Hellenica

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Hellenica

by Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

January, 1998 [Etext #1174]

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Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz.

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," a
four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though
there is doubt 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
English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The
diacritical marks have been lost.

Hellenica

by Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns

HELLENICA

BOOK I

I

B.C. 411. To follow the order of events[1]. A few days later
Thymochares arrived from Athens with a few ships, when another sea
fight between the Lacedaemonians and Athenians at once took place, in
which the 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, when
Dorieus, the son of Diagoras, was entering the Hellespont with
fourteen ships 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 to attack him. Dorieus made good his escape, and, as he
shook himself free of the narrows,[2] ran his triremes aground off
Rhoeteum. When the Athenians had come to close quarters, the fighting
commenced, and was sustained at once from ships and shore, until at
length the Athenians retired 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 observed
the battle. He at once hastened to the sea, and getting his own
triremes afloat, sailed out to pick up the ships with Dorieus. The
Athenians on their side put out to meet him, and engaged him off
Abydos. From early morning till the afternoon the fight was kept up
close to the shore.[3] Victory and defeat hung still in even balance,
when Alcibiades came sailing up with eighteen ships. Thereupon the
Peloponnesians fled towards Abydos, where, however, Pharnabazus
brought them timely assistance.[4] Mounted on horseback, he pushed
forward into the sea as far as his horse would let him, doing battle
himself, and encouraging his troopers and the infantry alike to play
their parts. Then the Peloponnesians, ranging their ships in close-
packed order, and drawing up their battle line in proximity to the
land, kept up the fight. At length the Athenians, having captured
thirty of the enemy's vessels without their crews, and having
recovered those of their own which they had previously lost, set sail
for Sestos. Here the fleet, with the exception of forty vessels,
dispersed in different directions outside the Hellespont, to collect
money; while Thrasylus, one of the generals, sailed to Athens to
report what had happened, and to beg for a reinforcement of troops and
ships. After the above incidents, Tissaphernes arrived in the
Hellespont, and received a visit from Alcibiades, who presented him
with a single ship, bringing with him tokens of friendship and gifts,
whereupon Tissaphernes seized him and shut him up in Sardis, giving
out that the king's orders were to go to war with the Athenians.
Thirty days later Alcibiades, accompanied by Mantitheus, who had been
captured in Caria, managed to procure horses and 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 perhap 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 was
meditating an attack upon them with a squadron of sixty sail, gave him
the slip, and under cover of night escaped to Cardia. Hither also
Alcibiades repaired from Clazomenae, having with him five triremes and
a light skiff; but on learning that the Peloponnesian fleet had left
Abydos and was in full sail for Cyzicus, he set off himself by land to
Sestos, 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
to sea with everything ready for action, when Theramenes, with a fleet
of twenty ships from Macedonia, entered the port, and at the same
instant Thrasybulus, with a second fleet of twenty sail from Thasos,
both squadrons having been engaged in collecting money. Bidding these
officers also follow him with all speed, as soon as they had taken out
their large sails and cleared for action, Alcibiades set sail himself
for Parium. During the following night the united squadron, consisting
now of eighty-six vessels, stood out to sea from Parium, and reached
Proconnesus next morning, about the hour of breakfast. Here they
learnt that Mindarus was in Cyzicus, and that Pharnabazus, with a body
of infantry, was with him. Accordingly they waited the whole of this
day at Proconnesus. On the following day Alcibiades summoned an
assembly, and addressing the men in terms of encouragement, warned
them that a threefold service was expected of them; that they must be
ready for a sea 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 from the king."

Now, on the previous day, as soon as they were come to moorings, he
had collected all the sea-going craft of the island, big and little
alike, under his own control, that no one might report the number of
his squadron to the enemy, and he had further caused a proclamation to
be made, that any one caught sailing across to the opposite coast
would be punished with death. When the meeting was over, he got his
ships ready for 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 him the spectacle of Mindarus's vessels, sixty in
number, exercising at some distance from the harbour, and, in fact,
intercepted by himself. The Peloponnesians, perceiving at a glance the
greatly increased number of the Athenian galleys, and noting their
proximity to the port, made haste to reach the land, where they
brought their vessels to anchor in a body, and prepared to engage the
enemy as he sailed to the attack. But Alcibiades, sailing round with
twenty of his vessels, came to land and disembarked. Seeing this,
Mindarus also landed, and in the engagement which ensued he fell
fighting, whilst those who were with him took to flight. As for the
enemy's ships, the Athenians succeeded in capturing the whole of them
(with the exception of the Syracusan vessels, which were burnt by
their crews), and made off with their prizes to Proconnesus. From
thence on the following day they sailed to attack Cyzicus. The men of
that place, seeing that the Peloponnesians and Pharnabazus had
evacuated the town, admitted the Athenians. Here Alcibiades remained
twenty days, obtaining large sums of money from the Cyzicenes, but
otherwise inflicting no sort of mischief on the community. He then
sailed back to Proconnesus, and from there to Perinthus and Selybria.
The inhabitants of the former place welcomed his troops into their
city, but the Selybrians preferred to give money, and so escape the
admission of the troops. Continuing the voyage the squadron reached
Chrysopolis in Chalcedonia,[5] where they built a fort, and
established a custom-house to collect the tithe dues which they levied
on all merchantmen passing through the Straights from the Black Sea.
Besides this, a detachment of thirty ships was left there under the
two generals, Theramenes and Eubulus, with instructions not only to
keep a look-out on the port itself and on all traders passing through
the channel, but generally to injure the enemy in any way which might
present itself. This done, the rest of the generals hastened back to
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 been
intercepted on its way to Lacedaemon, and taken to Athens. It ran as
follows (in broad Doric):[7] "Ships gone; Mindarus dead; the men
starving; 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 the
despondency which afflicted the whole Peloponnesian army and their
allies. "As long as their own bodies were safe and sound, why need
they take to heart the loss of a few wooden hulls? Was there not
timber enough and to spare in the king's territory?" And so he
presented each man with a cloak and maintenance for a couple of
months, after which he armed the sailors and formed them into a
coastguard for the security of his own seaboard.

He next called a meeting of the generals and trierarchs of the
different States, and instructed them to build just as many new ships
in the dockyards of Antandrus as they had respectively lost. He
himself was to furnish the funds, and he gave them to understand that
they might bring down timber from Mount Ida. While the ships were
building, the Syracusans helped the men of Antandrus to finish a
section of their walls, and were particularly pleasant on garrison
duty; and that is why the Syracusans to this day enjoy the privilege
of citizenship, with the title 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
home of their banishment by the democratic party. Accordingly they
called a meeting of their separate divisions, and putting forward
Hermocrates[8] as their spokesman, proceeded to deplore their
misfortune, insisting upon the injustice and the illegality of their
banishment. "And now let us admonish you," they added, "to be eager
and willing in the future, even as in the past: whatever the word of
command may be, show yourselves good men and true: let not the memory
of those glorious sea fights fade. Think of those victories you have
won, those ships you have captured by your own unaided efforts; forget
not that long list of achievements shared by yourselves with others,
in all which you proved yourselves invincible under our generalship.
It was to a happy combination of our merit and your enthusiasm,
displayed alike on land and 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 of
their successors. Thereupon the whole assembly, and more particularly
the captains and masters of vessels and marines, insisted with loud
cries on their continuance in command. The generals replied, "It was
not for them to indulge in faction against the State, but rather it
was their duty, in case any charges were forthcoming against
themselves, at once to render an account." When, however, no one had
any kind of accusation to prefer, they yielded to the general demand,
and were content to await the arrival of their successors. The names
of these were--Demarchus, the son of Epidocus; Myscon, the son of
Mencrates; and Potamis, the son of Gnosis.

The captains, for their part, swore to restore the exiled generals as
soon as they themselves should return to Syracuse. At present with a
general vote of thanks they despatched them to their several
destinations. It particular those who had enjoyed the society of
Hermocrates recalled his virtues with regret, his thoroughness and
enthusiasm, his frankness and affability, the care with which every
morning and evening he was wont to gather in his quarters a group of
naval captains and mariners whose ability he recognised. These were
his confidants, to whom he communicated what he intended to say or do:
they were his pupils, to whom he gave lessons in oratory, now calling
upon them to speak extempore, and now again after deliberation. By
these means Hermocrates had gained a wide reputation at the council
board, where his mastery of language was no less felt than the wisdom
of his advice. Appearing at Lacedaemon as the accuser of
Tissaphernes,[9] he had carried his case, not only by the testimony of
Astyochus, but by the obvious sincerity of his statements, and on the
strength of this reputation he now betook himself to Pharnabazus. The
latter did not wait to be asked, but at once gave him money, which
enabled him to collect friends and triremes, with a view to his
ultimate recall to Syracuse. Meanwhile the successors of the
Syracusans had arrived at Miletus, where they 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 Laconian
governor Eteonicus. The Laconian Pasippidas was charged with having
brought the business about in conjunction with Tissaphernes, and was
banished from Sparta in consequence. The naval force which he had been
collecting from the allies was handed over to Cratesippidas, who was
sent 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. But
Thrasylus led out the Athenians with the rest of the inhabitants of
the city, and drew them up by the side of the Lyceum Gymnasium, ready
to engage the enemy if they approached; seeing which, Agis beat a
hasty retreat, not however without the loss of some of his supports, a
few of whom were cut down by the Athenian light troops. This success
disposed the citizens to take a still more favourable view of the
objects for which Thrasylus had come; and they passed a decree
empowering him to call 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 after
vessel laden with corn running down to Piraeus, declared that it was
useless for his troops to go on week after week excluding the
Athenians from their own land, while no one stopped the source of
their corn supply by sea: the best plan would be to send
Clearchus,[11] the son of Rhamphius, who was proxenos[12] of the
Byzantines, to Chalcedon and Byzantium. The suggestion was approved,
and with fifteen vessels duly manned from Megara, or furnished by
other allies, Clearchus set out. These were troop-ships rather than
swift-sailing men-of-war. Three of them, on reaching the Hellespont,
were destroyed by the Athenian ships employed to keep a sharp look-out
on all merchant craft in those waters. The other twelve escaped to
Sestos, and thence finally reached Byzantium in 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 against
Sicily of the Carthaginians under Hannibal with one hundred thousand
men, and the capture, within three months, of the two Hellenic cities
of Selinus and Himera.

