand. Accordingly he took with him fifteen men, armed with daggers, andmarched through the city. Falling in with one of the reed-bearers, a mansuffering from ophthalmia, who was returning from the surgeon's house, he put him to death. This led to some uproar, and people asked why theman was thus slain. By Eteonicus's orders the answer was set afloat, "because he carried a reed. " As the explanation circulated, onereed-bearer after another threw away the symbol, each one saying tohimself, as he heard the reason given, "I have better not be seen withthis. " After a while Eteonicus called a meeting of the Chians, andimposed upon them a contribution of money, on the ground that with payin their pockets the sailors would have no temptation to revolutionaryprojects. The Chians acquiesced. Whereupon Eteonicus promptly orderedhis crews to get on board their vessels. He then rowed alongsideeach ship in turn, and addressed the men at some length in terms ofencouragement and cheery admonition, just as though he knew nothing ofwhat had taken place, and so distributed a month's pay to every man onboard. 

After this the Chians and the other allies held a meeting in Ephesus, and, considering the present posture of affairs, determined to sendambassadors to Lacedaemon with a statement of the facts, and a requestthat Lysander might be sent out to take command of the fleet. Lysander'shigh reputation among the allies dated back to his former period ofoffice, when as admiral he had won the naval victory of Notium. Theambassadors accordingly were despatched, accompanied by envoys also fromCyrus, charged with the same message. The Lacedaemonians responded bysending them Lysander as second in command, (1) with Aracus as admiral, since it was contrary to their custom that the same man should beadmiral twice. At the same time the fleet was entrusted to Lysander. (2)

 (1) Epistoleus. See above. 

 (2) "At this date the war had lasted five-and-twenty years. " So the MSS. Read. The words are probably an interpolation. 

It was in this year (3) that Cyrus put Autoboesaces and Mitraeus todeath. These were sons of the sister of Dariaeus (4) (the daughter ofXerxes, the father of Darius). (5) He put them to death for neglecting, when they met him, to thrust their hands into the sleeve (or "kore")which is a tribute of respect paid to the king alone. This "kore" islonger than the ordinary sleeve, so long in fact that a man with hishand inside is rendered helpless. In consequence of this act on the partof Cyrus, Hieramenes (6) and his wife urged upon Dariaeus the danger ofoverlooking such excessive insolence on the part of the young prince, and Dariaeus, on the plea of sickness, sent a special embassy to summonCyrus to his bedside. 

 (3) B. C. 406. 

 (4) Dariaeus, i. E. Darius, but the spelling of the name is correct, and occurs in Ctesias, though in the "Anabasis" we have the spelling Darius. 

 (5) These words look like the note of a foolish and ignorant scribe. He ought to have written, "The daughter of Artaxerxes and own sister of Darius, commonly so called. "

 (6) For Hieramenes cf. Thuc. Viii. 95, and Prof. Jowett ad loc. 

B. C. 405. In the following year (7) Lysander arrived at Ephesus, andsent for Eteonicus with his ships from Chios, and collected all othervessels elsewhere to be found. His time was now devoted to refitting theold ships and having new ones built in Antandrus. He also made a journeyto the court of Cyrus with a request for money. All Cyrus could saywas, that not only the money sent by the king was spent, but much morebesides; and he pointed out the various sums which each of the admiralshad received, but at the same time he gave him what he asked for. Furnished with this money, Lysander appointed captains to the differentmen-of-war, and remitted to the sailors their arrears of pay. Meanwhilethe Athenian generals, on their side, were devoting their energies tothe improvements of their navy at Samos. 

 (7) The MSS. Add "during the ephorate of Archytas and the archonship at Athens of Alexias, " which, though correct enough, is probably an interpolation. 

It was now Cyrus's turn to send for Lysander. It was the moment at whichthe envoy from his father had arrived with the message: "Your father ison his sick-bed and desires your presence. " The king lay at Thamneria, in Media, near the territory of the Cadusians, against whom he hadmarched to put down a revolt. When Lysander presented himself, Cyrus wasurgent with him not to engage the Athenians at sea unless he had manymore ships than they. "The king, " he added, "and I have plenty ofwealth, so that, as far as money goes, you can man plenty of vessels. "He then consigned to him all the tributes from the several cities whichbelonged to him personally, and gave him the ready money which he hadas a gift; and finally, reminding him of the sincere friendship heentertained towards the state of Lacedaemon, as well as to himselfpersonally, he set out up country to visit his father. Lysander, findinghimself thus left with the complete control of the property of Cyrus(during the absence of that prince, so summoned to the bedside of hisfather), was able to distribute pay to his troops, after which he setsail for the Ceramic Gulf of Caria. Here he stormed a city in alliancewith the Athenians named Cedreae, and on the following day's assaulttook it, and reduced the inhabitants to slavery. These were of a mixedHellene and barbaric stock. From Cedreae he continued his voyageto Rhodes. The Athenians meanwhile, using Samos as their base ofoperations, were employed in devastating the king's territory, or inswooping down upon Chios and Ephesus, and in general were preparing fora naval battle, having but lately chosen three new generals in additionto those already in office, whose names were Menander, Tydeus, andCephisodotus. Now Lysander, leaving Rhodes, and coasting along Ionia, made his way to the Hellespont, having an eye to the passage of vesselsthrough the Straits, and, in a more hostile sense, on the cities whichhad revolted from Sparta. The Athenians also set sail from Chios, butstood out to open sea, since the seaboard of Asia was hostile to them. 

Lysander was again on the move; leaving Abydos, he passed up channel toLampsacus, which town was allied with Athens; the men of Abydos andthe rest of the troops advancing by land, under the command of theLacedaemonian Thorax. They then attacked and took by storm the town, which was wealthy, and with its stores of wine and wheat and othercommodities was pillaged by the soldiery. All free-born persons, however, were without exception released by Lysander. And now theAthenian fleet, following close on his heels, came to moorings atElaeus, in the Chersonesus, one hundred and eighty sail in all. It wasnot until they had reached this place, and were getting their earlymeal, that the news of what had happened at Lampsacus reached them. Thenthey instantly set sail again to Sestos, and, having halted long enoughmerely to take in stores, sailed on further to Aegospotami, a pointfacing Lampsacus, where the Hellespont is not quite two miles (8) broad. Here they took their evening meal. 

 (8) Lit. Fifteen stades. 

The night following, or rather early next morning, with the first streakof dawn, Lysander gave the signal for the men to take their breakfastsand get on board their vessels; and so, having got all ready for a navalengagement, with his ports closed and movable bulwarks attached, heissued the order that no one was to stir from his post or put out tosea. As the sun rose the Athenians drew up their vessels facing theharbour, in line of battle ready for action; but Lysander decliningto come out to meet them, as the day advanced they retired again toAegospotami. Then Lysander ordered the swiftest of his ships to followthe Athenians, and as soon as the crews had disembarked, to watch whatthey did, sail back, and report to him. Until these look-outs returnedhe would permit no disembarkation from his ships. This performance herepeated for four successive days, and each day the Athenians put out tosea and challenged an engagement. 

But now Alcibiades, from one of his fortresses, could espy the positionof his fellow-countrymen, moored on an open beach beyond reach of anycity, and forced to send for supplies to Sestos, which was nearly twomiles distant, while their enemies were safely lodged in a harbour, witha city adjoining, and everything within reach. The situation did notplease him, and he advised them to shift their anchorage to Sestos, where they would have the advantage of a harbour and a city. "Oncethere, " he concluded, "you can engage the enemy whenever it suits you. "But the generals, and more particularly Tydeus and Menander, bade him goabout his business. "We are generals now--not you, " they said; and so hewent away. And now for five days in succession the Athenians had sailedout to offer battle, and for the fifth time retired, followed by thesame swift sailors of the enemy. But this time Lysander's orders to thevessels so sent in pursuit were, that as soon as they saw theenemy's crew fairly disembarked and dispersed along the shores of theChersonesus (a practice, it should be mentioned, which had grown uponthem from day to day owing to the distance at which eatables had to bepurchased, and out of sheer contempt, no doubt, of Lysander, who refusedto accept battle), they were to begin their return voyage, and when inmid-channel to hoist a shield. The orders were punctually carried out, and Lysander at once signalled to his whole squadron to put across withall speed, while Thorax, with the land forces, was to march parallelwith the fleet along the coast. Aware of the enemy's fleet, which hecould see bearing down upon him, Conon had only time to signal to thecrews to join their ships and rally to the rescue with all their might. But the men were scattered far and wide, and some of the vessels hadonly two out of their three banks of rowers, some only a single one, while others again were completely empty. Conon's own ship, with sevenothers in attendance on him and the "Paralus, " (9) put out to sea, alittle cluster of nine vessels, with their full complement of men; butevery one of the remaining one hundred and seventy-one vessels werecaptured by Lysander on the beach. As to the men themselves, thelarge majority of them were easily made prisoners on shore, a few onlyescaping to the small fortresses of the neighbourhood. Meanwhile Cononand his nine vessels made good their escape. For himself, knowing thatthe fortune of Athens was ruined, he put into Abarnis, the promontory ofLampsacus, and there picked up the great sails of Lysander's ships, andthen with eight ships set sail himself to seek refuge with Evagoras inCyprus, while the "Paralus" started for Athens with tidings of what hadtaken place. 

 (9) The "Paralus"--the Athenian sacred vessel; cf. Thuc. Iii. 33 et passim. 

Lysander, on his side, conveyed the ships and prisoners and all otherspoil back to Lampsacus, having on board some of the Athenian generals, notably Philocles and Adeimantus. On the very day of these achievementshe despatched Theopompus, a Milesian privateersman, to Lacedaemon toreport what had taken place. This envoy arrived within three days anddelivered his message. Lysander's next step was to convene the alliesand bid them deliberate as to the treatment of the prisoners. Many werethe accusations here levied against the Athenians. There was talk ofcrimes committed against the law of Hellas, and of cruelties sanctionedby popular decrees; which, had they conquered in the late sea-fight, would have been carried out; such as the proposal to cut off the righthand of every prisoner taken alive, and lastly the ill-treatment of twocaptured men-of-war, a Corinthian and an Andrian vessel, when every manon board had been hurled headlong down the cliff. Philocles was the verygeneral of the Athenians who had so ruthlessly destroyed those men. Manyother tales were told; and at length a resolution was passed to put allthe Athenian prisoners, with the exception of Adeimantus, to death. Healone, it was pleaded, had taken exception to the proposal to cut offthe prisoners' hands. On the other hand, he was himself accused by somepeople of having betrayed the fleet. As to Philocles, Lysander put tohim one question, as the officer who had thrown (10) the Corinthians andAndrians down the cliff: What fate did the man deserve to suffer whohad embarked on so cruel a course of illegality against Hellenes? and sodelivered him to the executioner. 

 (10) Reading {os... Katekremnise}. 

II

When he had set the affairs of Lampsacus in order, Lysander sailed toByzantium and Chalcedon, where the inhabitants, having first dismissedthe Athenian garrison under a flag of truce, admitted him within theirwalls. Those citizens of Byzantium, who had betrayed Byzantium intothe hands of Alcibiades, fled as exiles into Pontus, but subsequentlybetaking themselves to Athens, became Athenian citizens. In dealing withthe Athenian garrisons, and indeed with all Athenians wheresoever found, Lysander made it a rule to give them safe conduct to Athens, and toAthens only, in the certainty that the larger the number collectedwithin the city and Piraeus, the more quickly the want of necessaries oflife would make itself felt. And now, leaving Sthenelaus, a Laconian, asgovernor-general of Byzantium and Chalcedon, he sailed back himself toLampsacus and devoted himself to refitting his ships. 

It was night when the "Paralus" reached Athens with her evil tidings, on receipt of which a bitter wail of woe broke forth. From Piraeus, following the line of the long walls up to the heart of the city, itswept and swelled, as each man to his neighbour passed on the news. Onthat night no man slept. There was mourning and sorrow for those thatwere lost, but the lamentation for the dead was merged in even deepersorrow for themselves, as they pictured the evils they were about tosuffer, the like of which they themselves had inflicted upon the men ofMelos, who were colonists of the Lacedaemonians, when they masteredthem by siege. Or on the men of Histiaea; on Scione and Torone; on theAeginetans, and many another Hellene city. (1) On the following day thepublic assembly met, and, after debate, it was resolved to block up allthe harbours save one, to put the walls in a state of defence, to postguards at various points, and to make all other necessary preparationsfor a siege. Such were the concerns of the men of Athens. 

 (1) With regard to these painful recollections, see (1) for the siege and surrender of Melos (in B. C. 416), Thuc. V. 114, 116; and cf. Aristoph. "Birds, " 186; Plut. ("Lysander, " 14); (2) for the ejection of the Histiaeans, an incident of the recovery of Euboea in 445 B. C. , see Thuc. I. 14; Plut. ("Pericles, " 23); (3) for the matter of Scione, which revolted in 423 B. C. , and was for a long time a source of disagreement between the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, until finally captured by the former in 421 B. C. , when the citizens were slain and the city given to the Plataeans, see Thuc. Iv. 120-122, 129-133; v. 18, 32; (4) for Torone see Thuc. Ib. , and also v. 3; (5) for the expulsion of the Aeginetans in 431 B. C. See Thuc. Ii. 27. 

Lysander presently left the Hellespont with two hundred sail and arrivedat Lesbos, where he established a new order of things in Mitylene andthe other cities of the island. Meanwhile he despatched Eteonicus witha squadron of ten ships to the northern coasts, (2) where that officerbrought about a revolution of affairs which placed the whole regionin the hands of Lacedaemon. Indeed, in a moment of time, after thesea-fight, the whole of Hellas had revolted from Athens, with thesolitary exception of the men of Samos. These, having massacred thenotables, (3) held the state under their control. After a while Lysandersent messages to Agis at Deceleia, and to Lacedaemon, announcing hisapproach with a squadron of two hundred sail. 

 (2) Lit. "the Thraceward districts. " See above, p. 16. 

 (3) Or, "since they had slain their notables, held the state under popular control. " See Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Viii. P. 303 note 3 (2d ed. ), who thinks that the incident referred to is the violent democratic revolution in Samos described in Thuc. Viii. 21, B. C. 412. 

In obedience to a general order of Pausanias, the other king ofLacedaemon, a levy in force of the Lacedaemonians and all the rest ofPeloponnesus, except the Argives, was set in motion for a campaign. Assoon as the several contingents had arrived, the king put himself attheir head and marched against Athens, encamping in the gymnasium of theAcademy, (4) as it is called. Lysander had now reached Aegina, where, having got together as many of the former inhabitants as possible, heformally reinstated them in their city; and what he did in behalf of theAeginetans, he did also in behalf of the Melians, and of the rest whohad been deprived of their countries. He then pillaged the island ofSalamis, and finally came to moorings off Piraeus with one hundred andfifty ships of the line, and established a strict blockade against allmerchant ships entering that harbour. 

 (4) For this most illustrious of Athenian gymnasia, which still retains its name, see Leake, "Topography of Athens, " i. 195 foll. 

The Athenians, finding themselves besieged by land and sea, were insore perplexity what to do. Without ships, without allies, withoutprovisions, the belief gained hold upon them that there was no way ofescape. They must now, in their turn, suffer what they had themselvesinflincted upon others; not in retaliation, indeed, for ills received, but out of sheer insolence, overriding the citizens of petty states, andfor no better reason than that these were allies of the very men now attheir gates. In this frame of mind they enfranchised those who at anytime had lost their civil rights, and schooled themselves to endurance;and, albeit many succumbed to starvation, no thought of truce orreconciliation with their foes was breathed. (5) But when the stockof corn was absolutely insufficient, they sent an embassage to Agis, proposing to become allies of the Lacedaemonians on the sole conditionof keeping their fortification walls and Piraeus; and to draw uparticles of treaty on these terms. Agis bade them betake themselves toLacedaemon, seeing that he had no authority to act himself. With thisanswer the ambassadors returned to Athens, and were forthwith sent on toLacedaemon. On reaching Sellasia, (6) a town in (7) Laconian territory, they waited till they got their answer from the ephors, who, havinglearnt their terms (which were identical to those already proposedto Agis), bade them instantly to be gone, and, if they really desiredpeace, to come with other proposals, the fruit of happier reflection. Thus the ambassadors returned home, and reported the result of theirembassage, whereupon despondency fell upon all. It was a painfulreflection that in the end they would be sold into slavery; andmeanwhile, pending the return of a second embassy, many must needs fallvictims to starvation. The razing of their fortifications was not asolution which any one cared to recommend. A senator, Archestratus, hadindeed put the question in the senate, whether it were not best to makepeace with the Lacedaemonians on such terms as they were willing topropose; but he was thrown into prison. The Laconian proposals referredto involved the destruction of both long walls for a space of more thana mile. And a decree had been passed, making it illegal to submit anysuch proposition about the walls. Things having reached this pass, Theramenes made a proposal in the public assembly as follows: If theychose to send him as an ambassador to Lysander, he would go and find outwhy the Lacedaemonians were so unyielding about the walls; whether itwas they really intended to enslave the city, or merely that they wanteda guarantee of good faith. Despatched accordingly, he lingered on withLysander for three whole months and more, watching for the time when theAthenians, at the last pinch of starvation, would be willing to accedeto any terms that might be offered. At last, in the fourth month, hereturned and reported to the public assembly that Lysander had detainedhim all this while, and had ended by bidding him betake himself toLacedaemon, since he had no authority himself to answer his questions, which must be addressed directly to the ephors. After this Therameneswas chosen with nine others to go to Lacedaemon as ambassadors withfull powers. Meanwhile Lysander had sent an Athenian exile, namedAristoteles, in company of certain Lacedaemonians, to Sparta to reportto the board of ephors how he had answered Theramenes, that they, andthey alone, had supreme authority in matters of peace and war. 

 (5) Or, "they refused to treat for peace. "

 (6) Sellasia, the bulwark of Sparta in the valley of the Oenus. 

 (7) The MSS. Have "in the neighbourhood of, " which words are inappropriate at this date, though they may well have been added by some annotator after the Cleomenic war and the battle of Sellasia, B. C. 222, when Antigonus of Macedon destroyed the place in the interests of the Achaean League. 

Theramenes and his companions presently reached Sellasia, and beingthere questioned as to the reason of their visit, replied that they hadfull powers to treat of peace. After which the ephors ordered them tobe summoned to their presence. On their arrival a general assembly wasconvened, in which the Corinthians and Thebans more particularly, thoughtheir views were shared by many other Hellenes also, urged the meetingnot to come to terms with the Athenians, but to destroy them. TheLacedaemonians replied that they would never reduce to slavery a citywhich was itself an integral portion of Hellas, and had performed agreat and noble service to Hellas in the most perilous of emergencies. On the contrary, they were willing to offer peace on the terms nowspecified--namely, "That the long walls and the fortifications ofPiraeus should be destroyed; that the Athenian fleet, with the exceptionof twelve vessels, should be surrendered; that the exiles should berestored; and lastly, that the Athenians should acknowledge the headshipof Sparta in peace and war, leaving to her the choice of friends andfoes, and following her lead by land and sea. " Such were the terms whichTheramenes and the rest who acted with him were able to report on theirreturn to Athens. As they entered the city, a vast crowd met them, trembling lest their mission have proved fruitless. For indeed delaywas no longer possible, so long already was the list of victims dailyperishing from starvation. On the day following, the ambassadorsdelivered their report, stating the terms upon which the Lacedaemonianswere willing to make peace. Theramenes acted as spokesman, insistingthat they ought to obey the Lacedaemonians and pull down the walls. Asmall minority raised their voice in opposition, but the majority werestrongly in favour of the proposition, and the resolution was passed toaccept the peace. After that, Lysander sailed into the Piraeus, and theexiles were readmitted. And so they fell to levelling the fortificationsand walls with much enthusiasm, to the accompaniment of femaleflute-players, deeming that day the beginning of liberty to Greece. 

Thus the year drew to its close (8)--during its middle months took placethe accession of Dionysius, the son of Hermocrates the Syracusan, tothe tyranny of Syracuse; an incident itself preceded by a victory gainedover the Carthaginians by the Syracusans; the reduction of Agrigentumthrough famine by the Carthaginians themselves; and the exodus of theSicilian Greeks from that city. 

 (8) For the puzzling chronology of this paragraph see Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. X. P 619 (2d ed. ) If genuine, the words may perhaps have slipt out of their natural place in chapter i. Above, in front of the words "in the following year Lysander arrived, " etc. L. Dindorf brackets them as spurious. Xen. , "Hist. Gr. " ed. Tertia, Lipsiae, MDCCCLXXII. For the incidents referred to see above; Grote, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. X. Pp. 582, 598 (2d ed. )

III

B. C. 404. In the following year (1) the people passed a resolutionto choose thirty men who were to draft a constitution based on theancestral laws of the State. The following were chosen to act on thiscommittee:--Polychares, Critias, Melobius, Hippolochus, Eucleides, Hiero, Mnesilochus, Chremo, Theramenes, Aresias, Diocles, Phaedrias, Chaereleos, Anaetius, Piso, Sophocles, Erastosthenes, Charicles, Onomacles, Theognis, Aeschines, Theogones, Cleomedes, Erasistratus, Pheido, Dracontides, Eumathes, Aristoteles, Hippomachus, Mnesitheides. After these transactions, Lysander set sail for Samos; and Agis withdrewthe land force from Deceleia and disbanded the troops, dismissing thecontingents to their several cities. 

 (1) The MSS. Here add "it was that year of the Olympiad cycle in which Crocinas, a Thessalian, won the Stadium; when Endius was ephor at Sparta, and Pythodorus archon at Athens, though the Athenians indeed do not call the year by that archon's name, since he was elected during the oligarchy, but prefer to speak of the year of 'anarchy'; the aforesaid oligarchy originated thus, "--which, though correct, probably was not written by Xenophon. The year of anarchy might perhaps be better rendered "the year without archons. "

In was at this date, about the time of the solar eclipse, (2) thatLycophron of Pherae, who was ambitious of ruling over the whole ofThessaly, defeated those sections of the Thessalians who opposed him, such as the men of Larissa and others, and slew many of them. Itwas also about this date that Dionysius, now tyrant of Syracuse, wasdefeated by the Carthaginians and lost Gela and Camarina. And again, alittle later, the men of Leontini, who previously had been amalgamatedwith the Syracusans, separated themselves from Syracuse and Dionysius, and asserted their independence, and returned to their native city. Another incident of this period was the sudden despatch and introductionof Syracusan horse into Catana by Dionysius. 

 (2) This took place on 2d September B. C. 404. 

Now the Samians, though besieged by Lysander on all sides, were at firstunwilling to come to terms. But at the last moment, when Lysander was onthe point of assaulting the town, they accepted the terms, which allowedevery free man to leave the island, but not to carry away any part ofhis property, except the clothes on his back. On these conditions theymarched out. The city and all it contained was then delivered over toits ancient citizens by Lysander, who finally appointed ten governorsto garrison the island. (3) After which, he disbanded the allied fleet, dismissing them to their respective cities, while he himself, with theLacedaemonian squadron, set sail for Laconia, bringing with him theprows of the conquered vessels and the whole navy of Piraeus, withthe exception of twelve ships. He also brought the crowns which he hadreceived from the cities as private gifts, and a sum of four hundred andseventy talents (4) in silver (the surplus of the tribute money whichCyrus had assigned to him for the prosecution of the war), besides otherproperty, the fruit of his military exploits. All these things Lysanderdelivered to the Lacedaemonians in the latter end of summer. (5)

 (3) A council of ten, or "decarchy. " See Grote, "H. G. " viii. 323 (1st ed. )

 (4) About 112, 800 pounds. 

 (5) The MSS. Add "a summer, the close of which coincided with the termination of a war which had lasted twenty-eight and a half years, as the list of annual ephors, appended in order, serves to show. Aenesias is the first name. The war began during his ephorate, in the fifteenth year of the thirty years' truce after the capture of Euboea. His successors were Brasidas, Isanor, Sostratidas, Exarchus, Agesistratus, Angenidas, Onomacles, Zeuxippus, Pityas, Pleistolas, Cleinomachus, Harchus, Leon, Chaerilas, Patesiadas, Cleosthenes, Lycarius, Eperatus, Onomantius, Alexippidas, Misgolaidas, Isias, Aracus, Euarchippus, Pantacles, Pityas, Archytas, and lastly, Endius, during whose year of office Lysander sailed home in triumph, after performing the exploits above recorded, "--the interpolation, probably, of some editor or copyist, the words "twenty-eight and a half" being probably a mistake on his part for "twenty-seven and a half. " Cf. Thuc. V. 26; also Buchsenschutz, Einleitung, p. 8 of his school edition of the "Hellenica. "

The Thirty had been chosen almost immediately after the long walls andthe fortifications round Piraeus had been razed. They were chosenfor the express purpose of compiling a code of laws for the futureconstitution of the State. The laws were always on the point of beingpublished, yet they were never forthcoming; and the thirty compilerscontented themselves meanwhile with appointing a senate and the othermagistracies as suited their fancy best. That done, they turned theirattention, in the first instance, to such persons as were well known tohave made their living as informers (6) under the democracy, and to bethorns in the side of all respectable people. These they laid hold onand prosecuted on the capital charge. The new senate gladly recorded itsvote of condemnation against them; and the rest of the world, consciousof bearing no resemblance to them, seemed scarcely vexed. But the Thirtydid not stop there. Presently they began to deliberate by what meansthey could get the city under their absolute control, in order that theymight work their will upon it. Here again they proceeded tentatively;in the first instance, they sent (two of their number), Aeschines andAristoteles, to Lacedaemon, and persuaded Lysander to support them ingetting a Lacedaemonian garrison despatched to Athens. They onlyneeded it until they had got the "malignants" out of the way, and hadestablished the constitution; and they would undertake to maintain thesetroops at their own cost. Lysander was not deaf to their persuasions, and by his co-operation their request was granted. A bodyguard, withCallibius as governor, was sent. 

 (6) Lit. "by sycophancy, " i. E. Calumnious accusation--the sycophant's trade. For a description of this pest of Athenian life cf. "Dem. " in Arist. 1, S. 52; quoted in Jebb, "Attic Orators, " chap. Xxix. 14; cf. Aristoph. "Ach. " 904; Xen. "Mem. " II. Ix. 1. 

And now that they had got the garrison, they fell to flatteringCallibius with all servile flattery, in order that he might givecountenance to their doings. Thus they prevailed on him to allow some ofthe guards, whom they selected, to accompany them, while they proceededto lay hands on whom they would; no longer confining themselves to basefolk and people of no account, but boldly laying hands on those who theyfelt sure would least easily brook being thrust aside, or, if aspirit of opposition seized them, could command the largest number ofpartisans. 

These were early days; as yet Critias was of one mind with Theramenes, and the two were friends. But the time came when, in proportion asCritias was ready to rush headlong into wholesale carnage, like onewho thirsted for the blood of the democracy, which had banished him, Theramenes balked and thwarted him. It was barely reasonable, he argued, to put people to death, who had never done a thing wrong to respectablepeople in their lives, simply because they had enjoyed influence andhonour under the democracy. "Why, you and I, Critias, " he would add, "have said and done many things ere now for the sake of popularity. "To which the other (for the terms of friendly intimacy still subsisted)would retort, "There is no choice left to us, since we intend to takethe lion's share, but to get rid of those who are best able to hinderus. If you imagine, because we are thirty instead of one, our governmentrequires one whit the less careful guarding than an actual tyranny, youmust be very innocent. "

So things went on. Day after day the list of persons put to death for nojust reason grew longer. Day after day the signs of resentment were moresignificant in the groups of citizens banding together and forecastingthe character of this future constitution; till at length Theramenesspoke again, protesting:--There was no help for it but to associate withthemselves a sufficient number of persons in the conduct of affairs, orthe oligarchy would certainly come to an end. Critias and the restof the Thirty, whose fears had already converted Theramenes into adangerous popular idol, proceeded at once to draw up a list of threethousand citizens; fit and proper persons to have a share in the conductof affairs. But Theramenes was not wholly satisfied, "indeed he mustsay, for himself, he regarded it as ridiculous, that in their effort toassociate the better classes with themselves in power, they should fixon just that particular number, three thousand, as if that figure hadsome necessary connection with the exact number of gentlemen in theState, making it impossible to discover any respectability outsideor rascality within the magic number. And in the second place, " hecontinued, "I see we are trying to do two things, diametrically opposed;we are manufacturing a government, which is based on force, and at thesame time inferior in strength to those whom we propose to govern. "That was what he said, but what his colleagues did, was to institute amilitary inspection or review. The Three Thousand were drawn up in theAgora, and the rest of the citizens, who were not included in the list, elsewhere in various quarters of the city. The order to take arms wasgiven; (7) but while the men's backs were turned, at the bidding of theThirty, the Laconian guards, with those of the citizens who shared theirviews, appeared on the scene and took away the arms of all except theThree Thousand, carried them up to the Acropolis, and safely depositedthem in the temple. 

 (7) Or, "a summons to the 'place d'armes' was given; but. " Or, "the order to seize the arms was given, and. " It is clear from Aristoph. "Acharn. " 1050, that the citizens kept their weapons at home. On the other hand, it was a custom not to come to any meeting in arms. See Thuc. Vi. 58. It seems probable that while the men were being reviewed in the market-place and elsewhere, the ruling party gave orders to seize their weapons (which they had left at home), and this was done except in the case of the Three Thousand. Cf. Arnold, "Thuc. " II. 2. 5; and IV. 91. 

The ground being thus cleared, as it were, and feeling that they hadit in their power to do what they pleased, they embarked on a course ofwholesale butchery, to which many were sacrificed to the merest hatred, many to the accident of possessing riches. Presently the questionrose, How they were to get money to pay their guards? and to meet thisdifficulty a resolution was passed empowering each of the committee toseize on one of the resident aliens apiece, to put his victim to death, and to confiscate his property. Theramenes was invited, or rather toldto seize some one or other. "Choose whom you will, only let it be done. "To which he made answer, it hardly seemed to him a noble or worthycourse on the part of those who claimed to be the elite of society to gobeyond the informers (8) in injustice. "Yesterday they, to-day we; withthis difference, the victim of the informer must live as a source ofincome; our innocents must die that we may get their wealth. Surelytheir method was innocent in comparison with ours. "

 (8) See above. 

The rest of the Thirty, who had come to regard Theramenes as an obstacleto any course they might wish to adopt, proceeded to plot against him. They addressed themselves to the members of the senate in private, here a man and there a man, and denounced him as the marplot of theconstitution. Then they issued an order to the young men, picking outthe most audacious characters they could find, to be present, each witha dagger hidden in the hollow of the armpit; and so called a meetingof the senate. When Theramenes had taken his place, Critias got up andaddressed the meeting:

"If, " said he, "any member of this council, here seated, imagines thatan undue amount of blood has been shed, let me remind him that withchanges of constitution such things can not be avoided. It is the ruleeverywhere, but more particularly at Athens it was inevitable thereshould be found a specially large number of persons sworn foes to anyconstitutional change in the direction of oligarchy, and this for tworeasons. First, because the population of this city, compared with otherHellenic cities, is enormously large; and again, owing to the length oftime during which the people has battened upon liberty. Now, as to twopoints we are clear. The first is that democracy is a form of governmentdetestable to persons like ourselves--to us and to you; the next is thatthe people of Athens could never be got to be friendly to our friendsand saviours, the Lacedaemonians. But on the loyalty of the betterclasses the Lacedaemonians can count. And that is our reason forestablishing an oligarchical constitution with their concurrence. Thatis why we do our best to rid us of every one whom we perceive to beopposed to the oligarchy; and, in our opinion, if one of ourselvesshould elect to undermine this constitution of ours, he would deservepunishment. Do you not agree? And the case, " he continued, "is noimaginary one. The offender is here present--Theramenes. And what we sayof him is, that he is bent upon destroying yourselves and us by everymeans in his power. These are not baseless charges; but if you willconsider it, you will find them amply established in this unmeasuredcensure of the present posture of affairs, and his persistent oppositionto us, his colleagues, if ever we seek to get rid of any of thesedemagogues. Had this been his guiding principle of action from thebeginning, in spite of hostility, at least he would have escaped allimputation of villainy. Why, this is the very man who originated ourfriendly and confidential relations with Lacedaemon. This is the veryman who authorised the abolition of the democracy, who urged us on toinflict punishment on the earliest batch of prisoners brought beforeus. But to-day all is changed; now you and we are out of odour withthe people, and he accordingly has ceased to be pleased with ourproceedings. The explanation is obvious. In case of a catastrophe, howmuch pleasanter for him once again to light upon his legs, and leave usto render account for our past performances. 

"I contend that this man is fairly entitled to render his account also, not only as an ordinary enemy, but as a traitor to yourselves and us. And let us add, not only is treason more formidable than open war, inproportion as it is harder to guard against a hidden assassin thanan open foe, but it bears the impress of a more enduring hostility, inasmuch as men fight their enemies and come to terms with them againand are fast friends; but whoever heard of reconciliation with atraitor? There he stands unmasked; he has forfeited our confidence forevermore. But to show you that these are no new tactics of his, to proveto you that he is a traitor in grain, I will recall to your memoriessome points in his past history. 

"He began by being held in high honour by the democracy; but taking aleaf out of his father's, Hagnon's, book, he next showed a most headlonganxiety to transform the democracy into the Four Hundred, and, in fact, for a time held the first place in that body. But presently, detectingthe formation of rival power to the oligarchs, round he shifted; and wefind him next a ringleader of the popular party in assailing them. Itmust be admitted, he has well earned his nickname 'Buskin. ' (9) Yes, Theramenes! clever you may be, but the man who deserves to live shouldnot show his cleverness in leading on his associates into trouble, andwhen some obstacle presents itself, at once veer round; but like a piloton shipboard, he ought then to redouble his efforts, until the wind isfair. Else, how in the name of wonderment are those mariners to reachthe haven where they would be, if at the first contrary wind ortide they turn about and sail in the opposite direction? Death anddestruction are concomitants of constitutional changes and revolution, no doubt; but you are such an impersonation of change, that, as youtwist and turn and double, you deal destruction on all sides. At oneswoop you are the ruin of a thousand oligarchs at the hands of thepeople, and at another of a thousand democrats at the hands of thebetter classes. Why, sirs, this is the man to whom the orders were givenby the generals, in the sea-fight off Lesbos, to pick up the crews ofthe disabled vessels; and who, neglecting to obey orders, turned roundand accused the generals; and to save himself murdered them! What, I askyou, of a man who so openly studied the art of self-seeking, deafalike to the pleas of honour and to the claims of friendship? Would notleniency towards such a creature be misplaced? Can it be our duty atall to spare him? Ought we not rather, when we know the doublings of hisnature, to guard against them, lest we enable him presently to practiseon ourselves? The case is clear. We therefore hereby cite this manbefore you, as a conspirator and traitor against yourselves and us. Thereasonableness of our conduct, one further reflection may make clear. No one, I take it, will dispute the splendour, the perfection of theLaconian constitution. Imagine one of the ephors there in Sparta, inlieu of devoted obedience to the majority, taking on himself to findfault with the government and to oppose all measures. Do you not thinkthat the ephors themselves, and the whole commonwealth besides, wouldhold this renegade worthy of condign punishment? So, too, by the sametoken, if you are wise, do you spare yourselves, not him. For what doesthe alternative mean? I will tell you. His preservation will causethe courage of many who hold opposite views to your own to rise; hisdestruction will cut off the last hopes of all your enemies, whetherwithin or without the city. "

 (9) An annotator seems to have added here the words, occurring in the MSS. , "the buskin which seems to fit both legs equally, but is constant to neither, " unless, indeed, they are an original "marginal note" of the author. For the character of Theramenes, as popularly conceived, cf. Aristoph. "Frogs, " 538, 968 foll. , and Thuc. Viii. 92; and Prof. Jowett, "Thuc. " vol. Ii. Pp. 523, 524. 

With these words he sat down, but Theramenes rose and said: "Sirs, withyour permission I will first touch upon the charge against me whichCritias has mentioned last. The assertion is that as the accuser of thegenerals I was their murderer. Now I presume it was not I who beganthe attack upon them, but it was they who asserted that in spite ofthe orders given me I had neglected to pick up the unfortunates in thesea-fight off Lesbos. All I did was to defend myself. My defence wasthat the storm was too violent to permit any vessel to ride at sea, muchmore therefore to pick up the men, and this defence was accepted by myfellow-citizens as highly reasonable, while the generals seemed to becondemned out of their own mouths. For while they kept on assertingthat it was possible to save the men, the fact still remained that theyabandoned them to their fate, set sail, and were gone. 

"However, I am not surprised, I confess, at this grave misconception(10) on the part of Critias, for at the date of these occurrences hewas not in Athens. He was away in Thessaly, laying the foundations ofa democracy with Prometheus, and arming the Penestae (11) against theirmasters. Heaven forbid that any of his transactions there should bere-enacted here. However, I must say, I do heartily concur with him onone point. Whoever desires to exclude you from the government, or tostrength the hands of your secret foes, deserves and ought to meet withcondign punishment; but who is most capable of so doing? That you willbest discover, I think, by looking a little more closely into the pastand the present conduct of each of us. Well, then! up to the moment atwhich you were formed into a senatorial body, when the magistracies wereappointed, and certain notorious 'informers' were brought to trial, weall held the same views. But later on, when our friends yonder beganto hale respectable honest folk to prison and to death, I, on my side, began to differ from them. From the moment when Leon of Salamis, (12)a man of high and well-deserved reputation, was put to death, though hehad not committed the shadow of a crime, I knew that all his equals musttremble for themselves, and, so trembling, be driven into opposition tothe new constitution. In the same way, when Niceratus, (13) the son ofNicias, was arrested; a wealthy man, who, no more than his father, hadnever done anything that could be called popular or democratic in hislife; it did not require much insight to discover that his compeerswould be converted into our foes. But to go a step further: when itcame to Antiphon (14) falling at our hands--Antiphon, who during the warcontributed two fast-sailing men-of-war out of his own resources, it wasthen plain to me, that all who had ever been zealous and patrioticmust eye us with suspicion. Once more I could not help speaking out inopposition to my colleagues when they suggested that each of us ought toseize some one resident alien. (15) For what could be more certainthan that their death-warrant would turn the whole resident foreignpopulation into enemies of the constitution. I spoke out again when theyinsisted on depriving the populace of their arms; it being no part of mycreed that we ought to take the strength out of the city; nor, indeed, so far as I could see, had the Lacedaemonians stept between us anddestruction merely that we might become a handful of people, powerlessto aid them in the day of need. Had that been their object, they mighthave swept us away to the last man. A few more weeks, or even days, would have sufficed to extinguish us quietly by famine. Nor, again, canI say that the importation of mercenary foreign guards was altogether tomy taste, when it would have been so easy for us to add to our ownbody a sufficient number of fellow-citizens to ensure our supremacy asgovernors over those we essayed to govern. But when I saw what an armyof malcontents this government had raised up within the city walls, besides another daily increasing host of exiles without, I could notbut regard the banishment of people like Thrasybulus and Anytus andAlcibiades (16) as impolitic. Had our object been to strengthen therival power, we could hardly have set about it better than by providingthe populace with the competent leaders whom they needed, and thewould-be leaders themselves with an army of willing adherents. 

 (10) Reading with Cobet {paranenomikenai}. 

 (11) I. E. Serfs--Penestae being the local name in Thessaly for the villein class. Like the {Eilotes} in Laconia, they were originally a conquered tribe, afterwards increased by prisoners of war, and formed a link between the freemen and born slaves. 

 (12) Cf. "Mem. " IV. Iv. 3; Plat. "Apol. " 8. 32. 

 (13) Cf. Lysias, "Or. " 18. 6. 

 (14) Probably the son of Lysidonides. See Thirlwall, "Hist. Of Greece, " vol. Iv. P. 179 (ed. 1847); also Lysias, "Or. " 12. Contra Eratosth. According to Lysias, Theramenes, when a member of the first Oligarchy, betrayed his own closest friends, Antiphon and Archeptolemus. See Prof. Jebb, "Attic Orators, " I. X. P. 266. 

 (15) The resident aliens, or {metoikoi}, "metics, " so technically called. 

 (16) Isocr. "De Bigis, " 355; and Prof. Jebb's "Attic Orators, " ii. 230. In the defence of his father's career, which the younger Alcibiades, the defendant in this case (B. C. 397 probably) has occasion to make, he reminds the court, that under the Thirty, others were banished from Athens, but his father was driven out of the civilised world of Hellas itself, and finally murdered. See Plutarch, "Alcibiades, " ad fin. 

"I ask then is the man who tenders such advice in the full light ofday justly to be regarded as a traitor, and not as a benefactor? SurelyCritias, the peacemaker, the man who hinders the creation of manyenemies, whose counsels tend to the acquistion of yet more friends, (17)cannot be accused of strengthening the hands of the enemy. Much moretruly may the imputation be retorted on those who wrongfully appropriatetheir neighbours' goods and put to death those who have done no wrong. These are they who cause our adversaries to grow and multiply, andwho in very truth are traitors, not to their friends only, but tothemselves, spurred on by sordid love of gain. 

 (17) Or, "the peacemaker, the healer of differences, the cementer of new alliances, cannot, " etc. 

"I might prove the truth of what I say in many ways, but I beg you tolook at the matter thus. With which condition of affairs here in Athensdo you think will Thrasybulus and Anytus and the other exiles be thebetter pleased? That which I have pictured as desirable, or that whichmy colleagues yonder are producing? For my part I cannot doubt but that, as things now are, they are saying to themselves, 'Our allies musterthick and fast. ' But were the real strength, the pith and fibre of thiscity, kindly disposed to us, they would find it an uphill task even toget a foothold anywhere in the country. 

"Then, with regard to what he said of me and my propensity to be forever changing sides, let me draw your attention to the following facts. Was it not the people itself, the democracy, who voted the constitutionof the Four Hundred? This they did, because they had learned to thinkthat the Lacedaemonians would trust any other form of government ratherthan a democracy. But when the efforts of Lacedaemon were not a whitrelaxed, when Aristoteles, Melanthius, and Aristarchus, (18) and therest of them acting as generals, were plainly minded to construct anintrenched fortress on the mole for the purpose of admitting theenemy, and so getting the city under the power of themselves and theirassociates; (19) because I got wind of these schemes, and nipped them inthe bud, is that to be a traitor to one's friends?

 (18) Cf. Thuc. Viii. 90-92, for the behaviour of the Lacedaemonian party at Athens and the fortification of Eetioneia in B. C. 411. 

 (19) I. E. Of the political clubs. 

"Then he threw in my teeth the nickname 'Buskin, ' as descriptive ofan endeavour on my part to fit both parties. But what of the manwho pleases neither? What in heaven's name are we to call him? Yes!you--Critias? Under the democracy you were looked upon as the mostarrant hater of the people, and under the aristocracy you have provedyourself the bitterest foe of everything respectable. Yes! Critias, Iam, and ever have been, a foe of those who think that a democracy cannotreach perfection until slaves and those who, from poverty, would sellthe city for a drachma, can get their drachma a day. (20) But not lessam I, and ever have been, a pronounced opponent of those who do notthink there can possibly exist a perfect oligarchy until the State issubjected to the despotism of a few. On the contrary, my own ambitionhas been to combine with those who are rich enough to possess a horseand shield, and to use them for the benefit of the State. (21) That wasmy ideal in the old days, and I hold to it without a shadow of turningstill. If you can imagine when and where, in conjunction with despots ordemagogues, I have set to my hand to deprive honest gentlefolk oftheir citizenship, pray speak. If you can convict me of such crimes atpresent, or can prove my perpetration of them in the past, I admit thatI deserve to die, and by the worst of deaths. "

 (20) I. E. May enjoy the senatorial stipend of a drachma a day = 9 3/4 pence. 

 (21) See Thuc. Viii. 97, for a momentary realisation of that "duly attempered compound of Oligarchy and Democracy" which Thucydides praises, and which Theramenes here refers to. It threw the power into the hands of the wealthier upper classes to the exclusion of the {nautikos okhlos}. See Prof. Jowett, vol. Ii. Note, ad loc. Cit. 

With these words he ceased, and the loud murmur of the applause whichfollowed marked the favourable impression produced upon the senate. It was plain to Critias, that if he allowed his adversary's fate to bedecided by formal voting, Theramenes would escape, and life to himselfwould become intolerable. Accordingly he stepped forward and spoke aword or two in the ears of the Thirty. This done, he went out and gavean order to the attendants with the daggers to stand close to the barin full view of the senators. Again he entered and addressed the senatethus: "I hold it to be the duty of a good president, when he sees thefriends about him being made the dupes of some delusion, to intervene. That at any rate is what I propose to do. Indeed our friends herestanding by the bar say that if we propose to acquit a man so openlybent upon the ruin of the oligarchy, they do not mean to let us doso. Now there is a clause in the new code forbidding any of the ThreeThousand to be put to death without your vote; but the Thirty havepower of life and death over all outside that list. Accordingly, " heproceeded, "I herewith strike this man, Theramenes, off the list; andthis with the concurrence of my colleagues. And now, " he continued, "wecondemn him to death. "

Hearing these words Theramenes sprang upon the altar of Hestia, exclaiming: "And I, sirs, supplicate you for the barest forms of law andjustice. Let it not be in the power of Critias to strike off eitherme, or any one of you whom he will. But in my case, in what may be yourcase, if we are tried, let our trial be in accordance with the law theyhave made concerning those on the list. I know, " he added, "but toowell, that this altar will not protect me; but I will make it plain thatthese men are as impious towards the gods as they are nefarious towardsmen. Yet I do marvel, good sirs and honest gentlemen, for so you are, that you will not help yourselves, and that too when you must see thatthe name of every one of you is as easily erased as mine. "

But when he had got so far, the voice of the herald was heard giving theorder to the Eleven to seize Theramenes. They at that instant enteredwith their satellites--at their head Satyrus, the boldest and mostshameless of the body--and Critias exclaimed, addressing the Eleven, "Wedeliver over to you Theramenes yonder, who has been condemned accordingto the law. Do you take him and lead him away to the proper place, anddo there with him what remains to do. " As Critias uttered the words, Satyrus laid hold upon Theramenes to drag him from the altar, and theattendants lent their aid. But he, as was natural, called upon gods andmen to witness what was happening. The senators the while kept silence, seeing the companions of Satyrus at the bar, and the whole front of thesenate house crowded with the foreign guards, nor did they need to betold that there were daggers in reserve among those present. 

And so Theramenes was dragged through the Agora, in vehement and loudtones proclaiming the wrongs that he was suffering. One word, which issaid to have fallen from his lips, I cite. It is this: Satyrus, bade him"Be silent, or he would rue the day;" to which he made answer, "And if Ibe silent, shall I not rue it?" Also, when they brought him the hemlock, and the time was come to drink the fatal draught, they tell how heplayfully jerked out the dregs from the bottom of the cup, like one whoplays "Cottabos, " (22) with the words, "This to the lovely Critias. "These are but "apophthegms" (23) too trivial, it may be thought, to finda place in history. Yet I must deem it an admirable trait in this man'scharacter, if at such a moment, when death confronted him, neither hiswits forsook him, nor could the childlike sportiveness vanish from hissoul. 

 (22) "A Sicilian game much in vogue at the drinking parties of young men at Athens. The simplest mode was when each threw the wine left in his cup so as to strike smartly in a metal basin, at the same time invoking his mistress's name; if all fell into the basin and the sound was clear, it was a sign he stood well with her. "-- Liddell and Scott, sub. V. For the origin of the game compare curiously enough the first line of the first Elegy of Critias himself, who was a poet and political philosopher, as well as a politician:--

"{Kottabos ek Sikeles esti khthonos, euprepes ergon on skopon es latagontoxa kathistametha. }" Bergk. "Poetae Lyr. Graec. " Pars II. Xxx. 

 (23) Or, "these are sayings too slight, perhaps, to deserve record; yet, " etc. By an "apophthegm" was meant originally a terse (sententious) remark, but the word has somewhat altered in meaning. 

IV

So Theramenes met his death; and, now that this obstacle was removed, the Thirty, feeling that they had it in their power to play the tyrantwithout fear, issued an order forbidding all, whose names were noton the list, to set foot within the city. Retirement in the countrydistricts was no protection, thither the prosecutor followed them, andthence dragged them, that their farms and properties might fall to thepossession of the Thirty and their friends. Even Piraeus was not safe;of those who sought refuge there, many were driven forth in similarfashion, until Megara and Thebes overflowed with the crowd of refugees. 

Presently Thrasybulus, with about seventy followers, sallied out fromThebes, and made himself master of the fortress of Phyle. (1) Theweather was brilliant, and the Thirty marched out of the city to repelthe invader; with them were the Three Thousand and the Knights. Whenthey reached the place, some of the young men, in the foolhardiness ofyouth, made a dash at the fortress, but without effect; all they got waswounds, and so retired. The intention of the Thirty now was to blockadethe place; by shutting off all the avenues of supplies, they thought toforce the garrison to capitulate. But this project was interrupted bya steady downfall of snow that night and the following day. Baffledby this all-pervading enemy they beat a retreat to the city, but notwithout the sacrifice of many of their camp-followers, who fell a preyto the men in Phyle. The next anxiety of the government in Athens was tosecure the farms and country houses against the plunderings and foraysto which they would be exposed, if there were no armed force toprotect them. With this object a protecting force was despatched tothe "boundary estates, " (2) about two miles south of Phyle. This corpsconsisted of the Lacedaemonian guards, or nearly all of them, and twodivisions of horse. (3) They encamped in a wild and broken district, andthe round of their duties commenced. 

 (1) "A strong fortress (the remains of which still exist) commanding the narrow pass across Mount Parnes, through which runs the direct road from Thebes to Athens, past Acharnae. The precipitous rock on which it stands can only be approached by a ridge on the eastern side. The height commands a magnificent view of the whole Athenian plain, of the city itself, of Mount Hymettus, and the Saronic Gulf, "--"Dict. Of Geog. , The demi of the Diacria and Mount Parnes. "

 (2) Cf. Boeckh, "P. E. A. " p. 63, Eng. Ed. 

 (3) Lit. Tribes, each of the ten tribes furnishing about one hundred horse. 

But by this time the small garrison above them had increased tenfold, until there were now something like seven hundred men collected inPhyle; and with these Thrasybulus one night descended. When he was notquite half a mile from the enemy's encampment he grounded arms, and adeep silence was maintained until it drew towards day. In a little whilethe men opposite, one by one, were getting to their legs or leaving thecamp for necessary purposes, while a suppressed din and murmur arose, caused by the grooms currying and combing their horses. This was themoment for Thrasybulus and his men to snatch up their arms and make adash at the enemy's position. Some they felled on the spot; and routingthe whole body, pursued them six or seven furlongs, killing onehundred and twenty hoplites and more. Of the cavalry, Nicostratus, "thebeautiful, " as men called him, and two others besides were slain; theywere caught while still in their beds. Returning from the pursuit, the victors set up a trophy, got together all the arms they had taken, besides baggage, and retired again to Phyle. A reinforcement of horsesent from the city could not discover the vestige of a foe; but waitedon the scene of battle until the bodies of the slain had been picked upby their relatives, when they withdrew again to the city. 

After this the Thirty, who had begun to realise the insecurity of theirposition, were anxious to appropriate Eleusis, so that an asylum mightbe ready for them against the day of need. With this view an order wasissued to the Knights; and Critias, with the rest of the Thirty, visitedEleusis. There they held a review of the Eleusians in the presence ofthe Knights; (4) and, on the pretext of wishing to discover how manythey were, and how large a garrison they would further require, theyordered the townsfolk to enter their names. As each man did so he had toretire by a postern leading to the sea. But on the sea-beach thisside there were lines of cavalry drawn up in waiting, and as each manappeared he was handcuffed by the satellites of the Thirty. When allhad so been seized and secured, they gave orders to Lysimachus, thecommander of the cavalry, to take them off to the city and deliver themover to the Eleven. Next day they summoned the heavy armed who were onthe list, and the rest of the Knights (5) to the Odeum, and Critias roseand addressed them. He said: "Sirs, the constitution, the lines of whichwe are laying down, is a work undertaken in your interests no less thanours; it is incumbent on you therefore to participate in its dangers, even as you will partake of its honours. We expect you therefore, inreference to these Eleusians here, who have been seized and secured, tovote their condemnation, so that our hopes and fears may be identical. "Then, pointing to a particular spot, he said peremptorily, "You willplease deposit your votes there within sight of all. " It must beunderstood that the Laconian guards were present at the time, and armedto the teeth, and filling one-half of the Odeum. As to the proceedingsthemselves, they found acceptance with those members of the State, besides the Thirty, who could be satisfied with a simple policy ofself-aggrandisement. 

 (4) Or, "in the cavalry quarters, " cf. {en tois ikhthusin} = in the fish market. Or, "at the review of the horse. "

 (5) For the various Odeums at Athens vide Prof. Jebb, "Theophr. " xviii. 235, 236. The one here named was near the fountain Callirhoe by the Ilissus. 

But now Thrasybulus at the head of his followers, by this time about onethousand strong, descended from Phyle and reached Piraeus in the night. The Thirty, on their side, informed of this new move, were not slow torally to the rescue, with the Laconian guards, supported by their owncavalry and hoplites. And so they advanced, marching down along thebroad carriage road which leads into Piraeus. The men from Phyle seemedat first inclined to dispute their passage, but as the wide circuitof the walls needed a defence beyond the reach of their still scantynumbers, they fell back in a compact body upon Munychia. (6) Then thetroops from the city poured into the Agora of Hippodmus. (7) Here theyformed in line, stretching along and filling the street which leads tothe temple of Artemis and the Bendideum. (8) This line must have beenat least fifty shields deep; and in this formation they at once beganto march up. As to the men of Phyle, they too blocked the street at theopposite end, and facing the foe. They presented only a thin line, notmore than ten deep, though behind these, certainly, were ranged a bodyof targeteers and light-armed javelin men, who were again supported byan artillery of stone-throwers--a tolerably numerous division drawn fromthe population of the port and district itself. While his antagonistswere still advancing, Thrasybulus gave the order to ground their heavyshields, and having done so himself, whilst retaining the rest ofhis arms, he stood in the midst, and thus addressed them: "Men andfellow-citizens, I wish to inform some, and to remind others of you, that of the men you see advancing beneath us there, the right divisionare the very men we routed and pursued only five days ago; while on theextreme left there you see the Thirty. These are the men who have notspared to rob us of our city, though we did no wrong; who have houndedus from our homes; who have set the seal of proscription on our dearestfriends. But to-day the wheel of fortune has revolved; that has comeabout which least of all they looked for, which most of all we prayedfor. Here we stand with our good swords in our hands, face to facewith our foes; and the gods themselves are with us, seeing that we werearrested in the midst of our peaceful pursuits; at any moment, whilstwe supped, or slept, or marketed, sentence of banishment was passed uponus: we had done no wrong--nay, many of us were not even resident in thecountry. To-day, therefore, I repeat, the gods do visibly fight upon ourside; the great gods, who raise a tempest even in the midst of calm forour benefit, and when we lay to our hand to fight, enable our littlecompany to set up the trophy of victory over the multitude of our foes. On this day they have brought us hither to a place where the steepascent must needs hinder our foes from reaching with lance or arrowfurther than our foremost ranks; but we with our volley of spears andarrows and stones cannot fail to reach them with terrible effect. Had webeen forced to meet them vanguard to vanguard, on an equal footing, whocould have been surprised? But as it is, all I say to you is, let flyyour missiles with a will in right brave style. No one can miss his markwhen the road is full of them. To avoid our darts they must be for everducking and skulking beneath their shields; but we will rain blows uponthem in their blindness; we will leap upon them and lay them low. But, O sirs! let me call upon you so to bear yourselves that each shallbe conscious to himself that victory was won by him and him alone. Victory--which, God willing, shall this day restore to us the land ofour fathers, our homes, our freedom, and the rewards of civic life, ourchildren, if children we have, our darlings, and our wives! Thrice happythose among us who as conquerors shall look upon this gladdest of alldays. Nor less fortunate the man who falls to-day. Not all the wealthin the world shall purchase him a monument so glorious. At the rightinstant I will strike the keynote of the paean; then, with an invocationto the God of battle, (9) and in return for the wanton insults they putupon us, let us with one accord wreak vengeance on yonder men. "

 (6) The citadel quarter of Piraeus. 

 (7) Named after the famous architect Hippodamus, who built the town. It was situated near where the two long walls joined the wall of Piraeus; a broad street led from it up to the citadel of Munychia. 

 (8) I. E. The temple of Bendis (the Thracian Artemis). Cf. Plat. "Rep. " 327, 354; and Prof. Jowett, "Plato, " vol. Iii. Pp. 193, 226. 

 (9) Lit. "Enyalius, " in Homer an epithet of Ares; at another date (cf. Aristoph. "Peace, " 456) looked upon as a distinct divinity. 

Having so spoken, he turned round, facing the foemen, and kept quiet, for the order passed by the soothsayer enjoined on them, not tocharge before one of their side was slain or wounded. "As soon as thathappens, " said the seer, "we will lead you onwards, and the victoryshall be yours; but for myself, if I err not, death is waiting. " Andherein he spoke truly, for they had barely resumed their arms when hehimself as though he were driven by some fatal hand, leapt out in frontof the ranks, and so springing into the midst of the foe, was slain, and lies now buried at the passage of the Cephisus. But the rest werevictorious, and pursued the routed enemy down to the level ground. There fell in this engagement, out of the number of the Thirty, Critiashimself and Hippomachus, and with them Charmides, (10) the son ofGlaucon, one of the ten archons in Piraeus, and of the rest aboutseventy men. The arms of the slain were taken; but, as fellow-citizens, the conquerors forebore to despoil them of their coats. This being done, they proceeded to give back the dead under cover of a truce, when themen, on either side, in numbers stept forward and conversed with oneanother. Then Cleocritus (he was the Herald of the Initiated, (11) atruly "sweet-voiced herald, " if ever there was), caused a deepsilence to reign, and addressed their late combatants as follows:"Fellow-citizens--Why do you drive us forth? why would you slay us?what evil have we wrought you at any time? or is it a crime that wehave shared with you in the most solemn rites and sacrifices, and infestivals of the fairest: we have been companions in the chorus, theschool, the army. We have braved a thousand dangers with you by land andsea in behalf of our common safety, our common liberty. By the godsof our fathers, by the gods of our mothers, by the hallowed names ofkinship, intermarriage, comradeship, those three bonds which knit thehearts of so many of us, bow in reverence before God and man, andcease to sin against the land of our fathers: cease to obey these mostunhallowed Thirty, who for the sake of private gain have in eight monthsslain almost more men than the Peloponnesians together in ten years ofwarfare. See, we have it in our power to live as citizens in peace; itis only these men, who lay upon us this most foul burthen, this hideoushorror of fratricidal war, loathed of God and man. Ah! be well assured, for these men slain by our hands this day, ye are not the sole mourners. There are among them some whose deaths have wrung from us also many abitter tear. "

 (10) He was cousin to Critias, and uncle by the mother's side to Plato, who introduces him in the dialogue, which bears his name (and treats of Temperance), as a very young man at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. We hear more of him also from Xenophon himself in the "Memorabilia, " iii. 6. 7; and as one of the interlocutors in the "Symposium. "

 (11) I. E. Of the Eleusinian mysteries. He had not only a loud voice, but a big body. Cf. Aristoph. "Frogs, " 1237. 

So he spoke, but the officers and leaders of the defeated army who wereleft, unwilling that their troops should listen to such topics at thatmoment, led them back to the city. But the next day the Thirty, in deepdown-heartedness and desolation, sat in the council chamber. The ThreeThousand, wherever their several divisions were posted, were everywherea prey to discord. Those who were implicated in deeds of violence, andwhose fears could not sleep, protested hotly that to yield to the partyin Piraeus were preposterous. Those on the other hand who had faith intheir own innocence, argued in their own minds, and tried to convincetheir neighbours that they could well dispense with most of theirpresent evils. "Why yield obedience to these Thirty?" they asked, "Whyassign to them the privilege of destroying the State?" In the end theyvoted a resolution to depose the government, and to elect another. Thiswas a board of ten, elected one from each tribe. 

B. C. 403. As to the Thirty, they retired to Eleusis; but the Ten, assisted by the cavalry officers, had enough to do to keep watch overthe men in the city, whose anarchy and mutual distrust were rampant. TheKnights did not return to quarters at night, but slept out in the Odeum, keeping their horses and shields close beside them; indeed the distrustwas so great that from evening onwards they patrolled the walls on footwith their shields, and at break of day mounted their horses, at everymoment fearing some sudden attack upon them by the men in Piraeus. Theselatter were now so numerous, and of so mixed a company, that it wasdifficult to find arms for all. Some had to be content with shields ofwood, others of wicker-work, which they spent their time in coating withwhitening. Before ten days had elapsed guarantees were given, securingfull citizenship, with equality of taxation and tribute to all, even foreigners, who would take part in the fighting. Thus they werepresently able to take the field, with large detachments both of heavyinfantry and light-armed troops, besides a division of cavalry, aboutseventy in number. Their system was to push forward foraging parties inquest of wood and fruits, returning at nightfall to Piraeus. Of the cityparty no one ventured to take the field under arms; only, from time totime, the cavalry would capture stray pillagers from Piraeus or inflictsome damage on the main body of their opponents. Once they fell in witha party belonging to the deme Aexone, (12) marching to their own farmsin search of provisions. These, in spite of many prayers for mercyand the strong disapprobation of many of the knights, were ruthlesslyslaughtered by Lysimachus, the general of cavalry. The men of Piraeusretaliated by putting to death a horseman, named Callistratus, of thetribe Leontis, whom they captured in the country. Indeed their courageran so high at present that they even meditated an assault upon the citywalls. And here perhaps the reader will pardon the record of a somewhatingenious device on the part of the city engineer, who, aware of theenemy's intention to advance his batteries along the racecourse, whichslopes from the Lyceum, had all the carts and waggons which were to befound laden with blocks of stone, each one a cartload in itself, andso sent them to deposit their freights "pele-mele" on the course inquestion. The annoyance created by these separate blocks of stonewas enormous, and quite out of proportion to the simplicity of thecontrivance. 

 (12) On the coast south of Phalerum, celebrated for its fisheries. Cf. "Athen. " vii. 325. 

But it was to Lacedaemon that men's eyes now turned. The Thirtydespatched one set of ambassadors from Eleusis, while another setrepresenting the government of the city, that is to say the men on thelist, was despatched to summon the Lacedaemonians to their aid, on theplea that the people had revolted from Sparta. At Sparta, Lysander, taking into account the possibility of speedily reducing the party inPiraeus by blockading them by land and sea, and so cutting them off fromall supplies, supported the application, and negotiated the loan ofone hundred talents (13) to his clients, backed by the appointment ofhimself as harmost on land, and of his brother, Libys, as admiral ofthe fleet. And so proceeding to the scene of action at Eleusis, he gottogether a large body of Peloponnesian hoplites, whilst his brother, the admiral, kept watch and ward by sea to prevent the importation ofsupplies into Piraeus by water. Thus the men in Piraeus were soon againreduced to their former helplessness, while the ardour of the city folkrose to a proportionally high pitch under the auspices of Lysander. 

 (13) 24, 375 pounds, reckoning one tal. = 243 pounds 15 shillings. 

Things were progressing after this sort when King Pausanias intervened. Touched by a certain envy of Lysander--(who seemed, by a final stroke ofachievement, about to reach the pinnacle of popularity, with Athens laidlike a pocket dependency at his feet)--the king persuaded three ofthe ephors to support him, and forthwith called out the ban. With himmarched contingents of all the allied States, except the Boeotians andCorinthians. These maintained, that to undertake such an expeditionagainst the Athenians, in whose conduct they saw nothing contrary to thetreaty, was inconsistent with their oaths. But if that was the languageheld by them, the secret of their behaviour lay deeper; they seemed tobe aware of a desire on the part of the Lacedaemonians to annex thesoil of the Athenians and to reduce the state to vassalage. Pausaniasencamped on the Halipedon, (14) as the sandy flat is called, with hisright wing resting on Piraeus, and Lysander and his mercenaries formingthe left. His first act was to send an embassage to the party inPiraeus, calling upon them to retire peacably to their homes; when theyrefused to obey, he made, as far as mere noise went, the semblance of anattack, with sufficient show of fight to prevent his kindly dispositionbeing too apparent. But gaining nothing by the feint, he was forced toretire. Next day he took two Laconian regiments, with three tribes ofAthenian horse, and crossed over to the Mute (15) Harbour, examining thelie of the ground to discover how and where it would be easiest to drawlines of circumvallation round Piraeus. As he turned his back to retire, a party of the enemy sallied out and caused him annoyance. Nettled atthe liberty, he ordered the cavalry to charge at the gallop, supportedby the ten-year-service (16) infantry, whilst he himself, with the restof the troops, followed close, holding quietly back in reserve. They cutdown about thirty of the enemy's light troops and pursued the rest hotlyto the theatre in Piraeus. Here, as chance would have it, the wholelight and heavy infantry of the Piraeus men were getting under arms;and in an instant their light troops rushed out and dashed at theassailants; thick and fast flew missiles of all sorts--javelins, arrowsand sling stones. The Lacedaemonians finding the number of their woundedincreasing every minute, and sorely called, slowly fell back step bystep, eyeing their opponents. These meanwhile resolutely pressed on. Here fell Chaeron and Thibrachus, both polemarchs, here also Lacrates, an Olympic victor, and other Lacedaemonians, all of whom now lieentombed before the city gates in the Ceramicus. (17)

 (14) The Halipedon is the long stretch of flat sandy land between Piraeus Phalerum and the city. 

 (15) Perhaps the landlocked creek just round the promontory of Eetioneia, as Leake conjectures, "Topog. Of Athens, " p. 389. See also Prof. Jowett's note, "Thuc. " v. 2; vol. Ii. P. 286. 

 (16) I. E. Who had already seen ten years of service, i. E. Over twenty- eight, as the Spartan was eligible to serve at eighteen. Cf. Xen. "Hell. " III. Iv. 23; VI. Iv. 176. 

 (17) The outer Ceramicus, "the most beautiful spot outside the walls. " Cf. Thuc. Ii. 34; through it passes the street of the tombs on the sacred road; and here was the place of burial for all persons honoured with a public funeral. Cf. Arist. "Birds, " 395. 