II

B.C. 409. Next year[1] . . . the Athenians fortified Thoricus; and
Thrasylus, taking the vessels lately voted him and five thousand of
his seamen armed to serve as peltasts,[2] set sail for Samos at the
beginning of summer. At Samos he stayed three days, and then continued
his voyage to Pygela, where he proceeded to ravage the territory and
attack the fortress. Presently a detachment from Miletus came to the
rescue of the men of Pygela, and attacking the scattered bands of the
Athenian light troops, put them to flight. But to the aid of the light
troops came the naval brigade of peltasts, with two companies of heavy
infantry, and all but annihilated the whole detachment from Miletus.
They captured about two hundred shields, and set up a trophy. Next day
they sailed to Notium, and from Notium, after due preparation, marched
upon Colophon. The Colophonians capitulated without a blow. The
following night they made an incursion into Lydia, where the corn
crops were ripe, and burnt several villages, and captured money,
slaves, and other booty in large quantity. But Stages, the Persian,
who was employed in this neighbourhood, fell in with a reinforcement
of cavalry sent to protect the scattered pillaging parties from the
Athenian camp, whilst occupied with their individual plunder, and took
one trooper prisoner, killing seven others. After this Thrasylus led
his troops back to the sea, intending to sail to Ephesus. Meanwhile
Tissaphernes, who had wind of this intention, began collecting a large
army and despatching cavalry with a summons to the inhabitants one and
all to rally to the defence of the 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 Thrasylus
sailed to Ephesus. He disembarked his troops in two divisions, his
heavy infantry in the neighbourhood of Mount Coressus; his cavalry,
peltasts, and marines, with the remainder of his force, near the marsh
on the other side of the city. At daybreak he pushed forward both
divisions. The citizens of Ephesus, on their side, were not slow to
protect themselves. They had to aid them the troops brought up by
Tissaphernes, as well as two detachments of Syracusans, consisting of
the crews of their former twenty vessels and those of five new vessels
which had opportunely arrived quite recently under Eucles, the son of
Hippon, and Heracleides, the son of Aristogenes, together with two
Selinuntian vessels. All these several forces first attacked the heavy
infantry near Coressus; these they routed, killing about one hundred
of them, and driving the remainder down into the sea. They then turned
to deal with the second division on the marsh. Here, too, the
Athenians were put to flight, and as many as three hundred of them
perished. On this spot the Ephesians erected a trophy, and another at
Coressus. The valour of the Syracusans and Selinuntians had been so
conspicuous that the citizens presented many of them, both publicly
and privately, with prizes for distinction in the field, besides
offering the right of residence in their city with certain immunities
to all who at any time might wish to live there. To the Selinuntians,
indeed, as their own city had lately been destroyed, they offered full
citizenship.

The Athenians, after picking up their dead under a truce, set sail for
Notium, and having there buried the slain, continued their vogage
towards Lesbos and the Hellespont. Whilst lying at anchor in the
harbour of Methymna, in that island, they caught sight of the
Syracusan vessels, five-and-twenty in number, coasting along from
Ephesus. They put out to sea to attack them, and captured four ships
with their crews, and chased the remainder back to Ephesus. The
prisoners were sent by Thrasylus to Athens, with one exception. This
was an Athenian, Alcibiades, who was a cousin and fellow-exile of
Alcibiades. Him Thrasylus released.[3] From Methymna Thrasylus set
sail to Sestos to join the main body of the army, after which the
united forces crossed to Lampsacus. And now winter was approaching. It
was the winter in which the Syracusan prisoners who had been immured
in the stone quarries of Piraeus dug through the rock and escaped one
night, some to Decelia and others to Megara. At Lampsacus Alcibiades
was anxious to marshal the whole military force there collected in one
body, but the old troops refused to be incorporated with those of
Thrasylus. "They, who had never yet been beaten, with these newcomers
who had just suffered a defeat." So they devoted the winter to
fortifying Lampsacus. They also made an expedition against Abydos,
where Pharnabazus, coming to the rescue of the place, encountered them
with numerous cavalry, but was defeated and forced to flee, Alcibiades
pursuing hard with his cavalry and one hundred and twenty infantry
under the command of Menander, till darkness intervened. After this
battle the soldiers came together of their own accord, and freely
fraternised with the troops of Thrasylus. This expedition was followed
by other incursions during the winter into the interior, where they
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 their
revolted helots from Malea, who had found an asylum at Coryphasium, to
depart under a flag of truce. It was also about the same period that
the Achaeans betrayed the colonists of Heracleia Trachinia, when they
were all drawn up in battle to meet the hostile Oetaeans, whereby as
many as seven hundred of them were lost, together with the governor[4]
from Lacedaemon, Labotas. Thus the year came to its close--a year
marked further 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
the cessation of winter, in early spring, the Athenians set sail with
the whole of their force to Proconnesus, and thence advanced upon
Chalcedon and Byzantium, encamping near the former town. The men of
Chalcedon, aware of their approach, had taken the precaution to
deposit all their pillageable property with their neighbours, the
Bithynian Thracians; whereupon Alcibiades put himself at the head of a
small body of heavy infantry with the cavalry, and giving orders to
the fleet to follow along the coast, marched against the Bithynians
and demanded back the property of the Chalcedonians, threatening them
with war in case of refusal. The Bithynians delivered up the property.
Returning to camp, not only thus enriched, but with the further
satisfaction of having secured pledges of good behaviour from the
Bithynians, Alcibiades set to work with the whole of his troops to
draw lines of circumvallation round Chalcedon from sea to sea, so as
to include as much of the river as possible within his wall, which was
made of timber. Thereupon the Lacedaemonian governor, Hippocrates, let
his troops out of the city and offered battle, and the Athenians, on
their side, drew up their forces opposite to receive him; while
Pharnabazus, from without the lines of circumvallation, was still
advancing with his army and large bodies of horse. Hippocrates and
Thrasylus engaged each other with their heavy infantry for a long
while, until Alcibiades, with a detachment of infantry and the
cavalry, intervened. Presently Hippocrates fell, and the troops under
him fled into the city; at the same instant Pharnabazus, unable to
effect a junction with the Lacedaemonian leader, owing to the
circumscribed nature of the ground and the close proximity of the
river to the enemy's lines, retired to the Heracleium,[2] belonging to
the Chalcedonians, where his camp lay. After this success Alcibiades
set off to the Hellespont and the Chersonese to raise money, and the
remaining generals came to terms with Pharnabazus in respect of
Chalcedon; according to these, the Persian satrap agreed to pay the
Athenians twenty talents[3] in behalf of the town, and to grant their
ambassadors a safe conduct up country to the king. It was further
stipulated by mutual consent and under oaths provided, that the
Chalcedonians should continue the payment of their customary tribute
to Athens, being also bound to discharge all outstanding debts. The
Athenians, on their side, were bound to desist from all hostilities
until the return of their ambassadors from the king. These oaths were
not witnessed by Alcibiades, who was now in the neighbourhood of
Selybria. Having taken that place, he presently appeared before the
walls of Byzantium at the head of the men of Chersonese, who came out
with their whole force; he was aided further by troops from Thrace and
more than three hundred horse. Accordingly Pharnabazus, insisting that
he too must take the oath, decided to remain in Chalcedon, and to
await his arrival from Byzantium. Alcibiades came, but was not
prepared to bind himself by any oaths, unless Pharnabazus would, on
his side, take oaths to himself. After this, oaths were exchanged
between them by proxy. Alcibiades took them at Chrysopolis in the
presence of two representatives sent by Pharnabazus--namely,
Mitrobates and Arnapes. Pharnabazus took them at Chalcedon in the
presence of Euryptolemus and Diotimus, who represented Alcibiades.
Both parties bound themselves not only by the general oath, but also
interchanged personal pledges of good faith.

[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 that
those who were going up to the king as ambassadors should meet him at
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
also about to make the journey. This consisted of Pasippidas and his
fellows, with whom were Hermocrates, now an exile from Syracuse, and
his brother Proxenus. So Pharnabazus put himself at their head.
Meanwhile the Athenians prosecuted the siege of Byzantium; lines of
circumvallation were drawn; and they diversified the blockade by
sharpshooting at long range and occasional assaults upon the walls.
Inside the city lay Clearchus, the Lacedaemonian governor, and a body
of Perioci with a small detachment of Neodamodes.[4] There was also a
body of Megarians under their general Helixus, a Megarian, and another
body of Boeotians, with their general Coeratadas. The Athenians,
finding presently that they could effect nothing by force, worked upon
some of the inhabitants to betray the place. Clearchus, meanwhile,
never dreaming that any one would be capable of such an act, had
crossed over to the opposite coast to visit Pharnabazus; he had left
everything in perfect order, entrusting the government of the city to
Coeratadas and Helixus. His mission was to obtain pay for the soldiers
from the Persian satrap, and to collect vessels from various quarters.
Some were already in the Hellespont, where they had been left as
guardships by Pasippidas, or else at Antandrus. Others formed the
fleet which Agesandridas, who had formerly served as a marine[5] under
Mindarus, now commanded on the Thracian coast. Others Clearchus
purposed to have built, and with the whole united squadron to so
injure the allies of the Athenians as to draw off the besieging army
from Byzantium. But no sooner was he fairly gone than those who were
minded to betray the city set to work. Their names were Cydon,
Ariston, Anaxicrates, Lycurgus, and Anaxilaus. The last-named was
afterwards impeached for treachery in Lacedaemon on the capital
charge, and acquitted on the plea that, to begin with, he was not a
Lacedaemonian, but a Byzantine, and, so far from having betrayed the
city, he had saved it, when he saw women and children perishing of
starvation; for Clearchus had given away all the corn in the city to
the Lacedaemonian soldiers. It was for these reasons, as Anaxilaus
himself admitted, 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 leading
to the Thracian Square, as it is called, and admitted the Athenian
troops with Alcibiades at their head. Helixus and Coeratadas, in
complete ignorance of the plot, hastened to the Agora with the whole
of the garrison, ready to confront the danger; but finding the enemy
in occupation, they had nothing for it but to give themselves up. They
were sent off as prisoners to Athens, where Coeratadas, in the midst
of the crowd 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 at
Gordium in Phrygia, when they heard of the occurrences at Byzantium.
Continuing their journey to the king's court in the commencement of
spring, they were met by a former embassy, which was now on its return
journey. These were the Lacedaemonian ambassadors, Boeotius and his
party, with the other envoys; who told them that the Lacedaemonians
had obtained from the king all they wanted. One of the company was
Cyrus, the new governor of all the seaboard districts, who was
prepared to co-operate with the Lacedaemonians in war. He was the
bearer, moreover, of a letter with the royal seal attached. It was
addressed to all the populations of Lower Asia, and contained the
following words: "I send down Cyrus as 'Karanos'"[1]--that is to say,
supreme lord--"over all those who muster at Castolus." The ambassadors
of the Athenians, even while listening to this announcement, and
indeed after they had seen Cyrus, were still desirous, if possible, to
continue their journey to the king, or, failing that, to return home.
Cyrus, however, urged upon Pharnabazus either to deliver them up to
himself, or to defer sending them home at present; his object being to
prevent the Athenians learning what was going on. Pharnabazus, wishing
to escape all blame, for the time being detained them, telling them,
at one time, that he would presently escort them up country to the
king, and at another time that he would send them safe home. But when
three years had elapsed, he prayed Cyrus to let them go, declaring
that he had taken an oath to bring 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 for their further transportation. The
latter conducted them a stage further, to Cius in Mysia; and from Cius
they set sail to join their main armament.

[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 the
troops, immediately set sail for Samos; and from that island, taking
twenty of the ships, he sailed to the Ceramic Gulf of Caria, where he
collected a hundred talents, and so returned to Samos.

Thrasybulus had gone Thrace-wards with thirty ships. In this quarter
he reduced various places which had revolted to Lacedaemon, including
the 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 their
general Alcibiades, who was still in exile, and Thrasybulus, who was
also absent, and as a third, from among those at home, Conon.

Meanwhile Alcibiades, with the moneys lately collected and his fleet
of twenty ships, left Samos and visited Paros. From Paros he stood out
to sea across to Gytheum,[2] to keep an eye on the thirty ships of war
which, as he was informed, the Lacedaemonians were equipping in that
arsenal. Gytheum would also be a favourable point of observation from
which to gauge the disposition of his fellow-countrymen and the
prospects of his recall. When at length their good disposition seemed
to him established, not only by his election as general, but by the
messages of invitation which he received in private from his friends,
he sailed home, and entered Piraeus on the very day of the festival of
the Plunteria,[3] when the statue of Athena is veiled and screened
from public gaze. This was a coincidence, as some thought, of evil
omen, and unpropitious alike to himself and the State, for no Athenian
would transact 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 of
the multitude. Of him they spoke: some asserting that he was the best
of citizens, and that in his sole instance banishment had been ill-
deserved. He had been the victim of plots, hatched in the brains of
people less able than himself, however much they might excel in
pestilent speech; men whose one principle of statecraft was to look to
their private gains; whereas this man's policy had ever been to uphold
the common weal, as much by his private means as by all the power of
the State. His own choice, eight years ago, when the charge of impiety
in the matter of the mysteries was still fresh, would have been to
submit to trial at once. It was his personal foes, who had succeeded
in postponing that undeniably just procedure; who waited till his back
was turned, and then robbed him of his fatherland. Then it was that,
being made the very slave of circumstance, he was driven to court the
men he hated most; and at a time when his own life was in daily peril,
he must see his dearest friends and fellow-citizens, nay, the very
State itself, bent on a suicidal course, and yet, in the exclusion of
exile, be unable to lend a helping hand. "It is not men of this
stamp," they averred, "who desire changes in affairs and revolution:
had he not already guaranteed to him by the Democracy a position
higher than that of his equals in age, and scarcely if at all inferior
to his seniors? How different was the position of his enemies. It had
been the fortune of these, though they were known to be the same men
they had always been, to use their lately acquired power for the
destruction in the first instance of the better classes; and then,
being alone left surviving, to be 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 and
misfortunes Alcibiades alone was responsible: "If more trials were
still in store for the State, here was the master mischief-maker ready
at his post 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. Mounting on the quarterdeck, he scanned the multitude,[5]
anxious to make certain of the presence of his friends. Presently his
eyes lit upon Euryptolemus, the son of Peisianax, who was his cousin,
and then on the rest 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, defending
himself against the charge of impiety, and asserting that he had been
the victim of injustice, with other like topics, which in the present
temper 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, with
irresponsible powers, as being the sole individual capable of
recovering the ancient power and prestige of Athens. Armed with this
authority, his first act was to institute anew the processional march
to Eleusis; for of late years, owing to the war, the Athenians had
been forced to conduct the mysteries by sea. Now, at the head of the
troops, he caused them to be conducted once again by land. This done,
his next step was to muster an armament of one thousand five hundred
heavy infantry, one hundred and fifty cavalry, and one hundred ships;
and lastly, within three months of his return, he set sail for Andros,
which had revolted from Athens.

The generals chosen to co-operate with him on land were Aristocrates
and Adeimantus, the son of Leucophilides. He disembarked his troops on
the island of Andros at Gaurium, and routed the Andrian citizens who
sallied out from the town to resist the invader; forcing them to
return and keep close 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 for Samos, which became his base of operations in the
future conduct of the war.

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
place of Cratesippidas, whose period of office had expired. The new
admiral first visited Rhodes, where he got some ships, and sailed to
Cos and Miletus, and from the latter place to Ephesus. At Ephesus he
waited with seventy sail, expecting the advent of Cyrus in Sardis,
when he at once went up to pay the prince a visit with the ambassadors
from Lacedaemon. And now an opportunity was given to denounce the
proceedings of Tissaphernes, and at the same time to beg Cyrus himself
to show as much zeal as possible in the prosecution of the war. Cyrus
replied that not only had he received express injunction from his
father to the same effect, but that his own views coincided with their
wishes, which he was determined to carry out to the letter. He had, he
informed them, brought with him five hundred talents;[1] and if that
sum failed, he had still the private revenue, which his father allowed
him, to fall back upon, and when this resource was in its turn
exhausted, he would coin the gold and 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 to
fix 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 of the Athenians would desert, and in the end there would be a
saving of expenditure. Cyrus complimented them on the soundness of
their arguments, but said that it was not in his power to exceed the
injunctions of the king. The terms of agreement were precise, thirty
minae[4] a month per vessel to be given, whatever number of vessels
the Lacedaemonians 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 gratify him most?" Lysander replied, "Add an obol[5] to the
sailors' pay." After this the pay was raised to four instead of three
obols, as it hitherto had been. Nor did the liberality of Cyrus end
here; he not only paid 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 than ever now. The Athenians when they heard
the news were proportionately depressed, and by help of Tissaphernes
despatched ambassadors to Cyrus. That prince, however, refused to
receive them, nor were the prayers of Tissaphernes of any avail,
however much he insisted that Cyrus should adopt the policy which he
himself, on the advice of Alcibiades, had persistently acted on. This
was simply not to suffer any single Hellenic state to grow strong at
the expense of the rest, but to keep them all weak 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 his
satisfaction, beached his squadron of ninety vessels at Ephesus, and
sat with hands folded, whilst the vessels dried and underwent repairs.
Alcibiades, being informed that Thrasybulus had come south of the
Hellespont and was fortifying Phocaea, sailed across to join him,
leaving his own pilot Antiochus in command of the fleet, with orders
not to attack Lysander's fleet. Antiochus, however, was tempted to
leave Notium and sail into the harbour of Ephesus with a couple of
ships, his own and another, past the prows of Lysander's squadron. The
Spartan at first contented himself with launching a few of his ships,
and started in pursuit of the intruder; but when the Athenians came
out with other vessels to assist Antiochus, he formed his whole
squadron into line of battle, and bore down upon them, whereupon the
Athenians followed suit, and getting their remaining triremes under
weigh at Notium, stood out to sea as fast as each vessel could clear
the point.[6] Thus it befell in the engagement which ensued, that
while the enemy was in due order, the Athenians came up in scattered
detachments and without concert, and in the end were put to flight
with the loss of fifteen ships of war. Of the crews, indeed, the
majority escaped, though a certain number fell into the hands of the
enemy. Then Lysander collected his vessels, and having erected a
trophy on Cape Notium, sailed across to Ephesus, whilst the Athenians
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 with
the whole squadron in the direction of the harbour of Ephesus. At the
mouth of the harbour he marshalled his fleet in battle order, and
tried to tempt the enemy to an engagement; but as Lysander, conscious
of his inferiority in numbers, refused to accept the challenge, he
sailed back again to Samos. Shortly after this the Lacedaemonians
captured Delphinium 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 the
Athenians at home, and in their indignation they turned upon
Alcibiades, to whose negligence and lack of self-command they
attributed the destruction of the ships. Accordingly they chose ten
new generals--namely Conon, Diomedon, Leon, Pericles, Erasinides,
Aristocrates, Archestratus, Protomachus, Thrasylus, and Aristogenes.
Alcibiades, who was moreover in bad odour in the camp, sailed away
with a 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 that
island to Samos, and took command of the whole squadron. To fill the
place thus vacated by Conon, Phanosthenes was sent to Andros with four
ships. That captain was fortunate enough to intercept and capture two
Thurian ships of war, crews and all, and these captives were all
imprisoned by the Athenians, with the exception of their leader
Dorieus. He was the Rhodian, who some while back had been banished
from Athens and from his native city by the Athenians, when sentence
of death was passed upon him and his family. This man, who had once
enjoyed the right of citizenship among them, they now took pity on and
released him without ransom.