Watching how matters went, Thrasybulus began his advance with the wholeof his heavy infantry to support his light troops and quickly fellinto line eight deep, acting as a screen to the rest of his troops. Pausanias, on his side, had retired, sorely pressed, about half amile towards a bit of rising ground, where he sent orders to theLacedaemonians and the other allied troops to bring up reinforcements. Here, on this slope, he reformed his troops, giving his phalanx thefull depth, and advanced against the Athenians, who did not hesitateto receive him at close quarters, but presently had to give way; oneportion being forced into the mud and clay at Halae, (18) while theothers wavered and broke their line; one hundred and fifty of them wereleft dead on the field, whereupon Pausanias set up a trophy and retired. Not even so, were his feelings embittered against his adversary. On thecontrary he sent secretly and instructed the men of Piraeus, what sortof terms they should propose to himself and the ephors in attendance. To this advice they listened. He also fostered a division in the partywithin the city. A deputation, acting on his orders, sought an audienceof him and the ephors. It had all the appearance of a mass meeting. Inapproaching the Spartan authorities, they had no desire or occasion, they stated, to look upon the men of Piraeus as enemies, they wouldprefer a general reconciliation and the friendship of both sides withLacedaemon. The propositions were favourably received, and by no less aperson than Nauclidas. He was present as ephor, in accordance with thecustom which obliges two members of that board to serve on all militaryexpeditions with the king, and with his colleague shared the politicalviews represented by Pausanias, rather than those of Lysander and hisparty. Thus the authorities were quite ready to despatch to Lacedaemonthe representatives of Piraeus, carrying their terms of truce with theLacedaemonians, as also two private individuals belonging to the cityparty, whose names were Cephisophon and Meletus. This double deputation, however, had no sooner set out to Lacedaemon than the "de facto"government of the city followed suit, by sending a third set ofrepresentatives to state on their behalf: that they were prepared todeliver up themselves and the fortifications in their possession tothe Lacedaemonians, to do with them what they liked. "Are the men ofPiraeus, " they asked, "prepared to surrender Piraeus and Munychia inthe same way? If they are sincere in their profession of friendship toLacedaemon, they ought to do so. " The ephors and the members of assemblyat Sparta (19) gave audience to these several parties, and sentout fifteen commissioners to Athens empowered, in conjunction withPausanias, to discover the best settlement possible. The terms (20)arrived at were that a general peace between the rival parties should beestablished, liberty to return to their own homes being granted to all, with the exception of the Thirty, the Eleven, and the Ten who had beengovernors in Piraeus; but a proviso was added, enabling any of the cityparty who feared to remain at Athens to find a home in Eleusis. 

 (18) Halae, the salt marshy ground immediately behind the great harbour of Piraeus, but outside the fortification lines. 

 (19) Cf. "Hell. " VI. Iii. 3, {oi ekkletoi}. 

 (20) Cf. Prof. Jebb, "Orators, " i. 262, note 2. 

And now that everything was happily concluded, Pausanias disbanded hisarmy, and the men from Piraeus marched up under arms into the acropolisand offered sacrifice to Athena. When they were come down, the generalscalled a meeting of the Ecclesia, (21) and Thrasybulus made a speech inwhich, addressing the city party, he said: "Men of the city! I have onepiece of advice I would tender to you; it is that you should learn toknow yourselves, and towards the attainment of that self-knowledge Iwould have you make a careful computation of your good qualities andsatisfy yourselves on the strength of which of these it is that youclaim to rule over us. Is it that you are more just than ourselves? Yetthe people, who are poorer--have never wronged you for the purposes ofplunder; but you, whose wealth would outweight the whole of ours, havewrought many a shameful deed for the sake of gain. If, then, you haveno monopoly of justice, can it be on the score of courage that you arewarranted to hold your heads so high? If so, what fairer test of couragewill you propose than the arbitrament of war--the war just ended? Or doyou claim superiority of intelligence?--you, who with all your wealth ofarms and walls, money and Peloponnesian allies, have been paralysed bymen who had none of these things to aid them! Or is it on these Laconianfriends of yours that you pride yourselves? What! when these samefriends have dealt by you as men deal by vicious dogs. You know how thatis. They put a heavy collar round the neck of the brutes and hand themover muzzled to their masters. So too have the Lacedaemonians handed youover to the people, this very people whom you have injured; and now theyhave turned their backs and are gone. But" (turning to the mass) "donot misconceive me. It is not for me, sirs, coldly to beg of you, in norespect to violate your solemn undertakings. I go further; I beg you, to crown your list of exploits by one final display of virtue. Showthe world that you can be faithful to your oaths, and flawless in yourconduct. " By these and other kindred arguments he impressed upon themthat there was no need for anarchy or disorder, seeing that there werethe ancient laws ready for use. And so he broke up (22) the assembly. 

 (21) I. E. The Public Assembly, see above; and reading with Sauppe after Cobet {ekklesian epoiesan}, which words are supposed to have dropt out of the MSS. Or, keeping to the MSS. , translate "When the generals were come down, Thrasybulus, " etc. See next note. 

 (22) The Greek words are {antestese ten ekklesian} (an odd phrase for the more technical {eluse} or {dieluse ten ekklesian}). Or, accepting the MSS. Reading above (see last note), translate "he set up (i. E. Restored) the Assembly. " So Mr. J. G. Philpotts, Mr. Herbert Hailstone, and others. 

At this auspicious moment, then, they reappointed the severalmagistrates; the constitution began to work afresh, and civic life wasrecommenced. At a subsequent period, on receiving information that theparty at Eleusis were collecting a body of mercenaries, they marched outwith their whole force against them, and put to death their generals, who came out to parley. These removed, they introduced to the otherstheir friends and connections, and so persuaded them to come to termsand be reconciled. The oath they bound themselves by consisted of asimple asseveration: "We will remember past offences no more;" and tothis day (23) the two parties live amicably together as good citizens, and the democracy is steadfast to its oaths. 

 (23) It would be interesting to know the date at which the author penned these words. Was this portion of the "Hellenica" written before the expedition of Cyrus? i. E. In the interval between the formal restoration of the Democracy, September B. C. 403, and March B. C. 401. The remaining books of the "Hellenica" were clearly written after that expedition, since reference is made to it quite early in Bk. III. I. 2. Practically, then, the first volume of Xenophon's "History of Hellenic Affairs" ends here. This history is resumed in Bk. III. I. 3. After the Cyreian expedition (of which episode we have a detailed account in the "Anabasis" from March B. C. 401 down to March B. C. 399, when the remnant of the Ten Thousand was handed over to the Spartan general Thibron in Asia). Some incidents belonging to B. C. 402 are referred to in the opening paragraphs of "Hellenica, " III. I. 1, 2, but only as an introduction to the new matter; and with regard to the historian himself, it is clear that "a change has come o'er the spirit of his dream. " This change of view is marked by a change of style in writing. I have thought it legitimate, under the circumstances, to follow the chronological order of events, and instead of continuing the "Hellenica, " at this point to insert the "Anabasis. " My next volume will contain the remaining books of the "Hellenica" and the rest of Xenophon's "historical" writings. 

BOOK III

I

B. C. 403-402. Thus the civil strife at Athens had an end. At asubsequent date Cyrus sent messengers to Lacedaemon, claiming requitalin kind for the service which he had lately rendered in the war withAthens. (1) The demand seemed to the ephorate just and reasonable. Accordingly they ordered Samius, (2) who was admiral at the time, toput himself at the disposition of Cyrus for any service which he mightrequire. Samius himself needed no persuasion to carry out the wishes ofCyrus. With his own fleet, accompanied by that of Cyrus, he sailed roundto Cilicia, and so made it impossible for Syennesis, the ruler of thatprovince, to oppose Cyrus by land in his advance against the king hisbrother. 

 (1) Lit. "what Cyrus himself had been to the Lacedaemonians let the Lacedaemonians in their turn be to Cyrus. "

 (2) Samius (Diod. Sic. Xiv. 19). But see "Anab. " I. Iv. 2, where Pythagoras is named as admiral. Possibly the one officer succeeded the other. 

B. C. 401. The particulars of the expedition are to be found in the pagesof the Syracusan Themistogenes, (3) who describes the mustering of thearmament, and the advance of Cyrus at the head of his troops; and thenthe battle, and death of Cyrus himself, and the consequent retreat ofthe Hellenes while effecting their escape to the sea. (4)

 (3) Lit. "as to how then Cyrus collected an army and with it went up against his brother, and how the battle was fought and how he died, and how in the sequel the Hellenes escaped to the sea (all this), is written by (or 'for, ' or 'in honour of') Themistogenes the Syracusan. " My impression is that Xenophon's "Anabasis, " or a portion of the work so named, was edited originally by Themistogenes. See "Philol. Museum, " vol. I. P. 489; L. Dindorf, {Xen. Ell. }, Ox. MDCCCLIII. , node ad loc. {Themistogenei}. Cf. Diod. Sic. Xiv. 19-31, 37, after Ephorus and Theopompus probably. 

 (4) At Trapezus, March 10, B. C. 400. 

B. C. 400. It was in recognition of the service which he had rendered inthis affair, that Tissaphernes was despatched to Lower Asia by the kinghis master. He came as satrap, not only of his own provinces, but ofthose which had belonged to Cyrus; and he at once demanded the absolutesubmission of the Ionic cities, without exception, to his authority. These communities, partly from a desire to maintain their freedom, andpartly from fear of Tissaphernes himself, whom they had rejected infavour of Cyrus during the lifetime of that prince, were loth to admitthe satrap within their gates. They thought it better to send an embassyto the Lacedaemonians, calling upon them as representatives and leaders(5) of the Hellenic world to look to the interests of their petitioners, who were Hellenes also, albeit they lived in Asia, and not to suffertheir country to be ravaged and themselves enslaved. 

 (5) {Prostatai}, "patrons and protectors. "

In answer to this appeal, the Lacedaemonians sent out Thibron (6)as governor, providing him with a body of troops, consisting of onethousand neodamodes (7) (i. E. Enfranchised helots) and four thousandPeloponnesians. In addition to these, Thibron himself applied tothe Athenians for a detachment of three hundred horse, for whoseservice-money he would hold himself responsible. The Athenians inanswer sent him some of the knights who had served under the Thirty, (8) thinking that the people of Athens would be well rid of them if theywent abroad and perished there. 

 (6) "As harmost. " See "Anab. " ad fin. 

 (7) See "Hell. " I. Iii. 15; Thuc. Vii. 58. 

 (8) See "Hell. " II. Iv. 2. 

B. C. 400-399. On their arrival in Asia, Thibron further collectedcontingents from the Hellenic cities on the continent; for at this timethe word of a Lacedaemonian was law. He had only to command, and everycity must needs obey. (9) But although he had this armament, Thibron, when he saw the cavalry, had no mind to descend into the plain. If hesucceeded in protecting from pillage the particular district in whichhe chanced to be, he was quite content. It was only when the troops (10)who had taken part in the expedition of Cyrus had joined him on theirsafe return, that he assumed a bolder attitude. He was now ready toconfront Tissaphernes, army against army, on the level ground, and wonover a number of cities. Pergamum came in of her own accord. So didTeuthrania and Halisarna. These were under the government of Eurysthenesand Procles, (11) the descendants of Demaratus the Lacedaemonian, whoin days of old had received this territory as a gift from the Persianmonarch in return for his share in the campaign against Hellas. Gorgionand Gongylus, two brothers, also gave in their adhesion; they werelords, the one of Gambreum and Palae-Gambreum, the other of Myrina andGryneum, four cities which, like those above named, had originallybeen gifts from the king to an earlier Gongylus--the sole Eretrian who"joined the Mede, " and in consequence was banished. Other cities whichwere too weak to resist, Thibron took by force of arms. In the case ofone he was not so successful. This was the Egyptian (12) Larisa, as itis called, which refused to capitulate, and was forthwith invested andsubjected to a regular siege. When all other attempts to take it failed, he set about digging a tank or reservoir, and in connection with thetank an underground channel, by means of which he proposed to draw offthe water supply of the inhabitants. In this he was baffled by frequentsallies of the besieged, and a continual discharge of timber and stonesinto the cutting. He retaliated by the construction of a wooden tortoisewhich he erected over the tank; but once more the tortoise was burnt toa cinder in a successful night attack on the part of the men of Larisa. These ineffectual efforts induced the ephors to send a despatch biddingThibron give up Larisa and march upon Caria. 

 (9) See "Anab. " VI. Vi. 12. 

 (10) March B. C. 399. See the final sentence of the "Anabasis. "

 (11) See "Anab. " VII. Viii. 8-16. 

 (12) Seventy stades S. E. Of Cyme in the Aeolid. See Strabo, xiii. 621. For the origin of the name cf. "Cyrop. " VII. I. 45. 

He had already reached Ephesus, and was on the point of marching intoCaria, when Dercylidas arrived to take command of his army. The newgeneral was a man whose genius for invention had won him the nickname ofSisyphus. Thus it was that Thibron returned home, where on his arrivalhe was fined and banished, the allies accusing him of allowing histroops to plunder their friends. 

Dercylidas was not slow to perceive and turn to account the jealousywhich subsisted between Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus. Coming toterms with the former, he marched into the territory of the latter, preferring, as he said, to be at war with one of the pair at a time, rather than the two together. His hostility, indeed, to Pharnabazus wasan old story, dating back to a period during the naval command (13)of Lysander, when he was himself governor in Abydos; where, thanks toPharnabazus, he had got into trouble with his superior officer, and hadbeen made to stand "with his shield on his arm"--a stigma on his honourwhich no true Lacedaemonian would forgive, since this is the punishmentof insubordination. (14) For this reason, doubtless, Dercylidas had thegreater satisfaction in marching against Pharnabazus. From the moment heassumed command there was a marked difference for the better between hismethods and those of his predecessor. Thus he contrived to conduct histroops into that portion of the Aeolid which belonged to Pharnabazus, through the heart of friendly territory without injury to the allies. 

 (13) Technically "navarchy, " in B. C. 408-407. "Hell. " I. V. 1. 

 (14) See Plut. "Aristid. " 23 (Clough, ii. P. 309). 

This district of Aeolis belonged to Pharnabazus, (15) but had been heldas a satrapy under him by a Dardanian named Zenis whilst he was alive;but when Zenis fell sick and died, Pharnabazus made preparation to givethe satrapy to another. Then Mania the wife of Zenis, herself also aDardanian, fitted out an expedition, and taking with her gifts wherewithto make a present to Pharnabazus himself, and to gratify his concubinesand those whose power was greatest with Pharnabazus, set forth on herjourney. When she had obtained audience with him she spoke as follows:"O Pharnabazus, thou knowest that thy servant my husband was in allrespects friendly to thee; moreover, he paid my lord the tributes whichwere thy due, so that thou didst praise and honour him. Now therefore, if I do thee service as faithfully as my husband, why needest thou toappoint another satrap?--nay but, if in any matter I please thee not, isit not in thy power to take from me the government on that day, and togive it to another?" When he had heard her words, Pharnabazus decidedthat the woman ought to be satrap. She, as soon as she was mistress ofthe territory, never ceased to render the tribute in due season, evenas her husband before her had done. Moreover, whenever she came to thecourt of Pharnabazus she brought him gifts continually, and wheneverPharnabazus went down to visit her provinces she welcomed him with allfair and courteous entertainment beyond what his other viceroys werewont to do. The cities also which had been left to her by her husband, she guarded safely for him; while of those cities that owed her noallegiance, she acquired, on the seaboard, Larisa and Hamaxitus andColonae--attacking their walls by aid of Hellenic mercenaries, whilstshe herself sat in her carriage and watched the spectacle. Nor wasshe sparing of her gifts to those who won her admiration; and thus shefurnished herself with a mercenary force of exceptional splendour. Shealso went with Pharnabazus on his campaigns, even when, on pretext ofsome injury done to the king's territory, Mysians or Pisidians were theobject of attack. In requital, Pharnabazus paid her magnificent honour, and at times invited her to assist him with her counsel. (16)

 (15) I. E. As suzerain. 

 (16) Grote, "H. G. " ix. 292; cf. Herod. Viii. 69. 

Now when Mania was more than forty years old, the husband of her owndaughter, Meidias--flustered by the suggestions of certain people whosaid that it was monstrous a woman should rule and he remain a privateperson (17)--found his way into her presence, as the story goes, andstrangled her. For Mania, albeit she carefully guarded herself againstall ordinary comers, as behoved her in the exercise of her "tyranny, "trusted in Meidias, and, as a woman might her own son-in-law, was readyto greet him at all times with open arms. He also murdered her son, ayouth of marvellous beauty, who was about seventeen years of age. Henext seized upon the strong cities of Scepsis and Gergithes, in whichlay for the most part the property and wealth of Mania. As for theother cities of the satrapy, they would not receive the usurper, theirgarrisons keeping them safely for Pharnabazus. Thereupon Meidias sentgifts to Pharnabazus, and claimed to hold the district even as Maniahad held it; to whom the other answered, "Keep your gifts and guard themsafely until that day when I shall come in person and take both youand them together"; adding, "What care I to live longer if I avenge notmyself for the murder of Mania!"

 (17) Or, "his brains whimsied with insinuations. "

Just at the critical moment Dercylidas arrived, and in a single dayreceived the adhesion of the three seaboard cities Larisa, Hamaxitus, and Colonae--which threw open their gates to him. Then he sentmessengers to the cities of the Aeolid also, offering them freedom ifthey would receive him within their walls and become allies. Accordinglythe men of Neandria and Ilium and Cocylium lent willing ears; for sincethe death of Mania their Hellenic garrisons had been treated but ill. But the commander of the garrison in Cebrene, a place of some strength, bethinking him that if he should succeed in guarding that city forPharnabazus, he would receive honour at his hands, refused to admitDercylidas. Whereupon the latter, in a rage, prepared to take the placeby force; but when he came to sacrifice, on the first day the victimswould not yield good omens; on the second, and again upon the third day, it was the same story. Thus for as many as four days he persevered insacrificing, cherishing wrath the while--for he was in haste to becomemaster of the whole Aeolid before Pharnabazus came to the succour of thedistrict. 

Meanwhile a certain Sicyonian captain, Athenadas by name, said tohimself: "Dercylidas does but trifle to waste his time here, whilstI with my own hand can draw off their water from the men of Cybrene";wherewith he ran forward with his division and essayed to choke up thespring which supplied the city. But the garrison sallied out and coveredthe Sicyonian himself with wounds, besides killing two of his men. Indeed, they plied their swords and missiles with such good effect thatthe whole company was forced to beat a retreat. Dercylidas was not alittle annoyed, thinking that now the spirit of the besiegers wouldcertainly die away; but whilst he was in this mood, behold! therearrived from the beleaguered fortress emissaries of the Hellenes, whostated that the action taken by the commandant was not to their taste;for themselves, they would far rather be joined in bonds of fellowshipwith Hellenes than with barbarians. While the matter was still underdiscussion there came a messenger also from the commandant, to say thatwhatever the former deputation had proposed he, on his side, was readyto endorse. Accordingly Dercylidas, who, it so happened, had at lengthobtained favourable omens on that day, marched his force without moreado up to the gates of the city, which were flung open by thosewithin; and so he entered. (18) Here, then, he was content to appoint agarrison, and without further stay advanced upon Scepsis and Gergithes. 

 (18) Grote ("H. G. " ix. 294) says: "The reader will remark how Xenophon shapes the narrative in such a manner as to inculcate the pious duty in a general of obeying the warnings furnished by the sacrifice--either for action or for inaction.... Such an inference is never (I believe) to be found suggested in Thucydides. " See Brietenbach, "Xen. Hell. " I et II, praef. In alteram ed. P. Xvii. 

And now Meidias, partly expecting the hostile advance of Pharnabazus, and partly mistrusting the citizens--for to such a pass things hadcome--sent to Dercylidas, proposing to meet him in conference providedhe might take security of hostages. In answer to this suggestion theother sent him one man from each of the cities of the allies, and badehim take his pick of these, whichsoever and how many soever he chose, ashostages for his own security. Meidias selected ten, and so went out. Inconversation with Dercylidas, he asked him on what terms he would accepthis alliance. The other answered: "The terms are that you grant thecitizens freedom and self-government. " The words were scarcely out ofhis mouth before he began marching upon Scepsis. Whereupon Meidias, perceiving it was vain to hinder him in the teeth of the citizens, suffered him to enter. That done, Dercylidas offered sacrifice to Athenain the citadel of the Scepsians, turned out the bodyguards of Meidias, and handed over the city to the citizens. And so, having admonished themto regulate their civic life as Hellenes and free men ought, he left theplace and continued his advance against Gergithes. On this last marchhe was escorted by many of the Scepsians themselves; such was the honourthey paid him and so great their satisfaction at his exploits. Meidiasalso followed close at his side, petitioning that he would hand over thecity of Gergithians to himself. To whom Dercylidas only made reply, that he should not fail to obtain any of his just rights. And whilst thewords were yet upon his lips, he was drawing close to the gates, withMeidias at his side. Behind him followed the troops, marching twoand two in peaceful fashion. The defenders of Gergithes from theirtowers--which were extraordinarily high--espied Meidias in company ofthe Spartan, and abstained from shooting. And Dercylidas said: "Bid themopen the gates, Meidias, when you shall lead the way, and I will enterthe temple along with you and do sacrifice to Athena. " And Meidias, though he shrank from opening the gates, yet in terror of findinghimself on a sudden seized, reluctantly gave the order to open thegates. As soon as he was entered in, the Spartan, still taking Meidiaswith him, marched up to the citadel and there ordered the main body ofhis soldiers to take up their position round the walls, whilst he withthose about him did sacrifice to Athena. When the sacrifice was ended heordered Meidias's bodyguard to pile arms (19) in the van of his troops. Here for the future they would serve as mercenaries, since Meidias theirformer master stood no longer in need of their protection. The latter, being at his wits' end what to do, exclaimed: "Look you, I will nowleave you; I go to make preparation for my guest. " But the otherreplied: "Heaven forbid! Ill were it that I who have offered sacrificeshould be treated as a guest by you. I rather should be the entertainerand you the guest. Pray stay with us, and while the supper is preparing, you and I can consider our obligations, and perform them. "

 (19) I. E. Take up a position, or "to order arms, " whilst he addressed them; not probably "to ground arms, " as if likely to be mutinous. 

When they were seated Dercylidas put certain questions: "Tell me, Meidias, did your father leave you heir to his estates?" "Certainly hedid, " answered the other. "And how many dwelling-houses have you? whatlanded estates? how much pasturage?" The other began running offan inventory, whilst some of the Scepsians who were present keptinterposing, "He is lying to you, Dercylidas. " "Nay, you take too minutea view of matters, " replied the Spartan. When the inventory of thepaternal property was completed, he proceeded: "Tell me, Meidias, towhom did Mania belong?" A chorus of voices rejoined, "To Pharnabazus. ""Then must her property have belonged to Pharnabazus too. " "Certainly, "they answered. "Then it must now be ours, " he remarked, "by right ofconquest, since Pharnabazus is at war with us. Will some one of youescort me to the place where the property of Mania and Pharnabazuslies?" So the rest led the way to the dwelling-place of Mania whichMeidias had taken from her, and Meidias followed too. When he wasentered, Dercylidas summoned the stewards, and bidding his attendantsseize them, gave them to understand that, if detected stealing anythingwhich belonged to Mania, they would lose their heads on the spot. Thestewards proceeded to point out the treasures, and he, when he hadlooked through the whole store, bolted and barred the doors, affixinghis seal, and setting a watch. As he went out he found at the doorscertain of the generals (20) and captains, and said to them: "Here, sirs, we have pay ready made for the army--a year's pay nearly for eightthousand men--and if we can win anything besides, there will be so muchthe more. " This he said, knowing that those who heard it would be allthe more amenable to discipline, and would yield him a more flatteringobedience. Then Meidias asked, "And where am I to live, Dercylidas?""Where you have the very best right to live, " replied the other, "inyour native town of Scepsis, and in your father's house. "

 (20) Lit. "of the taxiarchs and lochagoi. "

II

Such were the exploits of Dercylidas: nine cities taken in eight days. Two considerations now began to occupy his mind: how was he to avoidfalling into the fatal error of Thibron and becoming a burthen to hisallies, whilst wintering in a friendly country? how, again, was he toprevent Pharnabazus from overriding the Hellenic states in pure contemptwith his cavalry? Accordingly he sent to Pharnabazus and put it to himpoint-blank: Which will you have, peace or war? Whereupon Pharnabazus, who could not but perceive that the whole Aeolid had now been convertedpractically into a fortified base of operations, which threatened hisown homestead of Phrygia, chose peace. 

B. C. 399-398. This being so, Dercylidas advanced into Bithynian Thrace, and there spent the winter; nor did Pharnabazus exhibit a shadow ofannoyance, since the Bithynians were perpetually at war with himself. For the most part, Dercylidas continued to harry (1) Bithynia in perfectsecurity, and found provisions without stint. Presently he was joinedfrom the other side of the straits by some Odrysian allies sent bySeuthes; (2) they numbered two hundred horse and three hundred peltasts. These fellows pitched upon a site a little more than a couple of miles(3) from the Hellenic force, where they entrenched themselves; thenhaving got from Dercylidas some heavy infantry soldiers to act asguards of their encampment, they devoted themselves to plundering, and succeeded in capturing an ample store of slaves and other wealth. Presently their camp was full of prisoners, when one morning theBithynians, having ascertained the actual numbers of the maraudingparties as well as of the Hellenes left as guards behind, collected inlarge masses of light troops and cavalry, and attacked the garrison, who were not more than two hundred strong. As soon as they came closeenough, they began discharging spears and other missiles on the littlebody, who on their side continued to be wounded and shot down, but werequite unable to retaliate, cooped up as they were within a palisadingbarely six feet high, until in desperation they tore down their defenceswith their own hands, and dashed at the enemy. These had nothing to dobut to draw back from the point of egress, and being light troops easilyescaped beyond the grasp of heavy-armed men, while ever and again, fromone point of vantage or another, they poured their shower of javelins, and at every sally laid many a brave man low, till at length, likesheep penned in a fold, the defenders were shot down almost to a man. Aremnant, it is true, did escape, consisting of some fifteen who, seeingthe turn affairs were taking, had already made off in the middle of thefighting. Slipping through their assailants' fingers, (4) to the smallconcern of the Bithynians, they reached the main Hellenic camp insafety. The Bithynians, satisfied with their achievement, part of whichconsisted in cutting down the tent guards of the Odrysian Thracians andrecovering all their prisoners, made off without delay; so that by thetime the Hellenes got wind of the affair and rallied to the rescue, theyfound nothing left in the camp save only the stripped corpses of theslain. When the Odrysians themselves returned, they fell to buryingtheir own dead, quaffing copious draughts of wine in their honour andholding horse-races; but for the future they deemed it advisable tocamp along with the Hellenes. Thus they harried and burned Bithynia thewinter through. 

 (1) {Pheson kai agon}, i. E. "there was plenty of live stock to lift and chattels to make away with. "

 (2) For Seuthes see "Anab. " VII. I. 5; and below, IV. Viii. 26. 

 (3) Lit. "twenty stades. "

 (4) Or, "slipping through the enemy's fingers, who took no heed of them, they, " etc. 

B. C. 398. With the commencement of spring Dercylidas turned his backupon the Bithynians and came to Lampsacus. Whilst at this place envoysreached him from the home authorities. These were Aracus, Naubates, andAntisthenes. They were sent to inquire generally into the condition ofaffairs in Asia, and to inform Dercylidas of the extension of his officefor another year. They had been further commissioned by the ephors tosummon a meeting of the soldiers and inform them that the ephorsheld them to blame for their former doings, though for their presentavoidance of evil conduct they must needs praise them; and for thefuture they must understand that while no repetition of misdoing wouldbe tolerated, all just and upright dealing by the allies would receiveits meed of praise. The soldiers were therefore summoned, and the envoysdelivered their message, to which the leader of the Cyreians answered:"Nay, men of Lacedaemon, listen; we are the same to-day as we were lastyear; only our general of to-day is different from our general in thepast. If to-day we have avoided our offence of yesterday, the cause isnot far to seek; you may discover it for yourselves. "

Aracus and the other envoys shared the hospitality of Dercylidas's tent, and one of the party chanced to mention how they had left an embassyfrom the men of Chersonese in Lacedaemon. According to their statement, he added, it was impossible for them to till their land nowadays, soperpetually were they robbed and plundered by the Thracians; whereasthe peninsula needed only to be walled across from sea to sea, and therewould be abundance of good land to cultivate--enough for themselves andas many others from Lacedaemon as cared to come. "So that it would notsurprise us, " continued the envoys, "if a Lacedaemonian were actuallysent out from Sparta with a force to carry out the project. " Dercylidaskept his ears open but his counsel close, and so sent forward thecommissioners to Ephesus. (5) It pleased him to picture their progressthrough the Hellenic cities, and the spectacle of peace and prosperitywhich would everywhere greet their eyes. When he knew that his stay wasto be prolonged, he sent again to Pharnabazus and offered him once moreas an alternative either the prolongation of the winter truce or war. And once again Pharnabazus chose truce. It was thus that Dercylidas wasable to leave the cities in the neighbourhood of the satrap (6) in peaceand friendship. Crossing the Hellespont himself he brought his armyinto Europe, and marching through Thrace, which was also friendly, wasentertained by Seuthes, (7) and so reached the Chersonese. 

 (5) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 301. 

 (6) Or, reading after Cobet, {tas peri ekeina poleis}--"the cities of that neighbourhood. "

 (7) See "Anab. " VII. Vii. 51. 

This district, he soon discovered, not only contained something like adozen cities, (8) but was singularly fertile. The soil was of the best, but ruined by the ravages of the Thracians, precisely as he had beentold. Accordingly, having measured and found the breadth of the isthmusbarely four miles, (9) he no longer hesitated. Having offered sacrifice, he commenced his line of wall, distributing the area to the soldiers indetachments, and promising to award them prizes for their industry--afirst prize for the section first completed, and the rest as eachdetachment of workers might deserve. By this means the whole wall begunin spring was finished before autumn. Within these lines he establishedeleven cities, with numerous harbours, abundance of good arable land, and plenty of land under plantation, besides magnificent grazing groundsfor sheep and cattle of every kind. 

 (8) Lit. "eleven or twelve cities. " For the natural productivity, see "Anab. " V. Vi. 25. 

 (9) Lit. "thirty-seven stades. " Mod. Gallipoli. See Herod. Vi. 36; Plut. "Pericl. " xix. 

Having finished the work, he crossed back again into Asia, and on atour of inspection, found the cities for the most part in a thrivingcondition; but when he came to Atarneus he discovered that certainexiles from Chios had got possession of the stronghold, which servedthem as a convenient base for pillaging and plundering Ionia; and this, in fact, was their means of livelihood. Being further informed of thelarge supplies of grain which they had inside, he proceeded to drawentrenchments around the place with a view to a regular investment, andby this means he reduced it in eight months. Then having appointed Dracoof Pellene (10) commandant, he stocked the fortress with an abundance ofprovisions of all sorts, to serve him as a halting-place when he chancedto pass that way, and so withdrew to Ephesus, which is three days'journey from Sardis. 

 (10) Cf. Isocr. "Panegyr. " 70; Jebb. "Att. Or. " ii. P. 161. Of Pellene (or Pellana) in Laconia, not Pellene in Achaia? though that is the opinion of Grote and Thirlwall. 

B. C. 397. Up to this date peace had been maintained between Tissaphernesand Dercylidas, as also between the Hellenes and the barbarians in thoseparts. But the time came when an embassy arrived at Lacedaemon from theIonic cities, protesting that Tissaphernes might, if he chose, leave theHellenic cities independent. "Our idea, " they added, "is, that if Caria, the home of Tissaphernes, felt the pinch of war, the satrap would verysoon agree to grant us independence. " The ephors, on hearing this, senta despatch to Dercylidas, and bade him cross the frontier with his armyinto Caria, whilst Pharax the admiral coasted round with the fleet. These orders were carried out. Meanwhile a visitor had reachedTissaphernes. This was not less a person than Pharnabazus. His comingwas partly owing to the fact that Tissaphernes had been appointedgeneral-in-chief, and party in order to testify his readiness to makecommon cause with his brother satrap in fighting and expelling theHellenes from the king's territory; for if his heart was stirred byjealousy on account of the generalship bestowed upon his rival, hewas not the less aggrieved at finding himself robbed of the Aeolid. Tissaphernes, lending willing ears to the proposal, had answered: "Firstcross over with me in Caria, and then we will take counsel on thesematters. " But being arrived in Caria, they determined to establishgarrisons of some strength in the various fortresses, and so crossedback again into Ionia. 

Hearing that the satraps had recrossed the Maeander, Dercylidasgrew apprehensive for the district which lay there unprotected. "IfTissaphernes and Pharnabazus, " he said to Pharax, "chose to make adescent, they could harry the country right and left. " In this mind hefollowed suit, and recrossed the frontier too. And now as they marchedon, preserving no sort of battle order--on the supposition that theenemy had got far ahead of them into the district of Ephesus--suddenlythey caught sight of his scouts perched on some monumental structuresfacing them. To send up scouts into similar edifices and towers on theirown side was the work of a few moments, and before them lay revealed thelong lines of troops drawn up just where their road lay. These were theCarians, with their white shields, and the whole Persian troops therepresent, with all the Hellenic contingents belonging to either satrap. Besides these there was a great cloud of cavalry: on the right wing thesquadrons of Tissaphernes, and on the left those of Pharnabazus. 

Seeing how matters lay, Dercylidas ordered the generals of brigade andcaptains to form into line as quickly as possible, eight deep, placingthe light infantry on the fringe of battle, with the cavalry--suchcavalry, that is, and of such numerical strength, as he chanced to have. Meanwhile, as general, he sacrificed. (11) During this interval thetroops from Peloponnese kept quiet in preparation as for battle. Notso the troops from Priene and Achilleum, from the islands and the Ioniccities, some of whom left their arms in the corn, which stood thick anddeep in the plain of the Maeander, and took to their heels; while thosewho remained at their posts gave evident signs that their steadinesswould not last. Pharnabazus, it was reported, had given orders toengage; but Tissaphernes, who recalled his experience of his ownexploits with the Cyreian army, and assumed that all other Helleneswere of similar mettle, had no desire to engage, but sent to Dercylidassaying, he should be glad to meet him in conference. So Dercylidas, attended by the pick of his troops, horse and foot, in personalattendance on himself, (12) went forward to meet the envoys. He toldthem that for his own part he had made his preparations to engage, asthey themselves might see, but still, if the satraps were minded to meetin conference, he had nothing to say against it--"Only, in that case, there must be mutual exchange of hostages and other pledges. "

 (11) I. E. According to custom on the eve of battle. See "Pol. Lac. " xiii. 8. 

 (12) Lit. "they were splendid fellows to look at. " See "Anab. " II. Iii. 3. 

When this proposal had been agreed to and carried out, the two armiesretired for the night--the Asiatics to Tralles in Caria, the Hellenes toLeucophrys, where was a temple (13) of Artemis of great sanctity, anda sandy-bottomed lake more than a furlong in extent, fed by a spring ofever-flowing water fit for drinking and warm. For the moment so much waseffected. On the next day they met at the place appointed, and it wasagreed that they should mutually ascertain the terms on which eitherparty was willing to make peace. On his side, Dercylidas insistedthat the king should grant independence to the Hellenic cities; whileTissaphernes and Pharnabazus demanded the evacuation of the country bythe Hellenic army, and the withdrawal of the Lacedaemonian governorsfrom the cities. After this interchange of ideas a truce was enteredinto, so as to allow time for the reports of the proceedings to be sentby Dercylidas to Lacedaemon, and by Tissaphernes to the king. 

 (13) Lately unearthed. See "Class. Rev. " v. 8, p. 391. 

B. C. 401 (?). Whilst such was the conduct of affairs in Asia under theguidance of Dercylidas, the Lacedaemonians at home were at the sametime no less busily employed with other matters. They cherished along-standing embitterment against the Eleians, the grounds of whichwere that the Eleians had once (14) contracted an alliance with theAthenians, Argives, and Mantineans; moreover, on pretence of a sentenceregistered against the Lacedaemonians, they had excluded them fromthe horse-race and gymnastic contests. Nor was that the sum of theiroffending. They had taken and scourged Lichas, (15) under the followingcircumstances:--Being a Spartan, he had formally consigned his chariotto the Thebans, and when the Thebans were proclaimed victors he steppedforward to crown his charioteer; whereupon, in spite of his grey hairs, the Eleians put those indignities upon him and expelled him from thefestival. Again, at a date subsequent to that occurrence, Agis beingsent to offer sacrifice to Olympian Zeus in accordance with the biddingof an oracle, the Eleians would not suffer him to offer prayer forvictory in war, asserting that the ancient law and custom (16) forbadeHellenes to consult the god for war with Hellenes; and Agis was forcedto go away without offering the sacrifice. 

 (14) In 421 B. C. (see Thuc. V. 31); for the second charge, see Thuc. V. 49 foll. 

 (15) See "Mem. " I. Ii. 61; Thuc. V. 50; and Jowett, note ad loc. Vol. Ii. P. 314. 

 (16) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 311 note. 

In consequence of all these annoyances the ephors and the Assemblydetermined "to bring the men of Elis to their senses. " Thereupon theysent an embassy to that state, announcing that the authorities ofLacedaemon deemed it just and right that they should leave the country(17) townships in the territory of Elis free and independent. This theEleians flatly refused to do. The cities in question were theirs byright of war. Thereupon the ephors called out the ban. The leader of theexpedition was Agis. He invaded Elis through Achaia (18) by the Larisus;but the army had hardly set foot on the enemy's soil and the work ofdevastation begun, when an earthquake took place, and Agis, takingthis as a sign from Heaven, marched back again out of the country anddisbanded his army. Thereat the men of Elis were much more emboldened, and sent embassies to various cities which they knew to be hostile tothe Lacedaemonians. 

 (17) Lit. "perioecid. "

 (18) From the north. The Larisus is the frontier stream between Achaia and Elis. See Strabo, viii. 387. 

The year had not completed its revolution (19) ere the ephors againcalled out the ban against Elis, and the invading host of Agis was thistime swelled by the rest of the allies, including the Athenians; theBoeotians and Corinthians alone excepted. The Spartan king now enteredthrough Aulon, (20) and the men of Lepreum (21) at once revoltedfrom the Eleians and gave in their adhesion to the Spartan, andsimultaneously with these the Macistians and their next-door neighboursthe Epitalians. As he crossed the river further adhesions followed, onthe part of the Letrinians, the Amphidolians, and the Marganians. 

 (19) Al. "on the coming round of the next year. " See Jowett (note to Thuc. I. 31), vol. Ii. P. 33. 

 (20) On the south. For the history, see Busolt, "Die Laked. " pp. 146-200. "The river" is the Alpheus. 

 (21) See below, VI. V. 11; Paus. IV. Xv. 8. 

B. C. 400 (?). Upon this he pushed on into Olympian territory and didsacrifice to Olympian Zeus. There was no attempt to stay his proceedingsnow. After sacrifice he marched against the capital, (22) devastatingand burning the country as he went. Multitudes of cattle, multitudesof slaves, were the fruits of conquest yielded, insomuch that the famethereof spread, and many more Arcadians and Achaeans flocked to jointhe standard of the invader and to share in the plunder. In fact, theexpedition became one enormous foray. Here was the chance to fill allthe granaries of Peloponnese with corn. When he had reached the capital, the beautiful suburbs and gymnasia became a spoil to the troops; but thecity itself, though it lay open before him a defenceless and unwalledtown, he kept aloof from. He would not, rather than could not, takeit. Such was the explanation given. Thus the country was a prey todevastation, and the invaders massed round Cyllene. 

 (22) I. E. Elis, of which Cyllene is the port town. For the wealth of the district, see Polyb. Iv. 73; and below, VII. Iv. 33. 

Then the friends of a certain Xenias--a man of whom it was said thathe might measure the silver coin, inherited from his father, by thebushel--wishing to be the leading instrument in bringing over the stateto Lacedaemon, rushed out of the house, sword in hand, and began awork of butchery. Amongst other victims they killed a man who stronglyresembled the leader of the democratic party, Thrasydaeus. (23) Everyonebelieved it was really Thrasydaeus who was slain. The popular party werepanic-stricken, and stirred neither hand nor foot. On their side, the cut-throats poured their armed bands into the market-place. ButThrasydaeus was laid asleep the while where the fumes of wine hadoverpowered him. When the people came to discover that their hero wasnot dead, they crowded round his house this side and that, (24) like aswarm of bees clinging to their leader; and as soon as Thrasydaeushad put himself in the van, with the people at his back, a battle wasfought, and the people won. And those who had laid their hands to deedsof butchery went as exiles to the Lacedaemonians. 

 (23) See Paus. III. Viii. 4. He was a friend of Lysias ("Vit. X. Orat. 835"). 

 (24) The house was filled to overflowing by the clustering close- packed crowd. 

After a while Agis himself retired, recrossing the Alpheus; but he wascareful to leave a garrison in Epitalium near that river, with Lysippusas governor, and the exiles from Elis along with him. Having done so, hedisbanded his army and returned home himself. 

B. C. 400-399 (?). (25) During the rest of the summer and the ensuingwinter the territory of the Eleians was ravaged and ransacked byLysippus and his troops, until Thrasydaeus, the following summer, sentto Lacedaemon and agreed to dismantle the walls of Phea and Cyllene, andto grant autonomy to the Triphylian townships (26)--together with Phrixaand Epitalium, the Letrinians, Amphidolians, and Marganians; and besidesthese to the Acroreians and to Lasion, a place claimed by the Arcadians. With regard to Epeium, a town midway between Heraea and Macistus, the Eleians claimed the right to keep it, on the plea that they hadpurchased the whole district from its then owners, for thirty talents, (27) which sum they had actually paid. But the Lacedaemonians, acting onthe principle "that a purchase which forcibly deprives the weaker partyof his possession is no more justifiable than a seizure by violence, "compelled them to emancipate Epeium also. From the presidency of thetemple of Olympian Zeus, however, they did not oust them; not that itbelonged to Elis of ancient right, but because the rival claimants, (28) it was felt, were "villagers, " hardly equal to the exercise ofthe presidency. After these concessions, peace and alliance between theEleians and the Lacedaemonians were established, and the war betweenElis and Sparta ceased. 

 (25) Grote ("H. G. " ix. 316) discusses the date of this war between Elis and Sparta, which he thinks, reaches over three different years, 402-400 B. C. But Curtius (vol. Iv. Eng. Tr. P. 196) disagrees: "The Eleian war must have occurred in 401-400 B. C. , and Grote rightly conjectures that the Eleians were anxious to bring it to a close before the celebration of the festival. But he errs in extending its duration over three years. " See Diod. Xiv. 17. 24; Paus. III. Viii. 2 foll. 

 (26) Grote remarks: "There is something perplexing in Xenophon's description of the Triphylian townships which the Eleians surrendered" ("H. G. " ix. 315). I adopt Grote's emend. {kai Phrixan}. See Busolt, op. Cit. P. 176. 

 (27) = 7, 312 pounds: 10 shillings. 

 (28) I. E. The men of the Pisatid. See below, VII. Iv. 28; Busolt, op. Cit. P 156. 

III

After this Agis came to Delphi and offered as a sacrifice a tenth of thespoil. On his return journey he fell ill at Heraea--being by this timean old man--and was carried back to Lacedaemon. He survived the journey, but being there arrived, death speedily overtook him. He was buried witha sepulchre transcending in solemnity the lot of ordinary mortality. (1)

 (1) See "Ages. " xi. 16; "Pol. Lac. " xv. 9. 

When the holy days of mourning were accomplished, and it was necessaryto choose another king, there were rival claimants to the throne. Leotychides claimed it as the son, Agesilaus as the brother, of Agis. Then Leotychides protested: "Yet consider, Agesilaus, the law bids not'the king's brother, ' but 'the king's son' to be king; only if therechance to be no son, in that case shall the brother of the king beking. " Agesilaus: "Then must I needs be king. " Leotychides: "How so, seeing that I am not dead?" Agesilaus: "Because he whom you callyour father denied you, saying, 'Leotychides is no son of mine. '"Leotychides: "Nay, but my mother, who would know far better thanhe, said, and still to-day says, I am. " Agesilaus: "Nay, but the godhimself, Poteidan, laid his finger on thy falsity when by his earthquakehe drove forth thy father from the bridal chamber into the light of day;and time, 'that tells no lies, ' as the proverb has it, bare witness tothe witness of the god; for just ten months from the moment at which hefled and was no more seen within that chamber, you were born. " (2) Sothey reasoned together. 

 (2) I have followed Sauppe as usual, but see Hartman ("Anal. Xen. " p. 327) for a discussion of the whole passage. He thinks Xenophon wrote {ex ou gar toi ephugen} ({o sos pater}, i. E. Adulterer) {ek to thalamo dekato meni tu ephus}. The Doric {ek to thalamo} was corrupted into {en to thalamo} and {kai ephane} inserted. This corrupt reading Plutarch had before him, and hence his distorted version of the story. 

Diopethes, (3) a great authority upon oracles, supported Leotychides. There was an oracle of Apollo, he urged, which said "Beware of the lamereign. " But Diopethes was met by Lysander, who in behalf of Agesilausdemurred to this interpretation put upon the language of the god. Ifthey were to beware of a lame reign, it meant not, beware lest a manstumble and halt, but rather, beware of him in whose veins flows not theblood of Heracles; most assuredly the kingdom would halt, and that wouldbe a lame reign in very deed, whensoever the descendants of Heraclesshould cease to lead the state. Such were the arguments on either side, after hearing which the city chose Agesilaus to be king. 

 (3) See Plut. "Ages. " ii. 4; "Lys. " xxii. (Clough, iv. 3; iii. 129); Paus. III. Viii. 5. 

Now Agesilaus had not been seated on the throne one year when, as hesacrificed one of the appointed sacrifices in behalf of the city, (4)the soothsayer warned him, saying: "The gods reveal a conspiracy of themost fearful character"; and when the king sacrificed a second time, he said: "The aspect of the victims is now even yet more terrible"; butwhen he had sacrificed for the third time, the soothsayer exclaimed: "OAgesilaus, the sign is given to me, even as though we were in the verymidst of the enemy. " Thereupon they sacrificed to the deities who avertevil and work salvation, and so barely obtained good omens and ceasedsacrificing. Nor had five days elapsed after the sacrifices were ended, ere one came bringing information to the ephors of a conspiracy, andnamed Cinadon as the ringleader; a young man robust of body as of soul, but not one of the peers. (5) Accordingly the ephors questioned theirinformant: "How say you the occurrence is to take place?" and he whogave the information answered: "Cinadon took me to the limit of themarket-place, and bade me count how many Spartans there were inthe market-place; and I counted--'king, ephors, and elders, andothers--maybe forty. But tell me, Cinadon, ' I said to him, 'why have youbidden me count them?' and he answered me: 'Those men, I would haveyou know, are your sworn foes; and all those others, more than fourthousand, congregated there are your natural allies. ' Then he took andshowed me in the streets, here one and there two of 'our enemies, ' as wechanced to come across them, and all the rest 'our natural allies'; andso again running through the list of Spartans to be found in the countrydistricts, he still kept harping on that string: 'Look you, on eachestate one foeman--the master--and all the rest allies. '" The ephorsasked: "How many do you reckon are in the secret of this matter?" Theinformant answered: "On that point also he gave me to understand thatthere were by no means many in their secret who were prime movers of theaffair, but those few to be depended on; 'and to make up, ' said he, 'we ourselves are in their secret, all the rest of them--helots, enfranchised, inferiors, provincials, one and all. (6) Note theirdemeanour when Spartans chance to be the topic of their talk. Not one ofthem can conceal the delight it would give him if he might eat up everySpartan raw. '" (7) Then, as the inquiry went on, the question came: "Andwhere did they propose to find arms?" The answer followed: "He explainedthat those of us, of course, who are enrolled in regiments have arms ofour own already, and as for the mass--he led the way to the warfoundry, and showed me scores and scores of knives, of swords, of spits, hatchets, and axes, and reaping-hooks. 'Anything or everything, ' he toldme, 'which men use to delve in earth, cut timber, or quarry stone, wouldserve our purpose; nay, the instruments used for other arts would innine cases out of ten furnish weapons enough and to spare, especiallywhen dealing with unarmed antagonists. '" Once more being asked what timethe affair was to come off, he replied his orders were "not to leave thecity. "

 (4) "Pol. Lac. " xv. 2. 

 (5) For the {omoioi}, see Muller, "Dorians, " iii. 5, 7 (vol. Ii. P. 84); Grote, "H. G. " ix. 345, note 2. 

 (6) For the neodamodes, hypomeiones, perioeci, see Arnold, "Thuc. " v. 34; Muller, "Dorians, " ii. 43, 84, 18; Busolt, op. Cit. P 16. 

 (7) See "Anab. " IV. Viii. 14; and Hom. "Il. " iv. 34. 

As the result of their inquiry the ephors were persuaded that the man'sstatements were based upon things he had really seen, (8) and they wereso alarmed that they did not even venture to summon the Little Assembly, (9) as it was named; but holding informal meetings among themselves--afew senators here and a few there--they determined to send Cinadon andothers of the young men to Aulon, with instructions to apprehend certainof the inhabitants and helots, whose names were written on the scytale(or scroll). (10) He had further instructions to capture anotherresident in Aulon; this was a woman, the fashionable beauty of theplace--supposed to be the arch-corruptress of all Lacedaemonians, youngand old, who visited Aulon. It was not the first mission of the sorton which Cinadon had been employed by the ephors. It was natural, therefore, that the ephors should entrust him with the scytale on whichthe names of the suspects were inscribed; and in answer to his inquirywhich of the young men he was to take with him, they said: "Go and orderthe eldest of the Hippagretae (11) (or commanders of horse) to let youhave six or seven who chance to be there. " But they had taken care tolet the commander know whom he was to send, and that those sent shouldalso know that their business was to capture Cinadon. Further, theauthorities instructed Cinadon that they would send three waggonsto save bringing back his captives on foot--concealing as deeply aspossible the fact that he, and he alone, was the object of the mission. Their reason for not securing him in the city was that they did notreally know the extent of the mischief; and they wished, in the firstinstance, to learn from Cinadon who his accomplices were before theselatter could discover they were informed against and effect theirescape. His captors were to secure him first, and having learnt fromhim the names of his confederates, to write them down and send themas quickly as possible to the ephors. The ephors, indeed, were so muchconcerned about the whole occurrence that they further sent a company ofhorse to assist their agents at Aulon. (12) As soon as the capture waseffected, and one of the horsemen was back with the list of names takendown on the information of Cinadon, they lost no time in apprehendingthe soothsayer Tisamenus and the rest who were the principals inthe conspiracy. When Cinadon (13) himself was brought back andcross-examined, and had made a full confession of the whole plot, hisplans, and his accomplices, they put to him one final question: "Whatwas your object in undertaking this business?" He answered: "I wished tobe inferior to no man in Lacedaemon. " Let that be as it might, his fatewas to be taken out forthwith in irons, just as he was, and to be placedwith his two hands and his neck in the collar, and so under scourge andgoad to be driven, himself and his accomplices, round the city. Thusupon the heads of those was visited the penalty of their offences. 

 (8) "And pointed to a well-concerted plan. "

 (9) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 348. 

 (10) See Thuc. I. 131; Plut. "Lys. " 19 (Clough, iii. P. 125). 

 (11) "The Hippagretes (or commander of the three hundred guards called horsemen, though they were not really mounted). " Grote, "H. G. " vol. Ix. P. 349; see "Pol. Lac. " iv. 3. 

 (12) Or, "to those on the way to Aulon. "

 (13) See for Cinadon's case, Arist. "Pol. " v. 7, 3. 

IV

B. C. 397. (1) It was after the incidents just recorded that a Syracusannamed Herodas brought news to Lacedaemon. He had chanced to be inPhoenicia with a certain shipowner, and was struck by the number ofPhoenician triremes which he observed, some coming into harbour fromother ports, others already there with their ships' companies complete, while others again were still completing their equipments. Nor was itonly what he saw, but he had heard say further that there were to bethree hundred of these vessels all told; whereupon he had taken passageon the first sailing ship bound for Hellas. He was in haste to lay thisinformation before the Lacedaemonians, feeling sure that the king andTissaphernes were concerned in these preparations--though where thefleet was to act, or against whom, he would not venture to predict. 

 (1) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 353, for chronology, etc. 

These reports threw the Lacedaemonians into a flutter of expectation andanxiety. They summoned a meeting of the allies, and began to deliberateas to what ought to be done. Lysander, convinced of the enormoussuperiority of the Hellenic navy, and with regard to land forces drawingan obvious inference from the exploits and final deliverance of thetroops with Cyrus, persuaded Agesilaus, to undertake a campaign intoAsia, provided the authorities would furnish him with thirty Spartans, two thousand of the enfranchised, (2) and contingents of the alliesamounting to six thousand men. Apart from these calculations, Lysanderhad a personal object: he wished to accompany the king himself, and byhis aid to re-establish the decarchies originally set up by himself inthe different cities, but at a later date expelled through the actionof the ephors, who had issued a fiat re-establishing the old order ofconstitution. 

 (2) Technically, "neodamodes. "

B. C. 396. To this offer on the part of Agesilaus to undertake such anexpedition the Lacedaemonians responded by presenting him with allhe asked for, and six months' provisions besides. When the hour ofdeparture came he offered all such sacrifices as are necessary, andlastly those "before crossing the border, " (3) and so set out. Thisdone, he despatched to the several states (4) messengers with directionsas to the numbers to be sent from each, and the points of rendezvous;but for himself he was minded to go and do sacrifice at Aulis, even asAgamemnon had offered sacrifice in that place ere he set sail forTroy. But when he had reached the place and had begun to sacrifice, theBoeotarchs (5) being apprised of his design, sent a body of cavalry andbade him desist from further sacrificing; (6) and lighting upon victimsalready offered, they hurled them from off the altars, scattering thefragments. Then Agesilaus, calling the gods to witness, got on board histrireme in bitter indignation, and sailed away. Arrived at Geraestus, hethere collected as large a portion of his troops as possible, and withthe armada made sail for Ephesus. 

 (3) "Pol. Lac. " xiii. 2 foll. 

 (4) Or, "To the several cities he had already despatched messengers with directions, " etc. ; see Paus. III. Ix. 1-3. 

 (5) See Freeman, "Hist. Of Federal Government, " ch. Iv. "Constitution of the Boeotian League, " pp. 162, 163. The Boeotarchs, as representatives of the several Boeotian cities, were the supreme military commanders of the League, and, as it would appear, the general administrators of Federal affairs. "The Boeotarchs of course command at Delion, but they also act as administrative magistrates of the League by hindering Agesilaus from sacrificing at Aulis. "

 (6) Plut. "Ages. " vi. ; "Pelop. " xxi. See Breitenb. Op. Cit. Praef. P. Xvi. ; and below, III. V. 5; VI. Iv. 23. 

When he had reached that city the first move was made by Tissaphernes, who sent asking, "With what purpose he was come thither?" And theSpartan king made answer: "With the intention that the cities in Asiashall be independent even as are the cities in our quarter of Hellas. "In answer to this Tissaphernes said: "If you on your part choose tomake a truce whilst I send ambassadors to the king, I think you may wellarrange the matter, and sail back home again, if so you will. " "Willingenough should I be, " replied Agesilaus, "were I not persuaded that youare cheating me. " "Nay, but it is open to you, " replied the satrap, "toexact a surety for the execution of the terms... 'Provided always thatyou, Tissaphernes, carry out what you say without deceit, we on our sidewill abstain from injuring your dominion in any respect whateverduring the truce. '" (7) Accordingly in the presence of threecommissioners--Herippidas, Dercylidas, and Megillus--Tissaphernes tookan oath in the words prescribed: "Verily and indeed, I will effect peacehonestly and without guile. " To which the commissioners, on behalfof Agesilaus, swore a counter-oath: "Verily and indeed, providedTissaphernes so acts, we on our side will observe the truce. "

 (7) For this corrupt passage, see Hartman, "Anal. Xen. " p. 332; also Otto Keller's critical edition of the "Hellenica" (Lips, MDCCCLXXX. )

Tissaphernes at once gave the lie to what he had sworn. Instead ofadhering to peace he sent up to demand a large army from the king, inaddition to what he already had. But Agesilaus, though he was fullyalive to these proceedings, adhered as rigidly as ever to the truce. 

To keep quiet and enjoy leisure was his duty, in the exercise of whichhe wore away the time at Ephesus. But in reference to the organisationof the several states it was a season of vehement constitutionaldisturbance in the several cities; that is to say, there were neitherdemocracies as in the old days of the Athenians, nor yet were theredecarchies as in the days of Lysander. But here was Lysander back again. Every one recognised him, and flocked to him with petitions for onefavour or another, which he was to obtain for them from Agesilaus. A crowd of suitors danced attendance on his heels, and formed soconspicuous a retinue that Agesilaus, any one would have supposed, wasthe private person and Lysander the king. All this was maddeningto Agesilaus, as was presently plain. As to the rest of the Thirty, jealousy did not suffer them to keep silence, and they put it plainly toAgesilaus that the super-regal splendour in which Lysander lived wasa violation of the constitution. So when Lysander took upon himself tointroduce some of his petitioners to Agesilaus, the latter turned thema deaf ear. Their being aided and abetted by Lysander was sufficient; hesent them away discomfited. At length, as time after time things turnedout contrary to his wishes, Lysander himself perceived the position ofaffairs. He now no longer suffered that crowd to follow him, and gavethose who asked him help in anything plainly to understand that theywould gain nothing, but rather be losers, by his intervention. But beingbitterly annoyed at the degradation put upon him, he came to the kingand said to him: "Ah, Agesilaus, how well you know the art of humblingyour friends!" "Ay, indeed, " the king replied; "those of them whose oneidea it is to appear greater than myself; if I did not know how also torequite with honour those who work for my good, I should be ashamed. "And Lysander said: "maybe there is more reason in your doings than everguided my conduct;" adding, "Grant me for the rest one favour, so shallI cease to blush at the loss of my influence with you, and you willcease to be embarrassed by my presence. Send me off on a missionsomewhere; wherever I am I will strive to be of service to you. " Suchwas the proposal of Lysander. Agesilaus resolved to act upon it, anddespatched Lysander to the Hellespont. And this is what befell. (8) Lysander, being made aware of a slight which had been put uponSpithridates the Persian by Pharnabazus, got into conversation with theinjured man, and so worked upon him that he was persuaded to bringhis children and his personal belongings, and with a couple of hundredtroops to revolt. The next step was to deposit all the goods safely inCyzicus, and the last to get on shipboard with Spithridates and hisson, and so to present himself with his Persian friends to Agesilaus. Agesilaus, on his side, was delighted at the transaction, and sethimself at once to get information about Pharnabazus, his territory andhis government. 

 (8) See "Ages. " iii. 3; "Anab. " VI. V. 7. 

Meanwhile Tissaphernes had waxed bolder. A large body of troops had beensent down by the king. On the strength of that he declared war againstAgesilaus, if he did not instantly withdraw his troops from Asia. TheLacedaemonians there (9) present, no less than the allies, received thenews with profound vexation, persuaded as they were that Agesilaus hadno force capable of competing with the king's grand armament. But asmile lit up the face of Agesilaus as he bade the ambassadors return toTissaphernes and tell him that he was much in his debt for the perjuryby which he had won the enmity of Heaven and made the very godsthemselves allies of Hellas. He at once issued a general order to thetroops to equip themselves for a forward movement. He warned the citiesthrough which he must pass in an advance upon Caria, to have markets inreadiness, and lastly, he despatched a message to the Ionian, Aeolian, and Hellespontine communities to send their contingents to join him atEphesus. 

 (9) I. E. At Ephesus. 

Tissaphernes, putting together the facts that Agesilaus had no cavalryand that Caria was a region unadapted to that arm, and persuaded inhis own mind also that the Spartan could not but cherish wrath againsthimself personally for his chicanery, felt convinced that he was reallyintending to invade Caria, and that the satrap's palace was his finalgoal. Accordingly he transferred the whole of his infantry to thatprovince, and proceeded to lead his cavalry round into the plain of theMaeander. Here he conceived himself capable of trampling the Hellenesunder foot with his horsemen before they could reach the craggydistricts where no cavalry could operate. 

But, instead of marching straight into Caria, Agesilaus turned sharpoff in the opposite direction towards Phrygia. Picking up variousdetachments of troops which met him on his march, he steadily advanced, laying cities prostrate before him, and by the unexpectedness of hisattack reaping a golden harvest of spoil. As a rule the march wasprosecuted safely; but not far from Dascylium his advanced guard ofcavalry were pushing on towards a knoll to take a survey of the stateof things in front, when, as chance would have it, a detachment ofcavalry sent forward by Pharnabazus--the corps, in fact, of Rhathinesand his natural brother Bagaeus--just about equal to the Hellenes innumber, also came galloping up to the very knoll in question. The twobodies found themselves face to face not one hundred and fifty yards(10) apart, and for the first moment or two stood stock still. TheHellenic horse were drawn up like an ordinary phalanx four deep, thebarbarians presenting a narrow front of twelve or thereabouts, and avery disproportionate depth. There was a moment's pause, and then thebarbarians, taking the initiative, charged. There was a hand-to-handtussle, in which any Hellene who succeeded in striking his man shiveredhis lance with the blow, while the Persian troopers, armed withcornel-wood javelins, speedily despatched a dozen men and a couple ofhorses. (11) At this point the Hellenic cavalry turned and fled. But asAgesilaus came up to the rescue with his heavy infantry, the Asiaticswere forced in their turn to withdraw, with the loss of one man slain. This cavalry engagement gave them pause. Agesilaus on the day followingit offered sacrifice. "Was he to continue his advance?" But the victimsproved hopeless. (12) There was nothing for it after this manifestationbut to turn and march towards the sea. It was clear enough to his mindthat without a proper cavalry force it would be impossible to conducta campaign in the flat country. Cavalry, therefore, he must get, or bedriven to mere guerilla warfare. With this view he drew up a list ofall the wealthiest inhabitants belonging to the several cities ofthose parts. Their duty would be to support a body of cavalry, with theproviso, however, that any one contributing a horse, arms, and rider, upto the standard, would be exempted from personal service. The effectwas instantaneous. The zeal with which the recipients of these ordersresponded could hardly have been greater if they had been seekingsubstitutes to die for them. 

 (10) Lit. "four plethra. "

 (11) See Xenophon's treatise "On Horsemanship, " xii. 12. 

 (12) Lit. "lobeless, " i. E. With a lobe of the liver wanting--a bad sign. 

B. C. 395. After this, at the first indication of spring, he collectedthe whole of his army at Ephesus. But the army needed training. Withthat object he proposed a series of prizes--prizes to the heavy infantryregiments, to be won by those who presented their men in the bestcondition; prizes for the cavalry regiments which could ride best;prizes for those divisions of peltasts and archers which proved mostefficient in their respective duties. And now the gymnasiums werea sight to see, thronged as they were, one and all, with warriorsstripping for exercise; or again, the hippodrome crowded with horses andriders performing their evolutions; or the javelin men and archersgoing through their peculiar drill. In fact, the whole city where helay presented under his hands a spectacle not to be forgotten. Themarket-place literally teemed with horses, arms, and accoutrements ofall sorts for sale. The bronze-worker, the carpenter, the smith, theleather-cutter, the painter and embosser, were all busily engaged infabricating the implements of war; so that the city of Ephesus itselfwas fairly converted into a military workshop. (13) It would have donea man's heart good to see those long lines of soldiers with Agesilausat their head, as they stepped gaily be-garlanded from the gymnasiums todedicate their wreaths to the goddess Artemis. Nor can I well conceiveof elements more fraught with hope than were here combined. Here werereverence and piety towards Heaven; here practice in war and militarytraining; here discipline with habitual obedience to authority. Butcontempt for one's enemy will infuse a kind of strength in battle. Sothe Spartan leader argued; and with a view to its production he orderedthe quartermasters to put up the prisoners who had been captured byhis foraging bands for auction, stripped naked; so that his Hellenicsoldiery, as they looked at the white skins which had never been baredto sun and wind, the soft limbs unused to toil through constant ridingin carriages, came to the conclusion that war with such adversarieswould differ little from a fight with women. 

 (13) See Plut. "Marc. " (Clough, ii. 262); Polyb. "Hist. " x. 20. 

By this date a full year had elapsed since the embarkation of Agesilaus, and the time had come for the Thirty with Lysander to sail back home, and for their successors, with Herippidas, to arrive. Among theseAgesilaus appointed Xenocles and another to the command of the cavalry, Scythes to that of the heavy infantry of the enfranchised, (14)Herippidas to that of the Cyreians, and Migdon to that of thecontingents from the states. Agesilaus gave them to understand that heintended to lead them forthwith by the most expeditious route againstthe stronghold of the country, (15) so that without further ceremonythey might prepare their minds and bodies for the tug of battle. Tissaphernes, however, was firmly persuaded that this was only talkintended to deceive him; Agesilaus would this time certainly invadeCaria. Accordingly he repeated his former tactics, transporting hisinfantry bodily into Caria and posting his cavalry in the valley of theMaeander. But Agesilaus was as good as his word, and at once invaded thedistrict of Sardis. A three days' march through a region denuded of theenemy threw large supplies into his hands. On the fourth day the cavalryof the enemy approached. Their general ordered the officer in charge ofhis baggage-train to cross the Pactolus and encamp, while his troopers, catching sight of stragglers from the Hellenic force scattered inpursuit of booty, put several of them to the sword. Perceiving which, Agesilaus ordered his cavalry to the rescue; and the Persians on theirside, seeing their advance, collected together in battle order toreceive them, with dense squadrons of horse, troop upon troop. TheSpartan, reflecting that the enemy had as yet no infantry to supporthim, whilst he had all branches of the service to depend upon, concludedthat the critical moment had arrived at which to risk an engagement. In this mood he sacrificed, and began advancing his main line of battleagainst the serried lines of cavalry in front of him, at the same timeordering the flower of his heavy infantry--the ten-years-service men(16)--to close with them at a run, and the peltasts to bring up theirsupports at the double. The order passed to his cavalry was to chargein confidence that he and the whole body of his troops were close behindthem. The cavalry charge was received by the Persians without flinching, but presently finding themselves environed by the full tide of war theyswerved. Some found a speedy grave within the river, but the mass ofthem gradually made good their escape. The Hellenes followed close onthe heels of the flying foe and captured his camp. Here the peltasts notunnaturally fell to pillaging; whereupon Agesilaus planted his troopsso as to form a cordon enclosing the property of friends and foes alike. The spoil taken was considerable; it fetched more than seventy talents, (17) not to mention the famous camels, subsequently brought over byAgesilaus into Hellas, which were captured here. At the moment of thebattle Tissaphernes lay in Sardis. Hence the Persians argued that theyhad been betrayed by the satrap. And the king of Persia, coming to alike conclusion himself that Tissaphernes was to blame for the evil turnof his affairs, sent down Tithraustes and beheaded him. (18)

 (14) The neodamodes. 

 (15) I. E. Lydia. See Plut. "Ages. " x. (Clough, iv. 11). 

 (16) See note to "Hell. " II. Iv. 32. 

 (17) = 17, 062 pounds: 10 shillings. 

 (18) See Diod. Xiv. 80. 

This done, Tithraustes sent an embassy to Agesilaus with a message asfollows: "The author of all our trouble, yours and ours, Agesilaus, haspaid the penalty of his misdoings; the king therefore asks of you firstthat you should sail back home in peace; secondly, that the cities inAsia secured in their autonomy should continue to render him the ancienttribute. " To this proposition Agesilaus made answer that "without theauthorities at home he could do nothing in the matter. " "Then do you, at least, " replied Tithraustes, "while awaiting advice from Lacedaemon, withdraw into the territory of Pharnabazus. Have I not avenged you ofyour enemy?" "While, then, I am on my way thither, " rejoined Agesilaus, "will you support my army with provisions?" On this wise Tithrausteshanded him thirty talents, (19) which the other took, and forthwithbegan his march into Phrygia (the Phrygia of Pharnabazus). He lay in theplain district above Cyme, (20) when a message reached him from the homeauthorities, giving him absolute disposal of the naval forces, (21)with the right to appoint the admiral of his choice. This course theLacedaemonians were led to adopt by the following considerations: If, they argued, the same man were in command of both services, the landforce would be greatly strengthened through the concentration of thedouble force at any point necessary; and the navy likewise would be farmore useful through the immediate presence and co-operation of the landforce where needed. Apprised of these measures, Agesilaus in the firstinstance sent an order to the cities on the islands and the seaboard tofit out as many ships of war as they severally might deem desirable. The result was a new navy, consisting of the vessels thus voluntarilyfurnished by the states, with others presented by private persons outof courtesy to their commander, and amounting in all to a fleet of onehundred and twenty sail. The admiral whom he selected was Peisander, hiswife's brother, a man of genuine ambition and of a vigorous spirit, butnot sufficiently expert in the details of equipment to achieve a greatnaval success. Thus while Peisander set off to attend to naval matters, Agesilaus continued his march whither he was bound to Phrygia. 