When Conon had reached Samos he found the armament in a state of great
despondency. Accordingly his first measure was to man seventy ships
with their 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 at another of the enemy's territory, and to collecting
plunder.

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

VI

B.C. 406. In the following year--the year of the evening eclipse of
the moon, and the burning of the old temple of Athena[1] at Athens[2]
--the Lacedaemonians sent out Callicratidas to replace Lysander, whose
period of office had now expired.[3] Lysander, when surrendering the
squadron to his successor, spoke of himself as the winner of a sea
fight, which had left him in undisputed mastery of the sea, and with
this boast he handed over the ships to Callicratidas, who retorted,
"If you will convey the fleet from Ephesus, keeping Samos[4] on your
right" (that is, past where the Athenian navy lay), "and hand it over
to me at Miletus, I will admit that you are master of the sea." But
Lysander had no mind to interfere in the province of another officer.
Thus Callicratidas assumed responsibility. He first manned, in
addition to the squadron which he received from Lysander, fifty new
vessels furnished by the allies from Chios and Rhodes and elsewhere.
When all these contingents were assembled, they formed a total of one
hundred and forty sail, and with these he began making preparations
for engagement with the enemy. But it was impossible for him not to
note the strong current of opposition which he encountered from the
friends of Lysander. Not only was there lack of zeal in their service,
but they openly disseminated an opinion in the States, that it was the
greatest possible blunder on the part of the Lacedaemonians so to
change their admirals. Of course, they must from time to time get
officers altogether unfit for the post--men whose nautical knowledge
dated from yesterday, and who, moreover, had no notion of dealing with
human beings. It would be very odd if this practice of sending out
people ignorant of the sea and unknown to the folk of the country did
not lead to some catastrophe. Callicratidas at once summoned the
Lacedaemonians there present, and addressed 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 Lysander
or any one else claim greater experience in nautical affairs than I
possess, I have no desire to block his path. Only, being sent out by
the State to take command of this fleet, I do not know what is left to
me, save to carry out my instructions to the best of my ability. For
yourselves, all I beg of you, in reference to my personal ambitions
and the kind of charges brought against our common city, and of which
you are as well aware as I am, is to state what you consider to be the
best course: am I to stay where I am, or shall I sail back home, and
explain the position of affairs out here?"

No one ventured to suggest any other course than that he should obey
the authorities, and do what he was sent to do. Callicratidas then
went up to the court of Cyrus to ask for further pay for the sailors,
but the answer he got from Cyrus was that he should wait for two days.
Callicratidas was annoyed at the rebuff: to dance attendance at the
palace gates was little to his taste. In a fit of anger he cried out
at the sorry condition of the Hellenes, thus forced to flatter the
barbarian 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 the
Lacedaemonians." And so he turned and sailed back to Miletus. From
Miletus he sent some triremes to Lacedaemon to get money, and
convoking the 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 exposed
you to many evils at their hands, I only ask you to let your zeal in
the war bear some proportion to your former sufferings. You should set
an example to the rest of the allies, and show us how to inflict the
sharpest and swiftest injury on our enemy, whilst we await the return
from Lacedaemon of my envoys with the necessary funds. Since one of
the last acts of Lysander, before he left us, was to hand back to
Cyrus the funds already on the spot, as though we could well dispense
with them. I was thus forced to turn to Cyrus, but all I got from him
was a series of rebuffs; he refused me an audience, and, for my part,
I could not induce myself 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 render us while waiting for these aids, I
will requite you richly. Only by God's help let us show these
barbarians that we do not need to worship them, in order to punish our
foes."

The speech was effective; many members of the assembly arose, and not
the least eagerly those who were accused of opposing him. These, in
some terror, proposed a vote of money, backed by offers of further
private contributions. Furnished with these sums, and having procured
from Chios a further remittance of five drachmas[5] a piece as outfit
for each seaman, he set sail to Methyma in Lesbos, which was in the
hands of the enemy. 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 the head of affairs were partisans of Athens), he assaulted
and took the place by storm. All the property within accordingly
became the spoil of the soldiers. The prisoners were collected for
sale by Callicratidas in the market-place, where, in answer to the
demand of the allies, who called upon him to sell the Methymnaeans
also, he made answer, that as long as he was in command, not a single
Hellene should be enslaved if he 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 Conon he sent word:--He would put a
stop to his strumpeting the sea.[7] And catching sight of him, as he
put out to sea, at break of day, he gave chase, hoping to cut him off
from his passage to Samos, and prevent his taking 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 of
which were the pick of several ships' companies, concentrated in a few
vessels, made good his escape, seeking shelter within the harbour of
Mitylene in Lesbos, and with him two of the ten generals, Leon and
Erasinides. Callicratidas, pursuing him with one hundred and seventy
sail, entered the harbour simultaneously; and Conon thus hindered from
further or final escape by the too rapid movements of the enemy, was
forced to engage inside the harbour, and lost thirty of his ships,
though the crews escaped to land. The remaining, forty in number, he
hauled up under the walls of the town. Callicratidas, on his side,
came to moorings in the harbour; and, having command of the exit,
blocked the Athenian within. His next step was to send for the
Methymnaeans in force by land, and to transport his army across from
Chios. Money also came to him from Cyrus.

Conon, finding himself besieged by land and sea, without means of
providing himself with corn from any quarter, the city crowded with
inhabitants, and aid from Athens, whither no news of the late events
could be conveyed, impossible, launched two of the fastest sailing
vessels of his squadron. These he manned, before daybreak, with the
best rowers whom he could pick out of the fleet, stowing away the
marines at the 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 as soon as it was dark he disembarked his men, so that the
enemy might not suspect what they were after. On the fifth day, having
got in a small stock of provisions, when it was already mid-day and
the blockaders were paying little or no attention, and some of them
even were taking their siesta, the two ships sailed out of the
harbour: the one directing her course towards the Hellespont, whilst
her companion made for the open sea. Then, on the part of the
blockaders, there was a rush to the scene of action, as fast as the
several crews could get clear of land, in bustle and confusion,
cutting away the anchors, and rousing themselves from sleep, for, as
chance would have it, they had been breakfasting on shore. Once on
board, however, they were soon in hot pursuit of the ship which had
started for the open sea, and ere the sun dipped they overhauled her,
and after a successful engagement attached her by cables and towed her
back into harbour, crew and all. Her comrade, making for the
Hellespont, escaped, and eventually reached Athens with news of the
blockade. The first relief was brought to the blockaded fleet by
Diomedon, who anchored with twelve vessels in the Mitylenaean
Narrows.[8] But a sudden attack of Callicratidas, who bore down upon
him without warning, cost him ten of his vessels, Diomedon himself
escaping with his own ship and one other.

[8] Or, "Euripus."

Now that the position of affairs, including the blockade, was fully
known at Athens, a vote was passed to send out a reinforcement of one
hundred 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 one hundred and ten vessels were fully manned and weighed
anchor. Amongst those 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 Samian vessels in that island. The muster-roll was swelled by
the addition of more than thirty others from the rest of the allies,
to whom the same principle of conscription applied, as also it did to
the ships already engaged on foreign service. The actual total,
therefore, when all the contingents 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 reached
Samos, left fifty ships, under command of Eteonicus, in the harbour of
Mitylene, and setting sail with the other one hundred and twenty, hove
to for the evening meal off Cape Malea in Lesbos, opposite Mitylene.
It so happened that the Athenians on this day were supping on the
islands of Arginusae, which lie opposite Lesbos. In the night the
Spartan not only 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 rain with thunder and lightning prevented him putting out
to sea. By daybreak it had cleared, and he sailed towards Arginusae.
On their side, the Athenian squadron stood out to meet him, with their
left wing facing towards the open sea, and drawn up in the following
order:--Aristocrates, in command of the left wing, with fifteen ships,
led the van; next came Diomedon with fifteen others, and immediately
in rear of Aristocrates and Diomedon respectively, as their supports,
came Pericles and Erasinides. Parallel with Diomedon were the Samians,
with their ten ships drawn up in single line, under the command of a
Samian officer named Hippeus. Next to these came the ten vessels of
the taxiarchs, also in single line, and supporting them, the three
ships of the navarchs, with any other allied vessels in the squadron.
The right wing 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, and Thrasylus by Aristogenes. The object of this formation
was to prevent the enemy from manouvring so as to break their line by
striking them amidships,[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 superior
seamanship, were formed opposite with their ships all in single line,
with the special object of manouvring so as either to break the
enemy's line or to wheel round them. Callicratidas commanded the right
wing in person. Before the battle the officer who acted as his pilot,
the Megarian Hermon, suggested that it might be well to withdraw the
fleet as the Athenian ships were far more numerous. But Callicratidas
replied that 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 were engaged in crowded masses, and later on in scattered
groups. At length Callicratidas, as his vessel dashed her beak into
her antagonist, was hurled off into the sea and disappeared. At the
same instant Protomachus, with his division on the right, had defeated
the enemy's left, and then the flight of the Peloponnesians began
towards Chios, though a very considerable body of them made for
Phocaea, whilst the Athenians sailed back again to Arginusae. The
losses on the side of the Athenians were twenty-five ships, crews and
all, with the exception of the few who contrived to reach dry land. On
the Peloponnesian side, nine out of the ten Lacedaemonian ships, and
more than sixty belonging to the rest 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 captains of
triremes, Theramenes and Thrasybulus, accompanied by some of the
taxiarchs, should take forty-seven ships and sail to the assistance of
the disabled fleet and of the men on board, whilst the rest of the
squadron proceeded to attack the enemy's blockading squadron under
Eteonicus at Mitylene. In spite of their desire to carry out this
resolution, the wind and a violent storm which arose prevented them.
So they set up a trophy, and took up their quarters for the night. As
to Etenoicus, the details of the engagement ware faithfully reported
to him by the express despatch-boat in attendance. On receipt of the
news, however, he sent the despatch-boat out again the way she came,
with an injunction to those on board of her to sail off quickly
without exchanging a word with any one. Then on a sudden they were to
return garlanded with wreaths of victory and shouting "Callicratidas
has won a great sea fight, and the whole Athenian squadron is
destroyed." This they did, and Eteonicus, on his side, as soon as the
despatch-boat came sailing in, proceeded to offer sacrifice of
thanksgiving in honour of the good news. Meanwhile he gave orders that
the troops were to take their evening meal, and that the masters of
the trading ships were silently to stow away their goods on board the
merchant ships and make sail as fast as the favourable breeze could
speed them to Chios. The ships 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 comparatively mild,[13] got his ships afloat, and
so fell in with the Athenian squadron, which had by this time set out
from Arginusae. To these he explained the proceedings of Eteonicus.
The squadron put into Mitylene, and from Mitylene stood across to
Chios, and thence, without effecting anything further, sailed back to
Samos.

[13] Or, "had changed to a finer quarter."

VII

All the above-named generals, with the exception of Conon, were
presently deposed by the home authorities. In addition to Conon two
new generals were chosen, Adeimantus and Philocles. Of those concerned
in the late victory two never returned to Athens: these were
Protomachus and Aristogenes. The other six sailed home. Their names
were Pericles, Diomedon, Lysias, Aristocrates, Thrasylus, and
Erasinides. On their arrival Archidemus, the leader of the democracy
at that date, who had charge of the two obol fund,[1] inflicted a fine
on Erasinides, and accused him before the Dicastery[2] of having
appropriated money derived from the Hellespont, which belonged to the
people. He brought a further charge against him of misconduct while
acting as general, and the 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 of
the generals before the senate[3] touching the late victory and the
magnitude of the storm. Timocrates then proposed that the other five
generals should be put in custody and handed over to the public
assembly.[4] Whereupon the senate committed them all to prison. Then
came the meeting of the public assembly, in which others, and more
particularly Theramenes, formally accused the generals. He insisted
that they ought to show cause why they had not picked up the
shipwrecked crews. To prove that there had been no attempt on their
part to attach blame to others, he might point, as conclusive
testimony, to the despatch sent by the generals themselves to the
senate and the people, in which they attributed the whole disaster to
the storm, and nothing else. After this the generals each in turn made
a defence, which was necessarily limited to a few words, since no
right of addressing the assembly at length was allowed by law. Their
explanation of the occurrences was that, in order to be free to sail
against the enemy themselves, they had devolved the duty of picking up
the shipwrecked crews upon certain competent captains of men-of-war,
who had themselves been generals in their time, to wit Theramenes and
Tharysbulus, and others of like stamp. If blame could attach to any
one at all with regard to the duty in question, those to whom their
orders had been given were the sole persons they could hold
responsible. "But," they went on to say, "we will not, because these
very persons have denounced us, 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 alone prevented the burial of the dead and the
rescue of the living." In proof of their contention, they produced the
pilots and numerous other witnesses from among those present at the
engagement. By these arguments they were in a fair way to persuade the
people of their innocence. Indeed many private citizens rose wishing
to become bail for the accused, but it was resolved to defer decision
till another meeting of the assembly. It was indeed already so late
that it would have been impossible to see to count the show of hands.
It was further resolved that the senate meanwhile should prepare a
measure, to be introduced at the next assembly, as to the mode in
which the accused should take their trial.

[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 gatherings
of fathers and kinsfolk. Accordingly the party of Theramenes procured
numbers of people clad in black apparel, and close-shaven,[6] who were
to go in and present themselves before the public assembly in the
middle of the festival, as relatives, presumably, of the men who had
perished; and they persuaded Callixenus to accuse the generals in the
senate. The next step was to convoke the assembly, when the senate
laid before it the proposal just passed by their body, at the instance
of Callixenus, which ran as follows: "Seeing that both the parties to
this case, to wit, the prosecutors of the generals on the one hand,
and the accused themselves in their defence on the other, have been
heard in the late meeting of the assembly; we propose that the people
of Athens now record their votes, one and all, by their tribes; that a
couple of voting urns be placed for the convenience of each several
tribe; and the public crier in the hearing of each several tribe
proclaim the mode of voting as follows: 'Let every one who finds the
generals guilty of not rescuing the heroes of the late sea fight
deposit his vote in urn No. 1. Let him who 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 be the penalty. Let the guilty
persons be delivered over to the eleven. Let their property be
confiscated to the State, with the exception of one tithe, 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 had
escaped drowning by clinging to a meal tub. The poor fellows perishing
around him had commissioned him, if he succeeded in saving himself, to
tell the people of Athens how bravely they had fought for their
fatherland, and how the generals had left them there to drown.

Presently Euryptolemus, the son of Peisianax, and others served a
notice of indictment on Callixenus, insisting that his proposal was
unconstitutional, and this view of the case was applauded by some
members of the assembly. But the majority kept crying out that it was
monstrous if the people were to be hindered by any stray individual
from doing what seemed to them right. And when Lysicus, embodying the
spirit of those cries, formally proposed that if these persons would
not abandon their action, they should be tried by the same vote along
with the generals: a proposition to which the mob gave vociferous
assent; and so these were compelled to abandon their summonses. Again,
when some of the Prytanes[7] objected to put a resolution to the vote
which was in itself unconstitutional, Callixenus again got up and
accused them in the same terms, and the shouting began again. "Yes,
summons all who refuse," until the Prytanes, in alarm, all agreed with
one exception to permit the voting. This obstinate dissentient was
Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, who insisted that he would do
nothing except in accordance with the law.[8] After this Euryptolemus
rose and spoke in behalf of the 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
a close and intimate connection of my own, and Diomedon, who is my
friend, and partly to urge certain considerations on their behalf, but
chiefly to press upon you what seems to me the best course for the
State collectively. I hold them to blame in that they dissuaded their
colleagues from their intention to send a despatch to the senate and
this assembly, which should have informed you of the orders given to
Theramenes and Thrasybulus to take forty-seven ships of war and pick
up the shipwrecked crews, and of the neglect of the two officers to
carry out those orders. And it follows that though the offence was
committed by one or two, the responsibility must be shared by all; and
in return for kindness in the past, they are in danger at present of
sacrificing their lives to the machinations of these very men, and
others whom I could 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; if you will only adopt such a course as shall enable
you best to discover the truth and shall save you from too late
repentance, when you find you have transgressed irremediably against
heaven and your own selves. In what I urge there is no trap nor plot
whereby you can be deceived by me or any other man; it is a
straightforward course which will enable you to discover and punish
the offender by whatever process you like, collectively or
individually. Let them have, if not more, at any rate one whole day to
make what defence they can for themselves; and trust to your own
unbiased judgment to guide you to the right conclusion.