 (19) = 7, 312 pounds: 10 shillings. 

 (20) See "Cyrop. " VII. I. 45. 

 (21) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 327, note 3; Arist. "Pol. " ii. 9, 33. 

V

But now Tithraustes seemed to have discovered in Agesilaus a dispositionto despise the fortunes of the Persian monarch--he evidently had nointention to withdraw from Asia; on the contrary, he was cherishinghopes vast enough to include the capture of the king himself. Being athis wits' end how to manage matters, he resolved to send Timocrates theRhodian to Hellas with a gift of gold worthy fifty silver talents, (1)and enjoined upon him to endeavour to exchange solemn pledges withthe leading men in the several states, binding them to undertake awar against Lacedaemon. Timocrates arrived and began to dole outhis presents. In Thebes he gave gifts to Androcleidas, Ismenias, andGalaxidorus; in Corinth to Timolaus and Polyanthes; in Argos to Cylonand his party. The Athenians, (2) though they took no share of the gold, were none the less eager for the war, being of opinion that empirewas theirs by right. (3) The recipients of the moneys forthwith begancovertly to attack the Lacedaemonians in their respective states, and, when they had brought these to a sufficient pitch of hatred, boundtogether the most important of them in a confederacy. 

 (1) = 12, 187 pounds: 10 shillings. 

 (2) See Paus. III. Ix. 8; Plut. "Ages. " xv. 

 (3) Reading {nomizontes auton to arkhein} with Sauppe; or if, as Breitinbach suggests, {enomizon de oukh outon to arkhesthai}, translate "but thought it was not for them to take the initiative. "

But it was clear to the leaders in Thebes that, unless some one struckthe first blow, the Lacedaemonians would never be brought to break thetruce with their allies. They therefore persuaded the Opuntian Locrians(4) to levy moneys on a debatable district, (5) jointly claimed by thePhocians and themselves, when the Phocians would be sure to retaliateby an attack on Locris. These expectations were fulfilled. The Phociansimmediately invaded Locris and seized moneys on their side with ampleinterest. Then Androcleidas and his friends lost no time in persuadingthe Thebans to assist the Locrians, on the ground that it was nodebatable district which had been entered by the Phocians, butthe admittedly friendly and allied territory of Locris itself. Thecounter-invasion of Phocis and pillage of their country by the Thebanspromptly induced the Phocians to send an embassy to Lacedaemon. Inclaiming assistance they explained that the war was not of their ownseeking, but that they had attacked the Locrians in self-defence. Ontheir side the Lacedaemonians were glad enough to seize a pretext formarching upon the Thebans, against whom they cherished a long-standingbitterness. They had not forgotten the claim which the Thebans hadset up to a tithe for Apollo in Deceleia, (6) nor yet their refusal tosupport Lacedaemon in the attack on Piraeus; (7) and they accused themfurther of having persuaded the Corinthians not to join that expedition. Nor did they fail to call to mind some later proceedings of theThebans--their refusal to allow Agesilaus to sacrifice in Aulis; (8)their snatching the victims already offered and hurling them from thealtars; their refusal to join the same general in a campaign directedeven against Asia. (9) The Lacedaemonians further reasoned that now, if ever, was the favourable moment to conduct an expedition againstthe Thebans, and once for all to put a stop to their insolent behaviourtowards them. Affairs in Asia were prospering under the strong arm ofAgesilaus, and in Hellas they had no other war on hand to trammel theirmovements. Such, therefore, being the general view of the situationadopted at Lacedaemon, the ephors proceeded to call out the ban. Meanwhile they despatched Lysander to Phocis with orders to put himselfat the head of the Phocians along with the Oetaeans, Heracleotes, Melians, and Aenianians, and to march upon Haliartus; before thewalls of which place Pausanias, the destined leader of the expedition, undertook to present himself at the head of the Lacedaemonians and otherPeloponnesian forces by a specified date. Lysander not only carriedout his instructions to the letter, but going a little beyond them, succeeded in detaching Orchomenus from Thebes. (10) Pausanias, onthe other hand, after finding the sacrifice for crossing the frontierfavourable, sat down at Tegea and set about despatching to and fro thecommandants of allied troops whilst contentedly awaiting the soldiersfrom the provincial (11) districts of Laconia. 

 (4) For an alliance between Athens and the Locrians, B. C. 395, see Hicks, 67; and below, IV. Ii. 17. 

 (5) Lit. "the. " See Paus. III. Ix. 9. 

 (6) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 309, 403; viii. 355. 

 (7) "Hell. " II. Iv. 30, B. C. 403. 

 (8) See above, III. Iv. 3; and below, VII. I. 34. 

 (9) See Paus. III. Ix. 1-3. 

 (10) See Freeman, op. Cit. P. 167, "Ill feeling between Thebes and other towns. "--"Against Thebes, backed by Sparta, resistance was hopeless. It was not till long after that, at last (in 395 B. C. ), on a favourable opportunity during the Corinthian war, Orchomenos openly seceded. " And for the prior "state of disaffection towards Thebes on the part of the smaller cities, " see "Mem. " III. V. 2, in reference to B. C. 407. 

 (11) Lit. "perioecid. "

And now that it was fully plain to the Thebans that the Lacedaemonianswould invade their territory, they sent ambassadors to Athens, who spokeas follows:--

"Men of Athens, it is a mistake on your part to blame us for certainharsh resolutions concerning Athens at the conclusion of the war. (12) That vote was not authorised by the state of Thebes. It was theutterance merely of one man, (13) who was at that time seated inthe congress of the allies. A more important fact is that when theLacedaemonians summoned us to attack Piraeus (14) the collective stateof Thebes passed a resolution refusing to join in the campaign. Asthen you are to a large extent the cause of the resentment which theLacedaemonians feel towards us, we consider it only fair that you inyour turn should render us assistance. Still more do we demand of you, sirs, who were of the city party at that date, to enter heart and soulinto war with the Lacedaemonians. For what were their services to you?They first deliberately converted you into an oligarchy and placed youin hostility to the democracy, and then they came with a great forceunder guise of being your allies, and delivered you over to themajority, so that, for any service they rendered you, you were all deadmen; and you owe your lives to our friends here, the people of Athens. (15)

 (12) See "Hell. " II. Ii. 19; and below, VI. V. 35. 

 (13) Plut. "Lys. " xv. "Erianthus the Theban gave his vote to pull down the city, and turn the country into sheep-pasture. "--Clough, iii. 121. 

 (14) See "Hell. " II. Iv. 30. 

 (15) See "Hell. " II. Iv. 38, 40, 41. 

"But to pass on--we all know, men of Athens, that you would like torecover the empire which you formerly possessed; and how can you compassyour object better than by coming to the aid yourselves of the victimsof Lacedaemonian injustice? Is it their wide empire of which you areafraid? Let not that make cowards of you--much rather let it emboldenyou as you lay to heart and ponder your own case. When your empire waswidest then the crop of your enemies was thickest. Only so long as theyfound no opportunity to revolt did they keep their hatred of you dark;but no sooner had they found a champion in Lacedaemon than they at onceshowed what they really felt towards you. So too to-day. Let us showplainly that we mean to stand shoulder to shoulder (16) embattledagainst the Lacedaemonians; and haters enough of them--wholearmies--never fear, will be forthcoming. To prove the truth of thisassertion you need only to count upon your fingers. How many friendshave they left to them to-day? The Argives have been, are, and ever willbe, hostile to them. Of course. But the Eleians? Why, the Eleians havequite lately (17) been robbed of so much territory and so many citiesthat their friendship is converted into hatred. And what shall we sayof the Corinthians? the Arcadians? the Achaeans? In the war which Spartawaged against you, there was no toil, no danger, no expense, which thosepeoples did not share, in obedience to the dulcet coaxings (18) andpersuasions of that power. The Lacedaemonians gained what they wanted, and then not one fractional portion of empire, honour, or wealth didthese faithful followers come in for. That is not all. They have noscruple in appointing their helots (19) as governors, and on the freenecks of their alies, in the day of their good fortune, they haveplanted the tyrant's heel. 

 (16) Lit. "shield to shield. "

 (17) Lit. "to-day, " "nowadays. "

 (18) {mala liparoumenoi}. See Thuc. I. 66 foll. ; vi. 88. 

 (19) See "Pol. Lac. " xiv. 

"Then again take the case of those whom they have detached fromyourselves. In the most patent way they have cajoled and cheated them;in place of freedom they have presented them with a twofold slavery. Theallies are tyrannised over by the governor and tyrannised over by theten commissioners set up by Lysander over every city. (20) And to comelastly to the great king. In spite of all the enormous contributionswith which he aided them to gain a mastery over you, is the lord of Asiaone whit better off to-day than if he had taken exactly the oppositecourse and joined you in reducing them?

 (20) Grote ("H. G. " ix. 323), referring to this passage, and to "Hell. " VI. Iii. 8-11, notes the change in Spartan habits between 405 and 394 B. C. (i. E. Between the victory of Aegospotami and the defeat of Cnidos), when Sparta possessed a large public revenue derived from the tribute of the dependent cities. For her earlier condition, 432 B. C. , cf. Thuc. I. 80. For her subsequent condition, 334 B. C. , cf. Arist. "Pol. " ii. 6, 23. 

"Is it not clear that you have only to step forward once again as thechampions of this crowd of sufferers from injustice, and you will attainto a pinnacle of power quite unprecedented? In the days of your oldempire you were leaders of the maritime powers merely--that is clear;but your new empire to-day will be universal. You will have atyour backs not only your former subjects, but ourselves, and thePeloponnesians, and the king himself, with all that mighty powerwhich is his. We do not deny that we were serviceable allies enough toLacedaemon, as you will bear us witness; but this we say:--If we helpedthe Lacedaemonians vigorously in the past, everything tends to show thatwe shall help you still more vigorously to-day; for our swords will beunsheathed, not in behalf of islanders, or Syracusans, or men of alienstock, as happened in the late war, but of ourselves, suffering under asense of wrong. And there is another important fact which you ought torealise: this selfish system of organised greed which is Sparta's willfall more readily to pieces than your own late empire. Yours was theproud assertion of naval empire over subjects powerless by sea. Theirsis the selfish sway of a minority asserting dominion over states equallywell armed with themselves, and many times more numerous. Here ourremarks end. Do not forget, however, men of Athens, that as far as wecan understand the matter, the field to which we invite you is destinedto prove far richer in blessings to your own state of Athens than toours, Thebes. "

With these words the speaker ended. Among the Athenians, speaker afterspeaker spoke in favour of the proposition, (21) and finally a unanimousresolution was passed voting assistance to the Thebans. Thrasybulus, inan answer communicating the resolution, pointed out with pride that inspite of the unfortified condition of Piraeus, Athens would not shrinkfrom repaying her former debt of gratitude to Thebes with interest. "You, " he added, "refused to join in a campaign against us; we areprepared to fight your battles with you against the enemy, if he attacksyou. " Thus the Thebans returned home and made preparations to defendthemselves, whilst the Athenians made ready to assist them. 

 (21) For the alliance between Boeotia and Athens, B. C. 395, see Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. 6; Hicks, op. Cit. 65; Lys. "pro Man. " S. 13; Jebb, "Att. Or. " i. P. 247; and the two speeches of the same orator Lysias against Alcibiades (son of the famous Alcibiades), on a Charge of Desertion ("Or. " xiv. ), and on a Charge of Failure to Serve ("Or. " xv. )--Jebb, op. Cit. I. P. 256 foll. 

And now the Lacedaemonians no longer hesitated. Pausanias theking advanced into Boeotia with the home army and the whole of thePeloponnesian contingents, saving only the Corinthians, who declinedto serve. Lysander, at the head of the army supplied by Phocis andOrchomenus and the other strong places in those parts, had alreadyreached Haliartus, in front of Pausanias. Being arrived, he refused tosit down quietly and await the arrival of the army from Lacedaemon, butat once marched with what troops he had against the walls of Haliartus;and in the first instance he tried to persuade the citizens to detachthemselves from Thebes and to assume autonomy, but the intention wascut short by certain Thebans within the fortress. Whereupon Lysanderattacked the place. The Thebans were made aware, (22) and hurried to therescue with heavy infantry and cavalry. Then, whether it was that thearmy of relief fell upon Lysander unawares, or that with clear knowledgeof his approach he preferred to await the enemy, with intent to crushhim, is uncertain. This only is clear: a battle was fought beside thewalls, and a trophy still exists to mark the victory of the townsfolkbefore the gates of Haliartus. Lysander was slain, and the rest fled tothe mountains, the Thebans hotly pursuing. But when the pursuit had ledthem to some considerable height, and they were fairly environed andhemmed in by difficult ground and narrow space, then the heavy infantryturned to bay, and greeted them with a shower of darts and missiles. First two or three men dropped who had been foremost of the pursuers, and then upon the rest they poured volleys of stones down theprecipitous incline, and pressed on their late pursuers with much zeal, until the Thebans turned tail and quitted the deadly slope, leavingbehind them more than a couple of hundred corpses. 

 (22) See Plut. "Lys. " xxviii. (Clough, iii. 137). 

On this day, thereafter, the hearts of the Thebans failed them as theycounted their losses and found them equal to their gains; but the nextday they discovered that during the night the Phocians and the rest ofthem had made off to their several homes, whereupon they fell to plumingthemselves highly on their achievement. But presently Pausanias appearedat the head of the Lacedaemonian army, and once more their dangersseemed to thicken round them. Deep, we are told, was the silence andabasement which reigned in their host. It was not until the third day, when the Athenians arrived (23) and were duely drawn up beside them, whilst Pausanias neither attacked nor offered battle, that at length theconfidence of the Thebans took a larger range. Pausanias, on his side, having summoned his generals and commanders of fifties, (24) deliberatedwhether to give battle or to content himself with picking up the bodiesof Lysander and those who fell with him, under cover of a truce. 

 (23) See Dem. "On the Crown, " 258. 

 (24) Lit. "polemarchs and penteconters"--"colonels and lieutenants. " See "Pol. Lac. " xi. 

The considerations which weighed upon the minds of Pausanias andthe other high officers of the Lacedaemonians seem to have been thatLysander was dead and his defeated army in retreat; while, as far asthey themselves were concerned, the Corinthian contingent was absolutelywanting, and the zeal of the troops there present at the lowest ebb. They further reasoned that the enemy's cavalry was numerous and theirsthe reverse; whilst, weightiest of all, there lay the dead right underthe walls, so that if they had been ever so much stronger it would havebeen no easy task to pick up the bodies within range of the towers ofHaliartus. On all these grounds they determined to ask for a flag oftruce, in order to pick up the bodies of the slain. These, however, theThebans were not disposed to give back unless they agreed to retire fromtheir territory. The terms were gladly accepted by the Lacedaemonians, who at once picked up the corpses of the slain, and prepared to quit theterritory of Boeotia. The preliminaries were transacted, and the retreatcommenced. Despondent indeed was the demeanour of the Lacedaemonians, in contrast with the insolent bearing of the Thebans, who visited theslightest attempt to trespass on their private estates with blows andchased the offenders back on to the high roads unflinchingly. Such wasthe conclusion of the campaign of the Lacedaemonians. 

As for Pausanias, on his arrival at home he was tried on the capitalcharge. The heads of indictment set forth that he had failed to reachHaliartus as soon as Lysander, in spite of his undertaking to be thereon the same day: that, instead of using any endeavour to pick up thebodies of the slain by force of arms, he had asked for a flag of truce:that at an earlier date, when he had got the popular government ofAthens fairly in his grip at Piraeus, he had suffered it to slip throughhis fingers and escape. Besides this, (25) he failed to present himselfat the trial, and a sentence of death was passed upon him. He escapedto Tegea and there died of an illness whilst still in exile. Thus closesthe chapter of events enacted on the soil of Hellas. To return to Asiaand Agesilaus. 

 (25) Or, add, "as a further gravamen. "

BOOK IV

I

B. C. 395. With the fall of the year Agesilaus reached Phrygia--thePhrygia of Pharnabazus--and proceeded to burn and harry the district. City after city was taken, some by force and some by voluntarysurrender. To a proposal of Spithridates to lead him into Paphlagonia, (1) where he would introduce the king of the country to him inconference and obtain his alliance, he readily acceded. It was along-cherished ambition of Agesilaus to alienate some one of the subjectnations from the Persian monarch, and he pushed forward eagerly. 

 (1) See Hartman ("An. Xen. " p. 339), who suggests {Otun auto} for {sun auto}. 

On his arrival in Paphlagonia, King Otys (2) came, and an alliance wasmade. (The fact was, he had been summoned by the king to Susa and hadnot gone up. ) More than that, through the persuasion of Spithridates heleft behind as a parting gift to Agesilaus one thousand cavalry and acouple of thousand peltasts. Agesilaus was anxious in some way toshow his gratitude to Spithridates for such help, and spoke asfollows:--"Tell me, " he said to Spithridates, "would you not like togive your daughter to King Otys?" "Much more would I like to give her, "he answered, "than he to take her--I an outcast wanderer, and he lordof a vast territory and forces. " Nothing more was said at the time aboutthe marriage; but when Otys was on the point of departure and came tobid farewell, Agesilaus, having taken care that Spithridates should beout of the way, in the presence of the Thirty broached the subject: (3)"Can you tell me, Otys, to what sort of family Spithridates belongs?""To one of the noblest in Persia, " replied the king. Agesilaus: "Haveyou observed how beautiful his son is?" Otys: "To be sure; last eveningI was supping with him. " Agesilaus: "And they tell me his daughteris yet more beautiful. " Otys: "That may well be; beautiful she is. "Agesilaus: "For my part, as you have proved so good a friend to us, Ishould like to advise you to take this girl to wife. Not only is shevery beautiful--and what more should a husband ask for?--but herfather is of noble family, and has a force at his back large enough toretaliate on Pharnabazus for an injury. He has made the satrap, as yousee, a fugitive and a vagabond in his own vast territory. I need nottell you, " he added, "that a man who can so chastise an enemy is wellable to benefit a friend; and of this be assured: by such an allianceyou will gain not the connection of Spithridates alone, but of myselfand the Lacedaemonians, and, as we are the leaders of Hellas, ofthe rest of Hellas also. And what a wedding yours will be! Were evernuptials celebrated on so grand a scale before? Was ever bride led homeby such an escort of cavalry and light-armed troops and heavy infantry, as shall escort your wife home to your palace?" Otys asked: "IsSpithridates of one mind with you in this proposal?" and Agesilausanswered: "In good sooth he did not bid me make it for him. And formy own part in the matter, though it is, I admit, a rare pleasure torequite an enemy, yet I had far rather at any time discover some goodfortune for my friends. " Otys: "Why not ask if your project pleasesSpithridates too?" Then Agesilaus, turning to Herippidas and the restof the Thirty, bade them go to Spithridates; "and give him such goodinstruction, " he added, "that he shall wish what we wish. " The Thirtyrose and retired to administer their lesson. But they seemed to tarrya long time, and Agesilaus asked: "What say you, King Otys--shall wesummon him hither ourselves? You, I feel certain, are better able topersuade him than the whole Thirty put together. " Thereupon Agesilaussummoned Spithridates and the others. As they came forward, Herippidaspromptly delivered himself thus: "I spare you the details, Agesilaus. To make a long story short, Spithridates says, 'He will be glad to dowhatever pleases you. '" Then Agesilaus, turning first to one and thento the other: "What pleases me, " said he, "is that you should wed adaughter--and you a wife--so happily. (4) But, " he added, "I do not seehow we can well bring home the bride by land till spring. " "No, not byland, " the suitor answered, "but you might, if you chose, conduct herhome at once by sea. " Thereupon they exchanged pledges to ratify thecompact; and so sent Otys rejoicing on his way. 

 (2) See "Ages. " iii. 4, where he is called Cotys. 

 (3) I. E. "Spartan counsellors. "

 (4) Or, "and may the wedding be blest!"

Agesilaus, who had not failed to note the king's impatience, at oncefitted out a ship of war and gave orders to Callias, a Lacedaemonian, to escort the maiden to her new home; after which he himself began hismarch on Dascylium. Here was the palace of Pharnabazus. It lay in themidst of abundant supplies. Here, too, were most fair hunting grounds, offering the hunter choice between enclosed parks (5) and a wide expanseof field and fell; and all around there flowed a river full of fishof every sort; and for the sportsman versed in fowling, winged game inabundance. 

 (5) Lit. "paradises. " See "Anab. " I. Ii. 7; "Cyrop. " I. Iv. 11. 

In these quarters the Spartan king passed the winter, collectingsupplies for the army either on the spot or by a system of forage. Onone of these occasions the troops, who had grown reckless and scornfulof the enemy through long immunity from attack, whilst engagedin collecting supplies were scattered over the flat country, whenPharnabazus fell upon them with two scythe-chariots and about fourhundred horse. Seeing him thus advancing, the Hellenes ran together, mustering possibly seven hundred men. The Persian did not hesitate, butplacing his chariots in front, supported by himself and the cavalry, hegave the command to charge. The scythe-chariots charged and scatteredthe compact mass, and speedily the cavalry had laid low in the dustabout a hundred men, while the rest retreated hastily, under cover ofAgesilaus and his hoplites, who were fortunately near. 

It was the third or fourth day after this that Spithridates made adiscovery: Pharnabazus lay encamped in Caue, a large village not morethan eighteen miles (6) away. This news he lost no time in reportingto Herippidas. The latter, who was longing for some brilliant exploit, begged Agesilaus to furnish him with two thousand hoplites, an equalnumber of peltasts, and some cavalry--the latter to consist of thehorsemen of Spithridates, the Paphlagonians, and as many Hellenetroopers as he might perchance persuade to follow him. Having got thepromise of them from Agesilaus, he proceeded to take the auspices. Towards late afternoon he obtained favourable omens and broke off thesacrifice. Thereupon he ordered the troops to get their evening meal, after which they were to present themselves in front of the camp. But bythe time darkness had closed in, not one half of them had come out. Toabandon the project was to call down the ridicule of the rest of theThirty. So he set out with the force to hand, and about daylight, falling on the camp of Pharnabazus, put many of his advanced guardof Mysians to the sword. The men themselves made good their escape indifferent directions, but the camp was taken, and with it divers gobletsand other gear such as a man like Pharnabazus would have, not to speakof much baggage and many baggage animals. It was the dread of beingsurrounded and besieged, if he should establish himself for long at anyone spot, which induced Pharnabazus to flee in gipsy fashion from pointto point over the country, carefully obliterating his encampments. Now as the Paphlagonians and Spithridates brought back the capturedproperty, they were met by Herippidas with his brigadiers and captains, who stopped them and (7) relieved them of all they had; the object beingto have as large a list as possible of captures to deliver over to theofficers who superintended the sale of booty. (8) This treatment theAsiatics found intolerable. They deemed themselves at once injuredand insulted, got their kit together in the night, and made off in thedirection of Sardis to join Ariaeus without mistrust, seeing that hetoo had revolted and gone to war with the king. On Agesilaus himselfno heavier blow fell during the whole campaign than the desertion ofSpithridates and Megabates and the Paphlagonians. 

 (6) Lit. "one hundred and sixty stades. "

 (7) Or, "captains posted to intercept them, who relieved... " See "Anab. " IV. I. 14. 

 (8) See "Pol. Lac. " xiii. 11, for these officers. 

Now there was a certain man of Cyzicus, Apollophanes by name; he was anold friend of Pharnabazus, and at this time had become a friend alsoof Agesilaus. (9) This man informed Agesilaus that he thought he couldbring about a meeting between him and Pharnabazus, which might tend tofriendship; and having so got ear of him, he obtained pledges of goodfaith between his two friends, and presented himself with Pharnabazus atthe trysting-place, where Agesilaus with the Thirty around him awaitedtheir coming, reclined upon a grassy sward. Pharnabazus presentlyarrived clad in costliest apparel; but just as his attendants were aboutto spread at his feet the carpets on which the Persians delicately seatthemselves, he was touched with a sense of shame at his own luxuryin sight of the simplicity of Agesilaus, and he also without furtherceremony seated himself on the bare ground. And first the two bade oneanother hail, and then Pharnabazus stretched out his right hand andAgesilaus his to meet him, and the conversation began. Pharnabazus, asthe elder of the two, spoke first. "Agesilaus, " he said, "and all youLacedaemonians here present, while you were at war with the AtheniansI was your friend and ally; it was I who furnished the wealth that madeyour navy strong on sea; on land I fought on horseback by your side, and pursued your enemies into the sea. (10) As to duplicity like that ofTissaphernes, I challenge you to accuse me of having played you false byword or deed. Such have I ever been; and in return how am I treatedby yourselves to-day?--in such sort that I cannot even sup in my owncountry unless, like the wild animals, I pick up the scraps you chanceto leave. The beautiful palaces which my father left me as an heirloom, the parks (11) full of trees and beasts of the chase in which my heartrejoiced, lie before my eyes hacked to pieces, burnt to ashes. Maybe Ido not comprehend the first principles of justice and holiness; do youthen explain to me how all this resembles the conduct of men who knowhow to repay a simple debt of gratitude. " He ceased, and the Thirty wereashamed before him and kept silence. (12)

 (9) "Ages. " v. 4; Plut. "Ages. " xi. (Clough, iv. P. 14). 

 (10) See "Hell. " I. I. 6. 

 (11) Lit. "paradises. "

 (12) Theopompus of Chios, the historian (b. B. C. 378, fl. B. C. 333), "in the eleventh book (of his {Suntazis Ellenikon}) borrowed Xenophon's lively account of the interview between Agesilaus and Pharnabazus (Apollonius apud Euseb. B, "Praep. Evang. " p. 465). " See "Hist. Lit. Of Anc. Gr. , " Muller and Donaldson, ii. P. 380. 

At length, after some pause, Agesilaus spoke. "I think you are aware, "he said, "Pharnabazus, that within the states of Hellas the folk ofone community contract relations of friendship and hospitality with oneanother; (13) but if these states should go to war, then each man willside with his fatherland, and friend will find himself pitted againstfriend in the field of battle, and, if it so betide, the one may evendeal the other his death-blow. So too we to-day, being at war with yoursovereign lord the king, must needs regard as our enemy all that hecalls his; not but that with yourself personally we should esteem itour high fortune to be friends. If indeed it were merely an exchange ofservice--were you asked to give up your lord the king and to take us asyour masters in his stead, I could not so advise you; but the fact is, by joining with us it is in your power to-day to bow your head to noman, to call no man master, to reap the produce of your own domain infreedom--freedom, which to my mind is more precious than all riches. Notthat we bid you to become a beggar for the sake of freedom, but ratherto use our friendship to increase not the king's authority, but yourown, by subduing those who are your fellow-slaves to-day, and whoto-morrow shall be your willing subjects. Well, then, freedom given andwealth added--what more would you desire to fill the cup of happiness tooverflowing?" Pharnabazus replied: "Shall I tell you plainly what I willdo?" "That were but kind and courteous on your part, " he answered. "Thusit stands with me, then, " said Pharnabazus. "If the king should sendanother general, and if he should wish to rank me under this newman's orders, I, for my part, am willing to accept your friendship andalliance; but if he offers me the supreme command--why, then, I plainlytell you, there is a certain something in the very name ambition whichwhispers me that I shall war against you to the best of my ability. "(14) When he heard that, Agesilaus seized the satrap's hand, exclaiming:"Ah, best of mortals, may the day arrive which sends us such a friend!Of one thing rest assured. This instant I leave your territory with whathaste I may, and for the future--even in case of war--as long as we canfind foes elsewhere our hands shall hold aloof from you and yours. "

 (13) Or, add, "we call them guest friends. "

 (14) Or, "so subtle a force, it seems, is the love of honour that. " Grote, "H. G. " ix. 386; cf. Herod. Iii. 57 for "ambition, " {philotimia}. 

And with these words he broke up the meeting. Pharnabazus mounted hishorse and rode away, but his son by Parapita, who was still in the bloomof youth, lingered behind; then, running up to Agesilaus, he exclaimed:"See, I choose you as my friend. " "And I accept you, " replied the king. "Remember, then, " the lad answered, and with the word presented thebeautiful javelin in his hand to Agesilaus, who received it, andunclasping a splendid trapping (15) which his secretary, Idaeus, hadround the neck of his charger, he gave it in return to the youth;whereupon the boy leapt on his horse's back and galloped after hisfather. (16) At a later date, during the absence of Pharnabazus abroad, this same youth, the son of Parapita, was deprived of the government byhis brother and driven into exile. Then Agesilaus took great interestin him, and as he had a strong attachment to the son of Eualces, anAthenian, Agesilaus did all he could to have this friend of his, whowas the tallest of the boys, admitted to the two hundred yards race atOlympia. 

 (15) {phalara}, bosses of gold, silver, or other metals, cast or chased, with some appropriate device in relief, which were worn as an ornamental trapping for horses, affixed to the head-stall or to a throat-collar, or to a martingale over the chest. --Rich's "Companion to Lat. Dict. And Greek Lex. , " s. V. 

 (16) See Grote, ix. 387; Plut. "Ages. " xiv. (Clough, iv. 15); "Ages. " iii. 5. The incident is idealised in the "Cyrop. " I. Iv. 26 foll. See "Lyra Heroica": CXXV. A Ballad of East and West--the incident of the "turquoise-studded rein. "

B. C. 394. But to return to the actual moment. Agesilaus was as good ashis word, and at once marched out of the territory of Pharnabazus. Theseason verged on spring. Reaching the plain of Thebe, (17) he encampedin the neighbourhood of the temple of Artemis of Astyra, (18) and thereemployed himself in collecting troops from every side, in addition tothose which he already had, so as to form a complete armament. Thesepreparations were pressed forward with a view to penetrating as far aspossible into the interior. He was persuaded that every tribe or nationplaced in his rear might be considered as alienated from the king. 

 (17) "Anab. " VII. Viii. 7. 

 (18) Vide Strab. Xiii. 606, 613. Seventy stades from Thebe. 

II

Such were the concerns and projects of Agesilaus. Meanwhile theLacedaemonians at home were quite alive to the fact that moneys had beensent into Hellas, and that the bigger states were leagued togetherto declare war against them. It was hard to avoid the conclusion thatSparta herself was in actual danger, and that a campaign was inevitable. While busy, therefore, with preparations themselves, they lost no timein despatching Epicydidas to fetch Agesilaus. That officer, on hisarrival, explained the position of affairs, and concluded by deliveringa peremptory summons of the state recalling him to the assistance ofthe fatherland without delay. The announcement could not but come as agrievous blow to Agesilaus, as he reflected on the vanished hopes, andthe honours plucked from his grasp. Still, he summoned the allies andannounced to them the contents of the despatch from home. "To aid ourfatherland, " he added, "is an imperative duty. If, however, matters turnout well on the other side, rely upon it, friends and allies, I willnot forget you, but I shall be back anon to carry out your wishes. " Whenthey heard the announcement many wept, and they passed a resolution, oneand all, to assist Agesilaus in assisting Lacedaemon; if matters turnedout well there, they undertook to take him as their leader and come backagain to Asia; and so they fell to making preparations to follow him. 

Agesilaus, on his side, determined to leave behind him in Asia Euxenusas governor, and with him a garrison numbering no less than fourthousand troops, which would enable him to protect the states in Asia. But for himself, as on the one hand he could see that the majority ofthe soldiers would far rather stay behind than undertake service againstfellow-Hellenes, and on the other hand he wished to take as fine andlarge an army with him as he could, he offered prizes first to thatstate or city which should continue the best corps of troops, andsecondly to that captain of mercenaries who should join the expeditionwith the best equipped battalion of heavy infantry, archers, and lightinfantry. On the same principle he informed the chief cavalry officersthat the general who succeeded in presenting the best accoutred and bestmounted regiment would receive from himself some victorious distinction. "The final adjudication, " he said, "would not be made until they hadcrossed from Asia into Europe and had reached the Chersonese; and thiswith a view to impress upon them that the prizes were not for show butfor real campaigners. " (1) These consisted for the most part of infantryor cavalry arms and accoutrements tastefully furnished, besides whichthere were chaplets of gold. The whole, useful and ornamental alike, must have cost nearly a thousand pounds, (2) but as the result of thisoutlay, no doubt, arms of great value were procured for the expedition. (3) When the Hellespont was crossed the judges were appointed. TheLacedaemonians were represented by Menascus, Herippidas, andOrsippus, and the allies by one member from each state. As soon as theadjudication was complete, the army commenced its march with Agesilausat its head, following the very route taken by the great king when heinvaded Hellas. 

 (1) Or, "that the perfection of equipment was regarded as anticipative of actual service in the field. " Cobet suggests for {eukrinein} {dieukrinein}; cf. "Oecon. " viii. 6. 

 (2) Lit. "at least four talents" = 975 pounds. 

 (3) Or, "beyond which, the arms and material to equip the expedition were no doubt highly costly. "

Meanwhile the ephors had called out the ban, and as Agesipolis was stilla boy, the state called upon Aristodemus, who was of the royal familyand guardian of the young king, to lead the expedition; and now thatthe Lacedaemonians were ready to take the field and the forces of theiropponents were duly mustered, the latter met (4) to consider the mostadvantageous method of doing battle. 

 (4) At Corinth. See above, III. Iv. 11; below, V. Iv. 61, where the victory of Nixos is described but not localised. 

Timolaus of Corinth spoke: "Soldiers of the allied forces, " he said, "the growth of Lacedaemon seems to me just like that of some mightyriver--at its sources small and easily crossed, but as it farther andfarther advances, other rivers discharge themselves into its channel, andits stream grows ever more formidable. So is it with the Lacedaemonians. Take them at the starting-point and they are but a single community, butas they advance and attach city after city they grow more numerousand more resistless. I observe that when people wish to take wasps'nests--if they try to capture the creatures on the wing, they are liableto be attacked by half the hive; whereas, if they apply fire to them erethey leave their homes, they will master them without scathe themselves. On this principle I think it best to bring about the battle within thehive itself, or, short of that, as close to Lacedaemon as possible. " (5)

 (5) Or, "if not actually at Lacedaemon, then at least as near as possible to the hornet's nest. "

The arguments of the speaker were deemed sound, and a resolution waspassed in that sense; but before it could be carried out there werevarious arrangements to be made. There was the question of headship. Then, again, what was the proper depth of line to be given to thedifferent army corps? for if any particular state or states gave toogreat a depth to their battle line they would enable the enemy to turntheir flank. Whilst they were debating these points, the Lacedaemonianshad incorporated the men of Tegea and the men of Mantinea, and wereready to debouch into the bimarine region. (6) And as the two armiesadvanced almost at the same time, the Corinthians and the rest reachedthe Nemea, (7) and the Lacedaemonians and their allies occupied Sicyon. The Lacedaemonians entered by Epieiceia, and at first were severelyhandled by the light-armed troops of the enemy, who discharged stonesand arrows from the vantage-ground on their right; but as they droppeddown upon the Gulf of Corinth they advanced steadily onwards through theflat country, felling timber and burning the fair land. Their rivals, ontheir side, after a certain forward movement, (8) paused and encamped, placing the ravine in front of them; but still the Lacedaemoniansadvanced, and it was only when they were within ten furlongs (9) of thehostile position that they followed suit and encamped, and then theyremained quiet. 

 (6) I. E. "the shores of the Corinthian Gulf. " Or, "upon the strand or coast road or coast land of Achaia" (aliter {ten aigialon}(?) the Strand of the Corinthian Gulf, the old name of this part of Achaia). 

 (7) Or, "the district of Nemea. "

 (8) {epelthontes}, but see Grote ("H. G. " ix. 425 note), who prefers {apelthontes} = retreated and encamped. 

 (9) Lit. "ten stades. " For the numbers below, see Grote, "H. G. " ix. 422, note 1. 

And here I may state the numbers on either side. The Lacedaemonianheavy-armed infantry levies amounted to six thousand men. Of Eleians, Triphylians, Acroreians, and Lasionians, there must have been nearlythree thousand, with fifteen hundred Sicyonians, while Epidaurus, Troezen, Hermione, and Halieis (10) contributed at least another threethousand. To these heavy infantry troops must be added six hundredLacedaemonian cavalry, a body of Cretan archers about three hundredstrong, besides another force of slingers, at least four hundred inall, consisting of Marganians, Letrinians, and Amphidolians. The menof Phlius were not represented. Their plea was they were keeping "holytruce. " That was the total of the forces on the Lacedaemonian side. There was collected on the enemy's side six thousand Athenian heavyinfantry, with about, as was stated, seven thousand Argives, and in theabsence of the men of Orchomenus something like five thousand Boeotians. There were besides three thousand Corinthians, and again from the wholeof Euboea at least three thousand. These formed the heavy infantry. Of cavalry the Boeotians, again in the absence of the Orchomenians, furnished eight hundred, the Athenians (11) six hundred, the Chalcidiansof Euboea one hundred, the Opuntian Locrians (12) fifty. Their lighttroops, including those of the Corinthians, were more numerous, as theOzolian Locrians, the Melians, and Arcarnanians (13) helped to swelltheir numbers. 

 (10) Halieis, a seafaring people (Strabo, viii. 373) and town on the coast of Hermionis; Herod. Vii. 137; Thuc. I. 105, ii. 56, iv. 45; Diod. Xi. 78; "Hell. " VI. Ii. 3. 

 (11) For a treaty between Athens and Eretria, B. C. 395, see Hicks, 66; and below, "Hell. " IV. Iii. 15; Hicks, 68, 69; Diod. Xiv. 82. 

 (12) See above, "Hell. " III. V. 3. 

 (13) See below, "Hell. " IV. Vi. 1; ib. Vii. 1; VI. V. 23. 

Such was the strength of the two armies. The Boeotians, as long as theyoccupied the left wing, showed no anxiety to join battle, but after arearrangement which gave them the right, placing the Athenians oppositethe Lacedaemonians, and themselves opposite the Achaeans, at once, weare told, (14) the victims proved favourable, and the order was passedalong the lines to prepare for immediate action. The Boeotians, in thefirst place, abandoning the rule of sixteen deep, chose to give theirdivision the fullest possible depth, and, moreover, kept veeringmore and more to their right, with the intention of overlapping theiropponent's flank. The consequence was that the Athenians, to avoid beingabsolutely severed, were forced to follow suit, and edged towards theright, though they recognised the risk they ran of having their flankturned. For a while the Lacedaemonians had no idea of the advance of theenemy, owing to the rough nature of the ground, (15) but the notes ofthe paean at length announced to them the fact, and without an instant'sdelay the answering order "prepare for battle" ran along the differentsections of their army. As soon as their troops were drawn up, accordingto the tactical disposition of the various generals of foreign brigades, the order was passed to "follow the lead, " and then the Lacedaemonianson their side also began edging to their right, and eventually stretchedout their wing so far that only six out of the ten regimental divisionsof the Athenians confronted the Lacedaemonians, the other four findingthemselves face to face with the men of Tegea. And now when theywere less than a furlong (16) apart, the Lacedaemonians sacrificed incustomary fashion a kid to the huntress goddess, (17) and advanced upontheir opponents, wheeling round their overlapping columns to outflankhis left. As the two armies closed, the allies of Lacedaemon were asa rule fairly borne down by their opponents. The men of Pellene alone, steadily confronting the Thespiaeans, held their ground, and the deadof either side strewed the position. (18) As to the Lacedaemoniansthemselves: crushing that portion of the Athenian troops which layimmediately in front of them, and at the same time encircling themwith their overlapping right, they slew man after man of them; and, absolutely unscathed themselves, their unbroken columns continued theirmarch, and so passed behind the four remaining divisions (19) of theAthenians before these latter had returned from their own victoriouspursuit. Whereby the four divisions in question also emerged from battleintact, except for the casualties inflicted by the Tegeans in thefirst clash of the engagement. The troops next encountered by theLacedaemonians were the Argives retiring. These they fell foul of, andthe senior polemarch was just on the point of closing with them "breastto breast" when some one, it is said, shouted, "Let their front rankspass. " This was done, and as the Argives raced past, their enemiesthrust at their unprotected (20) sides and killed many of them. TheCorinthians were caught in the same way as they retired, and when theirturn had passed, once more the Lacedaemonians lit upon a portion of theTheban division retiring from the pursuit, and strewed the field withtheir dead. The end of it all was that the defeated troops in the firstinstance made for safety to the walls of their city, but the Corinthianswithin closed the gates, whereupon the troops took up quarters onceagain in their old encampment. The Lacedaemonians on their side withdrewto the point at which they first closed with the enemy, and there set upa trophy of victory. So the battle ended. 

 (14) Or, "then they lost no time in discovering that the victims proved favourable. "

 (15) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 428; cf. Lys. "pro Mant. " 20. 

 (16) Lit. "a stade. "

 (17) Lit. "our Lady of the Chase. " See "Pol. Lac. " xiii. 8. 

 (18) Lit. "men on either side kept dropping at their post. "

 (19) Lit. "tribes. "

 (20) I. E. "right. "

III

Meanwhile Agesilaus was rapidly hastening with his reinforcements fromAsia. He had reached Amphipolis when Dercylidas brought the news of thisfresh victory of the Lacedaemonians; their own loss had been eight men, that of the enemy considerable. It was his business at the same time toexplain that not a few of the allies had fallen also. Agesilausasked, "Would it not be opportune, Dercylidas, if the cities that havefurnished us with contingents could hear of this victory as soon aspossible?" And Dercylidas replied: "The news at any rate is likelyto put them in better heart. " Then said the king: "As you were aneye-witness there could hardly be a better bearer of the news thanyourself. " To this proposal Dercylidas lent a willing ear--to travelabroad (1) was his special delight--and he replied, "Yes, under yourorders. " "Then you have my orders, " the king said. "And you may furtherinform the states from myself that we have not forgotten our promise;if all goes well over here we shall be with them again ere long. "So Dercylidas set off on his travels, in the first instance to theHellespont; (2) while Agesilaus crossed Macedonia, and arrived inThessaly. And now the men of Larissa, Crannon, Scotussa, and Pharsalus, who were allies of the Boeotians--and in fact all the Thessalians exceptthe exiles for the time being--hung on his heels (3) and did him damage. 

 (1) See "Pol. Lac. " xiv. 4. 

 (2) See below, "Hell. " IV. Viii. 3. 

 (3) See "Ages. " ii. 2; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 420, note 2. 

For some while he marched his troops in a hollow square, (4) postinghalf his cavalry in front and half on his rear; but finding that theThessalians checked his passage by repeated charges from behind, hestrengthened his rearguard by sending round the cavalry from his van, with the exception of his own personal escort. (5) The two armies stoodconfronted in battle order; but the Thessalians, not liking the notionof a cavalry engagement with heavy infantry, turned, and step by stepretreated, while the others followed them with considerable caution. Agesilaus, perceiving the error under which both alike laboured, nowsent his own personal guard of stalwart troopers with orders that boththey and the rest of the horsemen should charge at full gallop, (6)and not give the enemy the chance to recoil. The Thessalians were takenaback by this unexpected onslaught, and half of them never thought ofwheeling about, whilst those who did essay to do so presented theflanks of their horses to the charge, (7) and were made prisoners. Still Polymarchus of Pharsalus, the general in command of their cavalry, rallied his men for an instant, and fell, sword in hand, with hisimmediate followers. This was the signal for a flight so precipitate onthe part of the Thessalians, that their dead and dying lined the road, and prisoners were taken; nor was any halt made until they reached MountNarthacius. Here, then, midway between Pras and Narthacius, Agesilausset up a trophy, halting for the moment, in unfeigned satisfaction atthe exploit. It was from antagonists who prided themselves on theircavalry beyond everything that he had wrested victory, with a bodyof cavalry of his own mustering. Next day he crossed the mountainsof Achaea Phthiotis, and for the future continued his march throughfriendly territory until he reached the confines of Boeotia. 

 (4) See Rustow and Kochly, S. 187 foll. 

 (5) See Thuc. V. 72; Herod. Vi. 56, viii. 124. 

 (6) Lit. "and bids them pass the order to the others and themselves to charge, " etc. 

 (7) See "Horsemanship, " vii. 16; Polyb. Iv. 8. 

Here, at the entrance of that territory, the sun (in partial eclipse)(8) seemed to appear in a crescent shape, and the news reached him ofthe defeat of the Lacedaemonians in a naval engagement, and the deathof the admiral Peisander. Details of the disaster were not wanting. Theengagement of the hostile fleets took place off Cnidus. Pharnabazus, thePersian admiral, was present with the Phoenician fleet, and in frontof him were ranged the ships of the Hellenic squadron under Conon. Peisander had ventured to draw out his squadron to meet the combinedfleets, though the numerical inferiority of his fleet to that of theHellenic navy under Conon was conspicuous, and he had the mortificationof seeing the allies who formed his left wing take to flightimmediately. He himself came to close quarters with the enemy, and wasdriven on shore, on board his trireme, under pressure of the hostilerams. The rest, as many as were driven to shore, deserted their shipsand sought safety as best they could in the territory of Cnidus. Theadmiral alone stuck to his ship, and fell sword in hand. 

 (8) B. C. 394, August 14. 

It was impossible for Agesilaus not to feel depressed by those tidingsat first; on further reflection, however, it seemed to him that themoral quality of more than half his troops well entitled them to sharein the sunshine of success, but in the day of trouble, when thingslooked black, he was not bound to take them into his confidence. Accordingly he turned round and gave out that he had received news thatPeisander was dead, but that he had fallen in the arms of victory ina sea-fight; and suiting his action to the word, he proceeded to offersacrifice in return for good tidings, (9) distributing portions of thevictims to a large number of recipients. So it befell that in the firstskirmish with the enemy the troops of Agesilaus gained the upper hand, in consequence of the report that the Lacedaemonians had won a victoryby sea. 

 (9) "Splendide mendax. " For the ethics of the matter, see "Mem. " IV. Ii. 17; "Cyrop. " I. Vi. 31. 

To confront Agesilaus stood an army composed of the Boeotians, Athenians, Argives, Corinthians, Aenianians, Euboeans, and bothdivisions of the Locrians. Agesilaus on his side had with him a division(10) of Lacedaemonians, which had crossed from Corinth, also half thedivision from Orchomenus; besides which there were the neodamodes (11)from Lacedaemon, on service with him already; and in addition to thesethe foreign contingent under Herippidas; (12) and again the quotafurnished by the Hellenic cities in Asia, with others from the cities inEurope which he had brought over during his progress; and lastly, therewere additional levies from the spot--Orchomenian and Phocian heavyinfantry. In light-armed troops, it must be admitted, the numbers toldheavily in favour of Agesilaus, but the cavalry (13) on both sides werefairly balanced. 

 (10) Lit. "a mora"; for the numbers, see "Ages. " ii. 6; Plut. "Ages. " 17; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 433. 

 (11) I. E. "enfranchised helots. "

 (12) See "Ages. " ii. 10, 11; and above, "Hell. " III. Iv. 20. 

 (13) See Hicks, op. Cit. 68. 

Such were the forces of either party. I will describe the battle itself, if only on account of certain features which distinguish it from thebattles of our time. The two armies met on the plain of Coronea--thetroops of Agesilaus advancing from the Cephisus, the Thebans and theirallies from the slopes of Helicon. Agesilaus commanded his own rightin person, with the men of Orchomenus on his extreme left. The Thebansformed their own right, while the Argives held their left. As they drewtogether, for a while deep silence reigned on either side; but when theywere not more than a furlong (14) apart, with the loud hurrah (15) theThebans, quickening to a run, rushed furiously (16) to close quarters;and now there was barely a hundred yards (17) breadth between the twoarmies, when Herippidas with his foreign brigade, and with them theIonians, Aeolians, and Hellespontines, darted out from the Spartans'battle-lines to greet their onset. One and all of the above played theirpart in the first rush forward; in another instant they were (18) withinspear-thrust of the enemy, and had routed the section immediately beforethem. As to the Argives, they actually declined to receive the attackof Agesilaus, and betook themselves in flight to Helicon. At thismoment some of the foreign division were already in the act of crowningAgesilaus with the wreath of victory, when some one brought him wordthat the Thebans had cut through the Orchomenians and were in among thebaggage train. At this the Spartan general immediately turned his armyright about and advanced against them. The Thebans, on their side, catching sight of their allies withdrawn in flight to the base of theHelicon, and anxious to get across to their own friends, formed in closeorder and tramped forward stoutly. 

 (14) Lit. "a stade. "

 (15) Lit. "Alalah. "

 (16) Like a tornado. 

 (17) Lit. "about three plethra. "

 (18) Or, "All these made up the attacking columns... And coming within... Routed... "

At this point no one will dispute the valour of Agesilaus, but hecertainly did not choose the safest course. It was open to him to makeway for the enemy to pass, which done, he might have hung upon his heelsand mastered his rear. This, however, he refused to do, preferring tocrash full front against the Thebans. Thereupon, with close interlockof shield wedged in with shield, they shoved, they fought, they dealtdeath, (19) they breathed out life, till at last a portion of theThebans broke their way through towards Helicon, but paid for thatdeparture by the loss of many lives. And now the victory of Agesilauswas fairly won, and he himself, wounded, had been carried back to themain line, when a party of horse came galloping up to tell him thatsomething like eighty of the enemy, under arms, were sheltering underthe temple, and they asked what they ought to do. Agesilaus, though hewas covered with wounds, did not, for all that, forget his duty to God. He gave orders to let them retire unscathed, and would not suffer anyinjury to be done to them. And now, seeing it was already late, theytook their suppers and retired to rest. 

 (19) Or, "they slew, they were slain. " In illustration of this famous passage, twice again worked up in "Ages. " ii. 12, and "Cyrop. " VII. I. 38, commented on by Longinus, {peri upsous}, 19, and copied by Dio Cassius, 47, 45, I venture to quote a passage from Mr. Rudyard Kipling, "With the Main Guard, " p. 57, Mulvaney loquitur: "The Tyrone was pushin' an' pushin' in, an' our men was sweerin' at thim, an' Crook was workin' away in front av us all, his sword-arm swingin' like a pump-handle an' his revolver spittin' like a cat. But the strange thing av ut was the quiet that lay upon. 'Twas like a fight in a dhrame--excipt for thim that wus dead. "

But with the morning Gylis the polemarch received orders to draw up thetroops in battle order, and to set up a trophy, every man crowned with awreath in honour of the god, and all the pipers piping. Thus they busiedthemselves in the Spartan camp. On their side the Thebans sent heraldsasking to bury their dead, under a truce; and in this wise a truce wasmade. Agesilaus withdrew to Delphi, where on arrival he offered tothe god a tithe of the produce of his spoils--no less than a hundredtalents. (20) Gylis the polemarch meanwhile withdrew into Phocis at thehead of his troops, and from that district made a hostile advance intoLocris. Here nearly a whole day was spent by the men in freely helpingthemselves to goods and chattels out of the villages and pillaging thecorn; (21) but as it drew towards evening the troops began to retire, with the Lacedaemonians in the rear. The Locrians hung upon their heelswith a heavy pelt of stones and javelins. Thereupon the Lacedaemoniansturned short round and gave chase, laying some of their assailants low. Then the Locrians ceased clinging to their rear, but continued theirvolleys from the vantage-ground above. The Lacedaemonians again madeefforts to pursue their persistent foes even up the slope. At lastdarkness descended on them, and as they retired man after man dropped, succumbing to the sheer difficulty of the ground; some in theirinability to see what lay in front, or else shot down by the enemy'smissiles. It was then that Gylis the polemarch met his end, as alsoPelles, who was on his personal staff, and the whole of the Spartanspresent without exception--eighteen or thereabouts--perished, eithercrushed by stones or succumbing to other wounds. Indeed, except fortimely aid brought from the camp where the men were supping, the chancesare that not a man would have escaped to tell the tale. 

 (20) = 25, 000 pounds nearly. 

 (21) Or, "not to speak of provisions. "

IV

This incident ended the campaign. The army as a whole was disbanded, thecontingents retiring to their several cities, and Agesilaus home acrossthe Gulf by sea. 

B. C. 393. Subsequently (1) the war between the two parties recommenced. The Athenians, Boeotians, Argives, and the other allies made Corinththe base of their operations; the Lacedaemonians and their allies heldSicyon as theirs. As to the Corinthians, they had to face the fact that, owing to their proximity to the seat of war, it was their territorywhich was ravaged and their people who perished, while the rest ofthe allies abode in peace and reaped the fruits of their lands in dueseason. Hence the majority of them, including the better class, desiredpeace, and gathering into knots they indoctrinated one another withthese views. 

 (1) B. C. 393. See Grote, ix. P. 455, note 2 foll. ; "Hell. " IV. Viii. 7. 

B. C. 392. (2) On the other hand, it could hardly escape the notice ofthe allied powers, the Argives, Athenians, and Boeotians, as also thoseof the Corinthians themselves who had received a share of the king'smoneys, or for whatever reason were most directly interested in the war, that if they did not promptly put the peace party out of the way, tenchances to one the old laconising policy would again hold the field. Itseemed there was nothing for it but the remedy of the knife. There was arefinement of wickedness in the plan adopted. With most people the lifeeven of a legally condemned criminal is held sacred during a solemnseason, but these men deliberately selected the last day of the Eucleia, (3) when they might reckon on capturing more victims in the crowdedmarket-place, for their murderous purposes. Their agents were suppliedwith the names of those to be gotten rid of, the signal was given, andthen, drawing their daggers, they fell to work. Here a man was struckdown standing in the centre of a group of talkers, and there anotherseated; a third while peacably enjoying himself at the play; a fourthactually whilst officiating as a judge at some dramatic contest. (4)When what was taking place became known, there was a general flight onthe part of the better classes. Some fled to the images of the godsin the market-place, others to the altars; and here these unhallowedmiscreants, ringleaders and followers alike, utterly regardless ofduty and law, fell to butchering their victims even within the sacredprecincts of the gods; so that even some of those against whom no handwas lifted--honest, law-abiding folk--were filled with sore amazementat sight of such impiety. In this way many of the elder citizens, asmustering more thickly in the market-place, were done to death. Theyounger men, acting on a suspicion conceived by one of their number, Pasimelus, as to what was going to take place, kept quiet in theKraneion; (5) but hearing screams and shouting and being joined anon bysome who had escaped from the affair, they took the hint, and, runningup along the slope of the Acrocorinthus, succeeded in repelling anattack of the Argives and the rest. While they were still deliberatingwhat they ought to do, down fell a capital from its column--withoutassignable cause, whether of earthquake or wind. Also, when theysacrificed, the aspect of the victims was such that the soothsayers saidit was better to descend from that position. 

 (2) Others assign the incidents of this whole chapter iv. To B. C. 393. 

 (3) The festival of Artemis Eucleia. 

 (4) See Diod. Xiv. 86. 

 (5) See Paus. II. Ii. 4. 

So they retired, in the first instance prepared to go into exile beyondthe territory of Corinth. It was only upon the persuasion of theirfriends and the earnest entreaties of their mothers and sisters whocame out to them, supported by the solemn assurance of the men in powerthemselves, who swore to guarantee them against evil consequences, thatsome of them finally consented to return home. Presented to their eyeswas the spectacle of a tyranny in full exercise, and to their minds theconsciousness of the obliteration of their city, seeing that boundarieswere plucked up and the land of their fathers had come to be re-entitledby the name of Argos instead of Corinth; and furthermore, compulsion wasput upon them to share in the constitution in vogue at Argos, for whichthey had little appetite, while in their own city they wielded lesspower than the resident aliens. So that a party sprang up among themwhose creed was, that life was not worth living on such terms: theirendeavour must be to make their fatherland once more the Corinth of olddays--to restore freedom to their city, purified from the murderer andhis pollution and fairly rooted in good order and legality. (6) It wasa design worth the venture: if they succeeded they would become thesaviours of their country; if not--why, in the effort to grasp thefairest flower of happiness, they would but overreach, and find insteada glorious termination to existence. 

 (6) {eunomia}. See "Pol. Ath. " i. 8; Arist. "Pol. " iv. 8, 6; iii. 9, 8; v. 7, 4. 

It was in furtherance of this design that two men--Pasimelus andAlcimenes--undertook to creep through a watercourse and effect a meetingwith Praxitas the polemarch of the Lacedaemonians, who was on garrisonduty with his own division in Sicyon. They told him they could givehim ingress at a point in the long walls leading to Lechaeum. Praxitas, knowing from previous experience that the two men might be relied upon, believed their statement; and having arranged for the further detentionin Sicyon of the division which was on the point of departure, he busiedhimself with plans for the enterprise. When the two men, partly bychance and partly by contrivance, came to be on guard at the gate wherethe tophy now stands, without further ado Praxitas presented himselfwith his division, taking with him also the men of Sicyon and the wholeof the Corinthian exiles. (7) Having reached the gate, he had a qualm ofmisgiving, and hesitated to step inside until he had first sent in aman on whom he could rely to take a look at things within. The twoCorinthians introduced him, and made so simple and straightforwarda representation (8) that the visitor was convinced, and reportedeverything as free of pitfalls as the two had asserted. Then thepolemarch entered, but owing to the wide space between the doublewalls, as soon as they came to form in line within, the intruders wereimpressed by the paucity of their numbers. They therefore erected astockade, and dug as good a trench as they could in front of them, pending the arrival of reinforcements from the allies. In their rear, moreover, lay the guard of the Boeotians in the harbour. Thus theypassed the whole day which followed the night of ingress withoutstriking a blow. 

 (8) Or, "showed him the place in so straightforward a manner. "

On the next day, however, the Argive troops arrived in all haste, hurrying to the rescue, and found the enemy duly drawn up. TheLacedaemonians were on their own right, the men of Sicyon next, andleaning against the eastern wall the Corinthian exiles, one hundred andfifty strong. (9) Their opponents marshalled their lines face to face incorrespondence: Iphicrates with his mercenaries abutting on the easternwall; next to them the Argives, whilst the Corinthians of the city heldtheir left. In the pride inspired by numbers they began advancing atonce. They overpowered the Sicyonians, and tearing asunder the stockade, pursued them to the sea and here slew numbers of them. At that instantPasimachus, the cavalry general, at the head of a handful of troopers, seeing the Sicyonians sore presed, made fast the horses of his troops tothe trees, and relieving the Sicyonians of their heavy infantry shields, advanced with his volunteers against the Argives. The latter, seeing theSigmas on the shields and taking them to be "Sicyonians, " had not theslightest fear. Whereupon, as the story goes, Pasimachus, exclaimingin his broad Doric, "By the twin gods! these Sigmas will cheat you, you Argives, " came to close quarters, and in that battle of a handfulagainst a host, was slain himself with all his followers. In anotherquarter of the field, however, the Corinthian exiles had got the betterof their opponents and worked their way up, so that they were nowtouching the city circumvallation walls. 

 (9) See Grote, ix. P. 333 foll. 

The Lacedaemonians, on their side, perceiving the discomfiture of theSicyonians, sprang out with timely aid, keeping the palisade-work ontheir left. But the Argives, discovering that the Lacedaemonians werebehind them, wheeled round and came racing back, pouring out of thepalisade at full speed. Their extreme right, with unprotected flanksexposed, fell victims to the Lacedaemonians; the rest, hugging the wall, made good their retreat in dense masses towards the city. Here theyencountered the Corinthian exiles, and discovering that they had fallenupon foes, swerved aside in the reverse direction. In this predicamentsome mounted by the ladders of the city wall, and, leaping down fromits summit, were destroyed; (10) others yielded up their lives, thrustthrough, as they jostled at the foot of the steps; others again wereliterally trampled under one another's feet and suffocated. 

 (10) Or, "plunged from its summit into perdition. " See Thuc. Ii. 4. 

The Lacedaemonians had no difficulty in the choice of victims; for atthat instant a work was assigned to them to do, (11) such as they couldhardly have hoped or prayed for. To find delivered into their handsa mob of helpless enemies, in an ecstasy of terror, presenting theirunarmed sides in such sort that none turned to defend himself, buteach victim rather seemed to contribute what he could towards his owndestruction--if that was not divine interposition, I know now what tocall it. Miracle or not, in that little space so many fell, and thecorpses lay piled so thick, that eyes familiar with the stacking of cornor wood or piles of stones were called upon to gaze at layers of humanbodies. Nor did the guard of the Boeotians in the port itself (12)escape death; some were slain upon the ramparts, others on the roofs ofthe dock-houses, which they had scaled for refuge. Nothing remained butfor the Corinthians and Argives to carry away their dead under cover ofa truce; whilst the allies of Lacedaemon poured in their reinforcements. When these were collected, Praxitas decided in the first place to razeenough of the walls to allow a free broadway for an army on march. Thisdone, he put himself at the head of his troops and advanced on the roadto Megara, taking by assault, first Sidus and next Crommyon. Leavinggarrisons in these two fortresses, he retraced his steps, and finallyfortifying Epieiceia as a garrison outpost to protect the territoryof the allies, he at once disbanded his troops and himself withdrew toLacedaemon. 

 (11) Or, "Heaven assigned to them a work... " Lit. "The God... "

 (12) I. E. "of Lechaeum. "

B. C. 392-391. (13) After this the great armaments of both belligerentshad ceased to exist. The states merely furnished garrisons--the oneset at Corinth, the other set at Sicyon--and were content to guard thewalls. Though even so, a vigorous war was carried on by dint of themercenary troops with which both sides were furnished. 

 (13) So Grote and Curtius; al. B. C. 393. 

A signal incident in the period was the invasion of Phlius byIphicrates. He laid an ambuscade, and with a small body of troopsadopting a system of guerilla war, took occasion of an unguarded sallyof the citizens of Phlius to inflict such losses on them, that thoughthey had never previously received the Lacedaemonians within theirwalls, they received them now. They had hitherto feared to do so lestit might lead to the restoration of the banished members oftheir community, who gave out that they owed their exile to theirLacedaemonian sympathies; (14) but they were now in such abject fearof the Corinthian party that they sent to fetch the Lacedaemonians, and delivered the city and citadel to their safe keeping. These latter, however, well disposed to the exiles of Phlius, did not, at the timethey held the city, so much as breathe the thought of bringing back theexiles; on the contrary, as soon as the city seemed to have recoveredits confidence, they took their departure, leaving city and lawsprecisely as they had found them on their entry. 

 (14) Lit. "laconism. "

To return to Iphicrates and his men: they frequently extended theirincursions even into Arcadia in many directions, (15) following theirusual guerilla tactics, but also making assaults on fortified posts. Theheavy infantry of the Arcadians positively refused to face them in thefield, so profound was the terror in which they held these light troops. In compensation, the light troops themselves entertained a wholesomedread of the Lacedaemonians, and did not venture to approach even withinjavelin-range of their heavy infantry. They had been taught a lessonwhen, within that distance, some of the younger hoplites had made a dashat them, catching and putting some of them to the sword. But howeverprofound the contempt of the Lacedaemonians for these light troops, their contempt for their own allies was deeper. (On one occasion (16) areinforcement of Mantineans had sallied from the walls between Corinthand Lechaeum to engage the peltasts, and had no sooner come under attackthan they swerved, losing some of their men as they made good theirretreat. The Lacedaemonians were unkind enough to poke fun at theseunfortunates. "Our allies, " they said, "stand in as much awe of thesepeltasts as children of the bogies and hobgoblins of their nurses. " Forthemselves, starting from Lechaeum, they found no difficulty in marchingright round the city of Corinth with a single Lacedaemonian division andthe Corinthian exiles. ) (17)

 (15) See Thuc. Ii. 4. 

 (16) See Grote, ix. 472 note. Lechaeum was not taken by the Lacedaemonians until the Corinthian long walls had been rebuilt by the Athenians. Possibly the incidents in this section (S. 17) occurred after the capture of Lechaeum. The historian introduces them parenthetically, as it were, in illustration of his main topic--the success of the peltasts. 

 (17) Or, adopting Schneider's conjecture, {estratopedeuonto}, add "and encamping. "

The Athenians, on their side, who felt the power of the Lacedaemoniansto be dangerously close, now that the walls of Corinth had been laidopen, and even apprehended a direct attack upon themselves, determinedto rebuild the portion of the wall severed by Praxitas. Accordinglythey set out with their whole force, including a suite of stonelayers, masons, and carpenters, and within a few days erected a quite splendidwall on the side facing Sicyon towards the west, (18) and then proceededwith more leisure to the completion of the eastern portion. 

 (18) See Thuc. Vi. 98. 

To turn once more to the other side: the Lacedaemonians, indignant atthe notion that the Argives should be gathering the produce of theirlands in peace at home, as if war were a pastime, marched against them. Agesilaus commanded the expedition, and after ravaging their territoryfrom one end to the other, crossed their frontier at Tenea (19) andswooped down upon Corinth, taking the walls which had been latelyrebuilt by the Athenians. He was supported on the sea side by hisbrother Teleutias (20) with a naval force of about twelve triremes, andthe mother of both was able to congratulate herself on the joint successof both her sons; one having captured the enemy's walls by land andthe other his ships and naval arsenal by sea, on the same day. Theseachievements sufficed Agesilaus for the present; he disbanded the armyof the allies and led the state troops home. 

 (19) Reading {Tenean}, Koppen's emendation for {tegean}. In the parallel passage ("Ages. " ii. 17) the text has {kata ta stena}. See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 471. 

 (20) See below, IV. Viii. 11. 

V

B. C. 390. (1) Subsequently the Lacedaemonians made a second expeditionagainst Corinth. They heard from the exiles that the citizens contrivedto preserve all their cattle in Peiraeum; indeed, large numbers derivedtheir subsistence from the place. Agesilaus was again in command of theexpedition. In the first instance he advanced upon the Isthmus. Itwas the month of the Isthmian games, (2) and here he found the Argivesengaged in conducting the sacrifice to Poseidon, as if Corinth wereArgos. So when they perceived the approach of Agesilaus, the Argives andtheir friends left the offerings as they lay, including the preparationsfor the breakfast, and retired with undisguised alarm into the cityby the Cenchrean road. (3) Agesilaus, though he observed the movement, refrained from giving chase, but taking up his quarters in the temple, there proceeded to offer victims to the god himself, and waited untilthe Corinthian exiles had celebrated the sacrifice to Poseidon, alongwith the games. But no sooner had Agesilaus turned his back and retired, than the Argives returned and celebrated the Isthmian games afresh;so that in this particular year there were cases in which the samecompetitors were twice defeated in this or that contest, or conversely, the same man was proclaimed victor twice over. 

 (1) Al. B. C. 392. The historian omits the overtures for peace, B. C. 391 (or 391-390) referred to in Andoc. "De Pace. " See Jebb, "Att. Or. " i. 83, 108; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 474; Curtius, "H. G. " Eng. Tr. Iv. 261. 

 (2) Grote and Curtius believe these to be the Isthmian games of 390 B. C. , not of 392 B. C. , as Sauppe and others suppose. See Peter, "Chron. Table, " p. 89, note 183; Jowett, "Thuc. " ii. 468, note on VIII. 9, 1. 

 (3) Lit. "road to Cenchreae. "

On the fourth day Agesilaus led his troops against Peiraeum, but findingit strongly defended, he made a sudden retrograde march after themorning meal in the direction of the capital, as though he calculated onthe betrayal of the city. The Corinthians, in apprehension of some suchpossible catastrophe, sent to summon Iphicrates with the largerportion of his light infantry. These passed by duly in the night, notunobserved, however, by Agesilaus, who at once turned round at break ofday and advanced on Piraeum. He himself kept to the low ground by thehot springs, (4) sending a division to scale the top of the pass. Thatnight he encamped at the hot springs, while the division bivouackedin the open, in possession of the pass. Here Agesilaus distinguishedhimself by an invention as seasonable as it was simple. Among thosewho carried provisions for the division not one had thought of bringingfire. The altitude was considerable; there had been a fall of rain andhail towards evening and the temperature was low; besides which, thescaling party were clad in thin garments suited to the summer season. There they sat shivering in the dark, with scarcely heart to attacktheir suppers, when Agesilaus sent up to them as many as ten porterscarrying fire in earthen pots. One found his way up one way, oneanother, and presently there were many bonfires blazing--magnificentlyenough, since there was plenty of wood to hand; so that all fell tooiling themselves and many supped over again. The same night the sky waslit up by the blaze of the temple of Poseidon--set on fire no one knowshow. 

 (4) Near mod. Lutraki. 

When the men in Piraeum perceived that the pass was occupied, they atonce abandoned all thought of self-defence and fled for refuge to theHeraion (5)--men and women, slaves and free-born, with the greater partof their flocks and herds. Agesilaus, with the main body, meanwhilepursued his march by the sea-shore, and the division, simultaneouslydescending from the heights, captured the fortified position of Oenoe, appropriating its contents. Indeed, all the troops on that day reapeda rich harvest in the supplies they brought in from various farmsteads. Presently those who had escaped into the Heraion came out, offering toleave it to Agesilaus to decide what he would do with them. He decidedto deliver up to the exiles all those concerned with the late butchery, and that all else should be sold. And so from the Heraion streamed outa long line of prisoners, whilst from other sides embassies arrived innumbers; and amongst these a deputation from the Boeotians, anxious tolearn what they should do to obtain peace. These latter Agesilaus, with a certain loftiness of manner, affected not even to see, althoughPharax, (6) their proxenus, stood by their side to introduce them. Seated in a circular edifice on the margin of the lake, (7) he surveyedthe host of captives and valuables as they were brought out. Beside theprisoners, to guard them, stepped the Lacedaemonian warriors from thecamp, carrying their spears--and themselves plucked all gaze their way, so readily will success and the transient fortune of the moment rivetattention. But even while Agesilaus was still thus seated, wearing alook betokening satisfaction at some great achievement, a horseman camegalloping up; the flanks of his charger streamed with sweat. To the manyinquiries what news he brought, the rider responded never a word; butbeing now close beside Agesilaus, he leaped from his horse, and runningup to him with lowering visage narrated the disaster of the Spartandivision (8) at Lechaeum. At these tidings the king sprang instantlyfrom his seat, clutching his spear, and bade his herald summon to ameeting the generals, captains of fifties, and commanders of foreignbrigades. (9) When these had rapidly assembled he bade them, seeing thatthe morning meal had not yet been tasted, to swallow hastily what theycould, and with all possible speed to overtake him. But for himself, he, with the officers of the royal staff, (10) set off at once withoutbreakfast. His bodyguard, with their heavy arms, accompanied him withall speed--himself in advance, the officers following behind. In thisfashion he had already passed beyond the warm springs, and was wellwithin the plateau of Lechaeum, when three horsemen rode up with furthernews: the dead bodies had been picked up. On receipt of these tidingshe commanded the troops to order arms, and having rested them a littlespace, led them back again to the Heraion. The next day he spent indisposing of the captured property. (11)

 (5) Or, "Heraeum, " i. E. Sanctuary of Hera, on a promontory so called. See Leake, "Morea, " iii. 317. 

 (6) See "Hell. " III. Ii. 12, if the same. 

 (7) Or, "on the round pavilion by the lake" (mod. Vuliasmeni). 

 (8) Technically "mora. "

 (9) Lit. The polemarchs, penteconters, and xenagoi. 

 (10) See "Pol. Lac. " xiii. 1. 

 (11) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 480, in reference to "Ages. " vii. 6. 

The ambassadors of the Boeotians were then summoned, and, being asked toexplain the object of their coming, made no further mention of theword "peace, " but replied that, if there was nothing to hinder it, theywished to have a pass to their own soldiers within the capital. The kinganswered with a smile: "I know your desire is not so much to see yoursoldiers as to feast your eyes on the good fortune of your friends, andto measure its magnitude. Wait then, I will conduct you myself; withme you will be better able to discover the true value of what has takenplace. " And he was as good as his word. Next day he sacrificed, and ledhis army up to the gates of Corinth. The trophy he respected, but notone tree did he leave standing--chopping and burning, as proof positivethat no one dared to face him in the field. And having so done, heencamped about Lechaeum; and as to the Theban ambassadors, in lieuof letting them pass into the city, he sent them off by sea across toCreusis. 

But in proportion to the unwontedness of such a calamity befallingLacedaemonians, a widespread mourning fell upon the whole Laconian army, those alone excepted whose sons or fathers or brothers had died at theirpost. The bearing of these resembled that of conquerors, (12) as withbright faces they moved freely to and fro, glorying in their domesticsorrow. Now the tragic fate which befell the division was on this wise:It was the unvaried custom of the men of Amyclae to return home atthe Hyacinthia, (13) to join in the sacred paean, a custom not to beinterrupted by active service or absence from home or for any otherreason. So, too, on this occasion, Agesilaus had left behind all theAmyclaeans serving in any part of his army at Lechaeum. At the rightmoment the general in command of the garrison at that place had postedthe garrison troops of the allies to guard the walls during his absence, and put himself at the head of his division of heavy infantry with thatof the cavalry, (14) and led the Amyclaeans past the walls of Corinth. Arrived at a point within three miles or so (15) of Sicyon, thepolemarch turned back himself in the direction of Lechaeum with hisheavy infantry regiment, six hundred strong, giving orders to thecavalry commandant to escort the Amyclaeans with his division as far asthey required, and then to turn and overtake him. It cannot be said thatthe Lacedaemonians were ignorant of the large number of light troops andheavy infantry inside Corinth, but owing to their former successes theyarrogantly presumed that no one would attack them. Within the capitalof the Corinthians, however, their scant numbers--a thin line of heavyinfantry unsupported by light infantry or cavalry--had been noted; andCallias, the son of Hipponicus, (16) who was in command of the Athenianhoplites, and Iphicrates at the head of his peltasts, saw no risk inattacking with the light brigade. Since if the enemy continued hismarch by the high road, he would be cut up by showers of javelins on hisexposed right flank; or if he were tempted to take the offensive, theywith their peltasts, the nimblest of all light troops, would easily slipout of the grasp of his hoplites. 

 (12) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 488. 

 (13) Observed on three days of the month Hecatombaeus (= July). See Muller's "Dorians, " ii. 360. For Amyclae, see Leake, "Morea, " i. Ch. Iv. P. 145 foll. ; Baedeker's "Greece, " p. 279. 

 (14) See below, "Hell. " VI. Iv. 12; and "Pol. Lac. " xi. 4, xiii. 4. 

 (15) Lit. "twenty or thirty stades. "

 (16) See Cobet, "Prosop. Xen. " p. 67 foll. 

With this clearly-conceived idea they led out their troops; and whileCallias drew up his heavy infantry in line at no great distance from thecity, Iphicrates and his peltasts made a dash at the returning division. 

The Lacedaemonians were presently within range of the javelins. (17)Here a man was wounded, and there another dropped, not to rise again. Each time orders were given to the attendant shield-bearers (18) to pickup the men and bear them into Lechaeum; and these indeed were theonly members of the mora who were, strictly speaking, saved. Then thepolemarch ordered the ten-years-service men (19) to charge and drive offtheir assailants. Charge, however, as they might, they took nothing bytheir pains--not a man could they come at within javelin range. Beingheavy infantry opposed to light troops, before they could get to closequarters the enemy's word of command sounded "Retire!" whilst as soonas their own ranks fell back, scattered as they were in consequence ofa charge where each man's individual speed had told, Iphicrates and hismen turned right about and renewed the javelin attack, while others, running alongside, harassed their exposed flank. At the very firstcharge the assailants had shot down nine or ten, and, encouraged bythis success, pressed on with increasing audacity. These attacks told soseverely that the polemarch a second time gave the order (and this timefor the fifteen-years-service men) to charge. The order was promptlyobeyed, but on retiring they lost more men than on the first occasion, and it was not until the pick and flower of the division had succumbedthat they were joined by their returning cavalry, in whose company theyonce again attempted a charge. The light infantry gave way, but theattack of the cavalry was feebly enforced. Instead of pressing home thecharge until at least they had sabred some of the enemy, they kept theirhorses abreast of their infantry skirmishers, (20) charging and wheelingside by side. 

 (17) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 467, note on the improvements of Iphicrates. 

 (18) Grote, "H. G. " ix. 484; cf. "Hell. " IV. Viii. 39; "Anab. " IV. Ii. 20; Herod. Ix. 10-29. 

 (19) Youngest rank and file, between eighteen and twenty-eight years of age, who formed the first line. The Spartan was liable to service at the age of eighteen. From twenty-eight to thirty-three he would belong to the fifteen-years-service division (the second line); and so on. See below, IV. Vi. 10. 

 (20) See Thuc. Iv. 125. 

Again and again the monotonous tale of doing and suffering repeateditself, except that as their own ranks grew thinner and their courageebbed, the courage of their assailants grew bolder and their numbersincreased. In desperation they massed compactly upon the narrow slope ofa hillock, distant a couple of furlongs (21) or so from the sea, and acouple of miles (22) perhaps from Lechaeum. Their friends in Lechaeum, perceiving them, embarked in boats and sailed round until they wereimmediately under the hillock. And now, in the very slough of despair, being so sorely troubled as man after man dropped dead, and unableto strike a blow, to crown their distress they saw the enemy's heavyinfantry advancing. Then they took to flight; some of them threwthemselves into the sea; others--a mere handful--escaped with thecavalry into Lechaeum. The death-roll, including those who fell in thesecond fight and the final flight, must have numbered two hundred andfifty slain, or thereabouts. (23) Such is the tale of the destruction ofthe Lacedaemonian mora. 

 (21) Lit. "two stades. "

 (22) Lit. "sixteen or seventeen stades. "

 (23) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 486. 

Subsequently, with the mutilated fragment of the division, Agesilausturned his back upon Lechaeum, leaving another division behind togarrison that port. On his passage homewards, as he wound his waythrough the various cities, he made a point of arriving at each as latein the day as possible, renewing his march as early as possible nextmorning. Leaving Orchomenus at the first streak of dawn, he passedMantinea still under cover of darkness. The spectacle of the Mantineansrejoicing at their misfortune would have been too severe an ordeal forhis soldiers. 

But Iphicrates had not yet reached the summit of his good fortune. Success followed upon success. Lacedaemonian garrisons had been placedin Sidus and Crommyon by Praxitas when he took these fortresses, andagain in Oenoe, when Peiraeum was taken quite lately by Agesilaus. Oneand all of these now fell into the hands of Iphicrates. Lechaeum stillheld out, garrisoned as it was by the Lacedaemonians and their allies;while the Corinthian exiles, unable since (24) the disaster of the moraany longer to pass freely by land from Sicyon, had the sea passage stillopen to them, and using Lechaeum as their base, (25) kept up a game ofmutual annoyance with the party in the capital. 

 (24) Lit. "owing to. "

 (25) The illustrative incidents narrated in chapter iv. 17 may belong to this period. 

VI

B. C. 390-389. (1) At a later date the Achaeans, being in possession ofCalydon, a town from old times belonging to Aetolia, and having furtherincorporated the Calydonians as citizens, (2) were under the necessityof garrisoning their new possession. The reason was, that theArcarnanians were threatening the place with an army, and were aidedby contingents from Athens and Boeotia, who were anxious to help theirallies. (3) Under the strain of this combined attack the Achaeansdespatched ambassadors to Lacedaemon, who on arrival complained of theunfair conduct of Lacedaemon towards themselves. "We, sirs, " they said, "are ever ready to serve in your armies, in obedience to whatever ordersyou choose to issue; we follow you whithersoever you think fit to lead;but when it comes to our being beleaguered by the Acarnanians, withtheir allies the Athenians and Boeotians, you show not the slightestconcern. Understand, then, that if things go on thus we cannot hold out;but either we must give up all part in the war in Peloponnesus and crossover in full force to engage the Arcarnanians, or we must make peacewith them on whatever terms we can. " This language was a tacit threatthat if they failed to obtain the assistance they felt entitled to fromLacedaemon they would quit the alliance. 

 (1) According to others (who suppose that the Isthmia and the events recorded in chapter v. 1-19 above belong to B. C. 392), we have now reached B. C. 391. 

 (2) Or, "having conferred a city organisation on the Calydonians. "

 (3) See Thuc. Ii. 68. 

The ephors and the assembly concluded that there was no alternativebut to assist the Achaeans in their campaign against the Acarnanians. Accordingly they sent out Agesilaus with two divisions and the propercomplement of allies. The Achaeans none the less marched out in fullforce themselves. No sooner had Agesilaus crossed the gulf than therewas a general flight of the population from the country districts intothe towns, whilst the flocks and herds were driven into remote districtsthat they might not be captured by the troops. Being now arrived onthe frontier of the enemy's territory, Agesilaus sent to the generalassembly of the Acarnanians at Stratus, (4) warning them that unlessthey chose to give up their alliance with the Boeotians and Athenians, and to take instead themselves and their allies, he would ravage theirterritory through its length and breadth, and not spare a single thing. When they turned a deaf ear to this summons, the other proceeded to dowhat he threatened, systematically laying the district waste, fellingthe timber and cutting down the fruit-trees, while slowly moving on atthe rate of ten or twelve furlongs a day. The Acarnanians, owing to thesnail-like progress of the enemy, were lulled into a sense of security. They even began bringing down their cattle from their alps, and devotedthemselves to the tillage of far the greater portion of their fields. But Agesilaus only waited till their rash confidence reached its climax;then on the fifteenth or sixteenth day after he head first entered thecountry he sacrificed at early dawn, and before evening had traversedeighteen miles (5) or so of country to the lake (6) round which werecollected nearly all the flocks and herds of the Acarnanians, and socaptured a vast quantity of cattle, horses, and grazing stock of allkinds, besides numerous slaves. 

 (4) "The Akarnanians had, in early times, occupied the hill of Olpai as a place for judicial proceedings common to the whole nation" (see Thuc. Iii. 105). "But in Thucydides' own time Stratos had attained its position as the greatest city of Akarnania, and probably the Federal Assemblies were already held there" (Thuc. Ii. 80). "In the days of Agesilaos we find Stratos still more distinctly marked as the place of Federal meeting. "--Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " ch. Iv. P. 148 foll. , "On the constitution of the League. "

 (5) Lit. "one hundred and sixty stades. "

 (6) See Thuc. Ii. 80; vi. 106. 

Having secured this prize, he stayed on the spot the whole of thefollowing day, and devoted himself to disposing of the captured propertyby public sale. While he was thus engaged, a large body of Arcarnanianlight infantry appeared, and availing themselves of the position inwhich Agesilaus was encamped against the mountain side, assailed himwith volleys of sling-stones and rocks from the razor-edge of themountain, without suffering any scathe themselves. By this means theysucceeded in dislodging and forcing his troops down into the levelplain, and that too at an hour when the whole camp was engaged inpreparations for the evening meal. As night drew on, the Acarnaniansretired; sentinels were posted, and the troops slept in peace. 

Next day Agesilaus led off his army. The exit from the plain andmeadow-land round the lake was a narrow aperture through a closeencircling range of hills. In occupation of this mountain barrier theAcarnanians, from the vantage-ground above, poured down a continuouspelt of stones and other missiles, or, creeping down to the fringes, dogged and annoyed them so much that the army was no longer able toproceed. If the heavy infantry or cavalry made sallies from the mainline they did no harm to their assailants, for the Acarnanians had onlyto retire and they had quickly gained their strongholds. It was toosevere a task, Agesilaus thought, to force his way through the narrowpass so sorely beset. He made up his mind, therefore, to charge thatportion of the enemy who dogged his left, though these were prettynumerous. The range of hills on this side was more accessible to heavyinfantry and horse alike. During the interval needed for the inspectionof victims, the Acarnanians kept plying them with javelins and bullets, and, coming into close proximity, wounded man after man. But presentlycame the word of command, "Advance!" and the fifteen-years-service menof the heavy infantry (7) ran forward, accompanied by the cavalry, at around pace, the general himself steadily following with the rest of thecolumn. Those of the Acarnanians who had crept down the mountain side atthat instant in the midst of their sharpshooting turned and fled, and asthey climbed the steep, man after man was slain. When, however, the topof the pass was reached, there stood the hoplites of the Acarnaniansdrawn up in battle line, and supported by the mass of their lightinfantry. There they steadily waited, keeping up a continuous dischargeof missiles the while, or launching their long spears; whereby theydealt wounds to the cavalry troopers and death in some cases to thehorses. But when they were all but within the clutches of the advancingheavy infantry (8) of the Lacedaemonians their firmness forsook them;they swerved and fled, and there died of them on that day about threehundred. So ended the affair. 

 (7) I. E. "the first two ranks. " See above, IV. V. 14. 

 (8) See "Ages. " ii. 20, for an extraordinary discrepancy. 

Agesilaus set up a trophy of victory, and afterwards making a tour ofthe country, he visited it with fire and sword. (9) Occasionally, inobedience to pressure put upon him by the Achaeans, he would assaultsome city, but did not capture a single one. And now, as the season ofautumn rapidly approached, he prepared to leave the country; whereuponthe Achaeans, who looked upon his exploits as abortive, seeing that nota single city, willingly or unwillingly, had as yet been detached fromtheir opponents, begged him, as the smallest service he could renderthem, at any rate to stay long enough in the country to prevent theAcarnanians from sowing their corn. He answered that the course theysuggested ran counter to expediency. "You forget, " he said, "that I meanto invade your enemies again next summer; and therefore the larger theirsowing now, the stronger will be their appetite for peace hereafter. "With this retort he withdrew overland through Aetolia, and by roads, moreover, which no army, small or great, could possibly have traversedwithout the consent of the inhabitants. The Aetolians, however, wereonly too glad to yield the Spartan king a free passage, cherishing hopesas they did that he would aid them to recover Naupactus. On reachingRhium (10) he crossed the gulf at that point and returned homewards, the more direct passage from Calydon to Peloponnesus being effectuallybarred by an Athenian squadron stationed at Oeniadae. 

 (9) Or lit. "burning and felling. "

 (10) Or Antirrhium (as more commonly called). 

VII

B. C. 389-388. (1) On the expiration of winter, and in fulfilment of hispromise to the Achaeans, Agesilaus called out the ban once more withearly spring to invade the Acarnanians. The latter were apprised of hisintention, and, being persuaded that owing to the midland situation oftheir cities they would just as truly be blockaded by an enemy who choseto destroy their corn as they would be if besieged with entrenchments inregular form, they sent ambassadors to Lacedaemon, and made peace withthe Achaeans and alliance with the Lacedaemonians. Thus closes this pageof history concerning the affairs of Arcarnania. 

 (1) According to others, B. C. 390. 

To turn to the next. There was a feeling on the part of theLacedaemonians (2) that no expedition against Athens or Boeotia would besafe so long as a state so important and so close to their own frontieras Argos remained in open hostility behind them. Accordingly they calledout the ban against Argos. Now when Agesipolis learnt that the duty ofleadership devolved on him, and, moreover, that the sacrifices beforecrossing the frontier were favourable, he went to Olympia and consultedthe will of the god. "Would it be lawful to him, " he inquired, "not toaccept the holy truce, on the ground that the Argives made the seasonfor it (3) depend not on a fixed date, but on the prospect of aLacedaemonian invasion?" The god indicated to the inquirer that he mightlawfully repudiate any holy truce which was fraudulently antedated. (4)Not content with this, the young king, on leaving Olympia, went at onceto Delphi, and at that shrine put the same question to Apollo: "Were hisviews in accordance with his Father's as touching the holy truce?"--towhich the son of Zeus made answer: "Yea, altogether in accordance. " (5)

 (2) Or, "It was agreed by the Lacedaemonians. "

 (3) I. E. "the season of the Carneia. "

 (4) Or, "wrongfully put forward. " See below, V. I. 29; iii. 28; Paus. III. V. 8; Jebb. "Att. Or. " i. P. 131; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 494 foll. ; Jowett, "Thuc. " ii. 315; note to Thuc. V. Liv. 3. 

 (5) Grote; cf. Aristot. "Rhet. " ii. 33. 

Then without further hesitation, picking up his army at Phlius(where, during his absence to visit the temples, the troops had beencollecting), he advanced by Nemea into the enemy's territory. TheArgives, on their side, perceiving that they would be unable to hinderhis advance, in accordance with their custom sent a couple of heralds, garlanded, and presented their usual plea of a holy truce. Agesipolisanswered them curtly that the gods were not satisfied with the justiceof their plea, and, refusing to accept the truce, pushed forward, causing thereby great perplexity and consternation throughout the ruraldistricts and the capital itself. 

But while he was getting his evening meal that first evening in theArgive territory--just at the moment when the after-dinner libation hadbeen poured out--the god sent an earthquake; and with one consent theLacedaemonians, beginning with the officers of the royal quarters, sang the sacred hymn of Poseidon. The soldiers, in general, expected toretreat, arguing that, on the occurrence of an earthquake once before, Agis had retired from Elis. But Agesipolis held another view: if the godhad sent his earthquake at the moment when he was meditating invasion, he should have understood that the god forbade his entrance; but now, when the invasion was a thing effected, he must needs take it as asignal of his approval. (6) Accordingly next morning he sacrificed toPoseidon, and advanced a short distance further into the country. 

 (6) Or, "interpret the signal as a summons to advance. "

The late expedition of Agesilaus into Argos (7) was still fresh in men'sminds, and Agesipolis was eager to ascertain from the soldiers how closehis predecessor had advanced to the fortification walls; or again, howfar he had gone in ravaging the open country--not unlike a competitorin the pentathlon, (8) eager to cap the performance of his rival in eachevent. On one occasion it was only the discharge of missiles from thetowers which forced him to recross the trenches round the walls; onanother, profiting by the absence of the majority of the Argives inLaconian territory, he came so close to the gates that their officersactually shut out their own Boeotian cavalry on the point of entering, in terror lest the Lacedaemonians might pour into the town in company, and these Boeotian troopers were forced to cling, like bats to a wall, under each coign of vantage beneath the battlements. Had it not been forthe accidental absence of the Cretans, (9) who had gone off on a raid toNauplia, without a doubt numbers of men and horses would have beenshot down. At a later date, while encamping in the neighbourhood of theEnclosures, (10) a thunder-bolt fell into his camp. One or two men werestruck, while others died from the effect of the concussion on theirbrains. At a still later period he was anxious to fortify some sort ofgarrison outpost in the pass of Celusa, (11) but upon offering sacrificethe victims proved lobeless, (12) and he was constrained to lead backand disband his army--not without serious injury inflicted on theArgives, as the result of an invasion which had taken them wholly bysurprise. 

 (7) See above, "Hell. " IV. Iv. 19. 

 (8) The pentathlon of Olympia and the other great games consisted of five contests, in the following order--(1) leaping, (2) discus- throwing, (3) javelin-throwing, (4) running, (5) wrestling. Cf. Simonides, {alma podokeien diskon akonta palen}, where, "metri gratia, " the order is inverted. The competitors were drawn in pairs. The odd man who drew a bye in any particular round or heat was called the "ephedros. " The successful athletes of the pairs, that is, those who had won any three events out of five, would then again be drawn against each other, and so on until only two were left, between whom the final heat took place. See, for an exhaustive discussion of the subject, Prof. Percy Gardner, "The Pentathlon of the Greeks" ("Journal of Hellenic Studies, " vol. I. 9, p. 210 foll. Pl. Viii. ), from whom this note is taken. 

 (9) See Thuc. Vii. 57. 

 (10) {peri tas eirktas}--what these were no one knows, possibly a stone quarry used as a prison. Cf. "Cyrop. " III. I. 19; "Mem. " II. I. 5; see Grote, "H. G. " ix. 497; Paus. III. V.. 8. 

 (11) Or Celossa. See Strabo, viii. 382. 

 (12) I. E. "hopeless. " See above, III. Iv. 15. 

VIII

394 B. C. Such were the land operations in the war. Meanwhile anotherseries of events was being enacted on the sea and within the seaboardcities; and these I will now narrate in detail. But I shall confine mypen to the more memorable incidents, and others of less account I shallpass over. 

In the first place, then, Pharnabazus and Conon, after defeating theLacedaemonians in the naval engagement of Cnidus, commenced a tour ofinspection round the islands and the maritime states, expelling fromthem, as they visited them, one after another the Spartan governors. (1)Everywhere they gave consolatory assurances to the citizens that theyhad no intention of establishing fortress citadels within their walls, or in any way interfering with their self-government. (2) Such wordsfell soothingly upon the ears of those to whom they were addressed;the proposals were courteously accepted; all were eager to presentPharnabazus with gifts of friendship and hospitality. The satrap, indeed, was only applying the instructions of his master Conon on thesematters--who had taught him that if he acted thus all the states wouldbe friendly to him, whereas, if he showed any intention to enslave them, the smallest of them would, as Conon insisted, be capable of causinga world of trouble, and the chances were, if apprehensions were onceexcited, he would find himself face to face with a coalition of unitedHellas. To these admonitions Pharnabazus lent a willing ear. 

 (1) Lit. "the Laconian harmosts. "

 (2) See Hicks, 70, "Honours to Konon, " Inscript. Found at Erythrae in Ionia. Cf. Diod. Xiv. 84. 

Accordingly, when disembarking at Ephesus, he presented Conon with afleet of forty sail, (3) and having further instructed him to meet himat Sestos, (4) set off himself by land along the coast to visit his ownprovinces. For here it should be mentioned that his old enemy Dercylidashappened to be in Abydos at the time of the sea-fight; (5) nor had he ata later date suffered eclipse with the other governors, (6) but onthe contrary, had kept tight hold of Abydos and still preserved it inattachment to Lacedaemon. The course he had adopted was to summon ameeting of the Abydenians, when he made them a speech as follows: "Sirs, to-day it is possible for you, who have before been friends to my city, to appear as benefactors of the Lacedaemonians. For a man to provefaithful to his friends in the heyday of their good fortune is no greatmarvel; but to prove steadfast when his friends are in misfortune--thatis a service monumental for all time. But do not mistake me. It does notfollow that, because we have been defeated in a great sea-fight, we aretherefore annihilated. (7) Certainly not. Even in old days, you willadmit, when Athens was mistress of the sea, our state was not powerlessto benefit friends or chastise enemies. Moreover, in proportion as therest of the cities have joined hands with fortune to turn their backsupon us, so much the more certainly will the grandeur of your fidelityshine forth. Or, is any one haunted by the fear that we may findourselves blockaded by land and sea?--let him consider that at presentthere is no Hellenic navy whatever on the seas, and if the barbarianattempts to clutch the empire of the sea, Hellas will not sit by andsuffer it; so that, if only in self-defence, she must inevitably takeyour side. "

 (3) See Diod. Xiv. 83. 

 (4) See above, "Hell. " II. I. 27 foll. 

 (5) See above, "Hell. " IV. Iii. 3. 

 (6) Lit. "harmosts. "

 (7) Or, "we are beaten, ergo, it is all over with us. "

To this the Abydenians lent no deaf ears, but rather responded withwillingness approaching enthusiasm--extending the hand of fellowshipto the ex-governors, some of whom were already flocking to Abydos as aharbour of refuge, whilst others they sent to summon from a distance. 

So when a number of efficient and serviceable men had been collected, Dercylidas ventured to cross over to Sestos--lying, as it does, not morethan a mile (8) distant, directly facing Abydos. There he not onlyset about collecting those who held lands in the Chersonese throughLacedaemonian influence, but extended his welcome also to the governors(9) who had been driven out of European states. (10) He insistedthat, if they came to think of it, not even was their case desperate, reminding them that even in Asia, which originally belonged to thePersian monarch, places were to be found--such as the little state ofTemnos, or Aegae, and others, capable of administering their affairs, unsubjected to the king of Persia. "But, " he added, "if you want astrong impregnable position, I cannot conceive what better you can findthan Sestos. Why, it would need a combined naval and military force toinvest that port. " By these and such like arguments he rescued them fromthe lethargy of despair. 

 (8) Lit. "eight stades. "

 (9) Lit. "harmosts. "

 (10) See Demos. "de Cor. " 96. 

Now when Pharnabazus found Abydos and Sestos so conditioned, he gavethem to understand that unless they chose to eject the Lacedaemonians, he would bring war to bear upon them; and when they refused to obey, having first assigned to Conon as his business to keep the sea closedagainst them, he proceeded in person to ravage the territory of the menof Abydos. Presently, finding himself no nearer the fulfilment of hisobject--which was their reduction--he set off home himself and left itto Conon the while so to conciliate the Hellespontine states that aslarge a naval power as possible might be mustered against the comingspring. In his wrath against the Lacedaemonians, in return for thetreatment he had received from them, his paramount object was to invadetheir territory and exact what vengeance he could. 

B. C. 393. The winter was thus fully taken up with preparations; but withthe approach of spring, Pharnabazus and Conon, with a large fleet fullymanned, and a foreign mercenary brigade to boot, threaded their waythrough the islands to Melos. (11) This island was to serve as a base ofoperations against Lacedaemon. And in the first instance he sailed downto Pherae (12) and ravaged that district, after which he made successivedescents at various other points on the seaboard, and did what injuryhe could. But in apprehension of the harbourless character of the coast, coupled with the enemy's facility of reinforcement and his own scarcityof supplies, he very soon turned back and sailed away, until finally hecame to moorings in the harbour of Phoenicus in Cythera. The occupantsof the city of the Cytherians, in terror of being taken by storm, evacuated the walls. To dismiss these under a flag of truce across toLaconia was his first step; his second was to repair the fortressin question and to leave a garrison in the island under an Atheniangovernor--Nicophemus. After this he set sail to the Isthmus of Corinth, where he delivered an exhortation to the allies begging them toprosecute the war vigorously, and to show themselves faithful to theGreat King; and so, having left them all the moneys he had with him, setoff on his voyage home. 

 (11) See Lys. Xix. "de bon. Arist. " 19 foll. ; and Hicks, 71, "Honours to Dionysios I. And his court"; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 453. 

 (12) Mod. Kalamata. 

But Conon had a proposal to make:--If Pharnabazus would allow him tokeep the fleet, he would undertake, in the first place, to support itfree of expense from the islands; besides which, he would sail to hisown country and help his fellow-citizens the Athenians to rebuild theirlong walls and the fortifications round Piraeus. No heavier blow, heinsisted, could well be inflicted on Lacedaemon. "In this way, I canassure you, " he added, "you will win the eternal gratitude of theAthenians and wreak consummate vengeance on the Lacedaemonians, sinceat one stroke you will render null and void that on which they havebestowed their utmost labour. " These arguments so far weighed withPharnabazus that he despatched Conon to Athens with alacrity, andfurther supplied him with funds for the restoration of the walls. Thusit was that Conon, on his arrival at Athens, was able to rebuild a largeportion of the walls--partly by lending his own crews, and partly bygiving pay to carpenters and stone-masons, and meeting all the necessaryexpenses. There were other portions of the walls which the Athenians andBoeotians and other states raised as a joint voluntary undertaking. 

Nor must it be forgotten that the Corinthians, with the funds left themby Pharnabazus, manned a fleet--the command of which they entrustedto their admiral Agathinus--and so were undisputed masters of the seawithin the gulf round Achaia and Lechaeum. 

B. C. 393-391. The Lacedaemonians, in opposition, fitted out a fleetunder the command of Podanemus. That officer, in an attack of no greatmoment, lost his life, and Pollis, (13) his second in command, waspresently in his turn obliged to retire, being wounded, whereuponHerippidas took command of the vessels. On the other hand, Proaenusthe Corinthian, who had relieved Agathinus, evacuated Rhium, and theLacedaemonians recovered that post. Subsequently Teleutias succeeded toHerippidas's fleet, and it was then the turn of that admiral to dominatethe gulf. (14)

 (13) See "Hell. " I. I. 23. 

 (14) According to Grote ("H. G. " ix. 471, note 2), this section summarises the Lacedaemonian maritime operations in the Corinthian Gulf from the late autumn of 393 B. C. Till the appointment of Teleutias in the spring or early summer of 391 B. C. , the year of the expedition of Agesilaus recounted above, "Hell. " IV. Iv. 19. 

B. C. 392. The Lacedaemonians were well informed of the proceedings ofConon. They knew that he was not only restoring the fortificationsof Athens by help of the king's gold, but maintaining a fleet at hisexpense besides, and conciliating the islands and seaboard citiestowards Athens. If, therefore, they could indoctrinate Tiribazus--whowas a general of the king--with their sentiments, they believed theycould not fail either to draw him aside to their own interests, or, atany rate, to put a stop to his feeding Conon's navy. With this intentionthey sent Antalcidas to Tiribazus: (15) his orders were to carry outthis policy and, if possible, to arrange a peace between Lacedaemon andthe king. The Athenians, getting wind of this, sent a counter-embassy, consisting of Hermogenes, Dion, Callisthenes, and Callimedon, with Cononhimself. They at the same time invited the attendance of ambassadorsfrom the allies, and there were also present representatives of theBoeotians, of Corinth, and of Argos. When they had arrived at theirdestination, Antalcidas explained to Tiribazus the object of hisvisit: he wished, if possible, to cement a peace between the statehe represented and the king--a peace, moreover, exactly suited to theaspirations of the king himself; in other words, the Lacedaemonians gaveup all claim to the Hellenic cities in Asia as against the king, whilefor their own part they were content that all the islands and othercities should be independent. "Such being our unbiased wishes, " hecontinued, "for what earthly reason should (the Hellenes or) the kinggo to war with us? or why should he expend his money? The king isguaranteed against attack on the part of Hellas, since the Athenians arepowerless apart from our hegemony, and we are powerless so long as theseparate states are independent. " The proposals of Antalcidas soundedvery pleasantly in the ears of Tiribazus, but to the opponents ofSparta they were the merest talk. The Athenians were apprehensive ofan agreement which provided for the independence of the cities in theislands, whereby they might be deprived of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros. The Thebans, again, were afraid of being compelled to let the Boeotianstates go free. The Argives did not see how such treaty contractsand covenants were compatible with the realisation of their own greatobject--the absorption of Corinth by Argos. And so it came to pass thatthis peace (16) proved abortive, and the representatives departed eachto his own home. 

 (15) See Plut. "Ages. " xxiii. (Clough, iv. P. 27); and for the date B. C. 392 (al. B. C. 393) see Grote, "H. G. " ix. 498. 

 (16) See Andoc. "de Pace"; Jebb, "Attic Or. " i. 83, 128 foll. Prof. Jebb assigns this speech to B. C. 390 rather than B. C. 391. See also Grote, "H. G. " ix. 499; Diod. Xiv. 110. 

Tiribazus, on his side, thought it hardly consistent with his own safetyto adopt the cause of the Lacedaemonians without the concurrence ofthe king--a scruple which did not prevent him from privately presentingAntalcidas with a sum of money, in hopes that when the Athenians andtheir allies discovered that the Lacedaemonians had the wherewithal tofurnish a fleet, they might perhaps be more disposed to desire peace. Further, accepting the statements of the Lacedaemonians as true, hetook on himself to secure the person of Conon, as guilty of wrongdoingtowards the king, and shut him up. (17) That done, he set off upcountry to the king to recount the proposals of Lacedaemon, with his ownsubsequent capture of Conon as a mischievous man, and to ask for furtherguidance on all these matters. 

 (17) See Diod. Xiv. 85; and Corn. Nep. 5. 

On the arrival of Tiribazus at the palace, the king sent down Struthasto take charge of the seaboard district. The latter, however, was astrong partisan of Athens and her allies, since he found it impossibleto forget the long list of evils which the king's country had sufferedat the hands of Agesilaus; so that the Lacedaemonians, contrastingthe hostile disposition of the new satrap towards themselves with hisfriendliness to the Athenians, sent Thibron to deal with him by force ofarms. 

B. C. 391. (18) That general crossed over and established his baseof operations in Ephesus and the towns in the plain of theMaeander--Priene, Leucophrys, and Achilleum--and proceeded to harry theking's territory, sparing neither live nor dead chattels. But as timewent on, Struthas, who could not but note the disorderly, and indeedrecklessly scornful manner in which the Lacedaemonian brought up hissupports on each occasion, despatched a body of cavalry into the plain. Their orders were to gallop down and scour the plain, making a cleansweep (19) of all they could lay their hands on. Thibron, as itbefell, had just finished breakfast, and was returning to the messwith Thersander the flute-player. The latter was not only a goodflute-player, but, as affecting Lacedaemonian manners, laid claim topersonal prowess. Struthas, then, seeing the disorderly advance of thesupports and the paucity of the vanguard, appeared suddenly at the headof a large body of cavalry, all in orderly array. Thibron and Thersanderwere the first to be cut down, and when these had fallen the rest of thetroops were easily turned. A mere chase ensued, in which man afterman was felled to earth, though a remnant contrived to escape into thefriendly cities; still larger numbers owed their safety to their latediscovery of the business on hand. Nor, indeed, was this the first timethe Spartan commander had rushed to the field, without even issuing ageneral order. So ends the history of these events. 

 (18) Al. B. C. 392, al. B. C. 390. 

 (19) See "Hell. " VII. I. 40; "Cyrop. " I. Iv. 17; III. Iii. 23; "Anab. " VI. Iii. 3. 

B. C. 390. (20) We pass on to the arrival at Lacedaemon of a party ofRhodian exiles expelled by the popular party. They insisted that it wasnot equitable to allow the Athenians to subjugate Rhodes and thus buildup so vast a power. The Lacedaemonians were alive to the fact that thefate of Rhodes depended on which party in the state prevailed: if thedemocracy were to dominate, the whole island must fall into the hands ofAthens; if the wealthier classes, (21) into their own. Accordingly theyfitted out for them a fleet of eight vessels, and put Ecdicus in commandof it as admiral. 

 (20) Grote, "H. G. " ix. 504; al. B. C. 391. 

 (21) Or, "the Lacedaemonians were not slow to perceive that the whole island of Rhodes was destined to fall either into the hands of Athens or of themselves, according as the democracy or the wealthier classes respectively dominated. "

At the same time they despatched another officer on board these vesselsnamed Diphridas, on a separate mission. His orders were to cross overinto Asia and to secure the states which had received Thibron. He wasalso to pick up the survivors of Thibron's army, and with these troops, aided by a second army which he would collect from any other quarteropen to him, he was to prosecute the war against Struthas. Diphridasfollowed out his instructions, and amongst other achievements wasfortunate enough to capture Tigranes, (22) the son-in-law of Struthas, with his wife, on their road to Sardis. The sum paid for their ransomwas so large that he at once had the wherewithal to pay his mercenaries. Diphridas was no less attractive than his predecessor Thibron; buthe was of a more orderly temperament, steadier, and incomparably moreenterprising as a general; the secret of this superiority being thathe was a man over whom the pleasures of the body exercised no sway. Hebecame readily absorbed in the business before him--whatever he had todo he did it with a will. 

 (22) See "Anab. " VII. Viii. 9 for a similar exploit. 

Ecdicus having reached Cnidus, there learned that the democracy inRhones were entirely masters of the situation. They were dominant byland and sea; indeed they possessed a fleet twice the size of hisown. He was therefore content to keep quiet in Cnidus until theLacedaemonians, perceiving that his force was too small to allow him tobenefit their friends, determined to relieve him. With this view theyordered Teleutias to take the twelve ships which formed his squadron (atpresent in the gulf adjoining Achaia and Lechaeum), (23) and to feel hisway round to Ecdicus: that officer he was to send home. For himself, hewas to undertake personally to protect the interests of all who cared tobe their friends, whilst injuring the enemy by every possible means. 

 (23) See above, IV. Viii. 11. 

So then Teleutias, having reached Samos, where he added some vessels tohis fleet, set sail to Cnidus. At this point Ecdicus returned home, andTeleutias, continuing his voyage, reached Rhodes, at the head now ofseven-and-twenty vessels. It was during this portion of the voyage thathe fell in with Philocrates, the son of Ephialtes, who was sailing fromAthens to Cyprus with ten triremes, in aid of their ally Evagoras. (24)The whole flotilla fell into the Spartan's hands--a curious instance, itmay be added, of cross purposes on the part of both belligerents. Herewere the Athenians, supposed to be on friendly terms with the king, engaged in sending an allied force to support Evagoras, who was at openwar with him; and here again was Teleutias, the representative of apeople at war with Persia, engaged in crippling a fleet which had beendespatched on a mission hostile to their adversary. Teleutias putback into Cnidus to dispose of his captives, and so eventually reachedRhodes, where his arrival brought timely aid to the party in favour ofLacedaemon. 

 (24) See Diod. Xiv. 98; Hicks, 72; Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. P. 397; Isoc. "Evag. " 54-57; Paus. I. Iii. 1; Lys. "de bon. Ar. " 20; Dem. P. 161. 

B. C. 389. (25) And now the Athenians, fully impressed with the beliefthat their rivals were laying the basis of a new naval supremacy, despatched Thrasybulus the Steirian to check them, with a fleet of fortysail. That officer set sail, but abstained from bringing aid to Rhodes, and for good reasons. In Rhodes the Lacedaemonian party had hold ofthe fortress, and would be out of reach of his attack, especially asTeleutias was close at hand to aid them with his fleet. On the otherhand, his own friends ran no danger of succumbing to the enemy, asthey held the cities and were numerically much stronger, and they hadestablished their superiority in the field. Consequently he made forthe Hellespont, where, in the absence of any rival power, he hoped toachieve some stroke of good fortune for his city. Thus, in the firstplace, having detected the rivalries existing between Medocus, (26)the king of the Odrysians, and Seuthes, (27) the rival ruler of theseaboard, he reconciled them to each other, and made them friends andallies of Athens; in the belief that if he secured their friendship theHellenic cities on the Thracian coast would show greater proclivity toAthens. Such being the happy state of affairs not only in Europe but asregards the states in Asia also, thanks to the friendly attitude ofthe king to his fellow-citizens, he sailed into Byzantium and sold thetithe-duty levied on vessels arriving from the Euxine. By another strokehe converted the oligarchy of Byzantium into a democracy. The result ofthis was that the Byzantine demos (28) were no longer sorry to see asvast a concourse of Athenians in their city as possible. Having so done, and having further won the friendship of the men of Calchedon, he setsail south of the Hellespont. Arrived at Lesbos, he found all the citiesdevoted to Lacedaemon with the exception of Mytilene. He was thereforeloth to attack any of the former until he had organised a force withinthe latter. This force consisted of four hundred hoplites, furnishedfrom his own vessels, and a corps of exiles from the differentcities who had sought shelter in Mytilene; to which he added a stoutcontingent, the pick of the Mytileneian citizens themselves. He stirredthe ardour of the several contingents by suitable appeals: representingto the men of Mytilene that by their capture of the cities they would atonce become the chiefs and patrons of Lesbos; to the exiles he made itappear that if they would but unite to attack each several city in turn, they might all reckon on their particular restoration; while he neededonly to remind his own warriors that the acquisition of Lesbos meant notonly the attachment of a friendly city, but the discovery of a mineof wealth. The exhortations ended and the contingents organised, headvanced against Methymna. 

 (25) Grote, "H. G. " ix. 507. 

 (26) Al. Amedocus. 

 (27) For Seuthes, see above, "Hell. " III. Ii. 2, if the same. 

 (28) For the varying fortunes of the democrats at Byzantium in 408 B. C. And 405 B. C. , see above, ("Hell. " I. Iii. 18; II. Ii. 2); for the present moment, 390-389 B. C. , see Demosth. "c. Lept. " 475; for the admission of Byzantium into the new naval confederacy in 378 B. C. , see Hicks, 68; Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. 19; and for B. C. 363, Isocr. "Phil. " 53; Diod. Xv. 79; and for its commercial prosperity, Polyb. Iv. 38-47. 

Therimachus, who chanced to be the Lacedaemonian governor at the time, on hearing of the meditated attack of Thrasybulus, had taken a bodyof marines from his vessels, and, aided by the citizens of Methymnathemselves, along with all the Mytileneian exiles to be found in thatplace, advanced to meet the enemy on their borders. A battle was foughtand Therimachus was slain, a fate shared by several of the exiles of hisparty. 

As a result (29) of his victory the Athenian general succeeded inwinning the adhesion of some of the states; or, where adhesionwas refused, he could at least raise supplies for his soldiers byfreebooting expeditions, and so hastened to reach his goal, which wasthe island of Rhodes. His chief concern was to support as powerful anarmy as possible in those parts, and with this object he proceededto levy money aids, visiting various cities, until he finally reachedAspendus, and came to moorings in the river Eurymedon. The money wassafely collected from the Aspendians, and the work completed, when, taking occasion of some depredations (30) of the soldiers on thefarmsteads, the people of the place in a fit of irritation burst intothe general's quarters at night and butchered him in his tent. 

 (29) According to some critics, B. C. 389 is only now reached. 

 (30) See Diod. Xiv. 94. 

So perished Thrasybulus, (31) a good and great man by all admission. Inroom of him the Athenians chose Agyrrhius, (32) who was despatched totake command of the fleet. And now the Lacedaemonians--alive to the factthat the sale of the Euxine tithe-dues had been negotiated in Byzantiumby Athens; aware also that as long as the Athenians kept hold onCalchedon the loyalty of the other Hellespontine cities was secured tothem (at any rate while Pharnabazus remained their friend)--felt thatthe state of affairs demanded their serious attention. They attached noblame indeed to Dercylidas. Anaxibius, however, through the friendshipof the ephors, contrived to get himself appointed as governor, on amission to Abydos. With the requisite funds and ships, he promised toexert such hostile pressure upon Athens that at least her prospectsin the Hellespont would cease to be so sunny. His friends the ephorsgranted him in return for these promises three ships of war and fundsto support a thousand mercenaries, and so they despatched him on hismission. Reaching Abydos, he set about improving his naval and militaryposition. First he collected a foreign brigade, by help of which he drewoff some of the Aeolid cities from Pharnabazus. Next he set on foota series of retaliatory expeditions against the states which attackedAbydos, marching upon them and ravaging their territories; and lastly, manning three vessels besides those which he already held in the harbourof Abydos, he intercepted and brought into port all the merchant shipsof Athens or of her allies which he could lay hands on. 

 (31) "Thus perished the citizen to whom, more than any one else, Athens owed not only her renovated democracy, but its wise, generous, and harmonious working, after renovation. "--Grote, "H. G. " ix. 509. 

 (32) For this statesman, see Demosth. "c. Timocr. " 742; Andoc. "de Myst. " 133; Aristot. "Ath. Pol. " 41, and Mr. Kenyon's notes ad loc. ; Aristoph. "Eccles. " 102, and the Schol. Ad loc. ; Diod. Xiv. 99; Curtius, "H. G. " Eng tr. Iv. 280. 

Getting wind of these proceedings, the Athenians, fearing lest the fairfoundation laid for them by Thrasybulus in the Hellespont should beruined, sent out Iphicrates with eight vessels and twelve hundredpeltasts. The majority of them (33) consisted of troops which he hadcommanded at Corinth. In explanation it may be stated that the Argives, when once they had appropriated Corinth and incorporated it with Argos, gave out they had no further need of Iphicrates and his troops; the realfact being that he had put to death some of the partisans of Argos. (34)And so it was he turned his back on Corinth and found himself at home inAthens at the present crisis. 

 (33) Or, "The mass of them. "

 (34) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. P. 491 note. The "Argolising" or philo- Argeian party, as opposed to the philo-Laconian party. See above, "Hell. " IV. Iv. 6. 

B. C. 389-388. When Iphicrates first reached the Chersonese he andAnaxibius carried on war against each other by the despatch of guerillaor piratic bands across the straits. But as time wore on, informationreached him of the departure of Anaxibius to Antandrus, accompaniedby his mercenaries and his own bodyguard of Laconians and two hundredAbydenian hoplites. Hearing further that Anaxibius had won the friendlyadhesion of Antandrus, Iphicrates conjectured that after establishing agarrison in that place he would make the best of his way back, if onlyto bring the Abydenians home again. He therefore crossed in the night, selecting a desert point on the Abydene coast, from which he scaledthe hills above the town and planted himself in ambuscade within theirfolds. The triremes which brought him across had orders at break of dayto coast up northwards along the Chersonese, which would suggest thenotion that he was only out on one of his customary voyages to collectmoney. The sequel more than fulfilled his expectations. Anaxibius beganhis return march, and if report speaks truly, he did so notwithstandingthat the victims were against his marching that day; contemptuouslydisregarding the warning, and satisfied that his march lay all alongthrough a friendly country and was directed to a friendly city. Besideswhich, those whom he met assured him that Iphicrates was off on a voyageto Proconnesus: hence the unusual absence of precaution on the march. On his side Iphicrates saw the chance, but, so long as the troops ofAnaxibius lingered on the level bottoms, refused to spring from hislair, waiting for the moment when the Abydenian division in the vanwas safely landed in the plain of Cremaste, at the point where thegold mines stand; the main column following on the downward slope, andAnaxibius with his Laconians just beginning the descent. At that instantIphicrates set his ambuscade in motion, and dashed against the Spartanat full speed. The latter quickly discerned that there was no hope ofescape as he scanned the long straggling line of his attenuated column. The troops in advance, he was persuaded, would never be able to comeback to his aid up the face of that acclivity; besides which, heobserved the utter bewilderment of the whole body at sight of theambuscade. He therefore turned to those next him, and spoke as follows:"Sirs, it is good for me to die on this spot, where honour bids me; butfor you, sirs, yonder your path lies, haste and save yourselves (35)before the enemy can close with us. " As the words died on his lips hetook from the hands of his attendant shield-bearer his heavy shield, andthere, at his post, unflinchingly fought and fell; not quite alone, for by his side faithfully lingered a favourite youth, and of theLacedaemonian governors who had rallied to Abydos from their severalcities yet other twelve fought and fell beside the pair. The rest fled, dropping down one by one as the army pursued them to the walls of thecity. The death-roll amounted to something like fifty hoplites of theAbydenians, and of the rest two hundred. After this exploit Iphicratesreturned to the Chersonese. (36)

 (35) Or, "sauve qui peut. "

 (36) See Hicks, 76; and below, "Hell. " V. I. 31. 

BOOK V

I

B. C. 388. Such was the state of affairs in the Hellespont, so far atleast as Athens and Sparta are concerned. Eteonicus was once more inAegina; and notwithstanding that the Aeginetans and Athenians had up tothis time held commercial intercourse, yet now that the war was plainlyto be fought out on the sea, that officer, with the concurrence of theephorate, gave permission to any one who liked to plunder Attica. (1)The Athenians retaliated by despatching a body of hoplites under theirgeneral Pamphilus, who constructed a fort against the Aeginetans, (2) and proceeded to blockade them by land and sea with ten warships. Teleutias, however, while threading his way among the islands inquestion of contributions, had chanced to reach a point where hereceived information of the turn in affairs with regard to theconstruction of the fortress, whereupon he came to the rescue of thebeleaguered Aeginetans, and so far succeeded that he drove off theenemy's blockading squadron. But Pamphilus kept a firm hold on theoffensive fortress, and was not to be dislodged. 

 (1) Or, "determined to let slip the hounds of war;" or, more prosaically, "issued letters of marque. " See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 517. 

 (2) I. E. In Aegina as an {epiteikhisma}. 

After this the new admiral Hierax arrived from Lacedaemon. The navalforce was transferred into his successor's hands, and under the happiestauspices Teleutias set sail for home. As he descended to the seashoreto start on his homeward voyage there was not one among his soldierswho had not a warm shake of the hand for their old admiral. Here onepresented him with a crown, and there another with a victor's wreath;and those who arrived too late, still, as the ship weighed anchor, threwgarlands into the sea and wafted him many a blessing with prayerfullips. I am well aware that in the above incident I have no memorablestory of munificence, peril, or invention to narrate, but in allsincerity I protest that a man may find food for reflection in theinquiry what Teleutias had done to create such a disposition in hissubordinates. Here we are brought face to face with a true man's workmore worthy of account than multitudes of riches or adventure. (3)

 (3) See Grote, "H. G. " ix. 518: "The ideal of government as it presented itself to Xenophon was the paternal despotism or something like it, " {to ethelonton arkhein}. Cf. "Cyrop. " passim, "Heiro, " and his various other compositions. 

The new admiral Hierax, taking with him the larger portion of the fleet, set sail once more for Rhodes. He left behind him twelve vesselsin Aegina under his vice-admiral Gorgopas, who was now installed asgovernor of that island. In consequence of this chance the Atheniantroops inside the fortres were more blockaded than the Aeginetansthemselves, so much so that a vote was passed by the Athenian assembly, in obedience to which a large fleet was manned, and the garrison, afterfour months' sojourn in Aegina, were brought back. But this wasno sooner done than they began to be harassed by Gorgopas and theprivateers again. To operate aganst these they fitted out thirteenvessels, choosing Eunomus as admiral in command. Hierax was still inRhodes when the Lacedaemonians sent out a new admiral, Antalcidas; theybelieved that they could not find a better mode of gratifying Tiribazus. Accordingly Antalcidas, after visiting Aegina in order to pick up thevessels under Gorgopas, set sail for Ephesus. At this point he sent backGorgopas with his twelve ships to Aegina, and appointed his vice-admiralNicolochus to command the remainder of the fleet. 

Nicolochus was to relieve Abydos, and thither set sail; but in thecourse of the voyage turned aside to Tenedos, where he ravaged theterritory, and, with the money so secured, sailed on to Abydos. TheAthenian generals (4) on their side, collecting from Samothrace, Thasos, and the fortresses in that quarter, hastened to the relief of Tenedos;but, finding that Nicolochus had continued his voyage to Abydos, theyselected the Chersonese as their base, and proceeded to blockade himand his fleet of five-and-twenty vessels with the two-and-thirty vesselsunder their joint command. 

 (4) And among the rest Iphicrates and Diotimus. See below, S. 25; above, IV. Viii. 39. 

Meanwhile Gorgopas, returning from Ephesus, fell in with the Athenianadmiral Eunomus, and, shunning an encounter at the moment, soughtshelter in Aegina, which he reached a little before sunset; and atonce disembarking his men, set them down to their evening meal; whilstEunomus on his side, after hanging back for a little while, sailed away. Night fell, and the Athenian, showing the customary signal light toprevent his squadron straggling, led the way in the darkness. Gorgopasinstantly got his men on board again, and, taking the lantern for hisguide, followed the Athenians, craftily lagging behind a little space, so as not to show himself or raise any suspicion of his presence. Inplace of the usual cry the boatswains timed the rowers by a clink ofstones, and silently the oars slid, feathering through the waves (5);and just when the squadron of Eunomus was touching the coast, off CapeZoster (6) in Attica, the Spartan sounded the bugle-note for the charge. Some of Eunomus's vessels were in the act of discharging their crews, others were still getting to their moorings, whilst others were as yetonly bearing down to land. The engagement was fought by the light of themoon, and Gorgopas captured four triremes, which he tied astern, and soset sail with his prizes in tow towards Aegina. The rest of the Atheniansquadron made their escape into the harbour of Piraeus. 

 (5) Lit. "the boatswains employing a clink of stones and a sliding motion of the oars. "

 (6) I. E. "Cape Girdle, " mod. Cape Karvura. See Tozer, "Geog. Of Greece, " pp. 78, 372. 

It was after these events that Chabrias (7) commenced his voyage toCyprus, bringing relief to Evagoras. His force consisted at first ofeight hundred light troops and ten triremes, but was further increasedby other vessels from Athens and a body of heavy infantry. Thusreinforced, the admiral chose a night and landed in Aegina; and secretedhimself in ambuscade with his light troops in hollow ground some waybeyond the temple of Heracles. At break of day, as prearranged, theAthenian hoplites made their appearance under command of Demaenetus, andbegan mounting up between two and three miles (8) beyond the Kerakleionat Tripurgia, as it is called. The news soon reached Gorgopas, whosallied out to the rescue with the Aeginetans and the marines of hisvessels, being further accompanied by eight Spartans who happened to bewith him. Not content with these he issued orders inviting any of theships' crews, who were free men, to join the relief party. A largenumber of these sailors responded. They armed themselves as best theycould, and the advance commenced. When the vanguard were well past theambuscade, Chabrias and his men sprang up from their hiding-place, and poured a volley of javelins and stones upon the enemy. At the samemoment the hoplites, who had disembarked, (9) were advancing, so thatthe Spartan vanguard, in the absence of anything like collectiveaction, were speedily cut down, and among them fell Gorgopas with theLacedaemonians. At their fall the rest of course turned and fled. Onehundred and fifty Aeginetans were numbered among the slain, while theloss incurred by the foreigners, metics, and sailors who had joined therelief party, reached a total of two hundred. After this the Athenianssailed the sea as freely as in the times of actual peace. Nor wouldanything induce the sailors to row a single stroke for Eteonicus--evenunder pressure--since he had no pay to give. 

 (7) According to Diod. Xiv. 92, Chabrias had been for some time in Corinth. See also above, IV. Viii. 24. 

 (8) Lit. "about sixteen stades. "

 (9) Or, reading {oi anabebekotes}, "who had scaled the height. " See Hartman, "Anal. Xen. " p. 364. 

Subsequently the Lacedaemonians despatched Teleutias once again to takecommand of the squadron, and when the sailors saw it was he who hadcome, they were overjoyed. He summoned a meeting and addressed themthus: "Soldiers, I am back again, but I bring with me no money. Yet ifGod be willing, and your zeal flag not, I will endeavour to supplyyou with provisions without stint. Be well assured, as often as I findmyself in command of you, I have but one prayer--that your lives maybe spared no less than mine; and as for the necessaries of existence, perhaps it would astonish you if I said I would rather you shouldhave them than I. Yet by the gods I swear I would welcome two days'starvation in order to spare you one. Was not my door open in old daysto every comer? Open again it shall stand now; and so it shall be; whereyour own board overflows, you shall look in and mark the luxury of yourgeneral; but if at other times you see him bearing up against cold andheat and sleepless nights, you must apply the lesson to yourselvesand study to endure those evils. I do not bid you do aught of this forself-mortification's sake, but that you may derive some after-blessingfrom it. Soldiers, let Lacedaemon, our own mother-city, be to you anexample. Her good fortune is reputed to stand high. That you know; andyou know too, that she purchased her glory and her greatness not byfaint-heartedness, but by choosing to suffer pain and incur dangers inthe day of need. 'Like city, ' I say, 'like citizens. ' You, too, as Ican bear you witness, have been in times past brave; but to-day must westrive to be better than ourselves. So shall we share our pains withoutrepining, and when fortune smiles, mingle our joys; for indeed thesweetest thing of all surely is to flatter no man, Hellene or Barbarian, for the sake of hire; we will suffice to ourselves, and from a sourceto which honour pre-eminently invites us; since, I need not remind you, abundance won from the enemy in war furnishes forth not bodily nutritiononly, but a feast of glory the wide world over. "

So he spoke, and with one voice they all shouted to him to issue whatorders he thought fit; they would not fail him in willing service. Thegeneral's sacrifice was just concluded, and he answered: "Good, then, mymen; go now, as doubtless you were minded, and take your evening meal, and next provide yourselves, please, with one day's food. After thatrepair to your ships without delay, for we have a voyage on hand, whither God wills, and must arrive in time. " So then, when the menreturned, he embarked them on their ships, and sailed under cover ofnight for the great harbour of Piraeus: at one time he gave the rowersrest, passing the order to take a snatch of sleep; at another he pushedforward towards his goal with rise and fall of oars. If any one supposesthat there was a touch of madness in such an expedition--with buttwelve triremes to attack an enemy possessed of a large fleet--he shouldconsider the calculations of Teleutias. He was under the firm persuasionthat the Athenians were more careless than ever about their navy in theharbour since the death of Gorgopas; and in case of finding warshipsriding at anchor--even so, there was less danger, he conjectured, inattacking twenty ships in the port of Athens than ten elsewhere; for, whereas, anywhere outside the harbour the sailors would certainly bequartered on board, at Athens it was easy to divine that the captainsand officers would be sleeping at their homes, and the crews locatedhere and there in different quarters. 

This minded he set sail, and when he was five or six furlongs (10)distant from the harbour he lay on his oars and rested. But with thefirst streak of dawn he led the way, the rest following. The admiral'sorders to the crews were explicit. They were on no account to sink anymerchant vessel; they were equally to avoid damaging (11) their ownvessels, but if at any point they espied a warship at her moorings theymust try and cripple her. The trading vessels, provided they had gottheir cargoes on board, they must seize and tow out of the harbour;those of larger tonnage they were to board wherever they could andcapture the crews. Some of his men actually jumped on to the Deigmaquay, (12) where they seized hold of various traders and pilots anddeposited them bodily on board ship. So the Spartan admiral carried outhis programme. 

 (10) Lit. "five or six stades. "

 (11) See Hartman, "Anal. Xen. " pp. 365, 366. 

 (12) See Grote ("H. G. " ix. 523): cf. Thuc. Ii. 94, the attempt of Brasidas on the port of Megara. For the wealth of Piraeus, Grote "H. G. " ix. 351. See below, "Pol. Ath. " i. 17; "Rev. " iii. 13. 

As to the Athenians, meanwhile, some of them who got wind of what washappening rushed from indoors outside to see what the commotion meant, others from the streets home to get their arms, and others again wereoff to the city with the news. The whole of Athens rallied to the rescueat that instant, heavy infantry and cavalry alike, the apprehensionbeing that Piraeus was taken. But the Spartan sent off the capturedvessels to Aegina, telling off three or four of his triremes to convoythem thither; with the rest he followed along the coast of Attica, andemerging in seemingly innocent fashion from the harbour, captureda number of fishing smacks, and passage boats laden with passengerscrossing to Piraeus from the islands; and finally, on reaching Suniumhe captured some merchantmen laden with corn or other merchandise. Afterthese performances he sailed back to Aegina, where he sold his prizes, and with the proceeds was able to provide his troops with a month'spay, and for the future was free to cruise about and make what reprisalschance cast in his way. By such a procedure he was able to support afull quota of mariners on board his squadron, and procured to himselfthe prompt and enthusiastic service of his troops. 

B. C. 388-387. Antalcidas had now returned from the Persian court withTiribazus. The negotiations had been successful. He had secured thealliance of the Persian king and his military co-operation in case theAthenians and their allies refused to abide by the peace which the kingdictated. But learning that his second in command, Nicolochus, was beingblockaded with his fleet by Iphicrates and Diotimus (13) in Abydos, heset off at once by land for that city. Being come thither he took thefleet one night and put out to sea, having first spread a story that hehad invitations from a party in Calchedon; but as a matter of facthe came to anchorage in Percote and there kept quiet. Meanwhile theAthenian forces under Demaenetus and Dionysius and Leontichus andPhanias had got wind of his movement, and were in hot pursuit towardsProconnesus. As soon as they were well past, the Spartan veered roundand returned to Abydos, trusting to information brought him of theapproach of Polyxenus with the Syracusan (14) and Italian squadron oftwenty ships, which he wished to pick up and incorporate with his own. 

 (13) See above; Lysias, "de bon. Arist. " (Jebb, "Att. Or. " i. P. 327). 

 (14) See below, VI. Ii. 4 foll; Hicks, 71, 84, 88. 

A little later the Athenian Thrasybulus (15) (of Collytus) was makinghis way up with eight ships from Thrace, his object being to effecta junction with the main Athenian squadron. The scouts signalled theapproach of eight triremes, whereupon Antalcidas, embarking his marineson board twelve of the fastest sailers of his fleet, ordered them tomake up their full complements, where defective, from the remainingvessels; and so lay to, skulking in his lair with all possible secrecy. As soon as the enemy's vessels came sailing past he gave chase; andthey catching sight of him took to flight. With his swiftest sailorshe speedily overhauled their laggards, and ordering his vanguard to letthese alone, he followed hard on those ahead. But when the foremosthad fallen into his clutches, the enemy's hinder vessels, seeing theirleaders taken one by one, out of sheer despondency fell an easy preyto the slower sailors of the foe, so that not one of the eight vesselsescaped. 

 (15) His name occurs on the famous stele of the new Athenian confederacy, B. C. 378. See Hicks, 81; Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. 17; Demos. "de. Cor. " p. 301; Arist. "Rhet. " ii. 23; Demos. "c. Timocr. " 742. 

Presently the Syracusan squadron of twenty vessels joined him, and againanother squadron from Ionia, or rather so much of that district as layunder the control of Tiribazus. The full quota of the contingentwas further made up from the territory of Ariobarzanes (which whomAntalcidas kept up a friendship of long standing), in the absence ofPharnabazus, who by this date had already been summoned up country onthe occasion of his marriage with the king's daughter. With this fleet, which, from whatever sources derived, amounted to more than eighty sail, Antalcidas ruled the seas, and was in a position not only to cut off thepassage of vessels bound to Athens from the Euxine, but to convoy theminto the harbours of Sparta's allies. 

The Athenians could not but watch with alarm the growth of the enemy'sfleet, and began to fear a repetition of their former discomfiture. To be trampled under foot by the hostile power seemed indeed no remotepossibility, now that the Lacedaemonians had procured an ally in theperson of the Persian monarch, and they were in little less than a stateof siege themselves, pestered as they were by privateers from Aegina. Onall these grounds the Athenians became passionately desirous of peace. (16) The Lacedaemonians were equally out of humour with the war forvarious reasons--what with their garrison duties, one mora at Lechaeumand another at Orchomenus, and the necessity of keeping watch and wardon the states, if loyal not to lose them, if disaffected to preventtheir revolt; not to mention that reciprocity of annoyance (17) of whichCorinth was the centre. So again the Argives had a strong appetite forpeace; they knew that the ban had been called out against them, and, it was plain, that no fictitious alteration of the calendar would anylonger stand them in good stead. Hence, when Tiribazus issued a summonscalling on all who were willing to listen to the terms of peace sentdown by the king (18) to present themselves, the invitation was promptlyaccepted. At the opening of the conclave (19) Tiribazus pointed tothe king's seal attached to the document, and proceeded to read thecontents, which ran as follows:

 (16) See, at this point, Grote on the financial condition of Athens and the "Theorikon, " "H. G. " ix. 525. 

 (17) Or, "that give-and-take of hard knocks. "

 (18) See Hicks, 76. 

 (19) At Sardis, doubtless. 