"You know, men of Athens, the exceeding stringency of the decree of
Cannonus,[9] which orders that man, whosoever he be, who is guilty of
treason against the people of Athens, to be put in irons, and so to
meet the charge against him before the people. If he be convicted, he
is to be thrown into the Barathron and perish, and the property of
such an one is to be confiscated, with the exception of the tithe
which falls to the goddess. I call upon you to try these generals in
accordance with this decree. Yes, and so help me God--if it please
you, begin with my own kinsman Pericles for base would it be on my
part to make him of more account than the whole of the State. Or, if
you prefer, try them by that other law, which is directed against
robbers of temples and betrayers of their country, which says: if a
man betray his city or rob a sacred temple of the gods, he shall be
tried before a law court, and if he be convicted, his body shall not
be buried in Attica, and his goods shall be 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 three portions of a day be
assigned to each respectively, one portion wherein they shall listen
to their accusation, a second wherein they shall make their defence,
and a third wherein you shall meet and give your votes in due order on
the question of their guilt or innocence. By this procedure the
malefactors will receive the desert of their misdeeds in full, and
those who are innocent will owe you, men of Athens, the recovery of
their 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,
you will show that you obey the dictates of pious feeling, and can
regard the sanctity of an oath, instead of joining hands with our
enemies the Lacedaemonians and fighting their battles. For is it not
to fight their battles, if you take their conquerors, the men who
deprived them of seventy vessels, and at the moment of victory sent
them to perdition untried and in the teeth of the law? What are you
afraid of, that you press forward with such hot haste? Do you imagine
that you may be robbed of the power of life and death over whom you
please, should you condescend to a legal trial? but that you are safe
if you take shelter behind an illegality, like the illegality of
Callixenus, when he worked upon the senate to propose to this assembly
to deal with the accused by a single vote? But consider, you may
actually put to death an innocent man, and then repentance will one
day visit you too late. Bethink you how painful and unavailing remorse
will then be, and more particularly if your error has cost a fellow-
creature his life. What a travesty of justice it would be if in the
case of a man like Aristarchus,[11] who first tried to destroy the
democracy and then betrayed Oenoe to our enemy the Thebans, you
granted him a day for his defence, consulting his wishes, and conceded
to him all the other benefits of the law; whereas now you are
proposing to deprive of these same privileges your own generals, who
in every way conformed to your views and defeated your enemies. 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 your greatness.
Guard them jealously; in nothing, I implore you, act without their
sanction.

[11] See below, II. iii; also cf. Thuc. viii. 90, 98.

"But now, turn for a moment and consider with me the actual
occurrences which have created the suspicion of misconduct on the part
of our late generals. The sea-fight had been fought and won, and the
ships had returned to land, when Diomedon urged that the whole
squadron should sail out in line and pick up the wrecks and floating
crews. Erasinides was in favour of all the vessels sailing as fast as
possible to deal with the enemy's forces at Mitylene. And Thrasylus
represented that both objects could be effected, by leaving one
division of the fleet there, and with the rest sailing against the
enemy; and if this resolution were agreed to, he advised that each of
the eight generals should leave three ships of his own division with
the ten vessels of the taxiarchs, the ten Samian vessels, and the
three belonging to the navarchs. These added together make forty-
seven, four for each of the lost vessels, twelve in number. Among the
taxiarchs left behind, two were Thrasybulus and Theramenes, the men
who in the late meeting of this assembly undertook to accuse the
generals. With the remainder of the fleet they were to sail to attack
the enemy's fleet. Everything, you must admit, was duly and admirably
planned. It was only common justice, therefore, that those whose duty
it was to attack the enemy should render an account for all
miscarriages of operations against the enemy; while those who were
commissioned to pick up the dead and dying should, if they failed to
carry out the instructions of the generals, be put on trial to explain
the reasons of the failure. This indeed I may say in behalf of both
parites. It was really the storm which, in spite of what the generals
had planned, prevented anything being done. There are witnesses ready
to attest the truth of this: the men who escaped as by a miracle, and
among these one of these very generals, who was on a sinking ship and
was saved. And this man, who needed picking up as much as anybody at
that moment, is, they insist, to be tried by one and the same vote as
those who neglected to perform their orders! Once more, I beg you, men
of Athens, to accept your victory and your good fortune, instead of
behaving like the desperate victims of misfortune and defeat.
Recognise the finger of divine necessity; do not incur the reproach of
stony-heartedness by discovering treason where there was merely
powerlessness, and condemning as guilty those who were prevented by
the storm from carrying out their instructions. Nay! you will better
satisfy the demands of justice by crowning these conquerors with
wreaths of victory than by punishing them with death at the
instigation of wicked men."

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

At the show of hands the tellers gave the majority in favour of
Euryptolemus's amendment, but upon the application of Menecles, who
took formal exception[12] to this decision, the show of hands was gone
through again, and now the verdict was in favour of the resolution of
the senate. At a later date the balloting was made, and by the votes
recorded the eight generals were condemned, and the six who were in
Athens 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 a
decree authorising the public prosecution of those who had deceived
the people, and the appointment of proper securities for their persons
until the trial was over. Callixenus was one of those committed for
trail. There were, besides Callixenus, four others against whom true
bills were declared, and they were all five imprisoned by their
sureties. But all subsequently effected their escape before the trial,
at the time of the sedition in which Cleophon[13] was killed.
Callixenus eventually came back when the party in Piraeus returned to
the city, at the date of the amnesty,[14] but only to die of hunger,
an object of universal detestation.

[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 they
were well able to support themselves on the fruits of the season, or
by labouring for hire in different parts of the island, but with the
approach of winter these means of subsistence began to fail. Ill-clad
at the same time, and ill-shod, they fell to caballing and arranging
plans to attack the city of Chios. It was agreed amongst them, that in
order to guage their numbers, every member of the conspiracy should
carry a reed. Eteonicus got wind of the design, but was at a loss how
to deal with it, considering the number of these reed-bearers. To make
an open attack upon them seemed dangerous. It would probably lead to a
rush to arms, in which the conspirators would seize the city and
commence hostilities, and, in the event of their success, everything
hitherto achieved would be lost. Or again, the destruction on his part
of many fellow-creatures and allies was a terrible alternative, which
would place the Spartans in an unenviable light with regard to the
rest of Hellas, and render the soldiers ill-disposed to the cause in
hand. Accordingly he took with him fifteen men, armed with daggers,
and marched through the city. Falling in with one of the reed-bearers,
a man suffering from ophthalmia, who was returning from the surgeon's
house, he put him to death. This led to some uproar, and people asked
why the man was thus slain. By Eteonicus's orders the answer was set
afloat, "because he carried a reed." As the explanation circulated,
one reed-bearer after another threw away the symbol, each one saying
to himself, as he heard the reason given, "I have better not be seen
with this." After a while Eteonicus called a meeting of the Chians,
and imposed upon them a contribution of money, on the ground that with
pay in their pockets the sailors would have no temptation to
revolutionary projects. The Chians acquiesced. Whereupon Eteonicus
promptly ordered his crews to get on board their vessels. He then
rowed alongside each ship in turn, and addressed the men at some
length in terms of encouragement and cheery admonition, just as though
he knew nothing of what had taken place, and so distributed a month's
pay to every man on board.

After this the Chians and the other allies held a meeting in Ephesus,
and, considering the present posture of affairs, determined to send
ambassadors to Lacedaemon with a statement of the facts, and a request
that Lysander might be sent out to take command of the fleet.
Lysander's high reputation among the allies dated back to his former
period of office, when as admiral he had won the naval victory of
Notium. The ambassadors accordingly were despatched, accompanied by
envoys also from Cyrus, charged with the same message. The
Lacedaemonians responded by sending them Lysander as second in
command,[1] with Aracus as admiral, since it was contrary to their
custom that the same man should be admiral 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 to
death. These were sons of the sister of Dariaeus[4] (the daughter of
Xerxes, 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" is
longer than the ordinary sleeve, so long in fact that a man with his
hand inside is rendered helpless. In consequence of this act on the
part of Cyrus, Hieramenes[6] and his wife urged upon Dariaeus the
danger of overlooking such excessive insolence on the part of the
young prince, and Dariaeus, on the plea of sickness, sent a special
embassy to summon Cyrus 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, and
sent for Eteonicus with his ships from Chios, and collected all other
vessels elsewhere to be found. His time was now devoted to refitting
the old ships and having new ones built in Antandrus. He also made a
journey to the court of Cyrus with a request for money. All Cyrus
could say was, that not only the money sent by the king was spent, but
much more besides; and he pointed out the various sums which each of
the admirals had received, but at the same time he gave him what he
asked for. Furnished with this money, Lysander appointed captains to
the different men-of-war, and remitted to the sailors their arrears of
pay. Meanwhile the Athenian generals, on their side, were devoting
their energies to the 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
which the envoy from his father had arrived with the message: "Your
father is on his sick-bed and desires your presence." The king lay at
Thamneria, in Media, near the territory of the Cadusians, against whom
he had marched to put down a revolt. When Lysander presented himself,
Cyrus was urgent with him not to engage the Athenians at sea unless he
had many more ships than they. "The king," he added, "and I have
plenty of wealth, 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 which belonged to him personally, and gave him the ready money
which he had as a gift; and finally, reminding him of the sincere
friendship he entertained towards the state of Lacedaemon, as well as
to himself personally, he set out up country to visit his father.
Lysander, finding himself thus left with the complete control of the
property of Cyrus (during the absence of that prince, so summoned to
the bedside of his father), was able to distribute pay to his troops,
after which he set sail for the Ceramic Gulf of Caria. Here he stormed
a city in alliance with the Athenians named Cedreae, and on the
following day's assault took it, and reduced the inhabitants to
slavery. These were of a mixed Hellene and barbaric stock. From
Cedreae he continued his voyage to Rhodes. The Athenians meanwhile,
using Samos as their base of operations, were employed in devastating
the king's territory, or in swooping down upon Chios and Ephesus, and
in general were preparing for a naval battle, having but lately chosen
three new generals in addition to those already in office, whose names
were Menander, Tydeus, and Cephisodotus. Now Lysander, leaving Rhodes,
and coasting along Ionia, made his way to the Hellespont, having an
eye to the passage of vessels through the Straits, and, in a more
hostile sense, on the cities which had revolted from Sparta. The
Athenians also set sail from Chios, but stood 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
to Lampsacus, which town was allied with Athens; the men of Abydos and
the rest of the troops advancing by land, under the command of the
Lacedaemonian Thorax. They then attacked and took by storm the town,
which was wealthy, and with its stores of wine and wheat and other
commodities was pillaged by the soldiery. All free-born persons,
however, were without exception released by Lysander. And now the
Athenian fleet, following close on his heels, came to moorings at
Elaeus, in the Chersonesus, one hundred and eighty sail in all. It was
not until they had reached this place, and were getting their early
meal, that the news of what had happened at Lampsacus reached them.
Then they instantly set sail again to Sestos, and, having halted long
enough merely to take in stores, sailed on further to Aegospotami, a
point facing 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
streak of dawn, Lysander gave the signal for the men to take their
breakfasts and get on board their vessels; and so, having got all
ready for a naval engagement, with his ports closed and movable
bulwarks attached, he issued the order that no one was to stir from
his post or put out to sea. As the sun rose the Athenians drew up
their vessels facing the harbour, in line of battle ready for action;
but Lysander declining to come out to meet them, as the day advanced
they retired again to Aegospotami. Then Lysander ordered the swiftest
of his ships to follow the Athenians, and as soon as the crews had
disembarked, to watch what they did, sail back, and report to him.
Until these look-outs returned he would permit no disembarkation from
his ships. This performance he repeated for four successive days, and
each day the Athenians put out to sea and challenged an engagement.