"The king, Artaxerxes, deems it just that the cities in Asia, with theislands of Clazomenae and Cyprus, should belong to himself; the rest ofthe Hellenic cities he thinks it just to leave independent, both smalland great, with the exception of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which threeare to belong to Athens as of yore. Should any of the parties concernednot accept this peace, I, Artaxerxes, will war against him or them withthose who share my views. This will I do by land and by sea, with shipsand with money. "

After listening to the above declaration the ambassadors from theseveral states proceeded to report the same to their respectivegovernments. One and all of these took the oaths (20) to ratify andconfirm the terms unreservedly, with the exception of the Thebans, who claimed to take the oaths in behalf of all Boeotians. This claimAgesilaus repudiated: unless they chose to take the oaths in preciseconformity with the words of the king's edict, which insisted on "thefuture autonomy of each state, small or great, " he would not admit them. To this the Theban ambassadors made no other reply, except thatthe instructions they had received were different. "Pray go, then, "Agesilaus retorted, "and ask the question; and you may inform yourcountrymen that if they will not comply, they will be excluded from thetreaty. " The Theban ambassadors departed, but Agesilaus, out of hatredto the Thebans, took active measures at once. Having got the consent ofthe ephors he forthwith offered sacrifice. The offerings for crossingthe frontier were propitious, and he pushed on to Tegea. From Tegea hedespatched some of the knights right and left to visit the perioeciand hasten their mobilisation, and at the same time sent commanders offoreign brigades to the allied cities on a similar errand. But beforehe had started from Tegea the answer from Thebes arrived; the point wasyielded, they would suffer the states to be independent. Under thesecircumstances the Lacedaemonians returned home, and the Thebans wereforced to accept the truce unconditionally, and to recognise theautonomy of the Boeotian cities. (21) But now the Corinthians were byno means disposed to part with the garrison of the Argives. AccordinglyAgesilaus had a word of warning for both. To the former he said, "ifthey did not forthwith dismiss the Argives, " and to the latter, "ifthey did not instantly quit Corinth, " he would march an army into theirterritories. The terror of both was so great that the Argives marchedout of Corinth, and Corinth was once again left to herself; (22)whereupon the "butchers" (23) and their accomplices in the deed of blooddetermined to retire from Corinth, and the rest of the citizens welcomedback their late exiles voluntarily. 

 (20) At Sparta, doubtless. 

 (21) See Freeman, op. Cit. Pp. 168, 169. 

 (22) See "Ages. " ii. 21; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 537. 

 (23) {oi sphageis}, a party catchword (in reference to the incidents narrated above, "Hell. " IV. Iv. 2). See below, {ton bareon demagogon}, "Hell. " V. Ii. 7; {oi kedomenoi tes Peloponnesou}, "Hell. " VII. V. 1; above, {oi sphageis}, "Hell. " III. Ii. 27, of the philo-Laconian oligarchs in Elis. See Dem. "c. Lept. " 473. 

Now that the transactions were complete, and the states were bound bytheir oaths to abide by the peace sent down to them by the king, theimmediate result was a general disarmament, military and naval forcesbeing alike disbanded; and so it was that the Lacedaemonians andAthenians, with their allies, found themselves in the enjoyment of peacefor the first time since the period of hostilities subsequent to thedemolition of the walls of Athens. From a condition which, duringthe war, can only be described as a sort of even balance with theirantagonists, the Lacedaemonians now emerged; and reached a pinnacleof glory consequent upon the Peace of Antalcidas, (24) so called. As guarantors of the peace presented by Hellas to the king, and asadministrators personally of the autonomy of the states, they had addedCorinth to their alliance; they had obtained the independence ofthe states of Boeotia at the expense of Thebes, (25) which meant thegratification of an old ambition; and lastly, by calling out the ban incase the Argives refused to evacuate Corinth, they had put a stop to theappropriation of that city by the Argives. 

 (24) Or, more correctly, the peace "under, " or "at the date of, " {ep 'Antalkidou}. See Grote, "H. G. " x. 1, note 1. 

 (25) Or, "they had made the states of Boeotia independent of Thebes. " See Grote, "H. G. " x. 44. 

II

B. C. 386. Indeed the late events had so entirely shaped themselves inconformity with the wishes of the Lacedaemonians, that they determinedto go a step farther and chastise those of their allies who either hadborne hard on them during the war, or otherwise had shown themselvesless favourable to Lacedaemon than to her enemies. (1) Chastisement wasnot all; they must lay down such secure foundations for the future asshould render the like disloyalty impossible again. (2) As the firststep towards this policy they sent a dictatorial message to theMantinaeans, and bade them raze their fortifications, on the sole groundthat they could not otherwise trust them not to side with their enemies. Many things in their conduct, they alleged, from time to time, had notescaped their notice: their frequent despatches of corn to the Argiveswhile at war with Lacedaemon; at other times their refusal to furnishcontingents during a campaign, on the pretext of some holy truce orother; (3) or if they did reluctantly take the field--the miserableinefficiency of their service. "But, more than that, " they added, "wenote the jealousy with which you eye any good fortune which may betideour state; the extravagant pleasure (4) you exhibit at the suddendescent of some disaster. "

 (1) See Hartman, "An. Xen. " p. 367 foll. ; Busolt, "Die Lak. " p. 129 foll. 

 (2) Or, "they determined to chastise... And reduce to such order that disloyalty should be impossible. "

 (3) See above, "Hell. " IV. Ii. 16. 

 (4) Ib. IV. V. 18. 

This very year, moreover, it was commonly said, (5) saw the expiration, as far as the Mantineans were concerned, of the thirty years' truce, consequent upon the battle of Mantinea. On their refusal, therefore, to raze their fortification walls the ban was called out against them. Agesilaus begged the state to absolve him from the conduct of this waron the plea that the city of Mantinea had done frequent service tohis father (6) in his Messenian wars. Accordingly Agesipolis led theexpedition--in spite of the cordial relations of his father Pausanias(7) with the leaders of the popular party in Mantinea. 

 (5) As to this point, see Curtius, "H. G. " V. V. (iv. 305 note, Eng. Trans. ) There appears to be some confusion. According to Thuc. V. 81, "When the Argives deserted the alliance (with Mantinea, Athens, and Elis, making a new treaty of alliance with Lacedaemon for fifty years) the Mantineans held out for a time, but without the Argives they were helpless, and so they came to terms with the Lacedaemonians, and gave up their claims to supremacy over the cities in Arcadia, which had been subject to them.... These changes were effected at the close of winter (418 B. C. ) towards the approach of spring (417 B. C. ), and so ended the fourteenth year of the war. " Jowett. According to Diod. Xv. 5, the Lacedaemonians attacked Mantinea within two years after the Peace of Antalcidas, apparently in 386 B. C. According to Thuc. V. 82, and "C. I. A. 50, in B. C. 417 Argos had reverted to her alliance with Athens, and an attempt to connect the city with the sea by long walls was made, certain other states in Peloponnese being privy to the project" (Thuc. V. 83)--an attempt frustrated by Lacedaemon early in B. C. 416. Is it possible that a treaty of alliance between Mantinea and Lacedaemon for thirty years was formally signed in B. C. 416?

 (6) I. E. Archidamus. 

 (7) See above, "Hell. " III. V. 25. 

B. C. 385. The first move of the invader was to subject the enemy'sterritory to devastation; but failing by such means to induce them toraze their walls, he proceeded to draw lines of circumvallation roundthe city, keeping half his troops under arms to screen the entrenchingparties whilst the other half pushed on the work with the spade. As soonas the trench was completed, he experienced no further difficulty inbuilding a wall round the city. Aware, however, of the existence of ahuge supply of corn inside the town, the result of the bountiful harvestof the preceding year, and averse to the notion of wearing out the cityof Lacedaemon and her allies by tedious campaigning, he hit upon theexpedient of damming up the river which flowed through the town. 

It was a stream of no inconsiderable size. (8) By erecting a barrier atits exit from the town he caused the water to rise above the basementsof the private dwellings and the foundations of the fortification walls. Then, as the lower layers of bricks became saturated and refused theirsupport to the rows above, the wall began to crack and soon to totterto its fall. The citizens for some time tried to prop it with piecesof timber, and used other devices to avert the imminent ruin of theirtower; but finding themselves overmatched by the water, and in dreadlest the fall at some point or other of the circular wall (9) mightdeliver them captive to the spear of the enemy, they signified theirconsent to raze their walls. But the Lacedaemonians now steadily refusedany form of truce, except on the further condition that the Mantineanswould suffer themselves to be broken up and distributed into villages. They, looking the necessity in the face, consented to do even that. Thesympathisers with Argos among them, and the leaders of their democracy, thought their fate was sealed. Then the father treated with the son, Pausanias with Agesipolis, on their behalf, and obtained immunity forthem--sixty in number--on condition that they should quit the city. TheLacedaemonian troops stood lining the road on both sides, beginningfrom the gates, and watched the outgoers; and with their spears intheir hands, in spite of bitter hatred, kept aloof from them with lessdifficulty than the Mantineans of the better classes themselves--aweighty testimony to the power of Spartan discipline, be it said. Inconclusion, the wall was razed, and Mantinea split up into four parts, (10) assuming once again its primitive condition as regards inhabitants. The first feeling was one of annoyance at the necessity of pulling downtheir present houses and erecting others, yet when the owners (11)found themselves located so much nearer their estates round about thevillages, in the full enjoyment of aristocracy, and rid for ever of"those troublesome demagogues, " they were delighted with the turn whichaffairs had taken. It became the custom for Sparta to send them, not onecommander of contingents, (12) but four, one for each village; and thezeal displayed, now that the quotas for military service were furnishedfrom the several village centres, was far greater than it had been underthe democratic system. So the transactions in connection with Mantineawere brought to a conclusion, and thereby one lesson of wisdom wastaught mankind--not to conduct a river through a fortress town. 

 (8) I. E. The Ophis. See Leake, "Morea, " III. Xxiv. P. 71; Pausan. "Arcad. " 8; Grote, "H. G. " x. 48, note 2. 

 (9) Or, "in the circuit of the wall. "

 (10) See Diod. Xv. 5; Strab. Viii. 337; Ephor. Fr. 138, ed. Did. ; and Grote, "H. G. " x. 51. 

 (11) Or, "holders of properties. " The historian is referring not to the population at large, I think, but to the rich landowners, i. E. The {Beltistoi}, and is not so partial as Grote supposes ("H. G. " x. 51 foll. )

 (12) Technically {zenagoi}, Lacedaemonian officers who commanded the contingents of the several allies. See above, "Hell. " III. V. 7; Thuc. Ii. 76; and Arnold's note ad loc. ; also C. R. Kennedy, "ap. Dict. Of Greek and Roman Antiquities, " s. V. ; Muller, "Dorians, " ii. 250, Eng. Tr. ; Busolt, "Die Lak. " p. 125. 

B. C. 384-383. To pass on. The party in exile from Phlius, seeing thesevere scrutiny to which the behaviour of the allies of Lacedaemonduring the late war was being subjected, felt that their opportunity hadcome. They repaired to Lacedaemon, and laid great emphasis on the factthat, so long as they had been in power themselves at home, "theircity used to welcome Lacedaemonians within her walls, and her citizensflocked to the campaign under their leadership; but no sooner had theybeen driven into exile than a change had come. The men of Phlius nowflatly refused to follow Lacedaemon anywhere; the Lacedaemonians, aloneof all men living, must not be admitted within their gates. " Afterlistening to their story, the ephors agreed that the matter demandedattention. Then they sent to the state of Phlius a message to thiseffect; the Phliasian exiles were friends of Lacedaemon; nor didit appear that they owed their exile to any misdoing. Under thecircumstances, Lacedaemon claimed their recall from banishment, not byforce, but as a concession voluntarily granted. When the matter was thusstated, the Phliasians were not without alarm that an army might muchupon Phlius, and a party inside the town might admit the enemy withinthe walls; for within the walls of Phlius were to be found many who, either as blood relations or for other reasons, were partisans of theexiles, and as so often happens, at any rate in the majority of states, there was a revolutionary party who, in their ardour to reform, wouldwelcome gladly their restoration. Owing to fears of this character, aformal decree was passed: to welcome home the exiles, and to restoreto them all undisputed property, the purchasers of the same beingindemnified from the treasury of the state; and in the event of anyambiguity or question arising between the parties, the same to bedetermined before a court of justice. Such was the position of affairsin connection with the Phliasian exiles at the date in question. 

B. C. 383. (13) And now from yet another quarter ambassadors arrived atLacedaemon: that is to say, from Acanthus and Apollonia, the two largestand most important states of the Olynthian confederacy. The ephorate, after learning from them the object of their visit, presented them tothe assembly and the allies, in presence of whom Cleigenes of Acanthusmade a speech to this effect:

 (13) Al. B. C. 382. 

"Men of Lacedaemon and of the allied states, " he said, "are you aware ofa silent but portentous growth within the bosom of Hellas? (14) Few hereneed to be told that for size and importance Olynthus now stands atthe head of the Thracian cities. But are you aware that the citizens ofOlynthus had already brought over several states by the bribe of jointcitizenship and common laws; that they have forcibly annexed some of thelarger states; and that, so encouraged, they have taken in handfurther to free the cities of Macedonia from Amyntas the king of theMacedonians; that, as soon as their immediate neighbours had showncompliance, they at once proceeded to attack larger and more distantcommunities; so much so, that when we started to come hither, we leftthem masters not only of many other places, but of Pella itself, thecapital of Macedonia. Amyntas, (15) we saw plainly, must ere longwithdraw from his cities, and was in fact already all but in name anoutcast from Macedonia. 

 (14) Or, "are you aware of a new power growing up in Hellas?"

 (15) For Amyntas's reign, see Diod. Xiv. 89, 92; xv. 19; Isocr. "Panegyr. " 126, "Archid. " 46. 

"The Olynthians have actually sent to ourselves and to the men ofApollonia a joint embassy, warning us of their intention to attack us ifwe refuse to present ourselves at Olynthus with a military contingent. Now, for our parts, men of Lacedaemon, we desire nothing better than toabide by our ancestral laws and institutions, to be free and independentcitizens; but if aid from without is going to fail us, we too mustfollow the rest and coalesce with the Olynthians. Why, even now theymuster no less than eight hundred (16) heavy infantry and a considerablylarger body of light infantry, while their cavalry, when we have joinedthem, will exceed one thousand men. At the date of our departure we leftembassies from Athens and Boeotia in Olynthus, and we were told thatthe Olynthians themselves had passed a formal resolution to return thecompliment. They were to send an embassy on their side to the aforesaidstates to treat of an alliance. And yet, if the power of the Atheniansand the Thebans is to be further increased by such an accession ofstrength, look to it, " the speaker added, "whether hereafter you willfind things so easy to manage in that quarter. 

 (16) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 72; Thirlwall, "H. G. " v. 12 (ch. Xxxvii). 

"They hold Potidaea, the key to the isthmus of Pallene, and therefore, you can well believe, they can command the states within that peninsula. If you want any further proof of the abject terror of those states, youhave it in the fact that notwithstanding the bitter hatred which theybear to Olynthus, not one of them has dared to send ambassadors alongwith us to apprise you of these matters. 

"Reflect, how you can reconcile your anxiety to prevent the unificationof Boeotia with your neglect to hinder the solidifying of a far largerpower--a power destined, moreover, to become formidable not on landonly, but by sea? For what is to stop it, when the soil itself suppliestimber for shipbuilding, (17) and there are rich revenues derivedfrom numerous harbours and commercial centres?--it cannot but be thatabundance of food and abundance of population will go hand in hand. Norhave we yet reached the limits of Olynthian expansion; there are theirneighbours to be thought of--the kingless or independent Thracians. These are already to-day the devoted servants of Olynthus, and when itcomes to their being actually under her, that means at once another vastaccession of strength to her. With the Thracians in her train, the goldmines of Pangaeus would stretch out to her the hand of welcome. 

 (17) See Hicks, 74, for a treaty between Amyntas and the Chalcidians, B. C. 390-389: "The article of the treaty between Amyntas III. , father of Philip, and the Chalcidians, about timber, etc. , reminds us that South Macedonia, the Chalcidic peninsula, and Amphipolis were the chief sources whence Athens derived timber for her dockyards. " Thuc. Iv. 108; Diod. Xx. 46; Boeckh, "P. E. A. " p. 250; and for a treaty between Athens and Amyntas, B. C. 382, see Hicks, 77; Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. 397, 423. 

"In making these assertions, we are but uttering remarks ten thousandtimes repeated in the democracy of Olynthus. And as to their confidentspirit, who shall attempt to describe it? It is God, for aught I know, who, with the growth of a new capacity, gives increase also to the proudthoughts and vast designs of humanity. For ourselves, men of Lacedaemonand of the allied states, our task is completed. We have played ourparts in announcing to you how things stand there. To you it is left todetermine whether what we have described is worthy of your concern. Oneonly thing further you ought to recognise: the power we have spokenof as great is not as yet invincible, for those states which areinvoluntary participants in the citizenship of Olynthus will, inprospect of any rival power appearing in the field, speedily fall away. On the contrary, let them be once closely knit and welded togetherby the privileges of intermarriage and reciprocal rights of holdingproperty in land--which have already become enactments; let themdiscover that it is a gain to them to follow in the wake of conquerors(just as the Arcadians, (18) for instance, find it profitable to marchin your ranks, whereby they save their own property and pillage theirneighbours'); let these things come to pass, and perhaps you may findthe knot no longer so easy to unloose. "

 (18) For the point of the comparison, see Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " ch. Iv. "Real nature of the Olynthian scheme, " pp. 190 foll. , and note 2, p. 197; also Grote, "H. G. " x. 67 foll. , 278 foll. 

At the conclusion of this address, the Lacedaemonians requested theallies to speak, bidding them give their joint advice as to the bestcourse to be pursued in the interests of Peloponnese and the allies. Thereupon many members, and especially those who wished to gratifythe Lacedaemonians, agreed in counselling active measures; and it wasresolved that the states should severally send contingents to form atotal of ten thousand men. Proposals were also made to allow any state, so wishing, to give money instead of men, at the rate of three Aeginetanobols (19) a day per man; or where the contingent consisted of cavalry, the pay given for one horseman was to be the equivalent to that offour hoplites; while, in the event of any defaulting in service, theLacedaemonians should be allowed to mulct the said state of a staterper man per diem. These resolutions were passed, and the deputiesfrom Acanthus rose again. They argued that, though excellent, theseresolutions were not of a nature to be rapidly carried into effect. Would it not be better, they asked, pending the mobilisation of thetroops, to despatch an officer at once in command of a force fromLacedaemon and the other states, not too large to start immediately. Theeffect would be instantaneous, for the states which had not yet given intheir adhesion to Olynthus would be brought to a standstill, and thosealready forcibly enrolled would be shaken in their alliance. Thesefurther resolutions being also passed, the Lacedaemonians despatchedEudamidas, accompanied by a body of neodamodes, with perioeci andSciritae, (20) to the number of two thousand odd. Eudamidas lost no timein setting out, having obtained leave from the ephors for his brotherPhoebidas to follow later with the remainder of the troops assignedto him. Pushing on himself to the Thracian territory, he set aboutdespatching garrisons to various cities at their request. He alsosecured the voluntary adhesion of Potidaea, although already a memberof the Olynthian alliance; and this town now served as his base ofoperations for carrying on war on a scale adapted to his somewhatlimited armament. 

 (19) I. E. "rather more than sixpence a day for a hoplite, and two shillings for a horseman. " "The Aeginetan stater weighed about 196 grains, rather more than two of our shillings, and was divided into two drachms of 98 grains, each of which contained six obols of about 16 grains each. " See Percy Gardner, "Types of Greek Coins, " "Hist. Int. " p. 8; Jowett, note to Thuc. III. Lxx. 4, vol. I. Pp. 201, 202. 

 (20) Or, "new citizens, provincials, and Sciritae. "

Phoebidas, when the remaining portion of his brother's forces was dulymustered, put himself at their head and commenced his march. On reachingThebes the troops encamped outside the city, round the gymnasium. Faction was rife within the city. The two polemarchs in office, Ismeniasand Leontiades, were diametrically opposed, (21) being the respectiveheads of antagonistic political clubs. Hence it was that, whileIsmenias, ever inspired by hatred to the Lacedaemonians, would not comeanywhere near the Spartan general, Leontiades, on the other hand, was assiduous in courting him; and when a sufficient intimacy wasestablished between them, he made a proposal as follows: "You have itin your power, " he said, addressing Phoebidas, "this very day to confersupreme benefit on your country. Follow me with your hoplites, and Iwill introduce you into the citadel. That done, you may rest assuredThebes will be completely under the thumb of Lacedaemon and of us, yourfriends. At present, as you see, there is a proclamation forbidding anyTheban to take service with you against Olynthus, but we will change allthat. You have only to act with us as we suggest, and we shall at oncebe able to furnish you with large supplies of infantry and cavalry, sothat you will join your brother with a magnificent reinforcement, andpending his proposed reduction of Olynthus, you will have accomplishedthe reduction of a far larger state than that--to wit, this city ofThebes. "

 (21) See Grote, "H. G. " vol. X. P. 80: "We have little or no information respecting the government of Thebes, " etc. The "locus classicus" seems to be Plut. "de Genio Socratis. " See Freeman, op. Cit. Ch. Iv. S. 2, "Of the Boeotian League, " pp. 154-184; and, in reference to the seizure of the Kadmeia, p. 170. 

The imagination of Phoebidas was kindled as he listened to the temptingproposal. To do a brilliant deed was far dearer to him than life; (22)on the other hand, he had no reasoning capacity, and would seem to havebeen deficient altogether in sound sense. The consent of the Spartansecured, Leontiades bade him set his troops in motion, as if everythingwere ready for his departure. "And anon, when the hour is come, " addedthe Theban, "I will be with you, and show you the way myself. "

 (22) Or, "Renown was his mistress. " See Grote, "H. G. " x. 84. 

The senate was seated in the arcade or stoa in the market-place, sincethe Cadmeia was in possession of the women who were celebrating theThesmophoria. (23) It was noon of a hot summer's day; scarcely a soulwas stirring in the streets. This was the moment for Leontiades. Hemounted on horseback and galloped off to overtake Phoebidas. He turnedhim back, and led him without further delay into the acropolis. Havingposted Phoebidas and his soldiers inside, he handed him the key of thegates, and warning him not to suffer any one to enter into the citadelwithout a pass from himself, he straightway betook himself tothe senate. Arrived there, he delivered himself thus: "Sirs, theLacedaemonians are in possession of the citadel; but that is nocause for despondency, since, as they assure us, they have no hostileintention, except, indeed, towards any one who has an appetite forwar. For myself, and acting in obedience to the law, which empowers thepolemarch to apprehend all persons suspected of capital crimes, I herebyseize the person of Ismenias as an arch-fomenter of war. I call uponyou, sirs, who are captains of companies, and you who are ranked withthem, to do your duty. Arise and secure the prisoner, and lead him awayto the place appointed. "

 (23) An ancient festival held by women in honour of Demeter and Persephone ({to Thesmophoro}), who gave the first impulse to civil society, lawful marriage, etc. See Herod. Ii. 171; Diod. V. 5. 

Those who were privy to the affair, it will be understood, presentedthemselves, and the orders were promptly carried out. Of those not inthe secret, but opposed to the party of Leontiades, some sought refugeat once outside the city in terror for their lives; whilst the rest, albeit they retired to their houses at first, yet when they foundthat Ismenias was imprisoned in the Cadmeia, and further delay seemeddangerous, retreated to Athens. These were the men who shared the viewsof Androcleidas and Ismenias, and they must have numbered about threehundred. 

Now that the transactions were concluded, another polemarch was chosenin place of Ismenias, and Leontiades at once set out to Lacedaemon. There he found the ephors and the mass of the community highly incensedagainst Phoebidas, "who had failed to execute the orders assigned tohim by the state. " Against this general indignation, however, Agesilausprotested. (24) If mischief had been wrought to Lacedaemon by this deed, it was just that the doer of it should be punished; but, if good, it wasa time-honoured custom to allow full scope for impromptu acts of thischaracter. "The sole point you have to look to, " he urged, "is whetherwhat has been done is good or evil. " After this, however, Leontiadespresented himself to the assembly (25) and addressed the members asfollows: "Sirs, Lacedaemonians, the hostile attitude of Thebes towardsyou, before the occurrence of late events, was a topic constantly onyour lips, since time upon time your eyes were called upon to witnessher friendly bearing to your foes in contrast with her hatred of yourfriends. Can it be denied that Thebes refused to take part with you inthe campaign against your direst enemy, the democracy in Piraeus; andbalanced that lukewarmness by on onslaught on the Phocians, whosesole crime was cordiality to yourselves? (26) Nor is that all. In fullknowledge that you were likely to be engaged in war with Olynthus, sheproceeded at once to make an alliance with that city. So that up to thelast moment you were in constant expectation of hearing that the wholeof Boeotia was laid at the feet of Thebes. With the late incidents allis changed. You need fear Thebes no longer. One brief despatch (27) incipher will suffice to procure a dutiful subservience to your every wishin that quarter, provided only you will take as kindly an interest in usas we in you. "

 (24) See "Ages. " vii. 

 (25) "Select Committee. " See "Hell. " II. Iv. 38; and below, VI. Iii. 3. 

 (26) See above, "Hell. " III. V. 4. 

 (27) Lit. "scytale. "

This appeal told upon the meeting, and the Lacedaemonians (28) resolvedformally, now that the citadel had been taken, to keep it, and to putIsmenias on his trial. In consequence of this resolution a body ofcommissioners (29) was despatched, three Lacedaemonians and one for eachof the allied states, great and small alike. The court of inquiry thusconstituted, the sittings commenced, and an indictment was preferredagainst Ismenias. He was accused of playing into the hands of thebarbarian; of seeking amity with the Persians to the detriment ofHellas; of accepting sums of money as bribes from the king; and, finally, of being, along with Androcleidas, the prime cause of the wholeintestine trouble to which Hellas was a prey. Each of these charges wasmet by the defendant, but to no purpose, since he failed to disabusethe court of their conviction that the grandeur of his designs was onlyequalled by their wickedness. (30) The verdict was given against him, and he was put to death. The party of Leontiades thus possessedthe city; and went beyond the injunctions given them in the eagerperformance of their services. 

 (28) See Grote, "H. G. " vol. X. P. 85; Diod. Xv. 20; Plut. "Pelop. " vi. ; ib. "de Genio Socratis, " V. Vii. 6 A; Cor. Nep. "Pelop. " 1. 

 (29) Lit. "Dicasts. "

 (30) Or, "that he was a magnificent malefactor. " See Grote, "H. G. " vol. Ix. P. 420, "the great wicked man" (Clarendon's epithets for Cromwell); Plato, "Meno. " 90 B; "Republic, " 336 A, "a rich and mighty man. " See also Plut. "Ages. " xxxii. 2, Agesilaus's exclamation at sight of Epaminondas, {o tou megalopragmonos anthropou}. 

B. C. 382. As a result of these transactions the Lacedaemonians pressedon the combined campaign against Olynthus with still greater enthusiasm. They not only set out Teleutias as governor, but by their united effortsfurnished him with an aggregate army of ten thousand men. (31) Theyalso sent despatches to the allied states, calling upon them to supportTeleutias in accordance with the resolution of the allies. All thestates were ready to display devotion to Teleutias, and to do himservice, since he was a man who never forgot a service rendered him. Nor was Thebes an exception; for was not the governor a brotherof Agesilaus? Thebes, therefore, was enthusiastic in sending hercontribution of heavy infantry and cavalry. The Spartan conducted hismarch slowly and surely, taking the utmost pains to avoid injuring hisfriends, and to collect as large a force as possible. He also sent amessage in advance to Amyntas, begging him, if he were truly desirous ofrecovering his empire, to raise a body of mercenaries, and to distributesums of money among the neighbouring kings with a view to theiralliance. Nor was that all. He sent also to Derdas, the ruler of Elimia, pointing out to him that the Olynthians, having laid at their feet thegreat power of Macedonia, would certainly not suffer his lesser powerto escape unless they were stayed up by force in arms in their career ofinsolence. Proceeding thus, by the time he had reached the territoryof the allied powers he was at the head of a very considerable army. AtPotidaea he halted to make the necessary disposition of his troops, andthence advanced into the territory of the enemy. As he approachedthe hostile city, he abstained from felling and firing alike, beingpersuaded that to do so was only to create difficulties in his ownpath, whether advancing or retreating; it would be time enough, when heretired from Olynthus, to fell the trees and lay them as a barrier inthe path of any assailant in the rear. 

 (31) Lit. "sent out along with him the combined force of ten thousand men, " in ref to S. 20 above. 

Being now within a mile or so (32) of the city he came to a halt. Theleft division was under his personal command, for it suited him toadvance in a line opposite the gate from which the enemy sallied; theother division of the allies stretched away to the right. The cavalrywere thus distributed: the Laconians, Thebans, and all the Macedonianspresent were posted on the right. With his own division he kept Derdasand his troopers, four hundred strong. This he did partly out of genuineadmiration for this body of horse, and partly as a mark of courtesy toDerdas, which should make him not regret his coming. 

 (32) Lit. "ten stades. "

Presently the enemy issued forth and formed in line opposite, undercover of their walls. Then their cavalry formed in close order andcommenced the attack. Dashing down upon the Laconians and Boeotians theydismounted Polycharmus, the Lacedaemonian cavalry general, inflicting ahundred wounds on him as he lay on the ground, and cut down others, andfinally put to flight the cavalry on the right wing. The flight of thesetroopers infected the infantry in close proximity to them, who in turnswerved; and it looked as if the whole army was about to be worsted, when Derdas at the head of his cavalry dashed straight at the gates ofOlynthus, Teleutias supporting him with the troops of his division. The Olynthian cavalry, seeing how matters were going, and in dreadof finding the gates closed upon them, wheeled round and retired withalacrity. Thus it was that Derdas had his chance to cut down man afterman as their cavalry ran the gauntlet past him. In the same way, too, the infantry of the Olynthians retreated within their city, though, owing to the closeness of the walls in their case, their loss wastrifling. Teleutias claimed the victory, and a trophy was duly erected, after which he turned his back on Olynthus and devoted himself tofelling the fruit-trees. This was the campaign of the summer. Henow dismissed both the Macedonians and the cavalry force of Derdas. Incursions, however, on the part of the Olynthians themselves againstthe states allied to Lacedaemon were frequent; lands were pillaged, andpeople put to the sword. 

III

B. C. 381. With the first symptoms of approaching spring the Olynthiancavalry, six hundred strong, had swooped into the territory ofApollonia--about the middle of the day--and dispersing over thedistrict, were employed in pillaging; but as luck would have it, Derdas had arrived that day with his troopers, and was breakfasting inApollonia. He noted the enemy's incursion, but kept quiet, biding histime; his horses were ready saddled, and his troopers armed cap-a-pied. As the Olynthians came galloping up contemptuously, not only into thesuburbs, but to the very gates of the city, he seized his opportunity, and with his compact and well-ordered squadron dashed out; whereupon theinvaders took to flight. Having once turned them, Derdas gave them norespite, pursuing and slaughtering them for ten miles or more, (1) untilhe had driven them for shelter within the very ramparts of Olynthus. Report said that Derdas slew something like eighty men in this affair. After this the Olynthians were more disposed to keep to their walls, contenting themselves with tilling the merest corner of their territory. 

 (1) Lit. "ninety stades. "

Time advanced, and Teleutias was in conduct of another expeditionagainst the city of Olynthus. His object was to destroy any timber(2) still left standing, or fields still cultivated in the hostileterritory. This brought out the Olynthian cavalry, who, stealthilyadvancing, crossed the river which washes the walls of the town, andagain continued their silent march right up to the adversary's camp. At sight of an audacity which nettled him, Teleutias at once orderedTlemonidas, the officer commanding his light infantry division, tocharge the assailants at the run. On their side the men of Olynthus, seeing the rapid approach of the light infantry, wheeled and quietlyretired until they had recrossed the river, drawing the enemy on, who followed with conspicuous hardihood. Arrogating to themselves theposition of pursuers towards fugitives, they did not hesitate to crossthe river which stood between them and their prey. Then the Olynthiancavalry, choosing a favourable moment, when those who had crossed seemedeasy to deal with, wheeled and attacked them, putting Tlemonidas himselfto the sword with more than a hundred others of his company. Teleutias, when he saw what was happening, snatched up his arms in a fit of angerand began leading his hoplites swiftly forward, ordering at the sametime his peltasts and cavalry to give chase and not to slacken. Theirfate was the fate of many before and since, who, in the ardour ofpursuit, have come too close to the enemy's walls and found it hard toget back again. Under a hail of missiles from the walls they were forcedto retire in disorder and with the necessity of guarding themselvesagainst the missiles. At this juncture the Olynthians sent out theircavalry at full gallop, backed by supports of light infantry; andfinally their heavy infantry reserves poured out and fell upon theenemy's lines, now in thorough confusion. Here Teleutias fell fighting, and when that happened, without further pause the troops immediatelyabout him swerved. Not one soul longer cared to make a stand, but theflight became general, some fleeing towards Spartolus, others in thedirection of Acanthus, a third set seeking refuge within the walls ofApollonia, and the majority within those of Potidaea. As the tide offugitives broke into several streams, so also the pursuers dividedthe work between them; this way and that they poured, dealing deathwholesale. So perished the pith and kernel of the armament. 

 (2) I. E. Fruit-trees. 

Such calamities are not indeed without a moral. The lesson they aremeant to teach mankind, I think, is plain. If in a general sense oneought not to punish any one, even one's own slave, in anger--sincethe master in his wrath may easily incur worse evil himself than heinflicts--so, in the case of antagonists in war, to attack an enemyunder the influence of passion rather than of judgment is an absoluteerror. For wrath is but a blind impulse devoid of foresight, whereas tothe penetrating eye of reason a blow parried may be better than a woundinflicted. (3)

 (3) See, for the same sentiment, "Horsemanship, " vi. 13. See also Plut. "Pel. " and "Marc. " (Clough, ii. P. 278). 

When the news of what had happened reached Lacedaemon it was agreed, after due deliberation, that a force should be sent, and of no triflingdescription, if only to quench the victors' pride, and to prevent theirown achievements from becoming null and void. In this determination theysent out King Agesipolis, as general, attended, like Agesilaus (4) onhis Asiatic campaign, by thirty Spartans. (5) Volunteers flocked to hisstandard. They were partly the pick and flower of the provincials, (6)partly foreigners of the class called Trophimoi, (7) or lastly, bastardsons of Spartans, comely and beautiful of limb, and well versed in thelore of Spartan chivalry. The ranks of this invading force were furtherswelled by volunteers from the allied states, the Thessalians notablycontributing a corps of cavalry. All were animated by the desire ofbecoming known to Agesipolis, so that even Amyntas and Derdas in zealof service outdid themselves. With this promise of success Agesipolismarched forward against Olynthus. 

 (4) See above, "Hell. " III. Iv. 2. 

 (5) Lit. "Spartiates. " The new army was sent out B. C. 380, according to Grote. 

 (6) Lit. "beautiful and brave of the Perioeci. "

 (7) Xenophon's own sons educated at Sparta would belong to this class. See Grote, "H. G. " x. 91. 

Meanwhile the state of Phlius, complimented by Agesipolis on the amountof the funds contributed by them to his expedition and the celerity withwhich the money had been raised, and in full belief that while one kingwas in the field they were secure against the hostile attack of theother (since it was hardly to be expected that both kings should beabsent from Sparta at one moment), boldly desisted from doing justiceby her lately reinstated citizens. On the one hand, these exiles claimedthat points in dispute should be determined before an impartial courtof justice; the citizens, on the other, insisted on the claimantssubmitting the cases for trial in the city itself. And when the latterdemurred to that solution, asking "What sort of trial that would bewhere the offenders were also the judges?" they appealed to deafears. Consequently the restored party appealed at Sparta, to prefer acomplaint against their city. They were accompanied by other members ofthe community, who stated that many of the Phliasians themselves besidesthe appellants recognised the injustice of their treatment. The state ofPhlius was indignant at this manouvre, and retaliated by imposing a fineon all who had betaken themselves to Lacedaemon without a mandate fromthe state. Those who incurred the fine hesitated to return home; theypreferred to stay where they were and enforce their views: "It is quiteplain now who were the perpetrators of all the violence--the verypeople who originally drove us into exile, and shut their gates uponLacedaemon; the confiscators of our property one day, the ruthlessopponents of its restoration the next. Who else but they have nowbrought it about that we should be fined for appearing at Lacedaemon?and for what purpose but to deter any one else for the future fromventuring to expose the proceedings at Phlius?" Thus far the appellants. And in good sooth the conduct of the men of Phlius did seem to savour ofinsolence; so much so that the ephors called out the ban against them. 

B. C. 380. Nor was Agesilaus otherwise than well satisfied withthis decision, not only on the ground of old relations of friendlyhospitality between his father Archidamus and the party of Podanemus, who were numbered among the restored exiles at this time, but becausepersonally he was bound by similar ties himself towards the adherentsof Procles, son of Hipponicus. The border sacrifices proving favourable, the march commenced at once. As he advanced, embassy after embassy methim, and would fain by presents of money avert invasion. But the kinganswered that the purpose of his march was not to commit wrongdoing, butto protect the victims of injustice. Then the petitioners offered to doanything, only they begged him to forgo invasion. Again he replied--Howcould he trust to their words when they had lied to him already? Hemust have the warrant of acts, not promises. And being asked, "What act(would satisfy him)?" he answered once more, saying, "The same whichyou performed aforetime, and suffered no wrong at our hands"--in otherwords, the surrender of the acropolis. (8) But to this they could notbring themselves. Whereupon he invaded the territory of Phlius, andpromptly drawing lines of circumvallation, commenced the siege. Many ofthe Lacedaemonians objected, for the sake of a mere handful of wretchedpeople, so to embroil themselves with a state of over five thousand men. (9) For, indeed, to leave no doubt on this score, the men of Phlius metregularly in assembly in full view of those outside. But Agesilaus wasnot to be beaten by this move. Whenever any of the townsmen came out, drawn by friendship or kinship with the exiles, in every case the king'sinstructions were to place the public messes (10) at the service ofthe visitors, and, if they were willing to go through the course ofgymnastic training, to give them enough to procure necessaries. Allmembers of these classes were, by the general's strict injunctions, further to be provided with arms, and loans were to be raised for thepurpose without delay. Presently the superintendents of this branch ofthe service were able to turn out a detachment of over a thousand men, in the prime of bodily perfection, well disciplined and splendidlyarmed, so that in the end the Lacedaemonians affirmed: "Fellow-soldiersof this stamp are too good to lose. " Such were the concerns ofAgesilaus. 

 (8) See above, IV. Iv. 15. 

 (9) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 45, note 4; and below, V. Iv. 13. 

 (10) See "Pol. Lac. " v. 

Meanwhile Agesipolis on leaving Macedonia advanced straight uponOlynthus and took up a strategical position in front of the town. Finding that no one came out to oppose him, he occupied himself for thepresent with pillaging any remnant of the district till intact, and withmarching into the territory allied with the enemy, where he destroyedthe corn. The town of Torone he attacked and took by storm. But while hewas so engaged, in the height of mid-summer he was attacked by a burningfever. In this condition his mind reverted to a scene once visited, thetemple of Dionysus at Aphytis, and a longing for its cool and sparklingwaters and embowered shades (11) seized him. To this spot accordinglyhe was carried, still living, but only to breathe his last outside thesacred shrine, within a week of the day on which he sickened. His bodywas laid in honey and conveyed home to Sparta, where he obtained royalsepulchre. 

 (11) Lit. "shady tabernacles. "

When the news reached Agesilaus he displayed none of the satisfactionwhich might possibly have been expected at the removal of an antagonist. On the contrary, he wept and pined for the companionship so severed, itbeing the fashion at Sparta for the kings when at home to mess togetherand to share the same quarters. Moreover, Agesipolis was admirablysuited to Agesilaus, sharing with the merriment of youth in tales of thechase and horsemanship and boyish loves; (12) while, to crown all, thetouch of reverence due from younger to elder was not wanting in theircommon life. In place of Agesipolis, the Lacedaemonians despatchedPolybiades as governor to Olynthus. 

 (12) See "Ages. " viii. 2. 

B. C. 379. Agesilaus had already exceeded the time during which thesupplies of food in Phlius were expected to last. The difference, infact, between self-command and mere appetite is so great that the men ofPhlius had only to pass a resolution to cut down the food expenditure byone half, and by doing so were able to prolong the siege for twicethe calculated period. But if the contrast between self-restraint andappetite is so great, no less startling is that between boldness andfaint-heartedness. A Phliasian named Delphion, a real hero, it wouldseem, took to himself three hundred Phliasians, and not only succeededin preventing the peace-party from carrying out their wishes, but wasequal to the task of incarcerating and keeping safely under lock and keythose whom he mistrusted. Nor did his ability end there. He succeededin forcing the mob of citizens to perform garrison duty, and byvigorous patrolling kept them constant to the work. Over and over again, accompanied by his personal attendants, he would dash out of the wallsand drive in the enemy's outposts, first at one point and then atanother of the beleaguering circle. But the time eventually came when, search as they might by every means, these picked defenders (13) couldfind no further store of food within the walls, and they were forced tosend to Agesilaus, requesting a truce for an embassy to visit Sparta, adding that they were resolved to leave it to the discretion of theauthorities at Lacedaemon to do with their city what they liked. Agesilaus granted a pass to the embassy, but, at the same time, he wasso angry at their setting his personal authority aside, that he sent tohis friends at home and arranged that the fate of Phlius should beleft to his discretion. Meanwhile he proceeded to tighten the cordon ofinvestment, so as to render it impossible that a single soul insidethe city should escape. In spite of this, however, Delphion, withone comrade, a branded dare-devil, who had shown great dexterityin relieving the besieging parties of their arms, escaped by night. Presently the deputation returned with the answer from Lacedaemon thatthe state simply left it entirely to the discretion of Agesilausto decide the fate of Phlius as seemed to him best. Then Agesilausannounced his verdict. A board of one hundred--fifty taken from therestored exiles, fifty from those within the city--were in the firstplace to make inquisition as to who deserved to live and who todie, after which they were to lay down laws as the basis of a newconstitution. Pending the carrying out of these transactions, he left adetachment of troops to garrison the place for six months, with payfor that period. After this he dismissed the allied forces, and led thestate (14) division home. Thus the transactions concerning Phlius werebrought to a conclusion, having occupied altogether one year and eightmonths. 

 (13) See below, "Hell. " VII. I. 19. 

 (14) {to politokon}, the citizen army. See above, IV. Iv. 19; "Pol. Lac. " xi. 

Meanwhile Polybiades had reduced the citizens of Olynthus to the laststage of misery through famine. Unable to supply themselves with cornfrom their own land, or to import it by sea, they were forced to send anembassy to Lacedaemon to sue for peace. The plenipotentiaries on theirarrival accepted articles of agreement by which they bound themselvesto have the same friends and the same foes as Lacedaemon, to follow herlead, and to be enrolled among her allies; and so, having taken an oathto abide by these terms, they returned home. 

On every side the affairs of Lacedaemon had signally prospered: Thebesand the rest of the Boeotian states lay absolutely at her feet; Corinthhad become her most faithful ally; Argos, unable longer to avail herselfof the subterfuge of a movable calendar, was humbled to the dust; Athenswas isolated; and, lastly, those of her own allies who displayed ahostile feeling towards her had been punished; so that, to all outwardappearance, the foundations of her empire were at length absolutely welland firmly laid. 

IV

Abundant examples might be found, alike in Hellenic and in foreignhistory, to prove that the Divine powers mark what is done amiss, winking neither at impiety nor at the commission of unhallowed acts;but at present I confine myself to the facts before me. (1) TheLacedaemonians, who had pledged themselves by oath to leave the statesindependent, had laid violent hands on the acropolis of Thebes, and wereeventually punished by the victims of that iniquity single-handed--theLacedaemonians, be it noted, who had never before been mastered byliving man; and not they alone, but those citizens of Thebes whointroduced them to their acropolis, and who wished to enslave their cityto Lacedaemon, that they might play the tyrant themselves--how faredit with them? A bare score of the fugitives were sufficient to destroytheir government. How this happened I will now narrate in detail. 

 (1) Or, "it is of my own subject that I must now speak. " For the "peripety, " or sudden reversal of circumstances, on which the plot of the "Hellenica" hinges, see Grote, "H. G. " x. 100-108. Cf. Soph. "Oed. Tyr. " 450; "Antig. " 1066; Thuc. V. 116; "Hellenica Essays, " "Xenophon, " p. 382 foll. This passage is perhaps the key to the historian's position. 

There was a man named Phyllidas--he was secretary to Archias, that is, to the polemarchs. (2) Beyond his official duties, he had rendered hischief other services, and all apparently in an exemplary fashion. Avisit to Athens in pursuance of some business brought this man intocontact with a former acquaintance of his, Melon, one of the exileswho had fled for safety to Athens. Melon had various questions to asktouching the sort of tyranny practised by Archias in the exercise of thepolemarchy, and by Philip. He soon discovered that affairs at home werestill more detestable to Phyllidas than to himself. It only remainedto exchange pledges, and to arrange the details of what was to be done. After a certain interval Melon, accompanied by six of the trustiestcomrades he could find among his fellow-exiles, set off for Thebes. Theywere armed with nothing but daggers, and first of all crept into theneighbourhood under cover of night. The whole of the next day they layconcealed in a desert place, and drew near to the city gates in theguise of labourers returning home with the latest comers from thefields. Having got safely within the city, they spent the whole of thatnight at the house of a man named Charon, and again the next day in thesame fashion. Phyllidas meanwhile was busily taken up with the concernsof the polemarchs, who were to celebrate a feast of Aphrodite on goingout of office. Amongst other things, the secretary was to take thisopportunity of fulfilling an old undertaking, which was the introductionof certain women to the polemarchs. They were to be the most majesticand the most beautiful to be found in Thebes. The polemarchs, on theirside (and the character of the men is sufficiently marked), were lookingforward to the pleasures of the night with joyful anticipation. Supperwas over, and thanks to the zeal with which the master of the ceremoniesresponded to their mood, they were speedily intoxicated. To theiroft-repeated orders to introduce their mistresses, he went out andfetched Melon and the rest, three of them dressed up as ladies and therest as their attendant maidens. Having brought them into the treasuryof the polemarchs' residence, (3) he returned himself and announced toArchias and his friends that the women would not present themselvesas long as any of the attendants remained in the room; whereupon theypromptly bade all withdraw, and Phyllidas, furnishing the servants witha stoup of wine, sent them off to the house of one of them. And now atlast he introduced the mistresses, and led them to their seats besidetheir respective lords. It was preconcerted that as soon as they wereseated they were to throw aside their veils and strike home. That is oneversion of the death of the polemarchs. (4) According to another, Melonand his friends came in as revellers, and so despatched their victims. 

 (2) Lit. "to Archias and his (polemarchs)"; but the Greek phrase does not, as the English would, imply that there were actually more than two polemarchs, viz. Archias and Philippus. Hypates and Leontiades belonged to the faction, but were neither of them polemarchs. 

 (3) Lit. "Polemarcheion. "

 (4) Or, "and so, according to the prevalent version of the matter, the polemarchs were slain. But some say that... "

That over, Phyllidas, with three of the band, set off to the house ofLeontiades. Arrived there, he knocked on the door, and sent in word thathe had a message from the polemarchs. Leontiades, as chance befell, wasstill reclining in privacy after dinner, and his wife was seated besidehim working wools. The fidelity of Phyllidas was well known to him, andhe gave orders to admit him at once. They entered, slew Leontiades, andwith threats silenced his wife. As they went out they ordered the doorto be shut, threatening that if they found it open they would kill everyone in the house. And now that this deed was done, Phyllidas, with twoof the band, presented himself at the prison, telling the gaoler he hadbrought a man from the polemarchs to be locked up. The gaoler opened thedoor, and was at once despatched, and the prisoners were released. Thesethey speedily supplied with arms taken from the armoury in the stoa, and then led them to the Ampheion, (5) and bade them take up a positionthere, after which they at once made a proclamation calling on allThebans to come out, horse and foot, seeing that the tyrants were dead. The citizens, indeed, as long as it was night, not knowing whom orwhat to trust, kept quiet, but when day dawned and revealed what hadoccurred, the summons was responded to with alacrity, heavy infantry andcavalry under arms alike sallying forth. Horsemen were also despatchedby the now restored exiles to the two Athenian generals on the frontier;and they, being aware of the object of the message (promptly responded). (6)

 (5) See plan of Thebes, "Dict. Geog. "; Arrian, "Anab. " i. 8; Aesch. "Sept. C. Theb. " 528. 

 (6) Supply {epeboethoun}. There is a lacuna in the MSS. At this point. 

On the other hand, the Lacedaemonian governor in the citadel, as soonas that night's proclamation reached his ears, was not slow to sendto Plataeae (7) and Thespiae for reinforcements. The approach of thePlataeans was perceived by the Theban cavalry, who met them and killed ascore of them and more, and after that achievement returned to thecity, to find the Athenians from the frontier already arrived. Then theyassaulted the acropolis. The troops within recognised the paucity oftheir own numbers, whilst the zeal of their opponents (one and alladvancing to the attack) was plainly visible, and loud were theproclamations, promising rewards to those who should be first to scalethe walls. All this so worked upon their fears that they agreed toevacuate the place if the citizens would allow them a safe-conduct toretire with their arms. To this request the others gladly yielded, andthey made a truce. Oaths were taken on the terms aforesaid, and thecitizens dismissed their adversaries. For all that, as the garrisonretired, those of them who were recognised as personal foes were seizedand put to death. Some were rescued through the good offices of theAthenian reinforcements from the frontier, who smuggled them across andsaved them. The Thebans were not content with putting the men todeath; if any of them had children, these also were sacrificed to theirvengeance. 

 (7) This city had been refounded in B. C. 386 (Isocr. "Plat. " 20, 21). See Freeman, op. Cit. Ch. Iv. P. 170: "Its restoration implied not only a loss of Theban supremacy, but the actual loss of that portion of the existing Theban territory which had formerly formed the Plataian district. "

B. C. 378. When the news of these proceedings reached Sparta the firstthing the Lacedaemonians did was to put to death the governor, who hadabandoned the Cadmeia instead of awaiting reinforcements, and the nextwas to call out the ban against Thebes. Agesilaus had little taste tohead the expedition; he pointed out that he had seen more than fortyyears' service, (8) and that the exemption from foreign duty applicableto others at that age was applicable on the same principle to the king. Such were the ostensible grounds on which he excused himself from thepresent expedition, but his real objections lay deeper. He felt certainthat if he led the expedition his fellow-citizens would say: "Agesilauscaused all this trouble to the state in order to aid and abet tyrants. "Therefore he preferred to leave his countrymen to settle the matterthemselves as they liked. Accordingly the ephors, instructed bythe Theban exiles who had escaped the late massacres, despatchedCleombrotus. He had not commanded before, and it was the depth ofwinter. 

 (8) And was therefore more than fifty-eight years old at this date. See "Ages. " i. 6. 

Now while Chabrias, with a body of Athenian peltasts, kept watch andward over the road through Eleutherae, Cleombrotus made his way up bythe direct route to Plataeae. His column of light infantry, pushingforward in advance, fell upon the men who had been released from theTheban prison, guarding the summit, to the number of about one hundredand fifty. These, with the exception of one or two who escaped, were cutdown by the peltasts, and Cleombrotus descended in person upon Plataeae, which was still friendly to Sparta. Presently he reached Thespiae, andthat was the base for an advance upon Cynoscephalae, where he encampedon Theban territory. Here he halted sixteen days, and then again fellback upon Thespiae. At this latter place he now left Sphodrias asgovernor, with a third portion of each of the contingents of the allies, handing over to him all the moneys he had brought with him fromhome, with directions to supplement his force with a contingent ofmercenaries. 

While Sphodrias was so employed, Cleombrotus himself commenced hishomeward march, following the road through Creusis at the head of hisown moiety of the troops, who indeed were in considerable perplexity todiscover whether they were at war with the Thebans or at peace, seeingthat the general had led his army into Theban territory, had inflictedthe minimum of mischief, and again retired. No sooner, however, was hisback turned than a violent wind storm assailed him in his rear, whichsome construed as an omen clearly significant of what was about to takeplace. Many a blow this assailant dealt them, and as the general and hisarmy, crossing from Creusis, scaled that face of the mountain (9) whichstretches seaward, the blast hurled headlong from the precipices astring of asses, baggage and all: countless arms were wrested from thebearers' grasp and whirled into the sea; finally, numbers of the men, unable to march with their arms, deposited them at different points ofthe pass, first filling the hollow of their shields with stones. For themoment, then, they halted at Aegosthena, on Megarian soil, and supped asbest they could. Next day they returned and recovered their arms. After this adventure the contingents lost no time in returning to theirseveral homes, as Cleombrotus disbanded them. 

 (9) I. E. "Cithaeron. "

Meanwhile at Athens and Thebes alike fear reigned. To the Athenians thestrength of the Lacedaemonians was unmistakable: the war was plainlyno longer confined to Corinth; on the contrary, the Lacedaemonians hadventured to skirt Athenian territory and to invade Thebes. They were soworked upon by their alarm that the two generals who had been privyto the insurrection of Melon against Leontiades and his party had tosuffer: the one was formally tried and put to death; the other, refusingto abide his trial, was banished. 

The apprehensions of the Thebans were of a different sort: their fearwas rather lest they should find themselves in single-handed war withLacedaemon. To prevent this they hit upon the following expedient. Theyworked upon Sphodrias, (10) the Spartan governor left in Thespiae, byoffering him, as at least was suspected, a substantial sum, in returnfor which he was to make an incursion into Attica; their great objectbeing to involve Athens and Lacedaemon in hostilities. Sphodrias lent awilling ear, and, pretending that he could easily capture Piraeus in itspresent gateless condition, gave his troops an early evening meal andmarched out of Thespiae, saying that he would reach Piraeus beforedaybreak. As a matter of fact day overtook him at Thria, nor did hetake any pains even to draw a veil over his intentions; on the contrary, being forced to turn aside, he amused himself by recklessly liftingcattle and sacking houses. Meanwhile some who chanced upon him in thenight had fled to the city and brought news to the men of Athens that alarge body of troops was approaching. It needs no saying with what speedthe cavalry and heavy infantry armed themselves and stood on guardto protect the city. As chance befell, there were some Lacedaemonianambassadors in Athens at the moment, at the house of Callias theirproxenos; their names were Etymocles, Aristolochus, and Ocyllus. Immediately on receipt of the news the Athenians seized these three andimprisoned them, as not improbably concerned in the plot. Utterly takenaback by the affair themselves, the ambassadors pleaded that, had theybeen aware of an attempt to seize Piraeus, they would hardly have beenso foolish as to put themselves into the power of the Athenians, or haveselected the house of their proxenos for protection, where they were soeasily to be found. It would, they further urged, soon be plain to theAthenians themselves that the state of Lacedaemon was quite aslittle cognisant of these proceedings as they. "You will hear beforelong"--such was their confident prediction--"that Sphodrias has paid forhis behaviour by his life. " On this wise the ambassadors were acquittedof all concern in the matter and dismissed. Sphodrias himself wasrecalled and indicted by the ephors on the capital charge, and, in spiteof his refusal to face the trial, he was acquitted. This miscarriageof justice, as it seemed to many, who described it as unprecedented inLacedaemon, has an explanation. 

 (10) See Plut. "Pel. " xiv. (Clough, ii. P. 214). 

Sphodrias had a son named Cleonymus. He was just at the age whenyouth emerges from boyhood, very handsome and of high repute amonghis fellows. To this youth Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus, waspassionately attached. Now the friends of Cleombrotus, as comrades ofSphodrias, were disposed to acquit him; but they feared Agesilaus andhis friends, not to mention the intermediate party, for the enormity ofhis proceeding was clear. So when Sphodrias addressed his son Cleonymus:"You have it in your power, my son, to save your father, if you will, bybegging Archidamus to dispose Agesilaus favourably to me at my trial. "Thus instructed, the youth did not shrink from visiting Archidamus, andimplored him for his sake to save his father. Now when Archidamus sawhow Cleonymus wept, he too was melted to tears as he stood beside him, but to his petition he made answer thus: "Nay, Cleonymus, it is the baretruth I tell you, I cannot so much as look my father in the face;(11) if I wished anything transacted for me in the city I would begassistance from the whole world sooner than from my father. Still, sinceit is you who bid me, rest assured I will do my best to bring this aboutfor you as you desire. " He then left the common hall (12) and retiredhome to rest, but with dawn he arose and kept watch that his fathermight not go out without his knowledge. Presently, when he saw himready to go forth, first some citizen was present, and then another andanother; and in each case he stepped aside, while they held his fatherin conversation. By and by a stranger would come, and then another; andso it went on until he even found himself making way for a string ofpetitioning attendants. At last, when his father had turned his back onthe Eurotas, and was entering his house again, he was fain to turn hisback also and be gone without so much as accosting him. The next dayhe fared no better: all happened as on the previous day. Now Agesilaus, although he had his suspicions why his son went to and fro in this way, asked no questions, but left him to take his own course. Archidamus, onhis side, was longing, as was natural, to see his friend Cleonymus; buthow he was to visit him, without having held the desired conversationwith his father, he knew not. The friends of Sphodrias, observing thathe who was once so frequent a visitor had ceased coming, were in agony;he must surely have been deterred by the reproaches of his father. Atlast, however, Archidamus dared to go to his father, and said, "Father, Cleonymus bids me ask you to save his father; grant me this boon, ifpossible, I beg you. " He answered: "For yourself, my son, I can makeexcuse, but how shall my city make excuse for me if I fail to condemnthat man who, for his own base purpose, traffics to the injury of thestate?" For the moment the other made no reply, but retired crestfallenbefore the verdict of justice. Afterwards, whether the thought was hisown or that he was prompted by some other, he came and said, "Father, if Sphodrias had done no wrong you would have released him, that I know;but now, if he has done something wrong, may he not be excused by youfor our sakes?" And the father answered: "If it can be done without lossof honour on our parts, so shall it be. " At that word the young man, indeep despondency, turned and went. Now one of the friends of Sphodrias, conversing with Etymocles, remarked to him: "You are all bent on puttingSphodrias to death, I take it, you friends of Agesilaus?" And Etymoclesreplied: "If that be so, we all are bent on one thing, and Agesilaus onanother, since in all his conversations he still harps upon one string:that Sphodrias has done a wrong there is no denying, yet Sphodrias isa man who, from boyhood to ripe manhood, (13) was ever constant to thecall of honour. To put such a man as that to death is hard; nay, Spartaneeds such soldiers. " The other accordingly went off and reported whathe had just heard to Cleonymus; and he in the joy of his heart wentstraightway to Archidamus and said: "Now we know that you care for us;rest assured, Archidamus, that we in turn will take great pains that youshall never have cause to blush for our friendship. " Nor did his actsbelie his words; but so long as he lived he was ever faithful to thecode of Spartan chivalry; and at Leuctra, fighting in front of the kingside by side with Deinon the polemarch, thrice fell or ever he yieldedup his breath--foremost of the citizens amidst the foe. And so, albeithe caused his friend the bitterest sorrow, yet to that which he hadpromised he was faithful, seeing he wrought Archidamus no shame, butcontrariwise shed lustre on him. (14) In this way Sphodrias obtained hisacquittal. 

 (11) See "Cyrop. " I. Iv. 12. 

 (12) Lit. "the Philition. " See "Pol. Lac. " iii. 6. 

 (13) Lit. "who, whether as child, boy, or young man"; and for the three stages of growth, see "Pol. Lac. " ii. Iii. Iv. 

 (14) I. E. Both in life and in death. 

At Athens the friends of Boeotia were not slow to instruct the peoplethat his countrymen, so far from punishing Sphodrias, had even applaudedhim for his designs on Athens; and in consequence of this the Atheniansnot only furnished Piraeus with gates, but set to work to build a fleet, and displayed great zeal in sending aid to the Boeotians. (15) TheLacedaemonians, on their side, called out the ban against the Thebans;and being persuaded that in Agesilaus they would find a more prudentgeneral than Cleombrotus had proved, they begged the former to undertakethe expedition. (16) He, replying that the wish of the state was for himlaw, began making preparations to take the field. 

 (15) For the new Athenian confederacy of Delos of this year, B. C. 378, see "Pol. Lac. " xiv. 6; "Rev. " v. 6; Diod. Xv. 28-30; Plut. "Pelop. " xv. ; Hicks, 78, 81; and for an alliance between Athens and Chalcis in Euboea, see Hicks, 79; and for a treaty with Chios, Hicks, 80. 

 (16) See "Ages. " ii. 22. 

Now he had come to the conclusion that without the occupation of MountCithaeron any attack on Thebes would be difficult. Learning then thatthe men of Cleitor were just now at war with the men of Orchomenus, (17)and were maintaining a foreign brigade, he came to an understanding withthe Cleitorians that in the event of his needing it, this force would beat his service; and as soon as the sacrifices for crossing thefrontier proved favourable, he sent to the commander of the Cleitorianmercenaries, and handing him a month's pay, ordered him to occupyCithaeron with his men. This was before he himself reached Tegea. Meanwhile he sent a message to the men of Orchomenus that so long asthe campaign lasted they must cease from war. If any city during hiscampaign abroad took on itself to march against another city, his firstduty, he declared, would be to march against such offending city inaccordance with a decree of the allies. 

 (17) In Arcadia. See Busolt, "Die Lak. " 120 foll. 

Thus crossing Cithaeron he reached Thespiae, (18) and from that basemade the territory of Thebes his objective. Finding the great plainfenced round with ditch and palisade, as also the most valuable portionsof the country, he adopted the plan of shifting his encampment from oneplace to another. Regularly each day, after the morning meal, he marchedout his troops and ravaged the territory, confining himself to his ownside of the palisadings and trench. The appearance of Agesilaus at anypoint whatever was a signal to the enemy, who within the circuit of hisentrenchment kept moving in parallel line to the invader, and was everready to defend the threatened point. On one occasion, the Spartanking having retired and being well on the road back to camp, the Thebancavalry, hitherto invisible, suddenly dashed out, following one of theregularly constructed roads out of the entrenchment. Taking advantage ofthe enemy's position--his light troops breaking off to supper or busilypreparing the meal, and the cavalry, some of them on their legs just(19) dismounted, and others in the act of mounting--on they rode, pressing the charge home. Man after man of the light troops was cutdown; and three cavalry troopers besides--two Spartans, Cleas andEpicydidas by name, and the third a provincial (20) named Eudicus, whohad not had time to mount their horses, and whose fate was shared bysome Theban (21) exiles. But presently Agesilaus wheeled about andadvanced with his heavy infantry to the succour; his cavalry dashedat the enemy's cavalry, and the flower of the heavy infantry, theten-years-service men, charged by their side. The Theban cavalry at thatinstant looked like men who had been imbibing too freely in the noontideheat--that is to say, they awaited the charge long enough to hurl theirspears; but the volley sped without effect, and wheeling about withinthat distance they left twelve of their number dead upon the field. 

 (18) By Cynoscephalae. See "Ages. " ii. 22. 

 (19) Read, after Courier, {arti} for the vulg. {eti}; or, better still, adopt Hartman's emendation (op. Cit. P. 379), {ton men ede katabebekoton ton de katabainonton}, and translate "some--already dismounted, and others dismounting. "

 (20) Lit. "one of the perioeci. "

 (21) Reading {Thebaion} after Dind. For {'Athenaion}. 

Agesilaus had not failed to note with what regularity the enemypresented himself after the morning meal. Turning the observation toaccount, he offered sacrifice with day's dawn, and marched with allpossible speed, and so crossed within the palisadings, through whatmight have been a desert, as far as defence or sign of living beingwent. Once well inside, he proceeded to cut down and set on fireeverything up to the city gates. After this exploit he beat a retreat, retiring into Thespiae, where he fortified their citadel for them. Herehe left Phoebidas as governor, while he himself crossed the passes backinto Megara. Arrived here he disbanded the allies, and led the citytroops homewards. 

After the departure of Agesilaus, Phoebidas devoted himself to harryingthe Thebans by sending out robber bands, and laid waste their land bya system of regular incursions. The Thebans, on their side, desiringto retaliate, marched out with their whole force into the territoryof Thespiae. But once well inside the district they found themselvesclosely beset by Phoebidas and his light troops, who would not givethem the slightest chance to scatter from their main body, so thatthe Thebans, heartily vexed at the turn their foray had taken, beat aretreat quicker than they had come. The muleteers threw away with theirown hands the fruits they had captured, in their anxiety to get home asquickly as possible; so dire a dread had fallen upon the invading army. This was the chance for the Spartan to press home his attack boldly, keeping his light division in close attendance on himself, and leavingthe heavy infantry under orders to follow him in battle order. He wasin hopes even that he might put the enemy to complete rout, so valiantlydid he lead the advance, encouraging the light troops to "come to aclose grip with the invadors, " or summoning the heavy infantry of theThespiaeans to "bring up their supports. " Presently the Theban cavalryas they retired found themselves face to face with an impassable glenor ravine, where in the first instance they collected in a mob, and nextwheeled right-about-face in sheer resourcelessness where to cross. Thehandful of light troops who formed the Spartan vanguard took frightat the Thebans and fled, and the Theban horsemen seeing this put inpractice the lesson of attack which the fugitives taught them. As forPhoebidas himself, he and two or three with him fell sword in hand, whereupon his mercenary troops all took to their heels. 

When the stream of fugitives reached the Thespiaean heavy infantryreserves, they too, in spite of much boasting beforehand that they wouldnever yield to Thebans, took to flight, though there was now absolutelyno pursuit whatever, for it was now late. The number slain was notlarge, but, for all that, the men of Thespiae did not come to astandstill until they found themselves safe inside their walls. As asequel, the hopes and spirits of the Thebans were again kindled into newlife, and they made campaigns against Thespiae and the other provincialcities of Boeotia. (22) It must be admitted that in each case thedemocratical party retired from these cities to Thebes; since absolutegovernments had been established in all of them on the patternpreviously adopted at Thebes; and the result was that the friends ofLacedaemon in these cities also needed her assistance. (23) After thedeath of Phoebidas the Lacedaemonians despatched a polemarch with adivision by sea to form the garrison of Thespiae. 

 (22) Lit. "their other perioecid cities. " For the significance of this title as applied by the Thebans (and perhaps commonly) to the other cities of Boeotia, see Freeman, op. Cit. Ch. Iv. Pp. 157, 173 foll. 

 (23) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 174; Freeman, op. Cit. Iv. 171, 172. 

B. C. 377. With the advent of spring (24) the ephors again called out theban against Thebes, and requested Agesilaus to lead the expedition, ason the former campaign. He, holding to his former theory with regard tothe invasion, even before sacrificing the customary frontier sacrifice, sent a despatch to the polemarch at Thespiae, with orders to seize thepass which commands the road over Cithaeron, and to guard it against hisarrival. Then, having once more crossed the pass and reached Plataeae, he again made a feint of marching first into Thespiae, and so sent adespatch ordering supplies to be in readiness, and all embassies tobe waiting his arrival there; so that the Thebans concentrated theirattention on the approaches from Thespiae, which they strongly guarded. Next morning, however, Agesilaus sacrificed at daybreak and set out onthe road to Erythrae, (25) and completing in one day what was a good twodays' march for an army, gave the Thebans the slip, and crossedtheir palisade-work at Scolus before the enemy had arrived from theclosely-guarded point at which he had effected his entrance formerly. This done he proceeded to ravage the eastward-facing districts of thecity of Thebes as far as the territory of Tanagra, for at that dateTanagra was still in the hands of Hypatodorus and his party, who werefriends of the Lacedaemonians. After that he turned to retire, keepingthe walls of Thebes on his left. But the Thebans, who had stolen, asit were, upon the scene, drew up at the spot called "The Old Wife'sBreast, " (26) keeping the trench and palisading in their rear: they werepersuaded that here, if anywhere, lay their chance to risk a decisiveengagement, the ground at this point being somewhat narrow and difficultto traverse. Agesilaus, however, in view of the situation, refused toaccept the challenge. Instead of marching upon them he turned sharp offin the direction of the city; and the Thebans, in alarm for the city inits undefended state, abandoned the favourable ground on which theywere drawn up in battle line, and retired at the double towards the cityalong the road to Potniae, which seemed the safer route. This lastmove of Agesilaus may be described as a stroke of genius: (27) while itallowed him to retire to a distance, it forced the enemy themselvesto retreat at the double. In spite of this, however, one or two of thepolemarchs, with their divisions, charged the foe as he raced past. But again the Thebans, from the vantage-ground of their heights, sentvolleys of spears upon the assailants, which cost one of the polemarchs, Alypetus, his life. He fell pierced by a spear. But again from thisparticular crest the Thebans on their side were forced to turn inflight; so much so that the Sciritae, with some of the cavalry, scaledup and speedily cut down the rearmost ranks of the Thebans as theygalloped past into the city. When, however, they were close undercover of their walls the Thebans turned, and the Sciritae seeing themretreated at more than a steady walking pace. No one, it is true, wasslain; but the Thebans all the same set up a trophy in record ofthe incident at the point where the scaling party had been forced toretreat. 

 (24) See for affairs of Delos, never actually named by Xenophon, between B. C. 377 and 374, the Sandwich Marble in Trinity College, Cambridge; Boeckh, "C. I. G" 158, and "P. E. A. " ii. P. 78 foll. ; Hicks, 82. 

 (25) Erythrae (Redlands) stands between Hysiae and Scolus, east of Katzula. --Leake, "N. Gr. " ii. 329. See Herod. Ix. 15, 25; Thuc. Iii. 24; Paus. IX. Ii. 1; Strab. IX. Ii. 

 (26) Lit. "Graos Stethos. "

 (27) Or, "and this move of Agesilaus was regarded as a very pretty one. "

And now, since the hour was come, Agesilaus fell back and encamped onthe very site on which he had seen the enemy drawn up in battle array. Next day he retired by the road to Thespiae. The light troops, whoformed a free corps in the pay of the Thebans, hung audaciously at hisheels. Their shouts could be heard calling out to Chabrias (28) for notbringing up his supports; when the cavalry of the Olynthians (who nowcontributed a contingent in accordance with their oaths) (29) wheeledround on them, caught the pursuers in the heat of their pursuit, anddrove them uphill, putting large numbers of them to the sword--soquickly are infantry overhauled by cavalry on steep ground which can beridden over. Being arrived within the walls of Thespiae, Agesilausfound the citizens in a state of party feud, the men of Lacedaemonianproclivities desiring to put their political opponents, one of whom wasMenon, to death (30)--a proceeding which Agesilaus would not sanction. After having healed their differences and bound them over by solemn oathto keep the peace with one another, he at once retired, taking hisold route across Cithaeron to Megara. Here once more he disbanded theallies, and at the head of the city troops himself marched back toSparta. 

 (28) For the exploits of Chabrias, who commanded a division of mixed Athenians and mercenaries (see above, S. 14), see Dem. "c. Lept. " 479; Polyaen. Ii. 1, 2; Diod. Xv. 32, 33, who gives interesting details; Grote, "H. G. " x. 172 foll. 

 (29) See above, "Hell. " V. Iii. 26. 

 (30) Or, "under the pretext of furthering Laconian interests there was a desire to put political opponents to death. " For "Menon, " Diod. Conj. "Melon. "

The Thebans had not gathered in the fruits of their soil for two yearsnow, and began to be sorely pinched for want of corn; they thereforesent a body of men on board a couple of triremes to Pagasae, withten talents (31) in hand for the purchase of corn. But while thesecommissioners were engaged in effecting their purchases, Alcetas, theLacedaemonian who was garrisoning Oreus, (32) fitted out three triremes, taking precautions that no rumour of his proceedings should leak out. As soon as the corn was shipped and the vessels under weigh, he capturednot only the corn but the triremes, escort and all, numbering no lessthan three hundred men. This done he locked up his prisoners in thecitadel, where he himself was also quartered. Now there was a youth, theson of a native of Oreus, fair of mien and of gentle breeding, (33) whodanced attendance on the commandant: and the latter must needs leave thecitadel and go down to busy himself with this youth. This was a piece ofcarelessness which the prisoners did not fail to observe, and turned togood account by seizing the citadel, whereupon the town revolted, and the Thebans experienced no further difficulty in obtaining cornsupplies. 

 (31) = 2, 437 pounds: 10 shillings. 

 (32) Oreus, formerly called Histiaea, in the north of Euboea. See Thuc. Vii. 57, viii. 95; Diod. Xv. 30; Grote, "H. G. " ix. 263. For Pagasae at the north extremity of the Pagasaean Gulf, "the cradle of Greek navigation, " see Tozer, "Geog. Gr. " vi. P. 124; Strab. IX. V. 15. 

 (33) Or, "beautiful and brave if ever youth was. "

B. C. 376. At the return of spring Agesilaus lay sick--a bedriddeninvalid. The history of the case is this: During the withdrawal of hisarmy from Thebes the year before, when at Megara, while mounting fromthe Aphrodision (34) to the Government house he ruptured a vein or othervessel of the body. This was followed by a rush of blood to his soundleg. The knee was much swelled, and the pain intolerable, until aSyracusan surgeon made an incision in the vein near the ankle. The bloodthus let flowed night and day; do what they could to stop the discharge, all failed, till the patient fainted away; then it ceased. In thisplight Agesilaus was conveyed home on a litter to Lacedaemon, andremained an invalid the rest of that summer and throughout the winter. 

 (34) Pausanius (I. Xi. 6) mentions a temple of Aphrodite {'Epistrophoa} (Verticordia), on the way up to the Carian Acropolis of Megara. 

But to resume: at the first burst of spring the Lacedaemoniansagain called out the ban, and gave orders to Cleombrotus to lead theexpedition. The king found himself presently with his troops at the footof Cithaeron, and his light infantry advanced to occupy the pass whichcommands the road. But here they found a detachment of Thebans andAthenians already in occupation of the desired height, who for a whilesuffered them to approach; but when they were close upon them, sprangfrom their position and charged, putting about forty to the sword. Thisincident was sufficient to convince Cleombrotus that to invade Thebes bythis mountain passage was out of the question, and in this faith he ledback and disbanded his troops. 

The allies met in Lacedaemon, and arguments were adduced on the part ofthe allies to show that faintheartedness would very soon lead to theirbeing absolutely worn out by the war. They had got it in their power, it was urged, to fit out a fleet far outnumbering that of Athens, andto reduce that city by starvation; it was open to them, in the self-sameships, to carry an army across into Theban territory, and they hada choice of routes--the road into Phocis, or, if they preferred, byCreusis. After thus carefully considering the matter they manned a fleetof sixty triremes, and Pollis was appointed admiral in command. Norindeed were their expectations altogether belied. The Athenians weresoon so closely blockaded that their corn vessels could get no fartherthan Geraestus; (35) there was no inducing them to coast down fathersouth, with a Lacedaemonian navy hovering about Aegina and Ceos andAndros. The Athenians, making a virtue of necessity, manned their shipsin person, gave battle to Pollis under the leadership of Chabrias, andcame out of the sea-fight (36) victorious. 

 (35) The promontory at the southern extremity of Euboea. 

 (36) Battle of Naxos, B. C. 376. For interesting details, see Diod. Xv. 35, 35. 

B. C. 375. Then the corn supplies flowed freely into Athens. TheLacedaemonians, on their side, were preparing to transport an armyacross the water into Boeotia, when the Thebans sent a request to theAthenians urging them to despatch an armament round Peloponnesus, underthe persuasion that if this were done the Lacedaemonians would find itimpossible at once to guard their own or the allied territory in thatpart of the world, and at the same time to convery an army of any sizeto operate against Thebes. The proposals fell in with the present temperof the Athenians, irritated with Lacedaemon on account of the exploitof Sphodrias. Accordingly they eagerly manned a fleet of sixty vessels, appointing Timotheus as admiral in command, and despatched it on acruise round Peloponnesus. 

The Thebans, seeing that there had been no hostile invasion of theirterritory for so long (neither during the campaign of Cleombrotusnor now, (37) whilst Timotheus prosecuted his coasting voyage), feltemboldened to carry out a campaign on their own account against theprovincial cities; (38) and one by one they again recovered them. 

 (37) Lit. "nor at the date of Timotherus's periplus. " To the historian writing of the events of this period several years later, the coasting voyage of Timotheus is a single incident ({periepleuse}), and as Grote ("H. G. " x. 185, note 3) observes, the words may "include not simply the time which Timotheus took in actually circumnavigating Peloponnesos, but the year which he spent afterwards in the Ionian sea, and the time which he occupied in performing his exploits near Korkyra, Leukas, and the neighbourhood generally. " For the character and exploits of Timotheus, son of Conon, see Isocr. "Or. " xv. "On the Antidosis, " SS. 101-139; Jebb, "Att. Or. " ii. P. 140 foll. ; Rehdantz, "Vit. Iphicr. Chabr. Timoth. Atheniensium. "

 (38) Or, "the cities round about their territory, " lit. "the perioecid cities. " For the import of the epithet, see V. Iv. 46; Freeman, op. Cit. Iv. 173, note 1, in reference to Grote, "H. G. " x. 183, note 4. For the battle of Tegyra see Grote, ib. 182; Plut. "Pelop. " 17; Diod. Xv. 57 ("evidently this battle, " Grote); Callisthenes, fr. 3, ed. Did. Cf. Steph. Byz. , {Tegura}. 

Timotheus in his cruise reached Corcyra, and reduced it at a blow. Thatdone, he neither enslaved the inhabitants nor drove them into exile, nor changed their laws. And of this conduct he reaped the benefit ofthe increased cordiality (39) of all the cities of those parts. TheLacedaemonians thereupon fitted out and despatched a counter fleet, withNicolochus in command, an officer of consummate boldness. This admiralno sooner caught sight of Timotheus's fleet than without hesitation, andin spite of the absence of six Ambraciot vessels which formed partof his squadron, he gave battle, with fifty-five ships to the enemy'ssixty. The result was a defeat at the moment, and Timotheus set up atrophy at Alyzia. But as soon as the six missing Ambraciot vesselshad reinforced him--the ships of Timotheus meanwhile being docked andundergoing repairs--he bore down upon Alyzia in search of the Athenian, and as Timotheus refused to put out to meet him, the Lacedaemonian inturn set up a trophy on the nearest group of islands. 

 (39) The Corcyraeans, Acarnanians, and Cephallenians join the alliance B. C. 375; see Hicks, 83. "This decree dates from the autumn of B. C. 375, immediately after Timotheos's visit to Korkyra (Xen. 'Hell. ' V. Iv. 64). The result was that the names of Korkyra, Kephallenia, and Akarnania were inscribed upon the list (No. 81), and an alliance was made with them. " (See "C. I. A. " ii. P. 399 foll. ; Hicks, loc. Cit. ; "Hell. " VI. V. 23); "C. I. A. " ii. 14. The tablet is in the Asclepeian collection at the entrance of the Acropolis at Athens. See Milchofer, "Die Museum Athens, " 1881, p. 45. 

B. C. 374. Timotheus, after repairing his original squadron and manningmore vessels from Corcyra, found himself at the head of more thanseventy ships. His naval superiority was undisputed, but he was forcedto send to Athens for moneys, seeing his fleet was large and his wantsnot trifling. 

BOOK VI

I

B. C. 374. The Athenians and Lacedaemonians were thus engaged. But toreturn to the Thebans. After the subjugation of the cities in Boeotia, they extended the area of aggression and marched into Phocis. ThePhocians, on their side, sent an embassy to Lacedaemon, and pleaded thatwithout assistance from that power they must inevitably yield to Thebes. The Lacedaemonians in response conveyed by sea into the territory ofPhocis their king Cleombrotus, at the head of four regiments and thecontingents of the allies. 

About the same time Polydamus of Pharsalus arrived from Thessaly toaddress the general assembly (1) of Lacedaemon. He was a man of highrepute throughout the whole of Thessaly, while in his native city he wasregarded as so true a gentleman that the faction-ridden Pharsalianswere content to entrust the citadel to his keeping, and to allow theirrevenues to pass through his hands. It was his privilege to disburse themoney needed for sacred rites or other expenditure, within the limitsof their written law and constitution. Out of these moneys this faithfulsteward of the state was able to garrison and guard in safety forthe citizens their capital. Every year he rendered an account of hisadministration in general. If there was a deficit he made it up out ofhis own pocket, and when the revenues expanded he paid himself back. Forthe rest, his hospitality to foreigners and his magnificence were on atrue Thessalian scale. Such was the style and character of the man whonow arrived in Lacedaemon and spoke as follows:

 (1) {pros to koinon}, "h. E. Vel ad ad senatum vel ad ephoros vel ad concionem. "--Sturz, "Lex. Xen. " s. V. 

"Men of Lacedaemon, it is in my capacity as 'proxenos' and 'benefactor'(titles borne by my ancestry from time immemorial) that I claim, orrather am bound, in case of any difficulty to come to you, and, in caseof any complication dangerous to your interests in Thessaly, to give youwarning. The name of Jason, I feel sure, is not unknown to Lacedaemonianears. His power as a prince is sufficiently large, and his famewidespread. It is of Jason I have to speak. Under cover of a treaty ofpeace he has lately conferred with me, and this is the substance of whathe urged: 'Polydamas, ' he said, 'if I chose I could lay your city at myfeet, even against its will, as the following considerations will proveto you. See, ' he went on, 'the majority and the most important of thestates of Thessaly are my allies. I subdued them in campaigns in whichyou took their side in opposition to myself. Again, you do not needto be told that I have six thousand mercenaries who are a match inthemselves, I take it, for any single state. It is not the mere numberson which I insist. No doubt as large an army could be raised in otherquarters; but these citizen armies have this defect--they include menwho are already advanced in years, with others whose beards are scarcelygrown. Again, it is only a fraction of the citizens who attend to bodilytraining in a state, whereas with me no one takes mercenary service whois not as capable of endurance as myself. '

"And here, Lacedaemonians, I must tell you what is the bare truth. ThisJason is a man stout of limb and robust of body, with an insatiableappetite for toil. Equally true is it that he tests the mettle of thosewith him day by day. He is always at their head, whether on a field-dayunder arms, or in the gymnasium, or on some military expedition. Theweak members of the corps he weeds out, but those whom he sees bearthemselves stout-heartedly in the face of war, like true lovers ofdanger and of toil, he honours with double, treble, and quadruplepay, or with other gifts. On the bed of sickness they will not lackattendance, nor honour in their graves. Thus every foreigner in hisservice knows that his valour in war may obtain for him a livelihood--alife replete at once with honour and abundance. (2)

 (2) Or, "a life satisfying at once to soul and body. "

"Then with some parade he pointed out to me what I knew before, thatthe Maracians, and the Dolopians, and Alcetas the hyparch (3) inEpirus, were already subject to his sway; 'so that I may fairly ask you, Polydamas, ' he proceeded, 'what I have to apprehend that I should notlook on your future subjugation as mere child's play. Perhaps some onewho did not know me, and what manner of man I am, might put it to me:"Well! Jason, if all you say be true, why do you hesitate? why do younot march at once against Pharsalia?" For the good reason, I reply, thatit suits me better to win you voluntarily than to annex you against yourwills. Since, if you are forced, you will always be planning all themischief you can against me, and I on my side shall be strivingto diminish your power; whereas if you throw in your lot with minetrustfully and willingly, it is certain we shall do what we can to helpeach other. I see and know, Polydamas, that your country fixes her eyeson one man only, and that is yourself: what I guarantee you, therefore, is that, if you will dispose her lovingly to myself, I on my side willraise you up to be the greatest man in Hellas next to me. Listen, whileI tell you what it is in which I offer you the second prize. Listen, and accept nothing which does not approve itself as true to your ownreasoning. First, is it not plain to us both, that with the adhesionof Pharsalus and the swarm of pettier states dependent on yourselves, I shall with infinite ease become Tagos (4) of all the Thessalians; andthen the corollary--Thessaly so united--sixteen thousand cavalry andmore than ten thousand heavy infantry leap into life. Indeed, when Icontemplate the physique and proud carriage of these men, I cannot butpersuade myself that, with proper handling, there is not a nation ortribe of men to which Thessalians would deign to yield submission. Lookat the broad expanse of Thessaly and consider: when once a Tagos isestablished here, all the tribes in a circle round will lie stilled insubjection; and almost every member of each of these tribes is an archerborn, so that in the light infantry division of the service our powermust needs excel. Furthermore, the Boeotians and all the rest of theworld in arms against Lacedaemon are my allies; they clamour to followmy banner, if only I will free them from Sparta's yoke. So again theAthenians, I make sure, will do all they can to gain our alliance; butwith them I do not think we will make friends, for my persuasion is thatempire by sea will be even easier to acquire than empire by land; andto show you the justice of this reasoning I would have you weigh thefollowing considerations. With Macedonia, which is the timber-yard (5)of the Athenian navy, in our hands we shall be able to construct a farlarger fleet than theirs. That stands to reason. And as to men, whichwill be the better able to man vessels, think you--Athens, or ourselveswith our stalwart and numerous Penestae? (6) Which will better supportmariners--a nation which, like our own, out of her abundance exports hercorn to foreign parts, or Athens, which, but for foreign purchases, hasnot enough to support herself? And so as to wealth in general it isonly natural, is it not, that we, who do not look to a string of littleislands for supplies, but gather the fruits of continental peoples, should find our resources more copious? As soon as the scattered powersof Thessaly are gathered into a principality, all the tribes around, Irepeat, will become our tributaries. I need not tell you that the kingof Persia reaps the fruits, not of islands, but of a continent, and heis the wealthiest of men! But the reduction of Persia will be still morepracticable, I imagine, than that of Hellas, for there the men, saveone, are better versed in slavery than in prowess. Nor have I forgotten, during the advance of Cyrus, and afterwards under Agesilaus, how scantthe force was before which the Persian quailed. '

 (3) Or, "his underlord in Epirus. " By hyparch, I suppose, is implied that Alcetas regarded Jason as his suzerain. Diodorus (xv. 13, 36) speaks of him as "king" of the Molossians. 

 (4) Or, "Prince, " and below, "Thessaly so converted into a Principality. " "The Tagos of Thessaly was not a King, because his office was not hereditary or even permanent; neither was he exactly a Tyrant, because his office had some sort of legal sanction. But he came much nearer to the character either of a King or of a Tyrant than to that of a Federal President like the General of the Achaians.... Jason of Pherai acts throughout like a King, and his will seems at least as uncontrolled as that of his brother sovereign beyond the Kambunian hills. Even Jason seems to have been looked upon as a Tyrant (see below, 'Hell. ' VI. Iv. 32); possibly, like the Athenian Demos, he himself did not refuse the name" (cf. Arist. "Pol. " iii. 4, 9). --Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " "No True Federation in Thessaly, " iv. Pp. 152 foll. 

 (5) See above, and Hicks, 74. 

 (6) Or, "peasantry. "

"Such, Lacedaemonians, were the glowing arguments of Jason. In answerI told him that what he urged was well worth weighing, but that we, thefriends of Lacedaemon, should so, without a quarrel, desert her and rushinto the arms of her opponents, seemed to me sheer madness. Whereat hepraised me, and said that now must he needs cling all the closer to meif that were my disposition, and so charged me to come to you andtell you the plain truth, which is, that he is minded to march againstPharsalus if we will not hearken to him. Accordingly he bade me demandassistance from you; 'and if they suffer you, ' (7) he added, 'so to workupon them that they will send you a force sufficient to do battle withme, it is well: we will abide by war's arbitrament, nor quarrel withthe consequence; but if in your eyes that aid is insufficient, look toyourself. How shall you longer be held blameless before that fatherlandwhich honours you and in which you fare so well?' (8)

 (7) Or, reading {theoi}, after Cobet; translate "if providentially they should send you. "

 (8) Reading {kai e su pratteis}, after Cobet. The chief MSS. Give {ouk ede anegkletos an dikaios eies en te patridi e se tima kai su prattois ta kratista}, which might be rendered either, "and how be doing best for yourself?" (lit. "and you would not be doing best for yourself, " {ouk an} carried on from previous clause), or (taking {prattois} as pure optative), "may you be guided to adopt the course best for yourself!" "may the best fortune attend you! Farewell. " See Otto Keller, op. Cit. Ad loc. For various emendations. 

"These are the matters, " Polydamas continued, "which have brought me toLacedaemon. I have told you the whole story; it is based partly on whatI see to be the case, and partly on what I have heard from yonder man. My firm belief is, men of Lacedaemon, that if you are likely to despatcha force sufficient, not in my eyes only, but in the eyes of all the restof Thessaly, to cope with Jason in war, the states will revolt fromhim, for they are all in alarm as to the future development of the man'spower; but if you think a company of newly-enfranchised slaves and anyamateur general will suffice, I advise you to rest in peace. You maytake my word for it, you will have a great power to contend against, anda man who is so prudent a general that, in all he essays to do, be it anaffair of secrecy, or speed, or force, he is wont to hit the mark of hisendeavours: one who is skilled, should occasion serve, to make the nightof equal service to him with the day; (9) or, if speed be needful, will labour on while breakfasting or taking an evening meal. And as forrepose, he thinks that the time for it has come when the goal is reachedor the business on hand accomplished. And to this same practice hehas habituated those about him. Right well he knows how to reward theexpectations of his soldiers, when by the extra toil which makes thedifference they have achieved success; so that in his school all havelaid to heart that maxim, 'Pain first and pleasure after. ' (10) Andin regard to pleasure of the senses, of all men I know, he is the mostcontinent; so that these also are powerless to make him idle at theexpense of duty. You must consider the matter then and tell me, asbefits you, what you can and will do. "

 (9) See "Cyrop. " III. I. 19. 

 (10) For this sentiment, see "Mem. " II. I. 20 et passim. 

Such were the representations of Polydamas. The Lacedaemonians, for thetime being, deferred their answer; but after calculating the nextday and the day following how many divisions (11) they had on foreignservice, and how many ships on the coast of Laconia to deal with theforeign squadron of the Athenians, and taking also into account the warwith their neighbours, they gave their answer to Polydamas: "For thepresent they would not be able to send him sufficient aid: under thecircumstances they advised him to go back and make the best settlementhe could of his own affairs and those of his city. " He, thanking theLacedaemonians for their straightforwardness, withdrew. 

 (11) Lit. "morai. "

The citadel of Pharsalus he begged Jason not to force him to give up:his desire was to preserve it for those who had entrusted it to his safekeeping; his own sons Jason was free to take as hostages, and he woulddo his best to procure for him the voluntary adhesion of his city bypersuasion, and in every way to further his appointment as Tagos ofThessaly. Accordingly, after interchange of solemn assurances betweenthe pair, the Pharsalians were let alone and in peace, and ere longJason was, by general consent, appointed Tagos of all the Thessalians. Once fairly vested with that authority, he drew up a list of the cavalryand heavy infantry which the several states were capable of furnishingas their quota, with the result that his cavalry, inclusive of allies, numbered more than eight thousand, while his infantry force was computedat not less than twenty thousand; and his light troops would have been amatch for those of the whole world--the mere enumeration of their citieswould be a labour in itself. (12) His next act was a summons to all thedwellers round (13) to pay tribute exactly the amount imposed in thedays of Scopas. (14) And here in this state of accomplishment we mayleave these matters. I return to the point reached when this digressioninto the affairs of Jason began. 

 (12) See "Cyrop. " I. I. 5. 

 (13) Lit. Perioeci. 

 (14) It is conjectured that the Scopadae ruled at Pherae and Cranusa in the earlier half of the fifth century B. C. ; see, for the change of dynasty, what is said of Lycophron of Pherae in "Hell. " II. Iii. 4. There was a famous Scopas, son of Creon, to whom Simonides addressed his poem--

{Andr' agathon men alatheos genesthai khalepon khersin te kai posi kainoo tetragonon, aneu psogou tetugmenon. }

a sentiment criticised by Plato, "Protag. " 359 A. "Now Simonides says toScopas, the son of Creon, the Thessalian:

'Hardly on the one hand can a man become truly good; built four-squarein hands and feet and mind, a work without a flaw. '

Do you know the poem?"--Jowett, "Plat. " i. 153. But whether this Scopasis the Scopas of our text and a hero of Jason's is not clear. 

II

B. C. 374. The Lacedaemonians and their allies were collecting inPhocia, and the Thebans, after retreating into their own territory, were guarding the approaches. At this juncture the Athenians, seeing theThebans growing strong at their expense without contributing a singlepenny to the maintenance of the fleet, while they themselves, whatwith money contributions, and piratical attacks from Aegina, and thegarrisoning of their territory, were being pared to the bone, conceiveda desire to cease from war. In this mood they sent an embassy toLacedaemon and concluded peace. (1)

 (1) See Curtius, "H. G. " vol. Iv. P. 376 (Eng. Trans. )

B. C. 374-373. This done, two of the ambassadors, in obedience to adecree of the state, set sail at once from Laconian territory, bearingorders to Timotheus to sail home, since peace was established. Thatofficer, while obeying his orders, availed himself of the homewardvoyage to land certain Zacynthian exiles (2) on their native soil, whereupon the Zacynthian city party sent to Lacedaemon and complained ofthe treatment they had received from Timotheus; and the Lacedaemonians, without further consideration, decided that the Athenians were in thewrong, and proceeded to equip another navy, and at length collected fromLaconia itself, from Corinth, Leucas, (3) Ambracia, Elis, Zacynthus, Achaia, Epidaurus, Troezen, Hermione, and Halieis, a force amountingto sixty sail. In command of this squadron they appointed Mnasippusadmiral, with orders to attack Corcyra, and in general to look aftertheir interests in those seas. They, moreover, sent an embassy toDionysius, instructing him that his interests would be advanced by thewithdrawal of Corcyra from Athenian hands. 

 (2) See Hicks, 81, p. 142. 

 (3) Ibid. 81, 86. 

B. C. 373. Accordingly Mnasippus set sail, as soon as his squadron wasready, direct to Corcyra; he took with him, besides his troops fromLacedaemon, a body of mercenaries, making a total in all of no lessthan fifteen hundred men. His disembarked, and soon became master of theisland, the country district falling a prey to the spoiler. It was ina high state of cultivation, and rich with fruit-trees, not to speak ofmagnificent dwelling-houses and wine-cellars fitted up on the farms: sothat, it was said, the soldiers reached such a pitch of luxury that theyrefused to drink wine which had not a fine bouquet. A crowd of slaves, too, and fat beasts were captured on the estates. 

The general's next move was to encamp with his land forces aboutthree-quarters of a mile (4) from the city district, so that anyCorcyraean who attempted to leave the city to go into the country wouldcertainly be cut off on that side. The fleet he stationed on the otherside of the city, at a point where he calculated on detecting andpreventing the approach of convoys. Besides which he established ablockade in front of the harbour when the weather permitted. In this waythe city was completely invested. 

 (4) Lit. "five stades. "

The Corcyraeans, on their side, were in the sorest straits. They couldget nothing from their soil owing to the vice in which they were grippedby land, whilst owing to the predominance of the enemy at sea nothingcould be imported. Accordingly they sent to the Athenians and begged fortheir assistance. They urged upon them that it would be a great mistakeif they suffered themselves to be robbed of Corcyra. If they did so, they would not only throw away a great advantage to themselves, but adda considerable strength to their enemy; since, with the exception ofAthens, no state was capable of furnishing a larger fleet or revenue. Moreover, Corcyra lay favourably (5) for commanding the Corinthian gulfand the cities which line its shores; it was splendidly situated forinjuring the rural districts of Laconia, and still more splendidly inrelation to the opposite shores of the continent of Epirus, and thepassage between Peloponnesus and Sicily. 

 (5) See Thuc. I. 36. 

This appeal did not fall on deaf ears. The Athenians were persuadedthat the matter demanded their most serious attention, and they at oncedespatched Stesicles as general, (6) with about six hundred peltasts. They also requested Alcetas to help them in getting their troops across. Thus under cover of night the whole body were conveyed across to a pointin the open country, and found their way into the city. Nor was thatall. The Athenians passed a decree to man sixty ships of war, andelected (7) Timotheus admiral. The latter, being unable to man the fleeton the spot, set sail on a cruise to the islands and tried to make upthe complements of his crews from those quarters. He evidently lookedupon it as no light matter to sail round Peloponnesus as if on a voyageof pleasure, and to attack a fleet in the perfection of training. (8) Tothe Athenians, however, it seemed that he was wasting the precious timeseasonable for the coastal voyage, and they were not disposed to condonesuch an error, but deposed him, appointing Iphicrates in his stead. The new general was no sooner appointed than he set about gettinghis vessels manned with the utmost activity, putting pressure on thetrierarchs. He further procured from the Athenians for his use notonly any vessels cruising on the coast of Attica, but the Paralus andSalaminia (9) also, remarking that, if things turned out well yonder, he would soon send them back plenty of ships. Thus his numbers grew tosomething like seventy sail. 

 (6) The name of the general was Ctesicles, according to Diod. Xv. 47. Read {strategon} for {tagon}, with Breitenbach, Cobet, etc. For Alcetas, see above, "Hell. " VI. I. 7. 

 (7) I. E. By show of hands, {ekheirotonoun}. 

 (8) See Jowett, note to Thuc. VIII. Xcv. 2, ii. P. 525. 

 (9) The two sacred galleys. See Thuc. Iii. 33; Aristoph. "Birds, " 147 foll. 

Meanwhile the Corcyraeans were sore beset with famine: desertion becameevery day more frequent, so much so that Mnasippus caused proclamationto be made by herald that all deserters would be sold there and then;(10) and when that had no effect in lessening the stream of runaways, he ended by driving them back with the lash. Those within the walls, however, were not disposed to receive these miserable slaves withinthe lines, and numbers died outside. Mnasippus, not blind to what washappening, soon persuaded himself that he had as good as got the cityinto his possession: and he began to try experiments on his mercenaries. Some of them he had already paid off; (11) others still in his servicehad as much as two months' pay owing to them by the general, who, ifreport spoke true, had no lack of money, since the majority of thestates, not caring for a campaign across the seas, sent him hard cashinstead of men. But now the beleaguered citizens, who could espyfrom their towers that the outposts were less carefully guarded thanformerly, and the men scattered about the rural districts, made asortie, capturing some and cutting down others. Mnasippus, perceivingthe attack, donned his armour, and, with all the heavy troops he had, rushed to the rescue, giving orders to the captains and brigadiers (12)to lead out the mercenaries. Some of the captains answered that itwas not so easy to command obedience when the necessaries of life werelacking; whereat the Spartan struck one man with his staff, and anotherwith the butt of his spear. Without spirit and full of resentmentagainst their general, the men mustered--a condition very unfavourableto success in battle. Having drawn up the troops, the general in personrepulsed the division of the enemy which was opposite the gates, andpursued them closely; but these, rallying close under their walls, turned right about, and from under cover of the tombs kept up acontinuous discharge of darts and other missiles; other detachments, dashing out at other gates, meanwhile fell heavily on the flanks of theenemy. The Lacedaemonians, being drawn up eight deep, and thinking thatthe wing of their phalanx was of inadequate strength, essayed to wheelaround; but as soon as they began the movement the Corcyraeans attackedthem as if they were fleeing, and they were then unable to recoverthemselves, (13) while the troops next in position abandoned themselvesto flight. Mnasippus, unable to succour those who were being pressedowing to the attack of the enemy immediately in front, found himselfleft from moment to moment with decreasing numbers. At last theCorcyraeans collected, and with one united effort made a final rush uponMnasippus and his men, whose numbers were now considerably reduced. At the same instant the townsmen, (14) eagerly noticing the posture ofaffairs, rushed out to play their part. First Mnasippus was slain, andthen the pursuit became general; nor could the pursuers well have failedto capture the camp, barricade and all, had they not caught sight ofthe mob of traffickers with a long array of attendants and slaves, andthinking that here was a prize indeed, desisted from further chase. 

 (10) Or, "he would knock them all down to the hammer. "

 (11) Or, "cut off from their pay. "

 (12) Lit. "lochagoi and taxiarchs. "

 (13) Or, "to retaliate"; or, "to complete the movement. "

 (14) Reading, after Dindorf, {oi politai}, or, if with the MSS. , {oi oplitai}; translate "the heavy-armed among the assailants saw their advantage and pressed on. "

The Corcyraeans were well content for the moment to set up a trophyand to give back the enemy's dead under a flag of truce; but theafter-consequences were even more important to them in the revival ofstrength and spirits which were sunk in despondency. The rumour spreadthat Iphicrates would soon be there--he was even at the doors; and infact the Corcyraeans themselves were manning a fleet. So Hypermenes, who was second in command to Mnasippus and the bearer of his despatches, manned every vessel of the fleet as full as it would hold, and thensailing round to the entrenched camp, filled all the transports withprisoners and valuables and other stock, and sent them off. He himself, with his marines and the survivors of his troops, kept watch over theentrenchments; but at last even this remnant in the excess of panic andconfusion got on board the men-of-war and sailed off, leaving behindthem vast quantities of corn and wine, with numerous prisoners andinvalided soldiers. The fact was, they were sorely afraid of beingcaught by the Athenians in the island, and so they made safely off toLeucas. 

Meanwhile Iphicrates had commenced his voyage of circumnavigation, partly voyaging and partly making every preparation for an engagement. He at once left his large sails behind him, as the voyage was only tobe the prelude of a battle; his flying jibs, even if there was a goodbreeze, were but little used, since by making his progress depend onsheer rowing, he hoped at once to improve the physique of his men andthe speed of his attack. Often when the squadron was about to put intoshore for the purpose of breakfast or supper, he would seize the moment, and draw back the leading wing of the column from the land off the pointin question; and then facing round again with the triremes posted wellin line, prow for prow, at a given signal let loose the whole fleet in astoutly contested race for the shore. Great was the triumph in being thefirst to take in water or whatever else they might need, or the first tobreakfast; just as it was a heavy penalty on the late-comers, not onlyto come short in all these objects of desire, but to have to put outto sea with the rest as soon as the signal was given; since thefirst-comers had altogether a quiet time of it, whilst the hindmost mustget through the whole business in hot haste. So again, in the matterof outposts, if he chanced to be getting the morning meal on hostileterritory, pickets would be posted, as was right and proper, on theland; but, apart from these, he would raise his masts and keep look-outmen on the maintops. These commanded of course a far wider prospect fromtheir lofty perches than the outposts on the level ground. So too, whenhe dined or slept he had no fires burning in the camp at night, butonly a beacon kindled in front of the encampment to prevent any unseenapproach; and frequently in fine weather he put out to sea immediatelyafter the evening meal, when, if the breeze favoured, they ran along andtook their rest simultaneously, or if they depended on oars he gave hismariners repose by turns. During the voyage in daytime he would atone time signal to "sail in column, " and at another signal "abreast inline. " So that whilst they prosecuted the voyage they at the same timebecame (both as to theory and practice) well versed in all the detailsof an engagement before they reached the open sea--a sea, as theyimagined, occupied by their foes. For the most part they breakfastedand dined on hostile territory; but as he confined himself to barenecessaries he was always too quick for the enemy. Before the hostilereinforcement would come up he had finished his business and was out tosea again. 

At the date of Mnasippus's death he chanced to be off Sphagiae inLaconian territory. Reaching Elis, and coasting past the mouth of theAlpheus, he came to moorings under Cape Ichthus, (15) as it is called. The next day he put out from that port for Cephallenia, so drawing uphis line and conducting the voyage that he might be prepared in everydetail to engage if necessary. The tale about Mnasippus and his demisehad reached him, but he had not heard it from an eye-witness, andsuspected that it might have been invented to deceive him and throw himoff his guard. He was therefore on the look-out. It was, in fact, onlyon arrival in Cephallenia that he learned the news in an explicit form, and gave his troops rest. 

 (15) Cape Fish, mod. Cape Katakolon, protecting harbour of Pyrgos in Elis. 

I am well aware that all these details of practice and manouvring arecustomary in anticipation of a sea-fight, but what I single out forpraise in the case before us is the skill with which the Athenianadmiral attained a twofold object. Bearing in mind that it was his dutyto reach a certain point at which he expected to fight a naval battlewithout delay, it was a happy discovery on his part not to allowtactical skill, on the one hand, to be sacrificed to the pace ofsailing, (16) nor, on the other, the need of training to interfere withthe date of arrival. 

 (16) Lit. "the voyage. "

After reducing the towns of Cephallenia, Iphicrates sailed to Corcyra. There the first news he heard was that the triremes sent by Dionysiuswere expected to relieve the Lacedaemonians. On receipt of thisinformation he set off in person and surveyed the country, in orderto find a spot from which it would be possible to see the vesselsapproaching and to signal to the city. Here he stationed his look-outmen. A code of signals was agreed upon to signify "vessels in sight, ""mooring, " etc. ; which done he gave his orders to twenty of his captainsof men-of-war who were to follow him at a given word of command. Any onewho failed to follow him must not grumble at the penalty; that he warnedthem. Presently the vessels were signalled approaching; the word ofcommand was given, and then the enthusiasm was a sight to see--everyman of the crews told off for the expedition racing to join his ship andembark. Sailing to the point where the enemy's vessels lay, he had nodifficulty in capturing the crews, who had disembarked from all theships with one exception. The exception was that of Melanippus theRhodian, who had advised the other captains not to stop at this point, and had then manned his own vessel and sailed off. Thus he encounteredthe ships of Iphicrates, but contrived to slip through his fingers, while the whole of the Syracusan vessels were captured, crews and all. 

Having cut the beaks off the prows, Iphicrates bore down into theharbour of Corcyra with the captured triremes in tow. With the captivecrews themselves he came to an agreement that each should pay a fixedsum as ransom, with one exception, that of Crinippus, their commander. Him he kept under guard, with the intention apparently of exacting ahandsome sum in his case or else of selling him. The prisoner, however, from vexation of spirit, put an end to his own life. The rest were sentabout their business by Iphicrates, who accepted the Corcyraeans assureties for the money. His own sailors he supported for the most partas labourers on the lands of the Corcyraeans, while at the head of hislight infantry and the hoplites of the contingent he crossed over intoAcarnania, and there lent his aid to any friendly state that needed hisservices; besides which he went to war with the Thyrians, (17) a sturdyrace of warriors in possession of a strong fortress. 

 (17) Thyreum (or Thyrium), in Acarnania, a chief city at the time of the Roman wars in Greece; and according to Polybius (xxxviii. 5), a meeting-place of the League on one occasion. See "Dict. Anct. Geog. " s. V. ; Freeman, op. Cit. Iv. 148; cf. Paus. IV. Xxvi. 3, in reference to the Messenians and Naupactus; Grote, "H. G. " x. 212. 

B. C. 372. Having attached to his squadron the navy also of Corcyra, with a fleet numbering now about ninety ships he set sail, in the firstinstance to Cephallenia, where he exacted money--which was in some casesvoluntarily paid, in others forcibly extorted. In the next placehe began making preparations partly to harass the territory of theLacedaemonians, and partly to win over voluntarily the other states inthat quarter which were hostile to Athens; or in case of refusal to goto war with them. 

The whole conduct of the campaign reflects, I think, the highest crediton Iphicrates. If his strategy was admirable, so too was the instinctwhich led him to advise the association with himself of two suchcolleagues as Callistratus and Chabrias--the former a popular oratorbut no great friend of himself politically, (18) the other a man ofhigh military reputation. Either he looked upon them as men of unusualsagacity, and wished to profit by their advice, in which case Icommend the good sense of the arrangement, or they were, in his belief, antagonists, in which case the determination to approve himself aconsummate general, neither indolent nor incautious, was bold, I admit, but indicative of a laudable self-confidence. Here, however, we mustpart with Iphicrates and his achievements to return to Athens. 

 (18) Reading with the MSS. {ou mala epitedeion onta}. See Grote, "H. G. " x. 206. Boeckh ("P. E. A. , " trans. Cornewall Lewis, p. 419) wished to read {eu mala} for {ou mala k. T. L. }, in which case translate "the former a popular orator, and a man of singular capacity"; and for {epitedeion} in that sense, see "Hipparch. " i. 8; for {eu mala}, see "Hipparch. " i. 25. For details concerning Callistratus, see Dindorf, op. Cit. Note ad. Loc. ; Curtius, "H. G. " iv. 367, 381 foll. , v. 90. For Chabrias, Rehdantz, op. Cit. In the next sentence I have again adhered to the reading of the MSS. , but the passage is commonly regarded as corrupt; see Otto Keller, op. Cit. P. 215 for various emendations. 

III

The Athenians, forced to witness the expatriation from Boeotia of theirfriends the Plataeans (who had sought an asylum with themselves), forcedalso to listen to the supplications of the Thespiaeans (who begged themnot to suffer them to be robbed of their city), could no longerregard the Thebans with favour; (1) though, when it came to a directdeclaration of war, they were checked in part by a feeling of shame, andpartly by considerations of expediency. Still, to go hand in hand withthem, to be a party to their proceedings, this they absolutely refused, now that they saw them marching against time-honoured friends of thecity like the Phocians, and blotting out states whose loyalty in thegreat Persian war was conspicuous no less than their friendship toAthens. Accordingly the People passed a decree to make peace; but in thefirst instance they sent an embassy to Thebes, inviting that state tojoin them if it pleased them on an embassy which they proposed to sendto Lacedaemon to treat of peace. In the next place they despatched suchan embassy on their own account. Among the commissioners appointedwere Callias the son of Hipponicus, Autocles the son of Strombichides, Demostratus the son of Aristophon, Aristocles, Cephisodotus, (2)Melanopus, and Lycaethus. 

 (1) Plataea destroyed in B. C. 373. See Jowett, "Thuc. " ii. 397. 

 (2) See below, "Hell. " VII. I. 12; Hicks, 87. 

B. C. 371. (These were formally introduced to the Deputies of theLacedaemonians and the allies. (3)) Nor ought the name of Callistratusto be omitted. That statesman and orator was present. He had obtainedfurlough from Iphicrates on an undertaking either to send money forthe fleet or to arrange a peace. Hence his arrival in Athens andtransactions in behalf of peace. After being introduced to the assembly(4) of the Lacedaemonians and to the allies, Callias, (5) who was thedadouchos (or torch-holder) in the mysteries, made the first speech. He was a man just as well pleased to praise himself as to hear himselfpraised by others. He opened the proceedings as follows:

 (3) The bracketed words read like an annotator's comment, or possibly they are a note by the author. 

 (4) See above, "Hell. " II. Iv. 38. 

 (5) See above, "Hell. " IV. V. 13; Cobet, "Prosop. Xen. " p. 67 foll. ; Xen. "Symp. "; Plat. "Protag. "; Andoc. "de Myst. " If this is one and the same person he must have been an elderly man at this date, 371 B. C. 

"Lacedaemonians, the duty of representing you as proxenos at Athens isa privilege which I am not the first member of my family to enjoy; myfather's father held it as an heirloom of our family and handed it downas a heritage to his descendants. If you will permit me, I should liketo show you the disposition of my fatherland towards yourselves. If intimes of war she chooses us as her generals, so when her heart is setupon quiet she sends us out as her messengers of peace. I myself havetwice already (6) stood here to treat for conclusion of war, and on bothembassies succeeded in arranging a mutually agreeable peace. Now forthe third time I am come, and I flatter myself that to-day again I shallobtain a reconciliation, and on grounds exceptionally just. My eyes bearwitness that our hearts are in accord; you and we alike are pained atthe effacement of Plataeae and Thespiae. Is it not then reasonable thatout of agreement should spring concord rather than discord? It is neverthe part, I take it, of wise men to raise the standard of war for thesake of petty differences; but where there is nothing but unanimity theymust be marvellous folk who refuse the bond of peace. But I go further. It were just and right on our parts even to refuse to bear arms againsteach other; since, as the story runs, the first strangers to whom ourforefather Triptolemus showed the unspeakable mystic rites of Demeterand Core, the mother and the maiden, were your ancestors;--I speak ofHeracles, the first founder of your state, and of your two citizens, thegreat twin sons of Zeus--and to Peloponnesus first he gave as a gift theseed of Demeter's corn-fruits. How, then, can it be just or right eitherthat you should come and ravage the corn crops of those from whom yougot the sacred seed of corn, or that we should not desire that they towhom the gift was given should share abundantly of this boon? But if, asit would seem, it is a fixed decree of heaven that war shall never ceaseamong men, yet ought we--your people and our people--to be as slow aspossible to begin it, and being in it, as swift as possible to bring itto an end. "

 (6) B. C. 387 and 374; see Curtius, "H. G. " vol. Iv. P. 376 (Eng. Ed. )

After him Autocles (7) spoke: he was of repute as a versatile lawyer andorator, and addressed the meeting as follows: "Lacedaemonians, I do notconceal from myself that what I am about to say is not calculated toplease you, but it seems to me that, if you wish the friendship whichwe are cementing to last as long as possible, we are wise to show eachother the underlying causes of our wars. Now, you are perpetually sayingthat the states ought to be independent; but it is you yourselveswho most of all stand in the way of independence--your first and laststipulation with the allied states being that they should follow youwhithersoever you choose to lead; and yet what has this principle offollow-my-leader got to do with independent action? (8) Again, you pickquarrels without consulting your allies, and lead them against thosewhom you account enemies; so that in many cases, with all their vauntedindependence, they are forced to march against their greatest friends;and, what is still more opposed to independence than all else, youare for ever setting up here your decarchies and there your thirtycommissioners, and your chief aim in appointing these officers andgovernors seems to be, not that they should fulfil their office andgovern legally, but that they should be able to keep the cities undertheir heels by sheer force. So that it looks as if you delighted indespotisms rather than free constitutions. Let us go back to the date(9) at which the Persian king enjoined the independence of the states. At that time you made no secret of your conviction that the Thebans, ifthey did not suffer each state to govern itself and to use the lawsof its own choice, would be failing to act in the spirit of the king'srescript. But no sooner had you got hold of Cadmeia than you would notsuffer the Thebans themselves to be independent. Now, if the maintenanceof friendship be an object, it is no use for people to claim justicefrom others while they themselves are doing all they can to prove theselfishness of their aims. "

 (7) For the political views of Autocles, see Curtius, "H. G. " iv. 387, v. 94 (Eng. Tr. ); see also Grote, "H. G. " x. 225. 

 (8) Or, "what consistency is there between these precepts of yours and political independence?"

 (9) Sixteen years before--B. C. 387. See "Pol. Lac. " xiv. 5. 

These remarks were received in absolute silence, yet in the hearts ofthose who were annoyed with Lacedaemon they stirred pleasure. AfterAutocles spoke Callistratus: "Trespasses, men of Lacedaemon, have beencommitted on both sides, yours and ours, I am free to confess; but stillit is not my view that because a man has done wrong we can never againhave dealings with him. Experience tells me that no man can go very farwithout a slip, and it seems to me that sometimes the transgressor byreason of his transgression becomes more tractable, especially if he bechastened through the error he has committed, as has been the case withus. And so on your own case I see that ungenerous acts have sometimesreaped their own proper reward: blow has been met by counter-blow; andas a specimen I take the seizure of the Cadmeia in Thebes. To-day, atany rate, the very cities whose independence you strove for have, sinceyour unrighteous treatment of Thebes, fallen one and all of them againinto her power. (10) We are schooled now, both of us, to know thatgrasping brings not gain. We are prepared, I hope, to be once moremoderate under the influence of a mutual friendship. Some, I know, intheir desire to render our peace (11) abortive accuse us falsely, asthough we were come hither, not seeking friendship, but because wedread the arrival of some (12) Antalcidas with moneys from the king. Butconsider, what arrant nonsense they talk! Was it not, pray, the greatking who demanded that all the states in Hellas should be independent?and what have we Athenians, who are in full agreement with the king, both in word and deed, to fear from him? Or is it conceivable that heprefers spending money in making others great to finding his favouriteprojects realised without expense?

 (10) Reading, with Breitenbach and Hartman, {as} instead of {os espoudasate k. T. L. }

 (11) Or, more lit. "to avert the peace" as an ill-omened thing. 

 (12) Without inserting {tis}, as Hartman proposes ("An. Xen. " p. 387), that, I think, is the sense. Antalcidas is the arch-diplomat--a name to conjure with, like that of Bismarck in modern European politics. But see Grote, "H. G. " x. 213, note 2. 

"Well! what is it really that has brought us here? No especial needor difficulty in our affairs. That you may discover by a glance at ourmaritime condition, or, if you prefer, at the present posture of ouraffairs on land. Well, then, how does the matter stand? It is obviousthat some of our allies please us no better than they please you; (13)and, possibly, in return for your former preservation of us, we may becredited with a desire to point out to you the soundness of our policy. 

 (13) See, for this corrupt passage, Otto Keller, op. Cit. P. 219; Hartman, op. Cit. P. 387; and Breitenbach, n. Ad loc. In the next sentence I should like to adopt Hartman's emendation (ib. ) {on orthos egnote} for the MSS. {a orthos egnomen}, and translate "we may like to prove to you the soundness of your policy at the time. " For the "preservation" referred to, see below, VI. V. 35, and above, II. Ii. 20. 

"But, to revert once more to the topic of expediency and commoninterests. It is admitted, I presume, that, looking at the statescollectively, half support your views, half ours; and in every singlestate one party is for Sparta and another for Athens. Suppose, then, we were to shake hands, from what quarter can we reasonably anticipatedanger and trouble? To put the case in so many words, so long as youare our friends no one can vex us by land; no one, whilst we are yoursupports, can injure you by sea. Wars like tempests gather and grow to ahead from time to time, and again they are dispelled. That we all know. Some future day, if not to-day, we shall crave, both of us, for peace. Why, then, need we wait for that moment, holding on until we expireunder the multitude of our ills, rather than take time by the forelockand, before some irremediable mischief betide, make peace? I cannotadmire the man who, because he has entered the lists and has scored manya victory and obtained to himself renown, is so eaten up with the spiritof rivalry that he must needs go on until he is beaten and all histraining is made futile. Nor again do I praise the gambler who, if hemakes one good stroke of luck, insists on doubling the stakes. Suchconduct in the majority of cases must end in absolute collapse. Let uslay the lesson of these to heart, and forbear to enter into any suchlists as theirs for life or death; but, while we are yet in the heydayof our strength and fortune, shake hands in mutual amity. So assuredlyshall we through you and you through us attain to an unprecedentedpinnacle of glory throughout Hellas. "

The arguments of the speakers were approved, and the Lacedaemonianspassed a resolution to accept peace on a threefold basis: the withdrawalof the governors from the cities, (14) the disbanding of armaments navaland military, and the guarantee of independence to the states. "If anystate transgressed these stipulations, it lay at the option of any powerwhatsoever to aid the states so injured, while, conversely, to bringsuch aid was not compulsory on any power against its will. " On theseterms the oaths were administered and accepted by the Lacedaemonians onbehalf of themselves and their allies, and by the Athenians andtheir allies separately state by state. The Thebans had entered theirindividual name among the states which accepted the oaths, but theirambassadors came the next day with instructions to alter the name ofthe signatories, substituting for Thebans Boeotians. (15) But Agesilausanswered to this demand that he would alter nothing of what they had inthe first instance sworn to and subscribed. If they did not wish tobe included in the treaty, he was willing to erase their name at theirbidding. So it came to pass that the rest of the world made peace, thesole point of dispute being confined to the Thebans; and the Athenianscame to the conclusion that there was a fair prospect of the Thebansbeing now literally decimated. (16) As to the Thebans themselves, theyretired from Sparta in utter despondency. 

 (14) Grote ("H. G. " x. 236) thinks that Diod. Xv. 38 ({exagogeis}) belongs to this time, not to the peace between Athens and Sparta in 374 B. C. 

 (15) See, for a clear explanation of the matter, Freeman, "Hist. Red. Gov. " iv. P. 175, note 3, in reference to Grote, ib. X. 231 note, and Paus. IX. Xiii. 2; Plut. "Ages. " 28; Thirlwall, "H. G. " v. P 69 note. 

 (16) Or, "as the saying is, taken and tithed. " See below, VI. V. 35, and for the origin of the saying, Herod. Vii. 132. 

IV

In consequence of the peace the Athenians proceeded to withdraw theirgarrisons from the different sates, and sent to recall Iphicrates withhis fleet; besides which they forced him to restore everything capturedsubsequently to the late solemn undertaking at Lacedaemon. TheLacedaemonians acted differently. Although they withdrew their governorsand garrisons from the other states, in Phocis they did not do so. HereCleombrotus was quartered with his army, and had sent to ask directionsfrom the home authorities. A speaker, Prothous, maintained that theirbusiness was to disband the army in accordance with their oaths, andthen to send round invitations to the states to contribute what eachfelt individually disposed, and lay such sum in the temple of Apollo;after which, if any attempt to hinder the independence of the states onany side were manifested, it would be time enough then again to inviteall who cared to protect the principle of autonomy to march against itsopponents. "In this way, " he added, "I think the goodwill of heavenwill be secured, and the states will suffer least annoyance. " But theAssembly, on hearing these views, agreed that this man was talkingnonsense. Puppets in the hands of fate! (1) An unseen power, it wouldseem, was already driving them onwards; so they sent instructions toCleombrotus not to disband the army, but to march straight againstthe Thebans if they refused to recognise the autonomy of the states. (Cleombrotus, it is understood, had, on hearing the news of theestablishment of peace, sent to the ephorate to ask for guidance;and then they sent him the above instructions, bidding him under thecircumstances named to march upon Thebes. (2))

 (1) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 237: "The miso-Theban impulse now drove them on with a fury which overcame all other thoughts... A misguiding inspiration sent by the gods--like that of the Homeric Ate. "

 (2) This passage reads like an earlier version for which the above was substituted by the author. 

The Spartan king soon perceived that, so far from leaving the Boeotianstates their autonomy, the Thebans were not even preparing to disbandtheir army, clearly in view of a general engagement; he therefore feltjustified in marching his troops into Boeotia. The point of ingresswhich he adopted was not that which the Thebans anticipated from Phocis, and where they were keeping guard at a defile; but, marching throughThisbae by a mountainous and unsuspected route, he arrived beforeCreusis, taking that fortress and capturing twelve Theban war-vesselsbesides. After this achievement he advanced from the seaboard andencamped in Leuctra on Thespian territory. The Thebans encamped ina rising ground immediately opposite at no great distance, and weresupported by no allies except the Boeotians. 

At this juncture the friends of Cleombrotus came to him and urged uponhim strong reasons for delivering battle. "If you let the Thebans escapewithout a battle, " they said, "you will run great risks of sufferingthe extreme penalty at the hands of the state. People will call to mindagainst you the time when you reached Cynoscephelae and did not ravage asquare foot of Theban territory; and again, a subsequent expedition whenyou were driven back foiled in your attempt to make an entry into theenemy's country--while Agesilaus on each occasion found his entryby Mount Cithaeron. If then you have any care for yourself, or anyattachment to your fatherland, march you against the enemy. " That waswhat his friends urged. As to his opponents, what they said was, "Nowour fine friend will show whether he really is so concerned on behalf ofthe Thebans as he is said to be. "

Cleombrotus, with these words ringing in his ears, felt driven (3) tojoin battle. On their side the leaders of Thebes calculated that, ifthey did not fight, their provincial cities (4) would hold aloof fromthem and Thebes itself would be besieged; while, if the commonalty ofThebes failed to get supplies, there was every prospect that the cityitself would turn against them; and, seeing that many of them hadalready tasted the bitterness of exile, they came to the conclusion thatit was better for them to die on the field of battle than to renew thatexperience. Besides this they were somewhat encouraged by the recital ofan oracle which predicted that the Lacedaemonians would be defeatedon the spot where the monument of the maidens stood, who, as the storygoes, being violated by certain Lacedaemonians, had slain themselves. (5) This sepulchral monument the Thebans decked with ornaments beforethe battle. Furthermore, tidings were brought them from the city thatall the temples had opened of their own accord; and the priestessesasserted that the gods revealed victory. Again, from the Heracleionmen said that the arms had disappeared, as though Heracles himself hadsallied forth to battle. It is true that another interpretation (6)of these marvels made them out to be one and all the artifices of theleaders of Thebes. However this may be, everything in the battle turnedout adverse to the Lacedaemonians; while fortune herself lent aid tothe Thebans and crowned their efforts with success. Cleombrotus held hislast council "whether to fight or not, " after the morning meal. In theheat of noon a little goes a long way; and the people said that it tooka somewhat provocative effect on their spirits. (7)

 (3) Or, "was provoked. "

 (4) Lit. "perioecid. " See Thuc. Iv. 76, Arnold's note, and "Hell. " V. Iv. 46, 63. 

 (5) See Diod. Xv. 54; Paus. IX. Xiii. 3; Plut. "Pelop. " xx. 

 (6) Or, "it is true that some people made out these marvels. "

 (7) Or, "they were somewhat excited by it. "

Both sides were now arming, and there was the unmistakeable signs ofapproaching battle, when, as the first incident, there issued from theBoeotian lines a long train bent on departure--these were the furnishersof the market, a detachment of baggage bearers, and in general suchpeople as had no inclination to join in the fight. These were met ontheir retreat and attacked by the mercenary troops under Hiero, who gotround them by a circular movement. (8) The mercenaries were supported bythe Phocian light infantry and some squadrons of Heracleot and Phliasiancavalry, who fell upon the retiring train and turned them back, pursuingthem and driving them into the camp of the Boeotians. The immediateeffect was to make the Boeotian portion of the army more numerous andcloser packed than before. The next feature of the combat was that inconsequence of the flat space of plain (9) between the opposing armies, the Lacedaemonians posted their cavalry in front of their squaresof infantry, and the Thebans followed suit. Only there was thisdifference--the Theban cavalry was in a high state of training andefficiency, owing to their war with the Orchomenians and again their warwith Thespiae, whilst the cavalry of the Lacedaemonians was at its worstat this period. (10) The horses were reared and kept by the wealthiestmembers of the state; but whenever the ban was called out, an appointedtrooper appeared who took the horse with any sort of arms which mightbe presented to him, and set off on the expedition at a moment's notice. Moreover, these troopers were the least able-bodied of the men: rawrecruits set simply astride their horses, and devoid of soldierlyambition. Such was the cavalry of either antagonist. 

 (8) Or, "surrounded them. "

 (9) See Rustow and Kochly, op. Cit. P. 173. 

 (10) See "Hipparch. " ix. 4; also "Cyrop. " VIII. Viii. 

The heavy infantry of the Lacedaemonians, it is said, advanced bysections three files abreast, (11) allowing a total depth to the wholeline of not more than twelve. The Thebans were formed in close order ofnot less than fifty shields deep, calculating that victory gained overthe king's division of the army implied the easy conquest of the rest. 

 (11) It would appear that the "enomoty" (section) numbered thirty-six files. See "Pol. Lac. " xi. 4; xiii. 4. For further details as to the tactical order of the Thebans, see Diod. Xv. 55; Plut. "Pelop. " xxiii. 

Cleombrotus had hardly begun to lead his division against the foewhen, before in fact the troops with him were aware of his advance, thecavalry had already come into collision, and that of the Lacedaemonianswas speedily worsted. In their flight they became involved with theirown heavy infantry; and to make matters worse, the Theban regiments werealready attacking vigorously. Still strong evidence exists forsupposing that Cleombrotus and his division were, in the first instance, victorious in the battle, if we consider the fact that they could neverhave picked him up and brought him back alive unless his vanguard hadbeen masters of the situation for the moment. 

When, however, Deinon the polemarch and Sphodrias, a member of theking's council, with his son Cleonymus, (12) had fallen, then it wasthat the cavalry and the polemarch's adjutants, (13) as they arecalled, with the rest, under pressure of the mass against them, beganretreating; and the left wing of the Lacedaemonians, seeing the rightborne down in this way, also swerved. Still, in spite of the numbersslain, and broken as they were, as soon as they had crossed the trenchwhich protected their camp in front, they grounded arms on the spot (14)whence they had rushed to battle. This camp, it must be borne in mind, did not lie at all on the level, but was pitched on a somewhat steepincline. At this juncture there were some of the Lacedaemonians who, looking upon such a disaster as intolerable, maintained that they oughtto prevent the enemy from erecting a trophy, and try to recover thedead not under a flag of truce but by another battle. The polemarchs, however, seeing that nearly a thousand men of the total Lacedaemoniantroops were slain; seeing also that of the seven hundred Spartansthemselves who were on the field something like four hundred lay dead;(15) aware, further, of the despondency which reigned among the allies, and the general disinclination on their parts to fight longer (a frameof mind not far removed in some instances from positive satisfaction atwhat had taken place)--under the circumstances, I say, the polemarchscalled a council of the ablest representatives of the shattered army(16) and deliberated as to what should be done. Finally the unanimousopinion was to pick up the dead under a flag of truce, and they sent aherald to treat for terms. The Thebans after that set up a trophy andgave back the bodies under a truce. 

 (12) See above, V. Iv. 33. 

 (13) {sumphoreis}. For the readings of this corrupt passage see Otto Keller. 

 (14) Or, "in orderly way. " See Curt. "H. G. " iv. 400. 

 (15) See "Ages. " ii. 24. 

 (16) {tous epikairiotatous}. See above, III. Iii. 10; "Cyrop. " VII. Iv. 4; VIII. Iv. 32, vi. 2. 

After these events, a messenger was despatched to Lacedaemon with newsof the calamity. He reached his destination on the last day of thegymnopaediae, (17) just when the chorus of grown men had entered thetheatre. The ephors heard the mournful tidings not without grief andpain, as needs they must, I take it; but for all that they did notdismiss the chorus, but allowed the contest to run out its naturalcourse. What they did was to deliver the names of those who had fallento their friends and families, with a word of warning to the women notto make any loud lamentations but to bear their sorrow in silence; andthe next day it was a striking spectacle to see those who had relationsamong the slain moving to and fro in public with bright and radiantlooks, whilst of those whose friends were reported to be living barely aman was to be seen, and these flitted by with lowered heads and scowlingbrows, as if in humiliation. 

 (17) The festival was celebrated annually about midsummer. See Herod. Vi. 67; Thuc. V. 82, and Arnold's note; Pollux. Iv. 105; Athen. Xiv. 30, xv. 22; Muller, "Dorians, " ii. 389. 

After this the ephors proceeded to call out the ban, including theforty-years-service men of the two remaining regiments; (18) and theyproceeded further to despatch the reserves of the same age belongingto the six regiments already on foreign service. Hitherto the Phociancampaign had only drawn upon the thirty-five-years-service list. Besidesthese they now ordered out on active service the troops retained atthe beginning of the campaign in attendance on the magistrates at thegovernment offices. Agesilaus being still disabled by his infirmity, the city imposed the duty of command upon his son Archidamus. The newgeneral found eager co-operators in the men of Tegea. The friends ofStasippus at this date were still living, (19) and they were stanchin their Lacedaemonian proclivities, and wielded considerable power intheir state. Not less stoutly did the Mantineans from their villagesunder their aristocratic form of government flock to the Spartanstandard. Besides Tegea and Mantinea, the Corinthians and Sicyonians, the Phliasians and Achaeans were equally enthusiastic to joining thecampaign, whilst other states sent out soldiers. Then came the fittingout and manning of ships of war on the part of the Lacedaemoniansthemselves and of the Corinthians, whilst the Sicyonians were requestedto furnish a supply of vessels on board of which it was proposed totransport the army across the gulf. And so, finally, Archidamus was ableto offer the sacrifices usual at the moment of crossing the frontier. But to return to Thebes. 

 (18) I. E. Every one up to fifty-eight years of age. 

 (19) See below, VI. V. 9. 

Immediately after the battle the Thebans sent a messenger to Athenswearing a chaplet. Whilst insisting on the magnitude of the victory theyat the same time called upon the Athenians to send them aid, for now theopportunity had come to wreak vengeance on the Lacedaemonians for allthe evil they had done to Athens. As it chanced, the senate of theAthenians was holding a session on the Acropolis. As soon as thenews was reported, the annoyance caused by its announcement wasunmistakeable. They neither invited the herald to accept of hospitalitynor sent back one word in reply to the request for assistance. And sothe herald turned his back on Athens and departed. 

But there was Jason still to look to, and he was their ally. To him thenthe Thebans sent, and earnestly besought his aid, their thoughts runningon the possible turn which events might take. Jason on his side atonce proceeded to man a fleet, with the apparent intention of sendingassistance by sea, besides which he got together his foreign brigadeand his own cavalry; and although the Phocians and he were implacableenemies, (20) he marched through their territory to Boeotia. Appearinglike a vision to many of the states before his approach was evenannounced--at any rate before levies could be mustered from a dozendifferent points--he had stolen a march upon them and was a long wayahead, giving proof that expedition is sometimes a better tool to workwith than sheer force. 

 (20) Or, "though the Phocians maintained a war 'a outrance' with him. "

When he arrived in Boeotia the Thebans urged upon him that now was theright moment to attack the Lacedaemonians: he with his foreign brigadefrom the upper ground, they face to face in front; but Jason dissuadedthem from their intention. He reminded them that after a nobleachievement won it was not worth their while to play for so high astake, involving a still greater achievement or else the loss of victoryalready gained. "Do you not see, " he urged, "that your success followedclose on the heels of necessity? You ought then to reflect that theLacedaemonians in their distress, with a choice between life and death, will fight it out with reckless desperation. Providence, as it seems, ofttimes delights to make the little ones great and the great onessmall. " (21)

 (21) Cf. "Anab. " III. Ii. 10. 

By such arguments he diverted the Thebans from the desperate adventure. But for the Lacedaemonians also he had words of advice, insisting on thedifference between an army defeated and an army flushed with victory. "If you are minded, " he said, "to forget this disaster, my advice to youis to take time to recover breath and recruit your energies. When youhave grown stronger then give battle to these unconquered veterans. (22)At present, " he continued, "you know without my telling you that amongyour own allies there are some who are already discussing terms offriendship with your foes. My advice is this: by all means endeavourto obtain a truce. This, " he added, "is my own ambition: I want to saveyou, on the ground of my father's friendship with yourselves, andas being myself your representative. " (23) Such was the tenor of hisspeech, but the secret of action was perhaps to be found in a desireto make these mutual antagonists put their dependence on himselfalone. Whatever his motive, the Lacedaemonians took his advice, andcommissioned him to procure a truce. 

 (22) Or, "the invincibles. "

 (23) Lit. "your proxenos. "

As soon as the news arrived that the terms were arranged, the polemarchspassed an order round: the troops were to take their evening meal, gettheir kit together, and be ready to set off that night, so as to scalethe passes of Cithaeron by next morning. After supper, before the hourof sleep, the order to march was given, and with the generals at theirhead the troops advanced as the shades of evening fell, along the roadto Creusis, trusting rather to the chance of their escaping notice, thanto the truce itself. It was weary marching in the dead of night, makingtheir retreat in fear, and along a difficult road, until they fell inwith Archidamus's army of relief. At this point, then, Archidamus waitedtill all the allies had arrived, and so led the whole of the unitedarmies back to Corinth, from which point he dismissed the allies and ledhis fellow-citizens home. 

Jason took his departure from Boeotia through Phocis, where he capturedthe suburbs of Hyampolis (24) and ravaged the country districts, puttingmany to the sword. Content with this, he traversed the rest of Phociswithout meddling or making. Arrived at Heraclea, (25) he knocked downthe fortress of the Heracleots, showing that he was not troubled by anyapprehension lest when the pass was thrown open somebody or other mightmarch against his own power at some future date. Rather was he hauntedby the notion that some one or other might one day seize Heraclea, whichcommanded the pass, and bar his passage into Hellas--should Hellas everbe his goal. (26) At the moment of his return to Thessaly he had reachedthe zenith of his greatness. He was the lawfully constituted Prince (27)of Thessaly, and he had under him a large mercenary force of infantryand cavalry, and all in the highest perfection of training. For thistwofold reason he might claim the title great. But he was still greateras the head of a vast alliance. Those who were prepared to fight hisbattles were numerous, and he might still count upon the help of manymore eager to do so; but I call Jason greatest among his contemporaries, because not one among them could afford to look down upon him. (28)

 (24) An ancient town in Phocis (see Hom. "Il. " ii. 521) on the road leading from Orchomenus to Opus, and commanding a pass from Locris into Phocis and Boeotia. See Herod. Viii. 28; Paus. Ix. 35, S. 5; Strab. Ix. 424; "Dict. Of Geog. " s. V. 