But now Alcibiades, from one of his fortresses, could espy the
position of his fellow-countrymen, moored on an open beach beyond
reach of any city, and forced to send for supplies to Sestos, which
was nearly two miles distant, while their enemies were safely lodged
in a harbour, with a city adjoining, and everything within reach. The
situation did not please him, and he advised them to shift their
anchorage to Sestos, where they would have the advantage of a harbour
and a city. "Once there," he concluded, "you can engage the enemy
whenever it suits you." But the generals, and more particularly Tydeus
and Menander, bade him go about his business. "We are generals now--
not you," they said; and so he went away. And now for five days in
succession the Athenians had sailed out to offer battle, and for the
fifth time retired, followed by the same swift sailors of the enemy.
But this time Lysander's orders to the vessels so sent in pursuit
were, that as soon as they saw the enemy's crew fairly disembarked and
dispersed along the shores of the Chersonesus (a practice, it should
be mentioned, which had grown upon them from day to day owing to the
distance at which eatables had to be purchased, and out of sheer
contempt, no doubt, of Lysander, who refused to accept battle), they
were to begin their return voyage, and when in mid-channel to hoist a
shield. The orders were punctually carried out, and Lysander at once
signalled to his whole squadron to put across with all speed, while
Thorax, with the land forces, was to march parallel with the fleet
along the coast. Aware of the enemy's fleet, which he could see
bearing down upon him, Conon had only time to signal to the crews 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 had only two
out of their three banks of rowers, some only a single one, while
others again were completely empty. Conon's own ship, with seven
others in attendance on him and the "Paralus,"[9] put out to sea, a
little cluster of nine vessels, with their full complement of men; but
every one of the remaining one hundred and seventy-one vessels were
captured by Lysander on the beach. As to the men themselves, the large
majority of them were easily made prisoners on shore, a few only
escaping to the small fortresses of the neighbourhood. Meanwhile Conon
and his nine vessels made good their escape. For himself, knowing that
the fortune of Athens was ruined, he put into Abarnis, the promontory
of Lampsacus, and there picked up the great sails of Lysander's ships,
and then with eight ships set sail himself to seek refuge with
Evagoras in Cyprus, while the "Paralus" started for Athens with
tidings of what had taken 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 other
spoil back to Lampsacus, having on board some of the Athenian
generals, notably Philocles and Adeimantus. On the very day of these
achievements he despatched Theopompus, a Milesian privateersman, to
Lacedaemon to report what had taken place. This envoy arrived within
three days and delivered his message. Lysander's next step was to
convene the allies and bid them deliberate as to the treatment of the
prisoners. Many were the accusations here levied against the
Athenians. There was talk of crimes committed against the law of
Hellas, and of cruelties sanctioned by popular decrees; which, had
they conquered in the late sea-fight, would have been carried out;
such as the proposal to cut off the right hand of every prisoner taken
alive, and lastly the ill-treatment of two captured men-of-war, a
Corinthian and an Andrian vessel, when every man on board had been
hurled headlong down the cliff. Philocles was the very general of the
Athenians who had so ruthlessly destroyed those men. Many other tales
were told; and at length a resolution was passed to put all the
Athenian prisoners, with the exception of Adeimantus, to death. He
alone, it was pleaded, had taken exception to the proposal to cut off
the prisoners' hands. On the other hand, he was himself accused by
some people of having betrayed the fleet. As to Philocles, Lysander
put to him one question, as the officer who had thrown[10] the
Corinthians and Andrians down the cliff: What fate did the man deserve
to suffer who had embarked on so cruel a course of illegality against
Hellenes? and so delivered him to the executioner.

[10] Reading {os . . . katekremnise}.

II

When he had set the affairs of Lampsacus in order, Lysander sailed to
Byzantium and Chalcedon, where the inhabitants, having first dismissed
the Athenian garrison under a flag of truce, admitted him within their
walls. Those citizens of Byzantium, who had betrayed Byzantium into
the hands of Alcibiades, fled as exiles into Pontus, but subsequently
betaking themselves to Athens, became Athenian citizens. In dealing
with the Athenian garrisons, and indeed with all Athenians wheresoever
found, Lysander made it a rule to give them safe conduct to Athens,
and to Athens only, in the certainty that the larger the number
collected within the city and Piraeus, the more quickly the want of
necessaries of life would make itself felt. And now, leaving
Sthenelaus, a Laconian, as governor-general of Byzantium and
Chalcedon, he sailed back himself to Lampsacus 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, it
swept and swelled, as each man to his neighbour passed on the news. On
that night no man slept. There was mourning and sorrow for those that
were lost, but the lamentation for the dead was merged in even deeper
sorrow for themselves, as they pictured the evils they were about to
suffer, the like of which they themselves had inflicted upon the men
of Melos, who were colonists of the Lacedaemonians, when they mastered
them by siege. Or on the men of Histiaea; on Scione and Torone; on the
Aeginetans, and many another Hellene city.[1] On the following day the
public assembly met, and, after debate, it was resolved to block up
all the harbours save one, to put the walls in a state of defence, to
post guards at various points, and to make all other necessary
preparations for 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
arrived at Lesbos, where he established a new order of things in
Mitylene and the other cities of the island. Meanwhile he despatched
Eteonicus with a squadron of ten ships to the northern coasts,[2]
where that officer brought about a revolution of affairs which placed
the whole region in the hands of Lacedaemon. Indeed, in a moment of
time, after the sea-fight, the whole of Hellas had revolted from
Athens, with the solitary exception of the men of Samos. These, having
massacred the notables,[3] held the state under their control. After a
while Lysander sent messages to Agis at Deceleia, and to Lacedaemon,
announcing his approach 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 of
Lacedaemon, a levy in force of the Lacedaemonians and all the rest of
Peloponnesus, except the Argives, was set in motion for a campaign. As
soon as the several contingents had arrived, the king put himself at
their head and marched against Athens, encamping in the gymnasium of
the Academy,[4] as it is called. Lysander had now reached Aegina,
where, having got together as many of the former inhabitants as
possible, he formally reinstated them in their city; and what he did
in behalf of the Aeginetans, he did also in behalf of the Melians, and
of the rest who had been deprived of their countries. He then pillaged
the island of Salamis, and finally came to moorings off Piraeus with
one hundred and fifty ships of the line, and established a strict
blockade against all merchant 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 in
sore perplexity what to do. Without ships, without allies, without
provisions, the belief gained hold upon them that there was no way of
escape. They must now, in their turn, suffer what they had themselves
inflincted upon others; not in retaliation, indeed, for ills received,
but out of sheer insolence, overriding the citizens of petty states,
and for no better reason than that these were allies of the very men
now at their gates. In this frame of mind they enfranchised those who
at any time had lost their civil rights, and schooled themselves to
endurance; and, albeit many succumbed to starvation, no thought of
truce or reconciliation with their foes was breathed.[5] But when the
stock of corn was absolutely insufficient, they sent an embassage to
Agis, proposing to become allies of the Lacedaemonians on the sole
condition of keeping their fortification walls and Piraeus; and to
draw up articles of treaty on these terms. Agis bade them betake
themselves to Lacedaemon, seeing that he had no authority to act
himself. With this answer the ambassadors returned to Athens, and were
forthwith sent on to Lacedaemon. On reaching Sellasia,[6] a town in[7]
Laconian territory, they waited till they got their answer from the
ephors, who, having learnt their terms (which were identical to those
already proposed to Agis), bade them instantly to be gone, and, if
they really desired peace, to come with other proposals, the fruit of
happier reflection. Thus the ambassadors returned home, and reported
the result of their embassage, whereupon despondency fell upon all. It
was a painful reflection that in the end they would be sold into
slavery; and meanwhile, pending the return of a second embassy, many
must needs fall victims to starvation. The razing of their
fortifications was not a solution which any one cared to recommend. A
senator, Archestratus, had indeed put the question in the senate,
whether it were not best to make peace with the Lacedaemonians on such
terms as they were willing to propose; but he was thrown into prison.
The Laconian proposals referred to involved the destruction of both
long walls for a space of more than a mile. And a decree had been
passed, making it illegal to submit any such proposition about the
walls. Things having reached this pass, Theramenes made a proposal in
the public assembly as follows: If they chose to send him as an
ambassador to Lysander, he would go and find out why the
Lacedaemonians were so unyielding about the walls; whether it was they
really intended to enslave the city, or merely that they wanted a
guarantee of good faith. Despatched accordingly, he lingered on with
Lysander for three whole months and more, watching for the time when
the Athenians, at the last pinch of starvation, would be willing to
accede to any terms that might be offered. At last, in the fourth
month, he returned and reported to the public assembly that Lysander
had detained him all this while, and had ended by bidding him betake
himself to Lacedaemon, since he had no authority himself to answer his
questions, which must be addressed directly to the ephors. After this
Theramenes was chosen with nine others to go to Lacedaemon as
ambassadors with full powers. Meanwhile Lysander had sent an Athenian
exile, named Aristoteles, in company of certain Lacedaemonians, to
Sparta to report to the board of ephors how he had answered
Theramenes, that they, and they 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 being
there questioned as to the reason of their visit, replied that they
had full powers to treat of peace. After which the ephors ordered them
to be summoned to their presence. On their arrival a general assembly
was convened, in which the Corinthians and Thebans more particularly,
though their views were shared by many other Hellenes also, urged the
meeting not to come to terms with the Athenians, but to destroy them.
The Lacedaemonians replied that they would never reduce to slavery a
city which was itself an integral portion of Hellas, and had performed
a great and noble service to Hellas in the most perilous of
emergencies. On the contrary, they were willing to offer peace on the
terms now specified--namely, "That the long walls and the
fortifications of Piraeus should be destroyed; that the Athenian
fleet, with the exception of twelve vessels, should be surrendered;
that the exiles should be restored; and lastly, that the Athenians
should acknowledge the headship of Sparta in peace and war, leaving to
her the choice of friends and foes, and following her lead by land and
sea." Such were the terms which Theramenes and the rest who acted with
him were able to report on their return to Athens. As they entered the
city, a vast crowd met them, trembling lest their mission have proved
fruitless. For indeed delay was no longer possible, so long already
was the list of victims daily perishing from starvation. On the day
following, the ambassadors delivered their report, stating the terms
upon which the Lacedaemonians were willing to make peace. Theramenes
acted as spokesman, insisting that they ought to obey the
Lacedaemonians and pull down the walls. A small minority raised their
voice in opposition, but the majority were strongly in favour of the
proposition, and the resolution was passed to accept the peace. After
that, Lysander sailed into the Piraeus, and the exiles were
readmitted. And so they fell to levelling the fortifications and walls
with much enthusiasm, to the accompaniment of female flute-players,
deeming that day the beginning of liberty to Greece.