 (25) Or, "Heracleia Trachinia, " a fortress city founded (as a colony) by the Lacedaemonians in B. C. 426, to command the approach to Thermopylae from Thessaly, and to protect the Trachinians and the neighbouring Dorians from the Oetean mountaineers. See "Dict. Of Geog. " "Trachis"; Thuc. Iii. 92, 93, v. 51, 52; Diod. Xii. 59. 

 (26) B. C. 370. The following sections 28-37 form an episode concerning Thessalian affairs between B. C. 370 and B. C. 359. 

 (27) Lit. "Tagos. "

 (28) For a similar verbal climax see below, VI. V. 47. 

B. C. 370. The Pythian games were now approaching, and an order wentround the cities from Jason to make preparation for the solemn sacrificeof oxen, sheep and goats, and swine. It was reported that although therequisitions upon the several cities were moderate, the number of beevesdid not fall short of a thousand, while the rest of the sacrificialbeasts exceeded ten times that number. He issued a proclamation alsoto this effect: a golden wreath of victory should be given to whichevercity could produce the best-bred bull to head the procession in honourof the god. And lastly there was an order issued to all the Thessaliansto be ready for a campaign at the date of the Pythian games. Hisintention, as people said, was to act as manager of the solemn assemblyand games in person. What the thought was that passed through his mindwith reference to the sacred money, remains to this day uncertain;only, a tale is rife to the effect that in answer to the inquiry of theDelphians, "What ought we to do, if he takes any of the treasures of thegod?" the god made answer, "He would see to that himself. " This greatman, his brain teeming with vast designs of this high sort, came nowto his end. He had ordered a military inspection. The cavalry ofthe Pheraeans were to pass muster before him. He was already seated, delivering answers to all petitioners, when seven striplings approached, quarrelling, as it seemed, about some matter. Suddenly by these seventhe Prince was despatched; his throat gashed, his body gored withwounds. Stoutly his guard rushed to the rescue with their long spears, and one of the seven, while still in the act of aiming a blow at Jason, was thrust through with a lance and died; a second, in the act ofmounting his horse, was caught, and dropped dead, the recipient of manywounds. The rest leaped on the horses which they had ready waitingand escaped. To whatever city of Hellas they came honours were almostuniversally accorded them. The whole incident proves clearly that theHellenes stood in much alarm of Jason. They looked upon him as a tyrantin embryo. 

So Jason was dead; and his brothers Polydorus and Polyphron wereappointed princes (29) in his place. But of these twain, as theyjourneyed together to Larissa, Polydorus was slain in the night, ashe slept, by his brother Polyphron, it was thought; since a death sosudden, without obvious cause, could hardly be otherwise accounted for. 

 (29) Lit. "Tagoi. "

Polyphron governed for a year, and by the year's end he had refashionedhis princedom into the likeness of a tyranny. In Pharsalus he put todeath Polydamas (30) and eight other of the best citizens; and fromLarissa he drove many into exile. But while he was thus employed, he, in his turn, was done to death by Alexander, who slew him to avengePolydorus and to destroy the tyranny. This man now assumed the reins ofoffice, and had no sooner done so than he showed himself a harsh princeto the Thessalians: harsh too and hostile to the Thebans and Athenians, (31) and an unprincipled freebooter everywhere by land and by sea. Butif that was his character, he too was doomed to perish shortly. Theperpetrators of the deed were his wife's brothers. (32) The counsellorof it and the inspiring soul was the wife herself. She it was whoreported to them that Alexander had designs against them; who hid themwithin the house a whole day; who welcomed home her husband deep in hiscups and laid him to rest, and then while the lamp still burned broughtout the prince's sword. It was she also who, perceiving her brothersshrank bank, fearing to go in and attack Alexander, said to them, "Ifyou do not be quick and do the deed, I will wake him up!" After they hadgone in, she, too, it was who caught and pulled to the door, clingingfast to the knocker till the breath was out of her husband's body. (33)Her fierce hatred against the man is variously explained. By some itwas said to date from the day when Alexander, having imprisoned his ownfavourite--who was a fair young stripling--when his wife supplicatedhim to release the boy, brought him forth and stabbed him in the throat. Others say it originated through his sending to Thebes and seeking thehand of the wife of Jason in marriage, because his own wife bore him nochildren. These are the various causes assigned to explain the treasonof his wife against him. Of the brothers who executed it, the eldest, Tisiphonus, in virtue of his seniority accepted, and up to the date ofthis history (34) succeeded in holding, the government. 

 (30) See above, VI. I. 2 foll. 

 (31) See Dem. "c. Aristocr. " 120; Diod. Xv. 60 foll. 

 (32) B. C. 359 or 358. 

 (33) The woman's name was Thebe. See Diod. Xvi. 14; Cicero, "de Inven. " II. Xlix. 144; "de Div. " I. Xxv. 52; "de Off. " II. Vii. 25; Ovid, "Ibis, " iii. 21 foll. 

 (34) Or, "portion of my work;" lit. "argument, " {logos}. See {Kuprianos, Peri ton 'Ell}: p. 111. 

V

The above is a sketch of Thessalian affairs, including the incidentsconnected with Jason, and those subsequent to his death, down tothe government of Tisiphonus. I now return to the point at which wedigressed. 

B. C. 371. Archidamus, after the relief of the army defeated at Leuctra, had led back the united forces. When he was gone, the Athenians, impressed by the fact that the Peloponessians still felt under anobligation to follow the Lacedaemonians to the field, whilst Spartaherself was by no means as yet reduced to a condition resembling thatto which she had reduced Athens, sent invitations to those states whichcared to participate in the peace authorised by the great king. (1) Acongress met, and they passed a resolution in conjunction with thosewho wished to make common cause with them to bind themselves by oathas follows: "I will abide by the treaty terms as conveyed in the king'srescript, as also by the decrees of the Athenians and the allies. If anyone marches against any city among those which have accepted this oath, I will render assistance to that city with all my strength. " The oathgave general satisfaction, the Eleians alone gainsaying its terms andprotesting that it was not right to make either the Marganians or theScilluntians or the Triphylians independent, since these cities belongedto them, and were a part of Elis. (2) The Athenians, however, and theothers passed the decree in the precise language of the king's rescript:that all states--great and small alike--were to be independent; andthey sent out administrators of the oath, and enjoined upon them toadminister it to the highest authorities in each state. This oath theyall, with the exception of the Eleians, swore to. 

 (1) I. E. In B. C. 387, the peace "of" Antalcidas. See Grote, "H. G. " x. 274. 

 (2) See Busolt, op. Cit. P. 186. 

B. C. 371-370. As an immediate consequence of this agreement, theMantineans, on the assumption that they were now absolutely independent, met in a body and passed a decree to make Mantinea into a single stateand to fortify the town. (3) The proceeding was not overlooked by theLacedaemonians, who thought it would be hard if this were done withouttheir consent. Accordingly they despatched Agesilaus as ambassador tothe Mantineans, choosing him as the recognised ancestral friend of thatpeople. When the ambassador arrived, however, the chief magistrates hadno inclination to summon a meeting of the commons to listen to him, buturged him to make a statement of his wishes to themselves. He, on hisside, was ready to undertake for himself and in their interests that, if they would at present desist from their fortification work, hewould bring it about that the defensive walls should be built with thesanction of Lacedaemon and without cost. Their answer was, that it wasimpossible to hold back, since a decree had been passed by the wholestate of Mantinea to build at once. Whereupon Agesilaus went off in highdudgeon; though as to sending troops to stop them, (4) the idea seemedimpracticable, as the peace was based upon the principle of autonomy. Meanwhile the Mantineans received help from several of the Arcadianstates in the building of their walls; and the Eleians contributedactually three talents (5) of silver to cover the expense of theirconstruction. And here leaving the Mantineans thus engaged, we will turnto the men of Tegea. 

 (3) For the restoration of Mantinea, see Freeman, "Fed. Gov. " iv. P. 198; Grote, "H. G. " x. 283 foll. 

 (4) See above, V. Ii. 1, sub anno B. C. 386. 

 (5) = 731 pounds: 5 shillings. See Busolt, op. Cit. P. 199. 

There were in Tegea two political parties. The one was the party ofCallibius and Proxenus, who were for drawing together the whole Arcadianpopulation in a confederacy, (6) in which all measures carried inthe common assembly should be held valid for the individual componentstates. The programme of the other (Stasippus's) party was to leaveTegea undisturbed and in the enjoyment of the old national laws. Perpetually defeated in the Sacred College, (7) the party of Callibiusand Proxenus were persuaded that if only the commons met they would gainan easy victory by an appeal to the multitude; and in this faith theyproceeded to march out the citizen soldiers. (8) At sight of thisStasippus and his friends on their side armed in opposition, and provednot inferior in numbers. The result was a collision and battle, in whichProxenus and some few others with him were slain and the rest put toflight; though the conquerors did not pursue, for Stasippus was aman who did not care to stain his hands with the blood of hisfellow-citizens. (9)

 (6) Although the historian does not recount the foundation of Megalopolis (see Pausanias and Diodorus), the mention of the common assembly of the League {en to koino} in this passage and, still more, of the Ten Thousand (below, "Hell. " VII. I. 38), implies it. See Freeman, op. Cit. Iv. 197 foll. ; Grote, "H. G. " x. 306 foll. , ii. 599; "Dict. Of Geog. " "Megalopolis. " As to the date of its foundation Pausanias (VIII. Xxvii. 8) says "a few months after the battle of Leuctra, " before midsummer B. C. 370; Diodorus (xv. 72) says B. C. 368. The great city was not built in a day. Messene, according to Paus. IV. Xxvii. 5, was founded between the midsummers of B. C. 370 and B. C. 369. 

 (7) Lit. "in the Thearoi. " For the Theari, see Thuc. V. 47, Arnold's note; and "C. I. G. " 1756 foll. ; and for the revolution at Tegea here recounted, see Grote, "H. G. " x. 285 foll. 

 (8) Or, "they mustered under arms. "

 (9) Or, "opposed to a wholesale slaughter of the citizens. "

Callibius and his friends had retired under the fortification walls andgates facing Mantinea; but, as their opponents made no further attemptsagainst them, they here collected together and remained quiet. Somewhile ago they had sent messages to the Mantineans demanding assistance, but now they were ready to discuss terms of reconciliation with theparty of Stasippus. Presently they saw the Mantineans advancing;whereupon some of them sprang to the walls, and began calling to them tobring succour with all speed. With shouts they urged upon them to makehaste, whilst others threw open wide the gates to them. Stasippusand his party, perceiving what was happening, poured out by the gatesleading to Pallantium, (10) and, outspeeding their pursuers, succeededin reaching the temple of Artemis, where they found shelter, and, shutting to the doors, kept quiet. Following close upon their heels, however, their foes scaled the temple, tore off the roof, and beganstriking them down with the tiles. They, recognising that there was nochoice, called upon their assailants to desist, and undertook to comeforth. Then their opponents, capturing them like birds in a fowler'shand, bound them with chains, threw them on to the prisoner's van, (11)and led them off to Tegea. Here with the Mantineans they sentenced andput them to death. 

 (10) Pallantium, one of the most ancient towns of Arcadia, in the Maenalia (Paus. VIII. Xliv. 5; Livy, i. 5), situated somewhat south of the modern Tripolitza (see "Dict. Of Anc. Geog. "); like Asea and Eutaea it helped to found Megalopolis (Paus. VIII. Xxvii. 3, where for {'Iasaia} read {'Asea}); below, VII. V. 5; Busolt, op. Cit. P. 125. 

 (11) For the sequel of the matter, see above, "Hell. " VI. Iv. 18; Busolt, op. Cit. P. 134. 

The outcome of these proceedings was the banishment to Lacedaemon of theTegeans who formed the party of Stasippus, numbering eight hundred; butas a sequel to what had taken place, the Lacedaemonians determined thatthey were bound by their oaths to aid the banished Tegeans and to avengethe slain. With this purpose they marched against the Mantineans, on theground that they had violated their oaths in marching against Tegea withan armed force. The ephors called out the ban and the state commandedAgesilaus to head the expedition. 

Meanwhile most of the Arcadian contingents were mustering at Asea. (12)The Orchomenians not only refused to take part in the Arcadian league, on account of their personal hatred to Mantinea, but had actuallywelcomed within their city a mercenary force under Polytropus, which hadbeen collected at Corinth. The Mantineans themselves were forced tostay at home to keep an eye on these. The men of Heraea and Lepreum madecommon cause with the Lacedaemonians in a campaign against Mantinea. 

 (12) Asea is placed by Leake ("Travels in Morea, " i. 84; iii. 34) near Frangovrysi, a little south of Pallantium. 

 Heraea, the most important town of Arcadia in the Cynuria, near Elis, on the high road to Olympia, and commanding other main roads. See Leake, "Peloponnesiaca, " p. 1 foll. ; "Morea, " ii. 91. 

 Lepreum, chief town of the Triphylia (Herod. Iv. 148, ix. 28; Thuc. V. 31; above, III. Ii. 25; Paus. V. V. 3; Polyb. Iv. 77 foll. ; Strab. Viii. 345), near modern Strovitzi; Leake, "Morea, " i. 56; Dodwell, "Tour, " ii. 347. 

 Eutaea is placed by Leake between Asea and Pallantium at Barbitza ("Morea, " iii. 31); but see Grote, "H. G. " x. 288. 

Finding the frontier sacrifices favourable, Agesilaus began his marchat once upon Arcadia. He began by occupying the border city of Eutaea, where he found the old men, women, and children dwelling in theirhouses, while the rest of the population of a military age were offto join the Arcadian league. In spite of this he did not stir a fingerunjustly against the city, but suffered the inhabitants to continue intheir homes undisturbed. The troops took all they needed, and paid forit in return; if any pillage had occurred on his first entrance intothe town, the property was hunted up and restored by the Spartan king. Whilst awaiting the arrival of Polytropus's mercenaries, he amusedhimself by repairing such portions of their walls as necessity demanded. 

Meanwhile the Mantineans had taken the field against Orchomenus;but from the walls of that city the invaders had some difficulty inretiring, and lost some of their men. On their retreat they foundthemselves in Elymia; (13) here the heavy infantry of the Orchomeniansceased to follow them; but Polytropus and his troops continued to assailtheir rear with much audacity. At this conjuncture, seeing at a glancethat either they must beat back the foe or suffer their own men to beshot down, the Mantineans turned right about and met the assailant ina hand-to-hand encounter. Polytropus fell fighting on that battlefield;and of the rest who took to flight, many would have shared his fate, butfor the opportune arrival of the Phliasian cavalry, who swooped round tothe conqueror's rear and checked him in his pursuit. (14)

 (13) Elymia, mentioned only by Xenophon, must have been on the confines of the Mantinice and Orchomenus, probably at Levidhi. -- Leake, "Morea, " iii. 75; "Peloponn. " p. 229. 

 (14) See "Cyrop. " VII. I. 36. 

Content with this achievement, the Mantineans retired homewards; whileAgesilaus, to whom the news was brought, no longer expecting that theOrchomenian mercenaries could effect a junction with himself, determinedto advance without further delay. (15) On the first day he encamped forthe evening meal in the open country of Tegea, and the day followingcrossed into Mantinean territory. Here he encamped under thewestward-facing (16) mountains of Mantinea, and employed himself inravaging the country district and sacking the farmsteads; while thetroops of the Arcadians who were mustered in Asea stole by night intoTegea. The next day Agesilaus shifted his position, encamping abouttwo miles' (17) distance from Mantinea; and the Arcadians, issuing fromTegea and clinging to the mountains between Mantinea and that city, appeared with large bodies of heavy infantry, wishing to effect ajunction with the Mantineans. The Argives, it is true, supported them, but they were not in full force. And here counsellors were to be foundwho urged on Agesilaus to attack these troops separately; but fearinglest, in proportion as he pressed on to engage them, the Mantineansmight issue from the city behind and attack him on flank and rear, hedecided it was best to let the two bodies coalesce, and then, if theywould accept battle, to engage them on an open and fair field. 

 (15) See "Ages. " ii. 23. 

 (16) See Leake, "Morea, " iii. 73. 

 (17) Lit. "twenty stades. "

And so ere long the Arcadians had effected their object and were unitedwith the Mantineans. The next incident was the sudden apparition atbreak of day, as Agesilaus was sacrificing in front of the camp, of abody of troops. These proved to be the light infantry from Orchomenus, who in company with the Phliasian cavalry had during the night madetheir way across past the town of Mantinea; and so caused the mass ofthe army to rush to their ranks, and Agesilaus himself to retire withinthe lines. Presently, however, the newcomers were recognised as friends;and as the sacrifices were favourable, Agesilaus led his army forwarda stage farther after breakfast. As the shades of evening descended heencamped unobserved within the fold of the hills behind the Mantineanterritory, with mountains in close proximity all round. (18)

 (18) Lit. "within the hindmost bosom of the Mantinice. " In reference to the position, Leake ("Morea, " iii. 75) says: "The northern bay (of the Mantinic plain between Mantinea and the Argon) corresponds better by its proximity to Mantinea; by Mount Alesium it was equally hidden from the city, while its small dimensions, and the nearness of the incumbent mountains, rendered it a more hazardous position to an army under the circumstances of that of Agesilaus" (than had he encamped in the Argon itself). For the Argon (or Inert Plain), see Leake, ib. 54 foll. 

On the next morning, as day broke, he sacrificed in front of the army;and observing a mustering of men from the city of Mantinea on the hillswhich overhung the rear of his army, he decided that he must lead histroops out of the hollow by the quickest route. But he feared lest, ifhe himself led off, the enemy might fall upon his rear. In this dilemmahe kept quiet; presenting a hostile front to the enemy, he sent ordersto his rear to face about to the right, (19) and so getting into linebehind his main body, to move forward upon him; and in this way heat once extricated his troops from their cramped position and keptcontinually adding to the weight and solidity of his line. As soon asthe phalanx was doubled in depth he emerged upon the level ground, withhis heavy infantry battalions in this order, and then again extended hisline until his troops were once more nine or ten shields deep. But theMantineans were no longer so ready to come out. The arguments of theEleians who had lent them their co-operation had prevailed: that it wasbetter not to engage until the arrival of the Thebans. The Thebans, it was certain, would soon be with them; for had they not borrowed tentalents (20) from Elis in order to be able to send aid? The Arcadianswith this information before them kept quiet inside Mantinea. Onhis side Agesilaus was anxious to lead off his troops, seeing it wasmidwinter; but, to avoid seeming to hurry his departure out of fear, he preferred to remain three days longer and no great distance fromMantinea. On the fourth day, after an early morning meal, the retreatcommenced. His intention was to encamp on the same ground which he hadmade his starting-point on leaving Eutaea. But as none of the Arcadiansappeared, he marched with all speed and reached Eutaea itself, althoughvery late, that day; being anxious to lead off his troops withoutcatching a glimpse of the enemy's watch-fires, so as to silence thetongues of any one pretending that he withdrew in flight. His mainobject was in fact achieved. To some extent he had recovered the statefrom its late despondency, since he had invaded Arcadia and ravaged thecountry without any one caring to offer him battle. But, once arrivedon Laconian soil, he dismissed the Spartan troops to their homes anddisbanded the provincials (21) to their several cities. 

 (19) See "Anab. " IV. Iii. 29; "Pol. Lac. " xi. 10. 

 (20) 2, 437 pounds: 10 shillings. See Busult, op. Cit. P. 199. 

 (21) Lit. "perioeci"; and below, SS. 25, 32. 

B. C. 370-369. The Arcadians, now that Agesilaus had retired, realisingthat he had disbanded his troops, while they themselves were fullymustered, marched upon Heraea, the citizens of which town had not onlyrefused to join the Arcadian league, but had joined the Lacedaemoniansin their invasion of Arcadia. For this reason they entered the country, burning the homesteads and cutting down the fruit-trees. 

Meanwhile news came of the arrival of the Theban reinforcements atMantinea, on the strength of which they left Heraea and hastened tofraternise (22) with their Theban friends. When they were met together, the Thebans, on their side, were well content with the posture ofaffairs: they had duly brought their succour, and no enemy was anylonger to be discovered in the country; so they made preparations toreturn home. But the Arcadians, Argives and Eleians were eager inurging them to lead the united forces forthwith into Laconia: they dweltproudly on their own numbers, extolling above measure the armament ofThebes. And, indeed, the Boeotians one and all were resolute in theirmilitary manouvres and devotion to arms, (23) exulting in the victory ofLeuctra. In the wake of Thebes followed the Phocians, who were now theirsubjects, Euboeans from all the townships of the island, both sectionsof the Locrians, the Acarnanians, (24) and the men of Heraclea and ofMelis; while their force was further swelled by Thessalian cavalry andlight infantry. With the full consciousness of facts like these, andfurther justifying their appeal by dwelling on the desolate condition ofLacedaemon, deserted by her troops, they entreated them not to turn backwithout invading the territory of Laconia. But the Thebans, albeit theylistened to their prayers, urged arguments on the other side. In thefirst place, Laconia was by all accounts most difficult to invade;and their belief was that garrisons were posted at all the points mosteasily approached. (As a matter of fact, Ischolaus was posted at Oeumin the Sciritid, with a garrison of neodamodes and about four hundredof the youngest of the Tegean exiles; and there was a second outpost onLeuctrum above the Maleatid. (25)) Again it occurred to the Thebansthat the Lacedaemonian forces, though disbanded, would not take long tomuster, and once collected they would fight nowhere better than on theirown native soil. Putting all these considerations together, theywere not by any means impatient to march upon Lacedaemon. A strongcounter-impulse, however, was presently given by the arrival ofmessengers from Caryae, giving positive information as to thedefenceless condition of the country, and offering to act as guidesthemselves; they were ready to lose their lives if they were convictedof perfidy. A further impulse in the same direction was given by thepresence of some of the provincials, (26) with invitations and promisesof revolt, if only they would appear in the country. These peoplefurther stated that even at the present moment, on a summons of theSpartans proper, the provincials did not care to render them assistance. With all these arguments and persuasions echoing from all sides, theThebans at last yielded, and invaded. They chose the Caryan routethemselves, while the Arcadians entered by Oeum in the Sciritid. (27)

 (22) Or, "effect a junction with. "

 (23) Or, "in practising gymnastics about the place of arms. " See "Pol. Lac. " xii. 5. 

 (24) See "Hell. " IV. Vii. 1; "Ages. " ii. 20. For a sketch of the relations of Acarnania to Athens and Sparta, see Hicks, No. 83, p. 150; and above, "Hell. " V. Iv. 64. 

 (25) Leuctrum, a fortress of the district Aegytis on the confines of Arcadia and Laconia ("in the direction of Mount Lycaeum, " Thuc. V. 54). See Leake, "Morea, " ii. 322; also "Peloponn. " p. 248, in which place he corrects his former view as to the situation of Leuctrum and the Maleatid. 

 Oeum or Ium, the chief town of the Sciritis, probably stood in the Klisura or series of narrow passes through the watershed of the mountains forming the natural boundary between Laconia and Arcadia (in the direct line north from Sparta to Tegea), "Dict. Of Anc. Geog. " s. V. Leake says ("Morea, " iii. 19, 30 foll. ) near the modern village of Kolina; Baedeker ("Greece, " p. 269) says perhaps at Palaeogoulas. 

 Caryae. This frontier town was apparently (near Arachova) on the road from Thyrea (in the direction of the Argolid) to Sparta (Thuc. V. 55; Paus. III. X. 7; Livy, xxxiv. 26, but see Leake, "Morea, " iii. 30; "Peloponn. " p. 342). 

 Sellasia, probably rightly placed "half an hour above Vourlia" (Baedeker, "Greece, " p. 269). The famous battle of Sellasia, in the spring of B. C. 221, in which the united Macedonians under Antigonus and the Achaeans finally broke the power of Sparta, was fought in the little valley where the stream Gorgylus joins the river Oenus and the Khan of Krevatas now stands. For a plan, see "Dict. Of Anc. Geog. " s. V. 

 (26) "Perioeci. "

 (27) Diodorus (xv. 64) gives more details; he makes the invaders converge upon Sellasia by four separate routes. See Leake, "Morea, " iii. 29 foll. 

By all accounts Ischolaus made a mistake in not advancing to meet themon the difficult ground above Oeum. Had he done so, not a man, it isbelieved, would have scaled the passes there. But for the present, wishing to turn the help of the men of Oeum to good account, he waiteddown in the village; and so the invading Arcadians scaled the heightsin a body. At this crisis Ischolaus and his men, as long as they foughtface to face with their foes, held the superiority; but, presently, whenthe enemy, from rear and flank, and even from the dwelling-houses upwhich they scaled, rained blows and missiles upon them, then and thereIscholaus met his end, and every man besides, save only one or two who, failing to be recognised, effected their escape. 

After these achievements the Arcadians marched to join the Thebansat Caryae, and the Thebans, hearing what wonders the Arcadians hadperformed, commenced their descent with far greater confidence. Theirfirst exploit was to burn and ravage the district of Sellasia, butfinding themselves ere long in the flat land within the sacred enclosureof Apollo, they encamped for the night, and the next day continuedtheir march along the Eurotas. When they came to the bridge they madeno attempt to cross it to attack the city, for they caught sight ofthe heavy infantry in the temple of Alea (28) ready to meet them. So, keeping the Eurotas on their right, they tramped along, burning andpillaging homesteads stocked with numerous stores. The feelings of thecitizens may well be imagined. The women who had never set eyes upon afoe (29) could scarcely contain themselves as they beheld the cloud ofsmoke. The Spartan warriors, inhabiting a city without fortifications, posted at intervals, here one and there another, were in truth what theyappeared to be--the veriest handful. And these kept watch and ward. Theauthorities passed a resolution to announce to the helots that whosoeveramong them chose to take arms and join a regiment should have hisfreedom guaranteed to him by solemn pledges in return for assistance inthe common war. (30) More than six thousand helots, it is said, enrolledthemselves, so that a new terror was excited by the very incorporationof these men, whose numbers seemed to be excessive. But when it wasfound that the mercenaries from Orchomenus remained faithful, andreinforcements came to Lacedaemon from Phlius, Corinth, Epidaurus, and Pellene, and some other states, the dread of these new levies wasspeedily diminished. 

 (28) See Pausanias, III. Xix. 7. 

 (29) See Plutarch, "Ages. " xxxi. 3 (Clough, vol. Iv. P. 38); Aristot. "Pol. " ii. 9-10. 

 (30) See below, VII. Ii. 2. 

The enemy in his advance came to Amyclae. (31) Here he crossed theEurotas. The Thebans wherever they encamped at once formed a stockadeof the fruit-trees they had felled, as thickly piled as possible, andso kept ever on their guard. The Arcadians did nothing of the sort. They left their camping-ground and took themselves off to attack thehomesteads and loot. On the third or fourth day after their arrival thecavalry advanced, squadron by squadron, as far as the racecourse, (32)within the sacred enclosure of Gaiaochos. These consisted of theentire Theban cavalry and the Eleians, with as many of the Phocianor Thessalian or Locrian cavalry as were present. The cavalry of theLacedaemonians, looking a mere handful, were drawn up to meet them. Theyhad posted an ambuscade chosen from their heavy infantry, the youngermen, about three hundred in number, in the house of the Tyndarids (33);and while the cavalry charged, out rushed the three hundred at thesame instant at full pace. The enemy did not wait to receive the doublecharge, but swerved, and at sight of that many also of the infantry tookto headlong flight. But the pursuers presently paused; the Theban armyremained motionless; and both parties returned to their camps. Andnow the hope, the confidence strengthened that an attack upon the cityitself would never come; nor did it. The invading army broke up fromtheir ground, and marched off on the road to Helos and Gytheum. (34)The unwalled cities were consigned to the flames, but Gytheum, wherethe Lacedaemonians had their naval arsenal, was subjected to assault forthree days. Certain of the provincials (35) also joined in this attack, and shared the campaign with the Thebans and their friends. 

 (31) For this ancient (Achaean) town, see Paus. III. Ii. 6; Polyb. V. 19. It lay only twenty stades (a little more than two miles) from the city of Sparta. 

 (32) Or, "hippodrome. " See Paus. III. Ii. 6. 

 (33) Paus. III. Xvi. 2. 

 (34) See Baedeker's "Greece, " p. 279. Was Gytheum taken? See Grote, "H. G. " x. 305; Curt. "H. G. " Eng. Trans. Iv. 431. 

 (35) "Perioeci. " See above, III. Iii. 6; VI. V. 25; below, VII. Ii. 2; Grote, "H. G. " x. 301. It is a pity that the historian should hurry us off to Athens just at this point. The style here is suggestive of notes ({upomnemata}) unexpanded. 

The news of these proceedings set the Athenians deeply ponderingwhat they ought to do concerning the Lacedaemonians, and they held anassembly in accordance with a resolution of the senate. It chanced thatthe ambassadors of the Lacedaemonians and the allies still faithfulto Lacedaemon were present. The Lacedaemonian ambassadors were Aracus, Ocyllus, Pharax, Etymocles, and Olontheus, and from the nature of thecase they all used, roughly speaking, similar arguments. They remindedthe Athenians how they had often in old days stood happily together, shoulder to shoulder, in more than one great crisis. They (theLacedaemonians), on their side, had helped to expel the tyrantfrom Athens, and the Athenians, when Lacedaemon was besieged by theMessenians, had heartily leant her a helping hand. (36) Then they fell toenumerating all the blessings that marked the season when the two statesshared a common policy, hinting how in common they had warred againstthe barbarians, and more boldly recalling how the Athenians with thefull consent and advice of the Lacedaemonians were chosen by unitedHellas leaders of the common navy (37) and guardians of all the commontreasure, while they themselves were selected by all the Hellenes asconfessedly the rightful leaders on land; and this also not without thefull consent and concurrence of the Athenians. 

 (36) In reference (1) to the expulsion of the Peisistratidae (Herod. V. 64); (2) the "third" Messenian war (Thuc. I. 102). 

 (37) See "Revenues, " v. 6. 

One of the speakers ventured on a remark somewhat to this strain: "Ifyou and we, sirs, can only agree, there is hope to-day that the oldsaying may be fulfilled, and Thebes be 'taken and tithed. '" (38) TheAthenians, however, were not in the humour to listen to that style ofargument. A sort of suppressed murmur ran through the assembly whichseemed to say, "That language may be well enough now; but when theywere well off they pressed hard enough on us. " But of all the pleas putforward by the Lacedaemonians, the weightiest appeared to be this: thatwhen they had reduced the Athenians by war, and the Thebans wishedto wipe Athens off the face of the earth, they (the Lacedaemonians)themselves had opposed the measure. (39) If that was the argument ofmost weight, the reasoning which was the most commonly urged was to theeffect that "the solemn oaths necessitated the aid demanded. Sparta haddone no wrong to justify this invasion on the part of the Arcadians andtheir allies. All she had done was to assist the men of Tegea when(40) the Mantineans had marched against that township contrary totheir solemn oaths. " Again, for the second time, at these expressionsa confused din ran through the assembly, half the audience maintainingthat the Mantineans were justified in supporting Proxenus and hisfriends, who were put to death by the party with Stasippus; the otherhalf that they were wrong in bringing an armed force against the men ofTegea. 

 (38) Or, "the Thebans be decimated"; for the phrase see above, "Hell. " VI. Iii. 20. 

 (39) See "Hell. " II. Ii. 19; and "Hell. " III. V. 8. 

 (40) Lit. "because, " {oti}. 

Whilst these distinctions were being drawn by the assembly itself, Cleiteles the Corinthian got up and spoke as follows: "I daresay, menof Athens, there is a double answer to the question, Who began thewrongdoing? But take the case of ourselves. Since peace began, no onecan accuse us either of wantonly attacking any city, or of seizing thewealth of any, or of ravaging a foreign territory. In spite of which theThebans have come into our country and cut down our fruit-trees, burntto the ground our houses, filched and torn to pieces our cattle and ourgoods. How then, I put it to you, will you not be acting contrary toyour solemn oaths if you refuse your aid to us, who are so manifestlythe victims of wrongdoings? Yes; and when I say solemn oaths, I speakof oaths and undertakings which you yourselves took great pains to exactfrom all of us. " At that point a murmur of applause greeted Cleiteles, the Athenians feeling the truth and justice of the speaker's language. 

He sat down, and then Procles of Phlius got up and spoke as follows:"What would happen, men of Athens, if the Lacedaemonians were well outof the way? The answer to that question is obvious. You would be thefirst object of Theban invasion. Clearly; for they must feel that youand you alone stand in the path between them and empire over Hellas. Ifthis be so, I do not consider that you are more supporting Lacedaemonby a campaign in her behalf than you are helping yourselves. For imaginethe Thebans, your own sworn foes and next-door neighbours, masters ofHellas! You will find it a painful and onerous exchange indeed for thedistant antagonism of Sparta. As a mere matter of self-interest, nowis the time to help yourselves, while you may still reckon upon allies, instead of waiting until they are lost, and you are forced to fighta life-and-death battle with the Thebans single-handed. But the fearsuggests itself, that should the Lacedaemonians escape now, they willlive to cause you trouble at some future date. Lay this maxim to heart, then, that it is not the potential greatness of those we benefit, but ofthose we injure, which causes apprehension. And this other also, thatit behoves individuals and states alike so to better their position (41)while yet in the zenith of their strength that, in the day of weakness, when it comes, they may find some succour and support in what theirformer labours have achieved. (42) To you now, at this time, aheaven-sent opportunity is presented. In return for assistance to theLacedaemonians in their need, you may win their sincere, unhesitatingfriendship for all time. Yes, I say it deliberately, for the acceptanceof these benefits at your hands will not be in the presence of one ortwo chance witnesses. The all-seeing gods, in whose sight to-morrow iseven as to-day, will be cognisant of these things. The knowledge of themwill be jointly attested by allies and enemies; nay, by Hellenes andbarbarians alike, since to not one of them is what we are doing amatter of unconcern. If, then, in the presence of these witnesses, theLacedaemonians should prove base towards you, no one will ever againbe eager in their cause. But our hope, our expectation should rather bethat they will prove themselves good men and not base; since they beyondall others would seem persistently to have cherished a high endeavour, reaching forth after true praise, and holding aloof from ugly deeds. 

 (41) Lit. "to acquire some good. "

 (42) Or, "for what, " etc. 

"But there are further considerations which it were well you should layto heart. If danger were ever again to visit Hellas from the barbarianworld outside, in whom would you place your confidence if not in theLacedaemonians? Whom would you choose to stand at your right hand inbattle if not these, whose soldiers at Thermopylae to a man preferred tofall at their posts rather than save their lives by giving the barbarianfree passage into Hellas? Is it not right, then, considering forwhat thing's sake they displayed that bravery in your companionship, considering also the good hope there is that they will prove the likeagain--is it not just that you and we should lend them all countenanceand goodwill? Nay, even for us their allies' sake, who are present, itwould be worth your while to manifest this goodwill. Need you be assuredthat precisely those who continue faithful to them in their misfortuneswould in like manner be ashamed not to requite you with gratitude?And if we seem to be but small states, who are willing to share theirdangers with them, lay to heart that there is a speedy cure for thisdefect: with the accession of your city the reproach that, in spite ofall our assistance, we are but small cities, will cease to be. 

"For my part, men of Athens, I have hitherto on hearsay admired andenvied this great state, whither, I was told, every one who was wrongedor stood in terror of aught needed only to betake himself and he wouldobtain assistance. To-day I no longer hear, I am present myself andsee these famous citizens of Lacedaemon here, and by their side theirtrustiest friends, who have come to you, and ask you in their day ofneed to give them help. I see Thebans also, the same who in days bygonefailed to persuade the Lacedaemonians to reduce you to absolute slavery, (43) to-day asking you to suffer those who saved you to be destroyed. 

 (43) See "Hell. " II. Ii. 19; III. V. 8, in reference to B. C. 405. 

"That was a great deed and of fair renown, attributed in old story toyour ancestors, that they did not suffer those Argives who died on theCadmeia (44) to lie unburied; but a fairer wreath of glory wouldyou weave for your own brows if you suffer not these still livingLacedaemonians to be trampled under the heel of insolence and destroyed. Fair, also, was that achievement when you stayed the insolence ofEurystheus and saved the sons of Heracles; (45) but fairer still thanthat will your deed be if you rescue from destruction, not the primalauthors (46) merely, but the whole city which they founded; fairest ofall, if because yesterday the Lacedaemonians won you your preservationby a vote which cost them nothing, you to-day shall bring them help witharms, and at the price of peril. It is a proud day for some of us tostand here and give what aid we can in pleading for assistance to bravemen. What, then, must you feel, who in very deed are able to renderthat assistance! How generous on your parts, who have been so often thefriends and foes of Lacedaemon, to forget the injury and remember onlythe good they have done! How noble of you to repay, not for yourselvesonly, but for the sake of Hellas, the debt due to those who provedthemselves good men and true in her behalf!"

 (44) In reference to the Seven against Thebes, see Herod. IX. Xxvii. 4; Isoc. "Paneg. " 55. 

 (45) Herod. IX. Xxvii. 3; see Isoc. "Paneg. " 56. "The greatness of Sparta was founded by the succour which Athens lent to the Heraklid invaders of the Peloponnese--a recollection which ought to restrain Sparta from injuring or claiming to rule Athens. Argos, Thebes, Sparta were in early times, as they are now, the foremost cities of Hellas; but Athens was the greatest of them all --the avenger of Argos, the chastiser of Thebes, the patron of those who founded Sparta. "--Jebb, "Att. Or. " ii. 154. 

 (46) Plut. "Lyc. " vi. 

After these speeches the Athenians deliberated, and though there wasopposition, the arguments of gainsayers (47) fell upon deaf ears. Theassembly finally passed a decree to send assistance to Lacedaemon inforce, and they chose Iphicrates general. Then followed the preliminarysacrifices, and then the general's order to his troops to take theevening meal in the grove of the Academy. (48) But the general himself, it is said, was in no hurry to leave the city; many were found at theirposts before him. Presently, however, he put himself at the head of histroops, and the men followed cheerily, in firm persuasion that he wasabout to lead them to some noble exploit. On arrival at Corinthhe frittered away some days, and there was a momentary outburst ofdiscontent at so much waste of precious time; but as soon as he led thetroops out of Corinth there was an obvious rebound. The men responded toall orders with enthusiasm, heartily following their general's lead, andattacking whatever fortified place he might confront them with. 

 (47) As to the anti-Laconian or Boeotian party at Athens, see Curtius, "H. G. " vol. V. Ch. Ii. (Eng. Tr. )

 (48) See Baedeker, "Greece, " p. 103. 

And now reverting to the hostile forces on Laconian territory, we findthat the Arcadians, Argives, and Eleians had retired in large numbers. They had every inducement so to do since their homes bordered onLaconia; and off they went, driving or carrying whatever they hadlooted. The Thebans and the rest were no less anxious to get out of thecountry, though for other reasons, partly because the army was meltingaway under their eyes day by day, partly because the necessities of lifewere growing daily scantier, so much had been either fairly eaten upand pillaged or else recklessly squandered and reduced to ashes. Besidesthis, it was winter; so that on every ground there was a general desireby this time to get away home. 

As son as the enemy began his retreat from Laconian soil, Iphicratesimitated his movement, and began leading back his troops out of Arcadiainto Corinthia. Iphicrates exhibited much good generalship, no doubt, with which I have no sort of fault to find. But it is not so with thatfinal feature of the campaign to which we are now come. Here I find hisstrategy either meaningless in intent or inadequate in execution. He made an attempt to keep guard at Oneion, in order to prevent theBoeotians making their way out homewards; but left meanwhile far thebest passage through Cenchreae unguarded. Again, when he wished todiscover whether or not the Thebans had passed Oneion, he sent out ona reconnaissance the whole of the Athenian and Corinthian cavalry;whereas, for the object in view, the eyes of a small detachment wouldhave been as useful as a whole regiment; (49) and when it came tofalling back, clearly the smaller number had a better chance of hittingon a traversable road, and so effecting the desired movement quietly. But the height of folly seems to have been reached when he threw intothe path of the enemy a large body of troops which were still too weakto cope with him. As a matter of fact, this body of cavalry, owing totheir very numbers, could not help covering a large space of ground;and when it became necessary to retire, had to cling to a series ofdifficult positions in succession, so that they lost not fewer thantwenty horsemen. (50) It was thus the Thebans effected their object andretired from Peloponnese. 

 (49) See "Hipparch. " viii. 10 foll. 

 (50) See Diod. Xv. 63; Plut. "Pelop. " 24. 

BOOK VII

I

B. C. 369. In the following year (1) plenipotentiary ambassadors (2) fromthe Lacedaemonians and their allies arrived at Athens to consider andtake counsel in what way the alliance between Athens and Lacedaemonmight be best cemented. It was urged by many speakers, foreigners andAthenians also, that the alliance ought to be based on the principle ofabsolute equality, (3) "share and share alike, " when Procles of Phliusput forward the following argument:

 (1) I. E. The official year from spring to spring. See Peter, "Chron. Table" 95, note 215; see Grote, "H. G. " x. 346, note 1. 

 (2) See Hicks, 89. 

 (3) For the phrase {epi toi isois kai omoiois}, implying "share and share alike, " see Thuc. I. 145, etc. 

"Since you have already decided, men of Athens, that it is good tosecure the friendship of Lacedaemon, the point, as it appears to me, which you ought now to consider is, by what means this friendship may bemade to last as long as possible. The probability is, that we shall holdtogether best by making a treaty which shall suit the best interests ofboth parties. On most points we have, I believe, a tolerable unanimity, but there remains the question of leadership. The preliminary decree ofyour senate anticipates a division of the hegemony, crediting you withthe chief maritime power, Lacedaemon with the chief power on land; andto me, personally, I confess, that seems a division not more establishedby human invention than preordained by some divine naturalness or happyfortune. For, in the first place, you have a geographical positionpre-eminently adapted for naval supremacy; most of the states to whomthe sea is important are massed round your own, and all of these areinferior to you in strength. Besides, you have harbours and roadsteads, without which it is not possible to turn a naval power to account. Again, you have many ships of war. To extend your naval empire is atraditional policy; all the arts and sciences connected with thesematters you possess as home products, and, what is more, in skill andexperience of nautical affairs you are far ahead of the rest of theworld. The majority of you derive your livelihood from the sea, orthings connected with it; so that in the very act of minding your ownaffairs you are training yourselves to enter the lists of naval combat. (4) Again, no other power in the world can send out a larger collectivefleet, and that is no insignificant point in reference to thequestion of leadership. The nucleus of strength first gained becomesa rallying-point, round which the rest of the world will gladlycongregate. Furthermore, your good fortune in this department mustbe looked upon as a definite gift of God: for, consider among thenumberless great sea-fights which you have fought how few you havelost, how many you have won. It is only rational, then, that your alliesshould much prefer to share this particular risk with you. Indeed, to show you how natural and vital to you is this maritime study, thefollowing reflection may serve. For several years the Lacedaemonians, when at war with you in old days, dominated your territory, but theymade no progress towards destroying you. At last God granted them oneday to push forward their dominion on the sea, and then in an instantyou completely succumbed to them. (5) Is it not self-evident thatyour safety altogether depends upon the sea? The sea is your naturalelement--your birthright; it would be base indeed to entrust thehegemony of it to the Lacedaemonians, and the more so, since, as theythemselves admit, they are far less acquainted with this business thanyourselves; and, secondly, your risk in naval battles would not be forequal stakes--theirs involving only the loss of the men on board theirships, but yours, that of your children and your wives and the entirestate. 

 (4) See "Pol. Ath. " i. 19 foll. 

 (5) See "Hell. " II. I. 

"And if this is a fair statement of your position, turn, now, andconsider that of the Lacedaemonians. The first point to notice is, thatthey are an inland power; as long as they are dominant on land it doesnot matter how much they are cut off from the sea--they can carryon existence happily enough. This they so fully recognise, that fromboyhood they devote themselves to training for a soldier's life. Thekeystone of this training is obedience to command, (6) and in this theyhold the same pre-eminence on land which you hold on the sea. Just asyou with your fleets, so they on land can, at a moment's notice, putthe largest army in the field; and with the like consequence, that theirallies, as is only rational, attach themselves to them with undyingcourage. (7) Further, God has granted them to enjoy on land a like goodfortune to that vouchsafed to you on sea. Among all the many conteststhey have entered into, it is surprising in how few they have failed, inhow many they have been successful. The same unflagging attention whichyou pay to maritime affairs is required from them on land, and, as thefacts of history reveal, it is no less indispensable to them. Thus, although you were at war with them for several years and gained many anaval victory over them, you never advanced a step nearer to reducingthem. But once worsted on land, in an instant they were confronted witha danger affecting the very lives of child and wife, and vital to theinterests of the entire state. We may very well understand, then, thestrangeness, not to say monstrosity, in their eyes, of surrendering toothers the military leadership on land, in matters which they have madetheir special study for so long and with such eminent success. I endwhere I began. I agree absolutely with the preliminary decrees of yourown senate, which I consider the solution most advantageous to bothparties. My prayer (8) is that you may be guided in your deliberationsto that conclusion which is best for each and all of us. "

 (6) Or, "the spirit of discipline. " See "Mem. " III. V. 16; IV. Iv. 15; Thuc. Ii. 39; "Pol. Lac. " viii. 

 (7) Or, "with unlimited confidence. "

 (8) See above, "Hell. " VI. I. 13, {kai su prattois ta kratista}, "and so may the best fortune attend you!"--if that reading and rendering be adopted. 

Such were the words of the orator, and the sentiments of his speech werevehemently applauded by the Athenians no less than by the Lacedaemonianswho were present. Then Cephisodotus (9) stepped forward and addressedthe assembly. He said, "Men of Athens, do you not see how you are beingdeluded? Lend me your ears, and I will prove it to you in a moment. There is no doubt about your leadership by sea: it is already secured. But suppose the Lacedaemonians in alliance with you: it is plain theywill send you admirals and captains, and possibly marines, of Laconianbreed; but who will the sailors be? Helots obviously, or mercenariesof some sort. These are the folk over whom you will exercise yourleadership. Reverse the case. The Lacedaemonians have issued a generalorder summoning you to join them in the field; it is plain again, youwill be sending your heavy infantry and your cavalry. You see whatfollows. You have invented a pretty machine, by which they become leadersof your very selves, and you become the leaders either of their slavesor of the dregs of their state. I should like to put a question to theLacedaemonian Timocrates seated yonder. Did you not say just now, Sir, that you came to make an alliance on terms of absolute equality, 'shareand share alike'? Answer me. " "I did say so. " "Well, then, here is aplan by which you get the perfection of equality. I cannot conceive ofanything more fair and impartial than that 'turn and turn about' eachof us should command the navy, each the army; whereby whatever advantagethere may be in maritime or military command we may each of us share. "

 (9) See above, "Hell. " VI. Iii. 2; Hicks, 87. 

These arguments were successful. The Athenians were converted, andpassed a decree vesting the command in either state (10) for periods offive days alternately. 

 (10) See "Revenues, " v. 7. 

B. C. 369. (11) The campaign was commenced by both Athenians andLacedaemonians with their allies, marching upon Corinth, where it wasresolved to keep watch and ward over Oneion jointly. On the advance ofthe Thebans and their allies the troops were drawn out to defend thepass. They were posted in detachments at different points, the mostassailable of which was assigned to the Lacedaemonians and the men ofPellene. (12)

 (11) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 349 foll. ; al. B. C. 368. 

 (12) "During the wars of Epameinondas Pellene adhered firmly to her Spartan policy, at a time when other cities were, to say the least, less strenuous in the Spartan cause. "--Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " p. 241. Afterwards Pellene is found temporarily on the Theban side ("Hell. " VII. Ii. 11). 

The Thebans and their allies, finding themselves within three or fourmiles (13) of the troops guarding the pass, encamped in the flat groundbelow; but presently, after a careful calculation of the time it wouldtake to start and reach the goal in the gloaming, they advanced againstthe Lacedaemonian outposts. In spite of the difficulty they timed theirmovements to a nicety, and fell upon the Lacedaemonians and Pelleniansjust at the interval when the night pickets were turning in and the menwere leaving their shakedowns and retiring for necessary purposes. (14)This was the instant for the Thebans to fling themselves upon them; theyplied their weapons with good effect, blow upon blow. Order was pittedagainst disorder, preparation against disarray. When, however, those whoescaped from the thick of the business had retired to the nearest risingground, the Lacedaemonian polemarch, who might have taken as many heavy, or light, infantry of the allies as he wanted, and thus have held theposition (no bad one, since it enabled him to get his supplies safelyenough from Cenchreae), failed to do so. On the contrary, and in spiteof the great perplexity of the Thebans as to how they were to get downfrom the high level facing Sicyon or else retire the way they came, the Spartan general made a truce, which in the opinion of the majority, seemed more in favour of the Thebans than himself, and so he withdrewhis division and fell back. 

 (13) Lit. "thirty stades. "

 (14) Or, "intent on their personal concerns. " See "Hell. " II. Iv. 6; "Hipparch. " vii. 12. 

The Thebans were now free to descend without hindrance, which they did;and, effecting a junction with their allies the Arcadians, Argives, and Eleians, at once attacked (15) Sicyon and Pellene, and, marching onEpidaurus, laid waste the whole territory of that people. Returning fromthat exploit with a consummate disdain for all their opponents, whenthey found themselves near the city of Corinth they advanced at thedouble against the gate facing towards Phlius; intending if they foundit open to rush in. However, a body of light troops sallied out of thecity to the rescue, and met the advance of the Theban picked corps (16)not one hundred and fifty yards (17) from the walls. Mounting on themonuments and commanding eminences, with volleys of sling stones andarrows they laid low a pretty large number in the van of the attack, and routing them, gave chase for three or four furlongs' (18) distance. After this incident the Corinthians dragged the corpses of the slainto the wall, and finally gave them up under a flag of truce, erecting atrophy to record the victory. As a result of this occurrence the alliesof the Lacedaemonians took fresh heart. 

 (15) And took (apparently); see below; Diod. Xv. 69. 

 (16) See "Anab. " III. Iv. 43; and above, "Hell. " V. Iii. 23. 

 (17) Lit. "four plethra. "

 (18) LIt. "three or four stades. "

At the date of the above transactions the Lacedeamonians were cheered bythe arrival of a naval reinforcement from Dionysius, consisting of morethan twenty warships, which conveyed a body of Celts and Iberians andabout fifty cavalry. The day following, the Thebans and the rest of theallies, posted, at intervals, in battle order, and completely fillingthe flat land down to the sea on one side, and up to the knolls onthe other which form the buttresses of the city, proceeded to destroyeverything precious they could lay their hands on in the plain. TheAthenian and Corinthian cavalry, eyeing the strength, physical andnumerical, of their antagonists, kept at a safe distance from theirarmament. But the little body of cavalry lately arrived from Dionysiusspread out in a long thin line, and one at one point and one at anothergalloped along the front, discharging their missiles as they dashedforward, and when the enemy rushed against them, retired, and againwheeling about, showered another volley. Even while so engaged theywould dismount from their horses and take breath; and if their foemengalloped up while they were so dismounted, in an instant they had leapton their horses' backs and were in full retreat. Or if, again, a partypursued them some distance from the main body, as soon as they turned toretire, they would press upon them, and discharging volleys of missiles, made terrible work, forcing the whole army to advance and retire, merelyto keep pace with the movements of fifty horsemen. 

B. C. 369-368. After this the Thebans remained only a few more daysand then turned back homewards; and the rest likewise to their severalhomes. Thereupon the troops sent by Dionysius attacked Sicyon. Engagingthe Sicyonians in the flat country, they defeated them, killing aboutseventy men and capturing by assault the fortres of Derae. (19) Afterthese achievements this first reinforcement from Dionysius re-embarkedand set sail for Syracuse. 

 (19) "East of Sicyon was Epieiceia (see above, "Hell. " IV. Ii. 14, iv. 13) on the river Nemea. In the same direction was the fortress Derae. " ("Dict. Anct. Geog. " "Topography of Sicyonia"), al. Gerae. So Leake ("Morea, " iii. 376), who conjectures that this fortress was in the maritime plain. 

Up to this time the Thebans and all the states which had revolted fromLacedaemon had acted together in perfect harmony, and were content tocampaign under the leadership of Thebes; but now a certain Lycomedes, (20) a Mantinean, broke the spell. Inferior in birth and positionto none, while in wealth superior, he was for the rest a man of highambition. This man was able to inspire the Arcadians with high thoughtsby reminding them that to Arcadians alone the Peloponnese was ina literal sense a fatherland; since they and they alone were theindigenous inhabitants of its sacred soil, and the Arcadian stockthe largest among the Hellenic tribes--a good stock, moreover, and ofincomparable physique. And then he set himself to panegyrise them as thebravest of the brave, adducing as evidence, if evidence were needed, the patent fact, that every one in need of help invariably turned tothe Arcadians. (21) Never in old days had the Lacedaemonians yet invadedAthens without the Arcadians. "If then, " he added, "you are wise, youwill be somewhat chary of following at the beck and call of anybody, or it will be the old story again. As when you marched in the trainof Sparta you only enhanced her power, so to-day, if you follow Thebanguidance without thought or purpose instead of claiming a division ofthe headship, you will speedily find, perhaps, in her only a secondedition of Lacedaemon. " (22)

 (20) For the plan of an Arcadian Federation and the part played by Lycomedes, its true author, "who certainly merits thereby a high place among the statesmen of Greece, " see Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " ch. Iv. P. 199 foll. 

 (21) For this claim on the part of the Arcadians, see "Anab. " VI. Ii. 10 foll. 

 (22) Or, "Lacedaemonians under another name. "

These words uttered in the ears of the Arcadians were sufficient to puffthem up with pride. They were lavish in their love of Lycomedes, andthought there was no one his equal. He became their hero; he had onlyto give his orders, and they appointed their magistrates (23) at hisbidding. But, indeed, a series of brilliant exploits entitled theArcadians to magnify themselves. The first of these arose out of aninvasion of Epidaurus by the Argives, which seemed likely to end intheir finding their escape barred by Chabrias and his foreign brigadewith the Athenians and Corinthians. Only, at the critical moment theArcadians came to the rescue and extricated the Argives, who wereclosely besieged, and this in spite not only of the enemy, but of thesavage nature of the ground itself. Again they marched on Asine (24) inLaconian territory, and defeated the Lacedaemonian garrison, puttingthe polemarch Geranor, who was a Spartan, to the sword, and sacking thesuburbs of the town. Indeed, whenever or wherever they had a mind tosend an invading force, neither night nor wintry weather, nor length ofroad nor mountain barrier could stay their march. So that at this datethey regarded their prowess as invincible. (25) The Thebans, it will beunderstood, could not but feel a touch of jealousy at these pretensions, and their former friendship to the Arcadians lost its ardour. With theEleians, indeed, matters were worse. The revelation came to them whenthey demanded back from the Arcadians certain cities (26) of which theLacedaemonians had deprived them. They discovered that their viewswere held of no account, but that the Triphylians and the rest who hadrevolted from them were to be made much of, because they claimed tobe Arcadians. (27) Hence, as contrasted with the Thebans, the Eleianscherished feelings towards their late friends which were positivelyhostile. 

 (23) {arkhontas}, see below, "Hell. " VII. Iv. 33. The formal title of these Federal magistrates may or may not have been {arkhontes}; Freeman, "H. F. G. " 203, note 6. 

 (24) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 356. 

 (25) Or, "regarded themselves as the very perfection of soldiery. "

 (26) In reference to "Hell. " III. Ii. 25 foll. , see Freeman, op. Cit. P. 201, and below, "Hell. " VII. Iv. 12 (B. C. 365); Busolt, op. Cit. P. 186 foll. , in reference to Lasion. 

 (27) Busolt, p. 150. 

B. C. 368. Self-esteem amounting to arrogance--such was the spirit whichanimated each section of the allies, when a new phase was introduced bythe arrival of Philiscus (28) of Abydos on an embassy from Ariobarzanes(29) with large sums of money. This agent's first step was to assemblea congress of Thebans, allies, and Lacedaemonians at Delphi to treatof peace. On their arrival, without attempting to communicate or takecounsel with the god as to how peace might be re-established, they fellto deliberating unassisted; and when the Thebans refused to acquiescein the dependency of Messene (30) upon Lacedaemon, Philiscus set aboutcollecting a large foreign brigade to side with Lacedaemon and toprosecute the war. 

 (28) See Hicks, 84, p. 152; Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. 51; Grote, "H. G. " x. 357; Curtius, "H. G. " (Eng. Tr. ) iv. 458; Diod. Xv. 90. 

 (29) See above, V. I. 28; "Ages. " ii. 26. 

 (30) See Hicks, 86. 

Whilst these matters were still pending, the second reinforcements fromDionysius (31) arrived. There was a difference of opinion as to wherethe troops should be employed, the Athenians insisting that they oughtto march into Thessaly to oppose the Thebans, the Lacedaemonians beingin favour of Laconia; and among the allies this latter opinion carriedthe day. The reinforcement from Dionysius accordingly sailed round toLaconia, where Archidamus incorporated them with the state troops andopened the campaign. Caryae he took by storm, and put every one capturedto the sword, and from this point marching straight upon the Parrhasiansof Arcadia, he set about ravaging the country along with his Syracusansupporters. 

 (31) See above, SS. 20, 22, p. 191 foll. The date is B. C. 368 according to Grote, "H. G. " x. 362 foll. ; al. B. C. 367. 

Presently when the Arcadians and Argives arrived with succours, heretreated and encamped on the knolls above Medea. (32) While he wasthere, Cissidas, the officer in charge of the reinforcement fromDionysius, made the announcement that the period for his stay abroad hadelapsed; and the words were no sooner out of his lips than off he set onthe road to Sparta. The march itself, however, was not effected withoutdelays, for he was met and cut off by a body of Messenians at a narrowpass, and was forced in these straits to send to Archidamus and beg forassistance, which the latter tendered. When they had got as far as thebend (33) on the road to Eutresia, there were the Arcadians and Argivesadvancing upon Laconia and apparently intending, like the Messenians, toshut the Spartan off from the homeward road. 

 (32) Or, "Melea, " or "Malea. " E. Curtius conjectures {Meleas} for {Medeas} of the MSS. , and probably the place referred to is the township of Malea in the Aegytis (Pausan. VIII. Xxvii. 4); see above, "Hell. " VI. V. 24, "the Maleatid. " See Dind. "Hist. Gr. , " Ox. MDCCCLIII. , note ad loc. ; Curtius, "H. G. " iv. 459; Grote, "H. G. " x. 362. 

 (33) Or, "the resting-place"; cf. Mod. "Khan. " L. And S. Cf. Arist. "Frogs, " 113. "Medea, " below, is probably "Malea, " (see last note). 

Archidamus, debouching upon a flat space of ground where the roads toEutresia and Medea converge, drew up his troops and offered battle. Whenhappened then is thus told:--He passed in front of the regiments andaddressed them in terms of encouragement thus: "Fellow-citizens, the dayhas come which calls upon us to prove ourselves brave men and look theworld in the face with level eyes. (34) Now are we to deliver to thosewho come after us our fatherland intact as we received it from ourfathers; now will we cease hanging our heads in shame before ourchildren and wives, our old men and our foreign friends, in sightof whom in days of old we shone forth conspicuous beyond all otherHellenes. "

 (34) See Plut. "Ages. " 53 (Clough, vol. Iv. P. 41). 

The words were scarcely uttered (so runs the tale), when out ofthe clear sky came lightnings and thunderings, (35) with propitiousmanifestation to him; and it so happened that on his right wing therestood a sacred enclosure and a statue of Heracles, his great ancestor. As the result of all these things, so deep a strength and courage cameinto the hearts of his soldiers, as they tell, that the generals hadhard work to restrain their men as they pushed forward to the front. Presently, when Archidamus led the advance, a few only of the enemycared to await them at the spear's point, and were slain; the mass ofthem fled, and fleeing fell. Many were cut down by the cavalry, manyby the Celts. When the battle ceased and a trophy had been erected, theSpartan at once despatched home Demoteles, the herald, with the news. Hehad to announce not only the greatness of the victory, but the startlingfact that, while the enemy's dead were numerous, not one singleLacedaemonian had been slain. (36) Those in Sparta to whom the news wasbrought, as says the story, when they heard it, one and all, beginningwith Agesilaus, and, after him, the elders and the ephors, wept forjoy--so close akin are tears to joy and pain alike. There were othershardly less pleased than the Lacedaemonians themselves at themisfortune which had overtaken the Arcadians: these were the Thebans andEleians--so offensive to them had the boastful behaviour of these menbecome. 

 (35) See Xen. "Apolog. " 12; Homer, "Il. " ii. 353; "Od. " xx. 113 foll. 

 (36) According to Diod. Xv. 72, ten thousand of the enemy fell. 

The problem perpetually working in the minds of the Thebans was how theywere to compass the headship of Hellas; and they persuaded themselvesthat, if they sent an embassy to the King of Persia, they could not butgain some advantage by his help. Accordingly they did not delay, butcalled together the allies, on the plea that Euthycles the Lacedaemonianwas already at the Persian court. The commissioners sent up were, onthe part of the Thebans, Pelopidas; (37) on the part of the Arcadians, Antiochus, the pancratiast; and on that of the Eleians, Archidamus. There was also an Argive in attendance. The Athenians on their side, getting wind of the matter, sent up two commissioners, Timagoras andLeon. 

 (37) See Plut. "Pelop. " 30 (Clough, vol. Ii. P. 230). For the date see Grote, "H. G. " x. 365, 379; Curtius, "H. G. " iv. 460. 

When they arrived at the Persian court the influence of Pelopidas waspreponderant with the Persian. He could point out that, besides the factthat the Thebans alone among all the Hellenes had fought on the king'sside at Plataeae, (38) they had never subsequently engaged in militaryservice against the Persians; nay, the very ground of Lacedaemonianhostility to them was that they had refused to march against the Persianking with Agesilaus, (39) and would not even suffer him to sacrifice toArtemis at Aulis (where Agamemnon sacrificed before he set sail for Asiaand captured Troy). In addition, there were two things which contributedto raise the prestige of Thebes, and redounded to the honour ofPelopidas. These were the victory of the Thebans at Leuctra, and theindisputable fact that they had invaded and laid waste the territory ofLaconia. Pelopidas went on to point out that the Argives and Arcadianshad lately been defeated in battle by the Lacedaemonians, when his owncountrymen were not there to assist. The Athenian Timagoras supportedall these statements of the Theban by independent testimony, and stoodsecond in honour after Pelopidas. 

 (38) See Thuc. Iii. 58, 59, 60. 

 (39) See above, "Hell. " III. Iv. 3; Lincke, "Zur. Xen. Krit. " p. 315. 

At this point of the proceedings Pelopidas was asked by the king, whatspecial clause he desired inserted in the royal rescript. He replied asfollows: "Messene to be independent of Lacedaemon, and the Atheniansto lay up their ships of war. Should either power refuse compliance inthese respects, such refusal to be a casus belli; and any state refusingto take part in the military proceedings consequent, to be herself thefirst object of attack. " These clauses were drawn up and read to theambassadors, when Leon, in the hearing of the king, exclaimed: "Upon myword! Athenians, it strikes me it is high time you looked for some otherfriend than the great king. " The secretary reported the comment of theAthenian envoy, and produced presently an altered copy of the document, with a clause inserted: "If the Athenians have any better and justerviews to propound, let them come to the Persian court and explain them. "(40)

 (40) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 402; and "Ages. " viii. 3. 

Thus the ambassadors returned each to his own home and were variouslyreceived. Timagoras, on the indictment of Leon, who proved that hisfellow-commissioner not only refused to lodge with him at the king'scourt, but in every way played into the hands of Pelopidas, was put todeath. Of the other joint commissioners, the Eleian, Archidamus, wasloud in his praises of the king and his policy, because he had showna preference to Elis over the Arcadians; while for a converse reason, because the Arcadian league was slighted, Antiochus not only refused toaccept any gift, but brought back as his report to the general assemblyof the Ten Thousand, (41) that the king appeared to have a large army ofconfectioners and pastry-cooks, butlers and doorkeepers; but as formen capable of doing battle with Hellenes, he had looked carefully, andcould not discover any. Besides all which, even the report of his wealthseemed to him, he said, bombastic nonsense. "Why, the golden plane-treethat is so belauded is not big enough to furnish shade to a singlegrasshopper. " (42)

 (41) See above, VI. V. 6; Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " 202; Demosth. "F. L. " 220, etc. 

 (42) Or, "the golden plane-tree they romance about would not suffice to, " etc. 

At Thebes a conference of the states had been convened to listen to thegreat king's letter. The Persian who bore the missive merely pointedto the royal seal, and read the document; whereupon the Thebans invitedall, who wished to be their friends, to take an oath to what they hadjust heard, as binding on the king and on themselves. To which theambassadors from the states replied that they had been sent to listen toa report, not to take oaths; if oaths were wanted, they recommendedthe Thebans to send ambassadors to the several states. The ArcadianLycomedes, moreover, added that the congress ought not to be held atThebes at all, but at the seat of war, wherever that might be. Thisremark brought down the wrath of the Thebans on the speaker; theyexclaimed that he was bent on breaking up the alliance. Whereupon theArcadian refused to take a seat in the congress at all, and got upand betook himself off there and then, accompanied by all the Arcadianenvoys. Since, therefore, the assembled representatives refused to takethe oaths at Thebes, the Thebans sent to the different states, one byone in turn, urging each to undertake solemnly to act in accordance withthe great king's rescript. They were persuaded that no individual statewould venture to quarrel with themselves and the Persian monarch atonce. As a matter of fact, however, when they arrived at Corinth--whichwas the first stated vist--the Corinthians stood out and gave as theiranswer, that they had no desire for any common oath or undertaking withthe king. The rest of the states followed suit, giving answers ofa similar tenor, so that this striving after empire on the part ofPelopidas and the Thebans melted like a cloud-castle into air. 

B. C. 367. (43) But Epaminondas was bent on one more effort. With a viewto forcing the Arcadians and the rest of the allies to pay better heedto Thebes, he desired first to secure the adhesion of the Achaeans, and decided to march an army into Achaea. Accordingly, he persuaded theArgive Peisias, who was at the head of military affairs in Argos, toseize and occupy Oneion in advance. Persias, having ascertained thatonly a sorry guard was maintained over Oneion by Naucles, the generalcommanding the Lacedaemonian foreign brigade, and by Timomachus theAthenian, under cover of night seized and occupied with two thousandheavy infantry the rising ground above Cenchreae, taking with himprovisions for seven days. Within the interval the Thebans arrivedand surmounted the pass of Oneion; whereupon the allied troops withEpaminondas at their head, advanced into Achaea. The result of thecampaign was that the better classes of Achaea gave in their adhesionto him; and on his personal authority Epaminondas insisted that thereshould be no driving of the aristocrats into exile, nor any modificationof the constitution. He was content to take a pledge of fealty from theAchaeans to this effect: "Verily and indeed we will be your allies, andfollow whithersoever the Thebans lead. " (44)

 (43) B. C. 367, according to Grote, "H. G. " x. 365, note 1; al. B. C. 366. 

 (44) See Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " p. 241: "We read of local oligarchies (in the several cities of Achaia) which Epameinondas found and left in possession, but which the home government of Thebes thought good to expel, and to substitute democracies under the protection of Theban harmosts. This policy did not answer, as the large bodies of exiles thus formed contrived to recover the cities, and to bring them to a far more decided Spartan partisanship than before. "

So he departed home. The Arcadians, however, and the partisans of theopposite faction in Thebes were ready with an indictment against him:"Epaminondas, " they said, "had merely swept and garnished Achaea for theLacedaemonians, and then gone off. " The Thebans accordingly resolvedto send governors (45) into the states of Achaea; and those officers onarrival joined with the commonalty and drove out the better folk, and set up democracies throughout Achaea. On their side, these exilescoalesced, and, marching upon each separate state in turn, for theywere pretty numerous, speedily won their restoration and dominated thestates. As the party thus reinstated no longer steered a middle course, but went heart and soul into an alliance with Lacedaemon, the Arcadiansfound themselves between the upper and the nether millstone--that is tosay, the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans. 

 (45) Lit. "harmosts. "

At Sicyon, hitherto, (46) the constitution was based on the ancientlaws; but at this date Euphron (who during the Lacedaemonian days hadbeen the greatest man in Sicyon, and whose ambition it was to holda like pre-eminence under their opponents) addressed himself to theArgives and Arcadians as follows: "If the wealthiest classes should evercome into power in Sicyon, without a doubt the city would take the firstopportunity of readopting a Laconian policy; whereas, if a democracy beset up, " he added, "you may rest assured Sicyon will hold fast by you. All I ask you is to stand by me; I will do the rest. It is I who willcall a meeting of the people; and by that selfsame act I shall giveyou a pledge of my good faith and present you with a state firm inits alliance. All this, be assured, " he added, "I do because, likeyourselves, I have long ill brooked the pride of Lacedaemon, and shallbe glad to escape the yoke of bondage. "

 (46) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 379. 

These proposals found favour with the Arcadians and the Argives, who gladly gave the assistance demanded. Euphron straightway, inthe market-place, in the presence of the two powers concerned, (47) proceeded to convene the Demos, as if there were to be a newconstitution, based on the principle of equality. (48) When theconvention met, he bade them appoint generals: they might choosewhom they liked. Whereupon they elected Euphron himself, Hippodamus, Cleander, Acrisius, and Lysander. When these matters were arranged heappointed Adeas, his own son, over the foreign brigade, in place of theformer commander, Lysimenes, whom he removed. His next step was promptlyto secure the fidelity of the foreign mercenaries by various acts ofkindness, and to attach others; and he spared neither the public nor thesacred moneys for this object. He had, to aid him, further, the propertyof all the citizens whom he exiled on the ground of Laconism, andof this without scruple he in every case availed himself. As for hiscolleagues in office, some he treacherously put to death, others heexiled, by which means he got everything under his own power, and wasnow a tyrant without disguise. The method by which he got the allies toconnive at his doings was twofold. Partly he worked on them by pecuniaryaid, partly by the readiness with which he lent the support of hisforeign troops on any campaign to which they might invite him. 

 (47) Lit. "the Argives and the Arcadians. "

 (48) Lit. "on fair and equal terms. " See Thuc. V. 79. 

II

B. C. 366. Matters had so far progressed that the Argives had alreadyfortified the Trikaranon above the Heraion as an outpost to threatenPhlius, while the Sicyonians were engaged in fortifying Thyamia (1)on their frontier; and between the two the Phliasians were severelypinched. They began to suffer from dearth of necessaries; but, inspite of all, remained unshaken in their alliance. It is the habit ofhistorians, I know, to record with admiration each noble achievement ofthe larger powers, but to me it seems a still more worthy task to bringto light the great exploits of even a little state found faithful in theperformance of fair deeds. 

 (1) "Thyamia is placed by Ross on the lofty hill of Spiria, the northern prolongation of Tricaranum, between the villages Stimanga and Skrapani. "--"Dict. Anct. Geog. " "Phlius. "

B. C. 370-369. Now these Phliasians were friends of Lacedaemon while atthe zenith of her power. After her disaster on the field of Leuctra, when many of the Perioeci, and the helots to a man, revolted; when, morethan that, the allies, save only quite a few, forsook her; (2) andwhen united Hellas, so to speak, was marching on her--these Phliasiansremained stanch in their allegiance; and, in spite of the hostility ofthe most powerful states of the Peloponnese, to wit the Arcardians andthe Argives, they insisted on coming to her aid. It fell to their lotto cross into Prasiae as the rearguard of the reinforcements, whichconsisted of the men of Corinth, of Epidaurus and of Troezen, ofHermione, Halieis, and Sicyon and Pellene, in the days before any ofthese had revolted. (3) Not even when the commander of the foreignbrigade, picking up the divisions already across, left them behind andwas gone--not even so did they flinch or turn back, but hired a guidefrom Prasiae, and though the enemy was massed round Amyclae, slippedthrough his ranks, as best they could, and so reached Sparta. It wasthen that the Lacedaemonians, besides other honours conferred upon them, sent them an ox as a gift of hospitality. 

 (2) See above, "VI. " v. 29. 

 (3) See "Hell. " VII. I. 18. 

B. C. 369. Later on, when the enemy had retired from Laconia, theArgives, ill brooking so much zeal for Lacedaemon on the part of Phlius, marched in full force against the little state, and fell to ravagingtheir territory. Even then they remained undaunted; and when the enemyturned to retire, destroying all that he could lay hands upon, outdashed the cavalry of the Phliasians and dogged his retreat. Andnotwithstanding that the Argive's rear consisted of the whole of hiscavalry, with some companies of infantry to support them, they attackedhim, sixty in number, and routed his whole rearguard. They slew, indeed, but a few of them; but, having so slain that handful, they paused anderected a trophy in full sight of the Argive army with as little concernas if they had cut down their enemies to a man. 

Once again the Lacedaemonians and their allies were guarding Oneion, (4)and the Thebans were threatening to scale the pass. The Arcadians andEleians (5) were moving forwards through Nemea to effect a junction withthe Thebans, when a hint was conveyed to them by some Phliasian exiles, "Only show yourselves before Phlius and the town is yours. " An agreementwas made, and in the dead of night a party consisting of the exilesthemselves and others with them, about six hundred in number, plantedthemselves close under the walls with scaling-ladders. Presently thescouts from the Trikaranon signalled to the city that the enemy wasadvancing. The citizens were all attention; their eyes fixed upon theirscouts. Meanwhile the traitors within were likewise signalling to thoseseated under lee of the walls "to scale"; and these, scaling up, seizedthe arms of the guards, which they found abandoned, and fell to pursuingthe day sentinels, ten in number (one out of each squad of five beingalways left on day duty). (6) One of these was put to the sword as helay asleep, and a second as he was escaping to the Heraion; but theother eight day-pickets leapt down the wall on the side towards thecity, one after another. The scaling party now found themselves inundisputed possession of the citadel. But the shouting had reached thecity below: the citizens rallied to the rescue; and the enemy began bysallying forth from the citadel, and did battle in the forefront of thegate leading down to the city. By and by, being strongly beleagueredby the ever-increasing reinforcements of the citizens, they retired, falling back upon the citadel; and the citizens along with the enemyforced their way in. The centre of the citadel was speedily deserted;for the enemy scaled the walls and towers, and showered blows andmissiles upon the citizens below. These defended themselves from theground, or pressed the encounter home by climbing the ladders which ledto the walls. Once masters of certain towers on this side and the otherof the invaders, the citizens came to close quarters with them withreckless desperation. The invaders, pushed and pommelled by dint of suchaudacity and hard hitting, were cooped up like sheep into narrowerand narrower space. But at that critical moment the Arcadians and theArgives were circling round the city, and had begun to dig through thewalls of the citadel from its upper side. (7) Of the citizens insidesome were beating down their assailants on the wall; (8) others, those of them who were climbing up from outside and were still on thescaling-ladders, whilst a third set were delivering battle againstthose who had mounted the towers. These last had found fire in themen's quarters, and were engaged in setting the towers and all ablaze, bringing up sheaves of corn and grass--an ample harvesting, as luckwould have it, garnered off the citadel itself. Thereupon the occupantsof the towers, in terror of the flames, leapt down one by one, whilethose on the walls, under the blows of the defenders, tumbled off withsimilar expedition; and as soon as they had once begun to yield, thewhole citadel, in almost less time than it takes to tell, was cleared ofthe enemy. In an instant out dashed the cavalry, and the enemy, seeingthem, beat a hasty retreat, leaving behind scaling-ladders and dead, besides some comrades hopelessly maimed. In fact, the enemy, whatbetween those who were slain inside and those who leapt from the walls, lost not less than eighty men. And now it was a goodly sight to see thebrave men grasp one another by the hand and pledge each other on theirpreservation, whilst the women brought them drink and cried for joy. Notone there present but in very sooth was overcome by laughter mixed withtears. (9)

 (4) B. C. 369? al. B. C. 368. See above, "Hell. " VII. I. 15; Grote, "H. G. " x. 346. 

 (5) See above, "Hell. " VII. I. 18, and below, S. 8. 

 (6) Or, "one member of both the squads of five was left behind"--i. E. Two out of the ten could not keep up with the rest in their flight, and were taken and killed; one indeed had not started, but was killed in sleep. 

 (7) Or, "downwards" (L. And S. ); or, "in front, " "von vorn" (Buchs). 

 (8) Reading, {tous eti toi teikhous}. See Otto Keller for various emendations of the passage. 

 (9) In true Homeric fashion, as Pollux (ii. 64) observes. See Homer, "Il. " vi. 484. See above, VII. I. 32; "Cyrop. " VII. V. 32; "Hiero, " iii. 5; "Sym. " ii. 24; "Antony and Cleopatra, " III. Ii. 43. 

Next year also (10) Phlius was invaded by the Argives and all theArcadians. The reason of this perpetually-renewed attack on Phlius isnot far to seek: partly it was the result of spleen, partly the littletownship stood midway between them, and they cherished the hope thatthrough want of the necessaries of life they would bring it over. During this invasion the cavalry and the picked troop of the Phliasians, assisted by some Athenian knights, made another famous charge at thecrossing of the river. (11) They made it so hot for the enemy that forthe rest of that day he was forced to retire under the mountain ridges, and to hold aloof as if afraid to trample down the corn-crops of afriendly people on the flat below. 

 (10) B. C. 368 (or 367). 

 (11) The Asopus. 

Again another time (12) the Theban commander in Sicyon marched outagainst Phlius, taking with him the garrison under his personal command, with the Sicyonians and Pellenians (for at the date of the incidentthese states followed in the wake of Thebes). Euphron was there alsowith his mercenaries, about two thousand in number, to share thefortunes of the field. The mass of the troops began their descent on theHeraion by the Trikaranon, intending to ravage the flat bottom below. Atthe gate leading to Corinth the Theban general left his Sicyonians andPellenians on the height, to prevent the Phliasians getting behind himat this point and so over the heads of his troops as they lay at theHeraion beneath. (13) As soon as the citizens of Phlius found thathostile troops were advancing on their corn-land, out dashed the cavalrywith the chosen band of the Phliasians and gave battle, not sufferingthe enemy to penetrate into the plain. The best part of the day wasspent in taking long shots at one another on that field; Euphron pushinghis attack down to the point where cavalry could operate, the citizensretaliating as far as the Heraion. Presently the time to withdrawhad come, and the enemy began to retire, following the circle of theTrikaranon; the short cut to reach the Pellenians being barred by theravine which runs in front of the walls. The Phliasians escorted theirretreating foes a little way up the steep, and then turning off dashedalong the road beside the walls, making for the Pellenians and thosewith them; whereupon the Theban, perceiving the haste of the Phliasians, began racing with his infantry to outspeed them and bring succour to thePellenians. The cavalry, however, arrived first and fell to attackingthe Pellenians, who received and withstood the shock, and the cavalrydrew back. A second time they charged, and were supported by someinfantry detachments, which had now come up. It ended in a hand-to-handfight; and eventually the enemy gave way. On the field lay dead someSicyonians, and of the Pellenians many a good man. In record of the featthe Phliasians began to raise a trophy, as well they might; and loud andclear the paean rang. As to the Theban and Euphron, they and all theirmen stood by and stared at the proceedings, like men who had raced tosee a sight. After all was over the one party retired to Sicyon and theother withdrew into their city. 

 (12) B. C. 367 (or 366). 

 (13) Lit. "above the Heraion" (where his main body lay). 

That too was another noble exploit of the Phliasians, when they took thePellenian Proxenus prisoner and, although suffering from scarcity at thetime, sent him back without a ransom. "As generous as brave, " such istheir well-earned title who were capable of such performance. 

The heroic resolution with which these men maintained their loyalty totheir friends is manifest. When excluded from the fruits of their ownsoil, they contrived to live, partly by helping themselves from theenemy's territory, partly by purchasing from Corinth, though to reachthat market they must run the gauntlet of a thousand risks; and havingreached it their troubles began afresh. There were difficultiesin providing the requisite sum, difficulties in arranging with thepurveyors, and it was barely possible to find sureties for the verybeasts which should carry home their marketing. They had reached thedepth of despair, and were absolutely at a loss what to do, when theyarranged with Chares to escort their convoy. Once safe inside Phlius, they begged him to help them to convey their useless and sick folk toPellene. (14) These they left at that place; and after making purchasesand packing as many beasts of burthen as they could, they set off toreturn in the night, not in ignorance that they would be laid in waitfor by the enemy, but persuaded that the want of provisions was a worseevil than mere fighting. 

 (14) What is the date of this incident? See above, "Hell. " VII. Ii. 3; below VII. Iv. 17. 

The men of Phlius pushed forward with Chares; presently they stumbled onthe enemy and at once grappled to their work. Pressing hard on the foe, they called cheerily to one another, and shouted at the same time toChares to bring up his aid. In short, the victory was theirs; and theenemy was driven off the road; and so they got themselves and theirsupplies safely home. The long night-watching superinduced sleep whichlasted well into the next day. But Chares was no sooner out of bed thenhe was accosted by the cavalry and the pick of the heavy infantry withthe following appeal: "Chares, to-day you have it in your power toperform the noblest deed of arms. The Sicyonians are fortifying anoutpost on our borders, they have plenty of stone-masons but a merehandful of hoplites. We the knights of Phlius and we the flower of ourinfantry force will lead the way; and you shall follow after with yourmercenaries. Perhaps when you appear on the scene you will find thewhole thing finished, or perhaps your coming will send the enemy flying, as happened at Pellene. If you do not like the sound of these proposals, sacrifice and take counsel of the gods. Our belief is that the godswill bid you yet more emphatically than we to take this step. Only this, Chares, you must well consider, that if you do take it you will haveestablished an outpost on the enemy's frontier; you will have savedfrom perdition a friendly city; you will win eternal glory in your ownfatherland; and among friends and foes alike no name will be heraldedwith louder praise than that of Chares. "

Chares was persuaded, and proceeded to offer sacrifice. Meanwhile thePhliasian cavalry were donning their breastplates and bridling theirhorses, and the heavy infantry made every preparation for the march. Then they took their arms, fell into line, and tramped off to the placeof sacrifice. Chares with the soothsayer stepped forward to meet them, announcing that the victims were favourable. "Only wait for us, " theyexclaimed; "we will sally forth with you at once. " The heralds' cry"To arms!" was sounded, and with a zeal which was almost miraculous themercenaries themselves rushed out. As soon as Chares began the march, the Phliasian cavalry and infantry got in front of him. At first theyled off at a smart pace; presently they began to bowl (15) along morequickly, and finally the cavalry were tearing over the ground might andmain, whilst the infantry, at the greatest pace compatible with keepingtheir ranks, tore after them; and behind them, again, came Chareszealously following up in their rear. There only remained a briefinterval of daylight before the sun went down, and they came upon theenemy in the fortress, some washing, some cooking a savoury meal, otherskneading their bread, others making their beds. These, when they sawthe vehemence of the attack, at once, in utter panic, took to flight, leaving behind all their provisions for the brave fellows who took theirplace. They, as their reward, made a fine supper off these stores andothers which had come from home, pouring out libations for their goodfortune and chanting the battle-hymn; after which they posted picketsfor the night and slumbered well. The messenger with the news of theirsuccess at Thyamia arrived at Corinth in the night. The citizens of thatstate with hearty friendship at once ordered out by herald all theoxen and beasts of burthen, which they loaded with food and brought toPhlius; and all the while the fortress was building day by day theseconvoys of food were duly despatched. 

 (15) See "Anab. " VII. Iii. 46. 

III

But on this topic enough, perhaps, has been said to demonstrate theloyalty of the men of Phlius to their friends, their bravery in war, and, lastly, their steadfastness in maintaining their alliance in spiteof famine. 

B. C. 367-366. It seems to have been somewhere about this date thatAeneas the Stymphalian, (1) who had become general of the Arcadians, finding that the state of affairs in Sicyon was intolerable, marchedup with his army into the acropolis. Here he summoned a meeting of theSicyonian aristocrats already within the walls, and sent to fetchthose others who had been banished without a decree of the people. (2)Euphron, taking fright at these proceedings, fled for safety to theharbour-town of Sicyon. Hither he summoned Pasimelus from Corinth, andby his instrumentality handed over the harbour to the Lacedaemonians. Once more reappearing in his old character, he began to pose as an allyof Sparta. He asserted that his fidelity to Lacedaemon had never beeninterrupted; for when the votes were given in the city whether Sicyonshould give up her allegiance to Lacedaemon, "I, with one or twoothers, " said he, "voted against the measure; but afterwards thesepeople betrayed me, and in my desire to avenge myself on them I set upa democracy. At present all traitors to yourselves are banished--I haveseen to that. If only I could get the power into my own hands, I wouldgo over to you, city and all, at once. All that I can do at present, I have done; I have surrendered to you this harbour. " That was whatEuphron said to his audience there, but of the many who heard his words, how many really believed his words is by no means evident. However, since I have begun the story of Euphron, I desire to bring it to itsclose. 

 (1) Is this man the famous writer {o taktikos}, a portion of whose works, the "Treatise on Siege Operations, " has been preserved (recently re-edited by Arnold Hug--"Commentarius Poliorceticus, " Lips. Trubner, 1884)? So Casaubon supposed. Cf. "Com. Pol. " 27, where the writer mentions {paneia} as the Arcadian term for "panics. " Readers of the "Anabasis" will recollect the tragic end of another Aeneas, also of Stymphalus, an Arcadian officer. On the official title {strategos} (general), Freeman ("Hist. Fed. Gov. " 204) notes that "at the head of the whole League there seems to have been, as in so many other cases, a single Federal general. " Cf. Diod. Xv. 62. 

 (2) See above, VII. I. 46. 

Faction and party strife ran high in Sicyon between the better classesand the people, when Euphron, getting a body of foreign troops fromAthens, once more obtained his restoration. The city, with the help ofthe commons, he was master of, but the Theban governor held the citadel. Euphron, perceiving that he would never be able to dominate the statewhilst the Thebans held the acropolis, collected money and set off toThebes, intending to persuade the Thebans to expel the aristocrats andonce again to hand over the city to himself. But the former exiles, having got wind of this journey of his, and of the whole intrigue, setoff themselves to Thebes in front of him. (3) When, however, theysaw the terms of intimacy on which he associated with the Thebanauthorities, in terror of his succeeding in his mission some of themstaked their lives on the attempt and stabbed Euphron in the Cadmeia, where the magistrates and senate were seated. The magistrates, indeed, could not but indict the perpetrators of the deed before the senate, andspoke as follows:

 (3) Or, "on an opposition journey. "

"Fellow-citizens, it is our duty to arraign these murderers of Euphron, the men before you, on the capital charge. Mankind may be said tofall into two classes: there are the wise and temperate, (4) who areincapable of any wrong and unhallowed deed; and there are the base, thebad, who do indeed such things, but try to escape the notice of theirfellows. The men before you are exceptional. They have so far exceededall the rest of men in audacity and foul villainy that, in the verypresence of the magistrates and of yourselves, who alone have the powerof life and death, they have taken the law into their own hands, (5) andhave slain this man. But they stand now before the bar of justice, andthey must needs pay the extreme penalty; for, if you spare them, whatvisitor will have courage to approach the city? Nay, what will becomeof the city itself, if license is to be given to any one who chooses tomurder those who come here, before they have even explained theobject of their visit? It is our part, then, to prosecute these men asarch-villains and miscreants, whose contempt for law and justice is onlymatched by the supreme indifference with which they treat this city. Itis your part, now that you have heard the charges, to impose upon themthat penalty which seems to be the measure of their guilt. "

 (4) Lit. "the sound of soul. "

 (5) Or, "they have been judge and jury both, and executioners to boot. "

Such were the words of the magistrates. Among the men thus accused, allsave one denied immediate participation in the act. It was not theirhands that had dealt the blow. This one not only confessed the deed, butmade a defence in words somewhat as follows:

"As to treating you with indifference, men of Thebes, that is notpossible for a man who knows that with you lies the power to deal withhim as you list. Ask rather on what I based my confidence when I slewthe man; and be well assured that, in the first place, I based it on theconviction that I was doing right; next, that your verdict will alsobe right and just. I knew assuredly how you dealt with Archias (6) andHypates and that company whom you detected in conduct similar to thatof Euphron: you did not stay for formal voting, but at the firstopportunity within your reach you guided the sword of vengeance, believing that by the verdict of mankind a sentence of death had alreadybeen passed against the conspicuously profane person, the manifesttraitor, and him who lays to his hand to become a tyrant. See, then, what follows. Euphron was liable on each of these several counts: he wasa conspicuously profane person, who took into his keeping temples richin votive offerings of gold and silver, and swept them bare of theirsacred treasures; he was an arrant traitor--for what treason couldbe more manifest than Euphron's? First he was the bosom friend ofLacedaemon, but presently chose you in their stead; and, after exchangeof solemn pledges between yourselves and him, once more turned round andplayed the traitor to you, and delivered up the harbour to your enemies. Lastly, he was most undisguisedly a tyrant, who made not free men only, but free fellow-citizens his slaves; who put to death, or drove intoexile, or robbed of their wealth and property, not malefactors, noteyou, but the mere victims of his whim and fancy; and these were everthe better folk. Once again restored by the help of your sworn foesand antagonists, the Athenians, to his native town of Sicyon, the firstthing he did was to take up arms against the governor from Thebes; but, finding himself powerless to drive him from the acropolis, he collectedmoney and betook himself hither. Now, if it were proved that he hadmustered armed bands to attack you, I venture to say, you would havethanked me that I slew him. What then, when he came furnished with vilemoneys, to corrupt you therewith, to bribe you to make him once morelord and master of the state? How shall I, who dealt justice upon him, justly suffer death at your hands? For to be worsted in arms impliesinjury certainly, but of the body only: the defeated man is not provedto be dishonest by his loss of victory. But he who is corrupted byfilthy lucre, contrary to the standard of what is best, (7) is at onceinjured and involved in shame. 

 (6) See above, V. Iv. 2. 

 (7) Or, as we should say, "in violation of conscience. "

"Now if he had been your friend, however much he was my national foe, I do confess it had been scarce honourable of me to have stabbed him todeath in your presence: but why, I should like to ask, should the manwho betrayed you be less your enemy than mine? 'Ah, but, ' I hear someone retort, 'he came of his own accord. ' I presume, sir, you mean thathad he chanced to be slain by somebody at a distance from your state, that somebody would have won your praise; but now, on the ground thathe came back here to work mischief on the top of mischief, 'he had theright to live'! (8) In what part of Hellas, tell me, sir, do Helleneskeep a truce with traitors, double-dyed deserters, and tyrants?Moreover, I must remind you that you passed a resolution--if I mistakenot, it stands recorded in your parliamentary minutes--that 'renegadesare liable to be apprehended (9) in any of the allied cities. ' Now, hereis a renegade restoring himself without any common decree of the alliedstates: will any one tell me on what ground this person did not deserveto die? What I maintain, sirs, is that if you put me to death, by sodoing you will be aiding and abetting your bitterest foe; while, bya verdict sanctioning the justice of my conduct, you will prove yourwillingness to protect the interests not of yourselves only, but of thewhole body of your allies. "

 (8) Or, "he was wrongfully slain. "

 (9) For this right of extradition see Plut. "Lys. " xxvii. 

The Thebans on hearing these pleadings decided that Euphron had onlysuffered the fate which he deserved. His own countrymen, however, conveyed away the body with the honours due to a brave and good man, andburied him in the market-place, where they still pay pious reverence tohis memory as "a founder of the state. " So strictly, it would seem, dothe mass of mankind confine the term brave and good to those who are thebenefactors of themselves. 

IV

B. C. 366. And so ends the history of Euphron. I return to the pointreached at the commencement of this digression. (1) The Phliasians werestill fortifying Thyamia, and Chares was still with them, when Oropus(2) was seized by the banished citizens of that place. The Atheniansin consequence despatched an expedition in full force to the point ofdanger, and recalled Chares from Thyamia; whereupon the Sicyonians andthe Arcadians seized the opportunity to recapture the harbour of Sicyon. Meanwhile the Athenians, forced to act single-handed, with none of theirallies to assist them, retired from Oropus, leaving that town in thehands of the Thebans as a deposit till the case at issue could beformally adjudicated. 

 (1) See above, VII. Ii. 23; iii. 3; Diod. Xv. 76. 

 (2) See Thuc. Viii. 60. 

Now Lycomedes (3) had discovered that the Athenians were harbouring agrievance against her allies, as follows:--They felt it hard that, whileAthens was put to vast trouble on their account, yet in her need not aman among them stepped forward to render help. Accordingly he persuadedthe assembly of Ten Thousand to open negotiations with Athens for thepurpose of forming an alliance. (4) At first some of the Athenians werevexed that they, being friends of Lacedaemon, should become allied toher opponents; but on further reflection they discovered it was no lessdesirable for the Lacedaemonians than for themselves that the Arcadiansshould become independent of Thebes. That being so, they were quiteready to accept an Arcadian alliance. Lycomedes himself was stillengaged on this transaction when, taking his departure from Athens, hedied, in a manner which looked like divine intervention. 

 (3) See above, VII. I. 23. 

 (4) This proves that "the Ten Thousand made war and peace in the name of all Arkadia"; cf. "Hell. " VII. I. 38; Diod. Xv. 59. "They received and listened to the ambassadors of other Greek states"; Demosth. "F. L. " 220. "They regulated and paid the standing army of the Federation"; "Hell. " VII. Iv. 22, 23; Diod. Xv. 62. "They sat in judgment on political offenders against the collective majority of the Arkadian League"; "Hell. " VII. Iv. 33; Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " 203, note 1. 

Out of the many vessels at his service he had chosen the one he likedbest, and by the terms of contract was entitled to land at any point hemight desire; but for some reason, selected the exact spot where a bodyof Mantinean exiles lay. Thus he died; but the alliance on which he hadset his heart was already consummated. 

Now an argument was advanced by Demotion (5) in the Assembly of Athens, approving highly of the friendship with the Arcadians, which to hismind was an excellent thing, but arguing that the generals should beinstructed to see that Corinth was kept safe for the Athenian people. The Corinthians, hearing this, lost no time in despatching garrisons oftheir own large enough to take the place of the Athenian garrisons atany point where they might have them, with orders to these latter toretire: "We have no further need of foreign garrisons, " they said. Thegarrisons did as they were bid. 

 (5) Of Demotion nothing more, I think, is known. Grote ("H. G. " x. 397) says: "The public debates of the Athenian assembly were not favourable to the success of a scheme like that proposed by Demotion, to which secrecy was indispensable. Compare another scheme" (the attempted surprise of Mitylene, B. C. 428), "divulged in like manner, in Thuc. Iii. 3. "

As soon as the Athenian garrison troops were met together in the cityof Corinth, the Corinthian authorities caused proclamation to be madeinviting all Athenians who felt themselves wronged to enter their namesand cases upon a list, and they would recover their dues. While thingswere in this state, Chares arrived at Cenchreae with a fleet. Learningwhat had been done, he told them that he had heard there were designsagainst the state of Corinth, and had come to render assistance. Theauthorities, while thanking him politely for his zeal, were not anythe more ready to admit the vessels into the harbour, but bade him sailaway; and after rendering justice to the infantry troops, they sentthem away likewise. Thus the Athenians were quit of Corinth. To theArcadians, to be sure, they were forced by the terms of their allianceto send an auxiliary force of cavalry, "in case of any foreign attackupon Arcadia. " At the same time they were careful not to set foot onLaconian soil for the purposes of war. 

The Corinthians had begun to realise on how slender a thread theirpolitical existence hung. They were overmastered by land still as ever, with the further difficulty of Athenian hostility, or quasi-hostility, now added. They resolved to collect bodies of mercenary troops, bothinfantry and horse. At the head of these they were able at once to guardtheir state and to inflict much injury on their neighbouring foes. ToThebes, indeed, they sent ambassadors to ascertain whether they wouldhave any prospect of peace if they came to seek it. The Thebans badethem come: "Peace they should have. " Whereupon the Corinthians askedthat they might be allowed to visit their allies; in making peace theywould like to share it with those who cared for it, and would leavethose who preferred war to war. This course also the Thebans sanctioned;and so the Corinthians came to Lacedaemon and said:

"Men of Lacedaemon, we, your friends, are here to present a petition, and on this wise. If you can discover any safety for us whilst wepersist in warlike courses, we beg that you will show it us; but ifyou recognise the hopelessness of our affairs, we would, in that case, proffer this alternative: if peace is alike conducive to your interests, we beg that you would join us in making peace, since there is no onewith whom we would more gladly share our safety than with you; if, onthe other hand, you are persuaded that war is more to your interest, permit us at any rate to make peace for ourselves. So saved to-day, perhaps we may live to help you in days to come; whereas, if to-day webe destroyed, plainly we shall never at any time be serviceable again. "

The Lacedaemonians, on hearing these proposals, counselled theCorinthians to arrange a peace on their own account; and as for the restof their allies, they permitted any who did not care to continue thewar along with them to take a respite and recruit themselves. "As forourselves, " they said, "we will go on fighting and accept whateverHeaven has in store for us, "--adding, "never will we submit to bedeprived of our territory of Messene, which we received as an heirloomfrom our fathers. " (6)

 (6) See Isocr. "Or. " vi. "Archidamos, " S. 70; Jebb, "Att. Or. " ii. 193. 

Satisfied with this answer, the Corinthians set off to Thebes in questof peace. The Thebans, indeed, asked them to agree on oath, not to peaceonly but an alliance; to which they answered: "An alliance meant, notpeace, but merely an exchange of war. If they liked, they were readythere and then, " they repeated, "to establish a just and equitablepeace. " And the Thebans, admiring the manner in which, albeit in danger, they refused to undertake war against their benefactors, conceded tothem and the Phliasians and the rest who came with them to Thebes, peaceon the principle that each should hold their own territory. On theseterms the oaths were taken. 

Thereupon the Phliasians, in obedience to the compact, at once retiredfrom Thyamia; but the Argives, who had taken the oath of peace onprecisely the same terms, finding that they were unable to procure thecontinuance of the Phliasian exiles in the Trikaranon as a point heldwithin the limits of Argos, (7) took over and garrisoned the place, asserting now that this land was theirs--land which only a little whilebefore they were ravaging as hostile territory. Further, they refusedto submit the case to arbitration in answer to the challenge of thePhliasians. 

 (7) Or, "as a post held by them within the territory of the state. " The passage is perhaps corrupt. 

It was nearly at the same date that the son of Dionysius (8) (hisfather, Dionysius the first, being already dead) sent a reinforcementto Lacedaemon of twelve triremes under Timocrates, who on his arrivalhelped the Lacedaemonians to recover Sellasia, and after that exploitsailed away home. 

 (8) Concerning Dionysius the first, see above, VII. I. 20 foll. 28. 

B. C. 366-365. Not long after this the Eleians seized Lasion, (9) aplace which in old days was theirs, but at present was attached to theArcadian league. The Arcadians did not make light of the matter, but immediately summoned their troops and rallied to the rescue. Counter-reliefs came also on the side of Elis--their Three Hundred, andagain their Four Hundred. (10) The Eleians lay encamped during the dayface to face with the invader, but on a somewhat more level position. The Arcadians were thereby induced under cover of night to mount on tothe summit of the hill overhanging the Eleians, and at day-dawn theybegan their descent upon the enemy. The Eleians soon caught sight ofthe enemy advancing from the vantage ground above them, many timestheir number; but a sense of shame forbade retreat at such a distance. Presently they came to close quarters; there was a hand-to-handencounter; the Eleians turned and fled; and in retiring down thedifficult ground lost many men and many arms. 

 (9) See above, VII. I. 26; Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " p. 201. 

 (10) From the sequel it would appear that the former were a picked corps of infantry and the latter of cavalry. See Thuc. Ii. 25; Busolt, op. Cit. P. 175 foll. 

Flushed with this achievement the Arcadians began marching on the citiesof the Acroreia, (11) which, with the exception of Thraustus, theycaptured, and so reached Olympia. There they made an entrenched camp onthe hill of Kronos, established a garrison, and held control over theOlympian hill-country. Margana also, by help of a party inside who gaveit up, next fell into their hands. 

 (11) The mountainous district of Elis on the borders of Arcadia, in which the rivers Peneius and Ladon take their rise; see "Dict. Of Anct. Geog. " s. V. ; above, III. Ii. 30, IV. Ii. 16. Thraustus was one of the four chief townships of the district. For Margana, see above, III. Ii. 25, 30, IV. Ii. 16, VI. V. 2. 

These successive advantages gained by their opponents reacted on theEleians, and threw them altogether into despair. Meanwhile the Arcadianswere steadily advancing upon their capital. (12) At length they arrived, and penetrated into the market-place. Here, however, the cavalry and therest of the Eleians made a stand, drove the enemy out with some loss, and set up a trophy. 

 (12) I. E. Elis. 

It should be mentioned that the city of Elis had previously been in astate of disruption. The party of Charopus, Thrasonidas and Argeiuswere for converting the state into a democracy; the party of Eualcas, Hippias, and Stratolas (13) were for oligarchy. When the Arcadians, backed by a large force, appeared as allies of those who favoured ademocratic constitution, the party of Charopus were at once emboldened;and, having obtained the promise of assistance from the Arcadians, they seized the acropolis. The Knights and the Three Hundred did nothesitate, but at once marched up and dislodged them; with the resultthat about four hundred citizens, with Argeius and Charopus, werebanished. Not long afterwards these exiles, with the help of someArcadians, seized and occupied Pylus; (14) where many of the commonswithdrew from the capital to join them, attracted not only by the beautyof the position, but by the great power of the Arcadians, in alliancewith them. 

 (13) See below, VII. Iv. 31; Busolt, op. Cit. P. 175. 

 (14) Pylus, a town in "hollow" Elis, upon the mountain road from Elis to Olympia, at the place where the Ladon flows into the Peneius (Paus. VI. Xxii. 5), near the modern village of Agrapidokhori. -- Baedeker, "Greece, " p. 320. See Busolt, p. 179. 

There was subsequently another invasion of the territory of the Eleianson the part of the Arcadians, who were influenced by the representationsof the exiles that the city would come over to them. But the attemptproved abortive. The Achaeans, who had now become friends with theEleians, kept firm guard on the capital, so that the Arcadians hadto retire without further exploit than that of ravaging the country. Immediately, however, on marching out of Eleian territory they wereinformed that the men of Pellene were in Elis; whereupon they executeda marvellously long night march and seized the Pellenian township ofOlurus (15) (the Pellenians at the date in question having alreadyreverted to their old alliance with Lacedaemon). And now the men ofPellene, in their turn getting wind of what had happened at Olurus, made their way round as best they could, and got into their own city ofPellene; after which there was nothing for it but to carry on war withthe Arcadians in Olurus and the whole body of their own commons; and inspite of their small numbers they did not cease till they had reducedOlurus by siege. 

 (15) This fortress (placed by Leake at modern Xylokastro) lay at the entrance of the gorge of the Sys, leading from the Aigialos or coast-land into the territory of Pellene, which itself lay about sixty stades from the sea at modern Zougra. For the part played by Pellene as one of the twelve Achaean states at this period, see above. 

B. C. 365. (16) The Arcadians were presently engaged on another campaignagainst Elis. While they were encamped between Cyllene (17) and thecapital the Eleians attacked them, but the Arcadians made a standand won the battle. Andromachus, the Eleian cavalry general, who wasregarded as responsible for the engagement, made an end of himself;and the rest withdrew into the city. This battle cost the life alsoof another there present--the Spartan Socleides; since, it will beunderstood, the Lacedaemonians had by this time become allies of theEleians. Consequently the Eleians, being sore pressed on their ownterritory, sent an embassy and begged the Lacedaemonians to organise anexpedition against the Arcadians. They were persuaded that in this waythey would best arrest the progress of the Arcadians, who would thusbe placed between the two foes. In accordance with this suggestionArchidamus marched out with a body of the city troops and seizedCromnus. (18) Here he left a garrison--three out of the twelve regiments(19)--and so withdrew homewards. The Arcadians had just ended theirEleian campaign, and, without disbanding their levies, hastened to therescue, surrounded Cromnus with a double line of trenches, and havingso secured their position, proceeded to lay siege to those inside theplace. The city of Lacedaemon, annoyed at the siege of their citizens, sent out an army, again under Archidamus, who, when he had come, setabout ravaging Arcadia to the best of his power, as also the Sciritid, and did all he could to draw off, if possible, the besieging army. TheArcadians, for all that, were not one whit the more to be stirred: theyseemed callous to all his proceedings. 

 (16) See Grote, "H. G. " x. 429 foll. ; al. B. C. 364. 

 (17) The port town of Elis. 

 (18) Cromnus, a township near Megalopolis. See Callisthenes, ap. Athen. 10, p. 452 A. See Schneider's note ad loc. 

 (19) Lit. "lochi. " See Arnold's note to Thuc. V. 68; below, VII. V. 10. 

Presently espying a certain rising ground, across which the Arcadianshad drawn their outer line of circumvallation, Archidamus proposedto himself to take it. If he were once in command of that knoll, thebesiegers at its foot would be forced to retire. Accordingly he setabout leading a body of troops round to the point in question, andduring this movement the light infantry in advance of Archidamus, advancing at the double, caught sight of the Arcadian Eparitoi (20)outside the stockade and attacked them, while the cavalry made anattempt to enforce their attack simultaneously. The Arcadians did notswerve: in compact order they waited impassively. The Lacedaemonianscharged a second time: a second time they swerved not, but on thecontrary began advancing. Then, as the hoarse roar and shoutingdeepened, Archidamus himself advanced in support of his troops. To doso he turned aside along the carriage-road leading to Cromnus, and movedonward in column two abreast, (21) which was his natural order. Whenthey came into close proximity to one another--Archidamus's troops incolumn, seeing they were marching along a road; the Arcadians in compactorder with shields interlinked--at this conjuncture the Lacedaemonianswere not able to hold out for any length of time against the numbers ofthe Arcadians. Before long Archidamus had received a wound which piercedthrough his thigh, whilst death was busy with those who fought infront of him, Polyaenidas and Chilon, who was wedded to the sister ofArchidamus, included. The whole of these, numbering no less than thirty, perished in this action. Presently, falling back along the road, they emerged into the open ground, and now with a sense of relief theLacedaemonians got themselves into battle order, facing the foe. TheArcadians, without altering their position, stood in compact line, andthough falling short in actual numbers, were in far better heart--themoral result of an attack on a retreating enemy and the severe lossinflicted on him. The Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, were sorelydown-hearted: Archidamus lay wounded before their eyes; in their earsrang the names of those who had died, the fallen being not only bravemen, but, one may say, the flower of Spartan chivalry. The two armieswere now close together, when one of the older men lifted up his voiceand cried: "Why need we fight, sirs? Why not rather make truce and partfriends?" Joyously the words fell on the ears of either host, and theymade a truce. The Lacedaemonians picked up their dead and retired; theArcadians withdrew to the point where their advance originally began, and set up a trophy of victory. 

 (20) So the troops of the Arcadian Federation were named. Diodorus (xv. 62) calls them "the select troops, " {tous kaloumenous epilektous}. 

 (21) See above, III. I. 22. 

Now, as the Arcadians lay at Cromnus, the Eleians from the capital, advancing in the first instance upon Pylus, fell in with the men of thatplace, who had been beaten back from Thalamae. (22) Galloping along theroad, the cavalry of the Eleians, when they caught sight of them, didnot hesitate, but dashed at them at once, and put some to the sword, while others of them fled for safety to a rising knoll. Ere long theEleian infantry arrived, and succeeded in dislodging this remnant on thehillock also; some they slew, and others, nearly two hundred in number, they took alive, all of whom where either sold, if foreigners, or, ifEleian exiles, put to death. After this the Eleians captured the menof Pylus and the place itself, as no one came to their rescue, andrecovered the Marganians. 

 (22) A strong fortress in an unfrequented situation, defended by narrow passes (Leake, "Morea, " ii. 204); it lay probably in the rocky recesses of Mount Scollis (modern Santameri), on the frontier of Achaea, near the modern village of Santameri. See Polyb. Iv. 75. See Busolt, op. Cit. P. 179. 

The Lacedaemonians presently made a second attempt on Cromnus by a nightattack, got possession of the part of the palisading facing the Argives, and at once began summoning their besieged fellow-citizens to come out. Out accordingly came all who happened to be within easy distance, andwho took time by the forelock. The rest were not quick enough; a strongArcadian reinforcement cut them off, and they remained shut up inside, and were eventually taken prisoners and distributed. One portion ofthem fell to the lot of the Argives, one to the Thebans, (23) one to theArcadians, and one to the Messenians. The whole number taken, whethertrue-born Spartans or Perioeci, amounted to more than one hundred. 

 (23) "The Thebans must have been soldiers in garrison at Tegea, Megalopolis, or Messene. "--Grote, "H. G. " x. 433. 

B. C. 364. And now that the Arcadians had leisure on the side of Cromnus, they were again able to occupy themselves with the Eleians, and tokeep Olympia still more strongly garrisoned. In anticipation of theapproaching Olympic year, (24) they began preparations to celebrate theOlympian games in conjunction with the men of Pisa, who claim to bethe original presidents of the Temple. (25) Now, when the month of theOlympic Festival--and not the month only, but the very days, duringwhich the solemn assembly is wont to meet, were come, the Eleians, inpursuance of preparations and invitations to the Achaeans, of which theymade no secret, at length proceeded to march along the road to Olympia. The Arcadians had never imagined that they would really attack them; andthey were themselves just now engaged with the men of Pisa in carryingout the details of the solemn assembly. They had already completed thechariot-race, and the foot-race of the pentathlon. (26) The competitorsentitled to enter for the wrestling match had left the racecourse, andwere getting through their bouts in the space between the racecourse andthe great altar. 

 (24) I. E. "Ol. 104. 1" (July B. C. 364). 

 (25) For this claim on the part of the Pisatans (as the old inhabitants), see above, III. Ii. 31; Paus. VI. Xxii. 2; Diod. Xv. 78; Busolt, op. Cit. P. 154. 

 (26) As to the pentathlon, see above, IV. Vii. 5. Whether the preceding {ippodromia} was, at this date, a horse or chariot race, or both, I am unable to say. 

It must be understood that the Eleians under arms were already close athand within the sacred enclosure. (27) The Arcadians, without advancingfarther to meet them, drew up their troops on the river Cladaus, whichflows past the Altis and discharges itself into the Alpheus. Theirallies, consisting of two hundred Argive hoplites and about four hundredAthenian cavalry, were there to support them. Presently the Eleiansformed into line on the opposite side of the stream, and, havingsacrificed, at once began advancing. Though heretofore in matters ofwar despised by Arcadians and Argives, by Achaeans and Athenians alike, still on this day they led the van of the allied force like the bravestof the brave. Coming into collision with the Arcadians first, they atonce put them to flight, and next receiving the attack of the Argivesupports, mastered these also. Then having pursued them into the spacebetween the senate-house, the temple of Hestia, and the theatre theretoadjoining, they still kept up the fighting as fiercely as ever, pushingthe retreating foe towards the great altar. But now being exposed tomissiles from the porticoes and the senate-house and the great temple, (28) while battling with their opponents on the level, some of theEleians were slain, and amongst others the commander of the ThreeHundred himself, Stratolas. At this state of the proceedings theyretired to their camp. 

 (27) "The {temenos} must here be distinguished from the Altis, as meaning the entire breadth of consecrated ground at Olympia, of which the Altis formed a smaller interior portion enclosed with a wall. The Eleians entered into a {temenos} before they crossed the river Kladeus, which flowed through the {temenos}, but alongside the Altis. The tomb of Oenomaus, which was doubtless included in the {temenos}, was on the right bank of the Kladeus (Paus. VI. Xxi. 3); while the Altis was on the left bank of the river. "-- Grote, "H. G. " x. 438, note 1. For the position of the Altis (Paus. V. X. 1) and several of the buildings here mentioned, and the topography of Olympia in general, see Baedeker's "Greece, " p. 322 foll. ; and Dorpfeld's Plan ("Olympia und Umgegend, " Berlin, 1882), there reproduced. 

 (28) Or, "from the porticoes of the senate-house and the great temple. "

The Arcadians and those with them were so terrified at the thought ofthe coming day that they gave themselves neither respite nor reposethat night, but fell to chopping up the carefully-compacted booths andconstructing them into palisades; so that when the Eleians did againadvance the next day and saw the strength of the barriers and the numbermounted on the temples, they withdrew to their city. They had provedthemselves to be warriors of such mettle as a god indeed by the breathof his spirit may raise up and bring to perfection in a single day, butinto which it were impossible for mortal men to convert a coward even ina lifetime. 

B. C. 363. The employment of the sacred treasures of the temple by theArcadian magistrates (29) as a means of maintaining the Eparitoi (30)aroused protest. The Mantineans were the first to pass a resolutionforbidding such use of the sacred property. They set the examplethemselves of providing the necessary quota for the Troop in questionfrom their state exchequer, and this sum they sent to the federalgovernment. The latter, affirming that the Mantineans were underminingthe Arcadian league, retaliated by citing their leading statesmen toappear before the assembly of Ten Thousand; and on their refusal toobey the summons, passed sentence upon them, and sent the Eparitoi toapprehend them as convicted persons. The Mantineans, however, closedtheir gates, and would not admit the Troop within their walls. Theirexample was speedily followed: others among the Ten Thousand began toprotest against the enormity of so applying the sacred treasures; itwas doubly wrong to leave as a perpetual heirloom to their children theimputation of a crime so heinous against the gods. But no sooner was aresolution passed in the general assembly (31) forbidding the use of thesacred moneys for profane purposes than those (members of the league)who could not have afforded to serve as Eparitoi without pay beganspeedily to melt away; while those of more independent means, withmutual encouragement, began to enrol themselves in the ranks of theEparitoi--the feeling being that they ought not to be a mere tool inthe hands of the corps, but rather that the corps itself should be theirinstrument. Those members of the government who had manipulated thesacred money soon saw that when they came to render an account oftheir stewardship, in all likelihood they would lose their heads. Theytherefore sent an embassy to Thebes, with instructions to the Thebanauthorities warning them that, if they did not open a campaign, theArcadians would in all probability again veer round to Lacedaemon. 

 (29) See above, VII. I. 24. "Were these magistrates, or merely popular leaders?"--Freeman, "Hist. Fed. Gov. " p. 203, note 3. 

 (30) Or, "Select Troop. " See above. 

 (31) "The common formula for a Greek confederation, {to koinon ton 'Arkadon}, is used as an equivalent of {oi mupioi}" (here and below, SS. 35, 38)--Freeman, op. Cit. 202, note 4. 

The Thebans, therefore, began making preparations for opening acampaign, but the party who consulted the best interests of Peloponnese(32) persuaded the general assembly of the Arcadians to send an embassyand tell the Thebans not to advance with an army into Arcadia, unlessthey sent for them; and whilst this was the language they addressed toThebes, they reasoned among themselves that they could dispense with waraltogether. The presidency over the temple of Zeus, they were persuaded, they might easily dispense with; indeed, it would at once be a moreupright and a holier proceeding on their parts to give it back, and withsuch conduct the god, they thought, might be better pleased. As thesewere also the views and wishes of the Eleians, both parties agreed tomake peace, and a truce was established. 

 (32) See below, VII. V. 1, {oi kedouenoi tes Peloponnesou}. I regard these phrases as self-laudatory political catchwords. 

B. C. 362. The oaths were ratified; and amongst those who swore to themwere included not only the parties immediately concerned, but the men ofTegea, and the Theban general himself, who was inside Tegea with threehundred heavy infantry of the Boeotians. Under these circumstances theArcadians in Tegea remained behind feasting and keeping holy day, with outpouring of libations and songs of victory, to celebrate theestablishment of peace. Here was an opportunity for the Theban andthose of the government who regarded the forthcoming inquiry withapprehension. Aided by the Boeotians and those of the Eparitoi whoshared their sentiments, they first closed the gates of the fortress ofTegea, and then set about sending to the various quarters to apprehendthose of the better class. But, inasmuch as there were Arcadians presentfrom all the cities, and there was a general desire for peace, thoseapprehended must needs be many. So much so, that the prison-house waseventually full to overflowing, and the town-hall was full also. Besidesthe number lodged in prison, a number had escaped by leaping down thewalls, and there were others who were suffered to pass through thegates (a laxity easily explained, since no one, excepting those who wereanticipating their own downfall, cherished any wrathful feeling againstanybody). But what was a source of still graver perplexity to the Thebancommander and those acting with him--of the Mantineans, the very peoplewhom they had set their hearts on catching, they had got but very few. Nearly all of them, owing to the proximity of their city, had, in fact, betaken themselves home. Now, when day came and the Mantineans learnedwhat had happened, they immediately sent and forewarned the otherArcadian states to be ready in arms, and to guard the passes; and theyset the example themselves by so doing. They sent at the same time toTegea and demanded the release of all Mantineans there detained. Withregard to the rest of the Arcadians they further claimed that no oneshould be imprisoned or put to death without trial. If any one had anyaccusation to bring against any, than by the mouth of their messengersthere present they gave notice that the state of Mantinea was ready tooffer bail, "Verily and indeed to produce before the general assemblyof the Arcadians all who might be summoned into court. " The Thebanaccordingly, on hearing this, was at a loss what to make of the affair, and released his prisoners. Next day, summoning a congress of all theArcadians who chose to come, he explained, with some show of apology, that he had been altogether deceived; he had heard, he said, that "theLacedaemonians were under arms on the frontier, and that some of theArcadians were about to betray Tegea into their hands. " His auditorsacquitted him for the moment, albeit they knew that as touchingthemselves he was lying. They sent, however, an embassy to Thebes andthere accused him as deserving of death. Epaminondas (who was at thattime the general at the head of the war department) is reported to havemaintained that the Theban commander had acted far more rightly when heseized than when he let go the prisoners. "Thanks to you, " he argued, "we have been brought into a state of war, and then you, without ouradvice or opinion asked, make peace on your own account; would it notbe reasonable to retort upon you the charge of treason in such conduct?Anyhow, be assured, " he added, "we shall bring an army into Arcadia, and along with those who share our views carry on the war which we haveundertaken. "

V

B. C. 362. This answer was duly reported to the general assembly of theArcadians, and throughout the several states of the league. Consequentlythe Mantineans, along with those of the Arcadians who had the interestsof Peloponnesus at heart, as also the Eleians and the Achaeans, cameto the conclusion that the policy of the Thebans was plain. They wishedPeloponnesus to be reduced to such an extremity of weakness that itmight fall an easy prey into their hands who were minded to enslave it. "Why else, " they asked, "should they wish us to fight, except that wemay tear each other to pieces, and both sides be driven to look to themfor support? or why, when we tell them that we have no need of them atpresent, do they insist on preparing for a foreign campaign? Is it notplain that these preparations are for an expedition which will do ussome mischief?"

In this mood they sent to Athens, (1) calling on the Athenians formilitary aid. Ambassadors also went to Lacedaemon on behalf of theEparitoi, summoning the Lacedaemonians, if they wished to give a helpinghand, to put a stop to the proceedings of any power approachingto enslave Peloponnesus. As regards the headship, they came to anarrangement at once, on the principle that each of the allied statesshould exercise the generalship within its own territory. 

 (1) For a treaty of alliance between Athens, the Arkadians, Achaeans, Eleians, and Phliasians, immediately before Mantinea, B. C. 362, {epi Molonos arkhontos}, see Hicks, 94; Kohler, "C. I. A. " ii. P. 405. It is preserved on a stele ("broken at bottom; but the top is surmounted by a relief representing Zeus enthroned, with a thunderbolt; a female figure (= the {Summakhia}?) approaches lifting her veil, while Athena stands by") now standing among the sculptures from the Asklepieion on the Acropolis at Athens. See Milchhofer, p. 47, no. 7, "Die Museum, " Athens, 1881. For the date, see Demosth. "c. Polycl. " 1207. 

While these matters were in progress, Epaminondas was prosecuting hismarch at the head of all the Boeotians, with the Euboeans, and alarge body of Thessalians, furnished both by Alexander (2) and by hisopponents. The Phocians were not represented. Their special agreementonly required them to render assistance in case of an attack on Thebes;to assist in a hostile expedition against others was not in the bond. Epaminondas, however, reflected that inside Peloponnesus itself theymight count upon the Argives and the Messenians, with that section ofthe Arcadians which shared their views. These latter were the men ofTegea and Megalopolis, of Asea and Pallantium, with any townships whichowing to their small size or their position in the midst of these largercities were forced to follow their lead. 

 (2) For Alexander of Pherae, see above, VI. Iv. 34. In B. C. 363 the Thebans had sent an army under Pelopidas into Thessaly to assist their allies among the Thessalians with the Phthiot Achaeans and the Magnetes against Alexander. At Kynos Kephelae Alexander was defeated, but Pelopidas was slain (see Grote, "H. G. " x. 420 foll. ). "His death, as it brought grief, so likewise it produced advantage to the allies; for the Thebans, as soon as they heard of his fall, delayed not their revenge, but presently sent seven thousand foot and seven hundred horse, under the command of Malcitas and Diogiton. And they, finding Alexander weak and without forces, compelled him to restore the cities he had taken, to withdraw his garrisons from the Magnesians and Achaeans of Phthiotos and swear to assist the Thebans against whatsoever enemies they should require. "--Plut. "Pelop. " 35 (Clough, ii. 236). 

Epaminondas advanced with rapid strides; but on reaching Nemea heslackened speed, hoping to catch the Athenians as they passed, and reflecting on the magnitude of such an achievement, whether instimulating the courage of his own allies, or in plunging his foes intodespondency; since, to state the matter concisely, any blow to Athenswould be a gain to Thebes. But during his pause at Nemea those whoshared the opposite policy had time to converge on Mantinea. Presentlythe news reached Epaminondas that the Athenians had abandoned the ideaof marching by land, and were preparing to bring their supports toArcadia by sea through Lacedaemon. This being so, he abandoned his baseof Nemea and pushed on to Tegea. 

That the strategy of the Theban general was fortunate I will not pretendto assert, but in the particular combination of prudence and daringwhich stamps these exploits, I look upon him as consummate. In the firstplace, I cannot but admire the sagacity which led him to form his campwithin the walls of Tegea, where he was in greater security that hewould have been if entrenched outside, and where his future movementswere more completely concealed from the enemy. Again, the means tocollect material and furnish himself with other necessaries were readierto his hand inside the city; while, thirdly, he was able to keep an eyeon the movements of his opponents marching outside, and to watch theirsuccessful dispositions as well as their mistakes. More than this: inspite of his sense of superiority to his antagonists, over and overagain, when he saw them gaining some advantage in position, he refusedto be drawn out to attack them. It was only when he saw plainly that nocity was going to give him its adhesion, and that time was slipping by, that he made up his mind that a blow must be struck, failing which, hehad nothing to expect save a vast ingloriousness, in place of his formerfame. (3) He had ascertained that his antagonists held a strong positionround Mantinea, and that they had sent to fetch Agesilaus and the wholeLacedaemonian army. He was further aware that Agesilaus had commencedhis advance and was already at Pellene. (4) Accordingly he passedthe word of command (5) to his troops to take their evening meal, puthimself at their head and advanced straight upon Sparta. Had it not beenfor the arrival (by some providential chance) of a Cretan, who broughtthe news to Agesilaus of the enemy's advance, he would have capturedthe city of Sparta like a nest of young birds absolutely bereft of itsnatural defenders. As it was, Agesilaus, being forewarned, had time toreturn to the city before the Thebans came, and here the Spartans madedistribution of their scanty force and maintained watch and ward, albeitfew enough in numbers, since the whole of their cavalry were away inArcadia, and so was their foreign brigade, and so were three out oftheir twelve regiments. (6)

 (3) Or, "dull obscurity in place of renown. "

 (4) Pellene (or Pellana), a town of Laconia on the Eurotas, and on the road from Sparta to Arcadia; in fact the frontier fortress on the Eurotas, as Sellasia on the Oenus; "Dict. Of Anct. Geog. " s. V. ; see Paus. Iii. 20, S. 2; Strab. Viii. 386; Polyb. Iv. 81, xvi. 37; Plut. "Agis, " 8; Leake, "Morea, " iii. 14 foll. 

 (5) Cf. "Hipparch. " iv. 9. 

 (6) Lit. "lochi. " See above, VII. Iv. 20; "Pol. Lac. " xi. 4. 

Arrived within the city of Sparta, (7) Epaminondas abstained fromgaining an entry at a point where his troops would have to fight onlevel ground and under attack from the houses above; where also theirlarge numbers would give them no superiority over the small numbers ofthe foemen. But, singling out a position which he conceived would givehim the advantage, he occupied it and began his advance against the cityupon a downward instead of an upward incline. 

 (7) Grote ("H. G. " x. 455) says: "Though he crossed the Eurotas and actually entered into the city of Sparta, " as the words {epei de egeneto en te polei ton Spartiaton} certainly seem to me to imply. Others interpret "in the close neighbourhood of. "

With regard to what subsequently took place, two possible explanationssuggest themselves: either it was miraculous, or it may be maintainedthat there is no resisting the fury of desperation. Archidamus, advancing at the head of but a hundred men, and crossing the one thingwhich might have been expected to form an obstacle to the enemy, (8)began marching uphill against his antagonists. At this crisis thesefire-breathing warriors, these victorious heroes of Leuctra, (9) withtheir superiority at every point, aided, moreover, by the advantage oftheir position, did not withstand the attack of Archidamus and thosewith him, but swerved in flight. 

 (8) Or, "to serve as his defence"; or, "the one obstacle to his progress, " i. E. Archidamus's. It was a miraculous thing that the Thebans did not stop him. 

 (9) See Mahaffy, "Hist. Gk. Lit. " vol. Ii. P. 268, 1st ed. See above, "Hell. " VI. Iv. 24; Diod. Xv. 39, 56. 

The vanguard of Epaminondas's troops were cut down; when, however, flushed with the glory of their victory, the citizens followed up theirpursuit beyond the right point, they in turn were cut down--so plainlywas the demarking line of victory drawn by the finger of God. So thenArchidamus set up a trophy to note the limit of his success, and gaveback those who had there fallen of the enemy under a truce. Epaminondas, on his side, reflecting that the Arcadians must already be hasteningto the relief of Lacedaemon, and being unwilling to engage them inconjunction with the whole of the Lacedaemonian force, especially nowthat the star of Sparta's fortune shone, whilst theirs had suffered someeclipse, turned and marched back the way he came with all speed possibleinto Tegea. There he gave his heavy infantry pause and refreshment, buthis cavalry he sent on to Mantinea; he begged them to "have courage andhold on, " instructing them that in all likelihood they would find theflocks and herds of the Mantineans and the entire population itselfoutside their walls, especially as it was the moment for carrying thecorn. So they set off. 

The Athenian cavalry, started from Eleusis, had made their eveningmeal at the Isthmus, and passing through Cleonae, as chance befell, hadarrived at Mantinea and had encamped within the walls in the houses. Assoon as the enemy were seen galloping up with evidently hostile intent, the Mantineans fell to praying the Athenian knights to lend them all thesuccour they could, and they showed them all their cattle outside, andall their labourers, and among them were many children and graybeardswho were free-born citizens. The Athenians were touched by this appeal, and, though they had not yet broken fast, neither the men themselvesnor their horses, went out eagerly to the rescue. And here we must needspause to admire the valour of these men also. The enemy whom they hadto cope with far outnumbered them, as was plain to see, and the formermisadventure of the cavalry in Corinth was not forgotten. (10) But noneof these things entered into their calculations now--nor yet the factthat they were on the point of engaging Thebans and Thessalians, thefinest cavalry in the world by all repute. The only thing they thoughtof was the shame and the dishonour, if, being there, they did not lend ahelping hand to their allies. In this mood, so soon as they caught sightof the enemy, they fell with a crash upon him in passionate longing torecover the old ancestral glory. Nor did they fight in vain--theblows they struck enabled the Mantineans to recover all their propertyoutside, but among those who dealt them died some brave heroes; (11)brave heroes also, it is evident, were those whom they slew, since oneither side the weapons wielded were not so short but that they couldlunge at one another with effect. The dead bodies of their own men theyrefused to abandon; and there were some of the enemy's slain whom theyrestored to him under a flag of truce. 

 (10) Or, "and in Corinth an untoward incident had been experienced by the cavalry. " See Grote, "H. G. " x. 458, note 2. Possibly in reference to "Hell. " VI. V. 51, 52. 

 (11) Probably Xenophon's own son Gryllus was among them. 

The thoughts now working in the mind of Epaminondas were such as these:that within a few days he would be forced to retire, as the period ofthe campaign was drawing to a close; if it ended in his leaving in thelurch those allies whom he came out to assist, they would be besiegedby their antagonists. What a blow would that be to his own fair fame, already somewhat tarnished! Had he not been defeated in Lacedaemon, witha large body of heavy infantry, by a handful of men? defeated again atMantinea, in the cavalry engagement, and himself the main causefinally of a coalition between five great powers--that is to say, the Lacedaemonians, the Arcadians, the Achaeans, the Eleians, and theAthenians? On all grounds it seemed to him impossible to steal pastwithout a battle. And the more so as he computed the alternatives ofvictory or death. If the former were his fortune, it would resolve allhis perplexities; if death, his end would be noble. How glorious a thingto die in the endeavour to leave behind him, as his last legacy to hisfatherland, the empire of Peloponnesus! That such thoughts should passthrough his brain strikes me as by no means wonderful, as these arethoughts distinctive to all men of high ambition. Far more wonderful tomy mind was the pitch of perfection to which he had brought his army. There was no labour which his troops would shrink from, either by nightor by day; there was no danger they would flinch from; and, with thescantiest provisions, their discipline never failed them. 

And so, when he gave his last orders to them to prepare for impendingbattle, they obeyed with alacrity. He gave the word; the cavalry fellto whitening their helmets, the heavy infantry of the Arcadians beganinscribing their clubs as the crest on their shields, (12) as thoughthey were Thebans, and all were engaged in sharpening their lances andswords and polishing their heavy shields. When the preparations werecomplete and he had led them out, his next movement is worthy ofattention. First, as was natural, he paid heed to their formation, andin so doing seemed to give clear evidence that he intended battle; butno sooner was the army drawn up in the formation which he preferred, than he advanced, not by the shortest route to meet the enemy, buttowards the westward-lying mountains which face Tegea, and by thismovement created in the enemy an expectation that he would not do battleon that day. In keeping with this expectation, as soon as he arrived atthe mountain-region, he extended his phalanx in long line and piled armsunder the high cliffs; and to all appearance he was there encamping. The effect of this manouvre on the enemy in general was to relax theprepared bent of their souls for battle, and to weaken their tacticalarrangements. Presently, however, wheeling his regiments (which weremarching in column) to the front, with the effect of strengthening thebeak-like (13) attack which he proposed to lead himself, at the sameinstant he gave the order, "Shoulder arms, forward, " and led the way, the troops following. 

 (12) Grote ("H. G. " x. 463) has another interpretation. 

 (13) Or, "the wedge-like attack of his own division"; see Grote, "H. G. " x. 469 foll. I do not, however, think that the attacking column was actually wedge-shaped like the "acies cuneata" of the Romans. It was the unusual depth of the column which gave it the force of an ironclad's ram. Cf. "Cyrop. " II. Iv. For {eis metopon}. 

When the enemy saw them so unexpectedly approaching, not one of themwas able to maintain tranquility: some began running to their divisions, some fell into line, some might be seen bitting and bridling theirhorses, some donning their cuirasses, and one and all were like menabout to receive rather than to inflict a blow. He, the while, withsteady impetus pushed forward his armament, like a ship-of-war prowforward. Wherever he brought his solid wedge to bear, he meant to cleavethrough the opposing mass, and crumble his adversary's host to pieces. With this design he prepared to throw the brunt of the fighting on thestrongest half of his army, while he kept the weaker portion of it inthe background, knowing certainly that if worsted it would only causediscouragement to his own division and add force to the foe. The cavalryon the side of his opponents were disposed like an ordinary phalanxof heavy infantry, regular in depth and unsupported by foot-soldiersinterspersed among the horses. (14) Epaminondas again differed instrengthening the attacking point of his cavalry, besides which heinterspersed footmen between their lines in the belief that, when hehad once cut through the cavalry, he would have wrested victory from theantagonist along his whole line; so hard is it to find troops who willcare to keep their own ground when once they see any of their own sideflying. Lastly, to prevent any attempt on the part of the Athenians, whowere on the enemy's left wing, to bring up their reliefs in support ofthe portion next them, he posted bodies of cavalry and heavy infantry oncertain hillocks in front of them, intending to create in their minds anapprehension that, in case they offered such assistance, they would beattacked on their own rear by these detachments. Such was the plan ofencounter which he formed and executed; nor was he cheated in his hopes. He had so much the mastery at his point of attack that he caused thewhole of the enemy's troops to take flight. 

 (14) See Rustow and Kochly, p. 176; and for the {amippoi} Harpocration, s. V. ; Pollus, i. 131; "Hipparch. " v. 13; Thuc. V. 58; Herod. Vii. 158; Caes. "B. G. " i. 48; "B. Civ. " iii. 84. 

But after he himself had fallen, the rest of the Thebans were not ableany longer to turn their victory rightly to account. Though themain battle line of their opponents had given way, not a single manafterwards did the victorious hoplites slay, not an inch forward didthey advance from the ground on which the collision took place. Thoughthe cavalry had fled before them, there was no pursuit; not a man, horseman or hoplite, did the conquering cavalry cut down; but, like menwho have suffered a defeat, as if panic-stricken (15) they slippedback through the ranks of the fleeing foemen. Only the footmen fightingamongst the cavalry and the light infantry, who had together shared inthe victory of the cavalry, found their way round to the left wing asmasters of the field, but it cost them dear; here they encountered theAthenians, and most of them were cut down. 

 (15) Or, "they timorously slipped back. "

The effective result of these achievements was the very opposite of thatwhich the world at large anticipated. Here, where well-nigh the wholeof Hellas was met together in one field, and the combatants stood rankagainst rank confronted, there was no one doubted that, in the eventof battle, the conquerors would this day rule; and that those who lostwould be their subjects. But God so ordered it that both belligerentsalike set up trophies as claiming victory, and neither interfered withthe other in the act. Both parties alike gave back their enemy's deadunder a truce, and in right of victory; both alike, in symbol of defeat, under a truce took back their dead. And though both claimed to have wonthe day, neither could show that he had thereby gained any accession ofterritory, or state, or empire, or was better situated than before thebattle. Uncertainty and confusion, indeed, had gained ground, beingtenfold greater throughout the length and breadth of Hellas after thebattle than before. 

At this point I lay aside my pen: the sequel of the story may haplycommend itself (16) to another. 

 (16) Or, "win the attention of some other writer. "