Thus the year drew to its close[8]--during its middle months took
place the accession of Dionysius, the son of Hermocrates the
Syracusan, to the tyranny of Syracuse; an incident itself preceded by
a victory gained over the Carthaginians by the Syracusans; the
reduction of Agrigentum through famine by the Carthaginians
themselves; and the exodus of the Sicilian 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 resolution to
choose thirty men who were to draft a constitution based on the
ancestral laws of the State. The following were chosen to act on this
committee:--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
withdrew the land force from Deceleia and disbanded the troops,
dismissing the contingents 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] that
Lycophron of Pherae, who was ambitious of ruling over the whole of
Thessaly, defeated those sections of the Thessalians who opposed him,
such as the men of Larissa and others, and slew many of them. It was
also about this date that Dionysius, now tyrant of Syracuse, was
defeated by the Carthaginians and lost Gela and Camarina. And again, a
little later, the men of Leontini, who previously had been amalgamated
with 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
introduction of 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
first unwilling to come to terms. But at the last moment, when
Lysander was on the point of assaulting the town, they accepted the
terms, which allowed every free man to leave the island, but not to
carry away any part of his property, except the clothes on his back.
On these conditions they marched out. The city and all it contained
was then delivered over to its ancient citizens by Lysander, who
finally appointed ten governors to garrison the island.[3] After
which, he disbanded the allied fleet, dismissing them to their
respective cities, while he himself, with the Lacedaemonian squadron,
set sail for Laconia, bringing with him the prows of the conquered
vessels and the whole navy of Piraeus, with the exception of twelve
ships. He also brought the crowns which he had received from the
cities as private gifts, and a sum of four hundred and seventy
talents[4] in silver (the surplus of the tribute money which Cyrus had
assigned to him for the prosecution of the war), besides other
property, the fruit of his military exploits. All these things
Lysander delivered 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 and
the fortifications round Piraeus had been razed. They were chosen for
the express purpose of compiling a code of laws for the future
constitution of the State. The laws were always on the point of being
published, yet they were never forthcoming; and the thirty compilers
contented themselves meanwhile with appointing a senate and the other
magistracies as suited their fancy best. That done, they turned their
attention, in the first instance, to such persons as were well known
to have made their living as informers[6] under the democracy, and to
be thorns in the side of all respectable people. These they laid hold
on and prosecuted on the capital charge. The new senate gladly
recorded its vote of condemnation against them; and the rest of the
world, conscious of bearing no resemblance to them, seemed scarcely
vexed. But the Thirty did not stop there. Presently they began to
deliberate by what means they could get the city under their absolute
control, in order that they might work their will upon it. Here again
they proceeded tentatively; in the first instance, they sent (two of
their number), Aeschines and Aristoteles, to Lacedaemon, and persuaded
Lysander to support them in getting a Lacedaemonian garrison
despatched to Athens. They only needed it until they had got the
"malignants" out of the way, and had established the constitution; and
they would undertake to maintain these troops at their own cost.
Lysander was not deaf to their persuasions, and by his co-operation
their request was granted. A bodyguard, with Callibius 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 flattering
Callibius with all servile flattery, in order that he might give
countenance to their doings. Thus they prevailed on him to allow some
of the guards, whom they selected, to accompany them, while they
proceeded to lay hands on whom they would; no longer confining
themselves to base folk and people of no account, but boldly laying
hands on those who they felt sure would least easily brook being
thrust aside, or, if a spirit of opposition seized them, could command
the largest number of partisans.

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 as
Critias was ready to rush headlong into wholesale carnage, like one
who 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
respectable people in their lives, simply because they had enjoyed
influence and honour 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 take the lion's share, but to get rid of those who are
best able to hinder us. If you imagine, because we are thirty instead
of one, our government requires one whit the less careful guarding
than an actual tyranny, you must be very innocent."

So things went on. Day after day the list of persons put to death for
no just reason grew longer. Day after day the signs of resentment were
more significant in the groups of citizens banding together and
forecasting the character of this future constitution; till at length
Theramenes spoke again, protesting:--There was no help for it but to
associate with themselves a sufficient number of persons in the
conduct of affairs, or the oligarchy would certainly come to an end.
Critias and the rest of the Thirty, whose fears had already converted
Theramenes into a dangerous popular idol, proceeded at once to draw up
a list of three thousand citizens; fit and proper persons to have a
share in the conduct of affairs. But Theramenes was not wholly
satisfied, "indeed he must say, for himself, he regarded it as
ridiculous, that in their effort to associate the better classes with
themselves in power, they should fix on just that particular number,
three thousand, as if that figure had some necessary connection with
the exact number of gentlemen in the State, making it impossible to
discover any respectability outside or rascality within the magic
number. And in the second place," he continued, "I see we are trying
to do two things, diametrically opposed; we are manufacturing a
government, which is based on force, and at the same time inferior in
strength to those whom we propose to govern." That was what he said,
but what his colleagues did, was to institute a military inspection or
review. The Three Thousand were drawn up in the Agora, 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 was given;[7] but while
the men's backs were turned, at the bidding of the Thirty, the
Laconian guards, with those of the citizens who shared their views,
appeared on the scene and took away the arms of all except the Three
Thousand, carried them up to the Acropolis, and safely deposited them
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 had
it in their power to do what they pleased, they embarked on a course
of wholesale butchery, to which many were sacrificed to the merest
hatred, many to the accident of possessing riches. Presently the
question rose, How they were to get money to pay their guards? and to
meet this difficulty a resolution was passed empowering each of the
committee to seize on one of the resident aliens apiece, to put his
victim to death, and to confiscate his property. Theramenes was
invited, or rather told to 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 worthy course on the part of those who claimed to be
the elite of society to go beyond the informers[8] in injustice.
"Yesterday they, to-day we; with this difference, the victim of the
informer must live as a source of income; our innocents must die that
we may get their wealth. Surely their method was innocent in
comparison with ours."

[8] See above.

The rest of the Thirty, who had come to regard Theramenes as an
obstacle to 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 the constitution. Then they issued an order to the young men,
picking out the most audacious characters they could find, to be
present, each with a dagger hidden in the hollow of the armpit; and so
called a meeting of the senate. When Theramenes had taken his place,
Critias got up and addressed the meeting:

"If," said he, "any member of this council, here seated, imagines that
an undue amount of blood has been shed, let me remind him that with
changes of constitution such things can not be avoided. It is the rule
everywhere, but more particularly at Athens it was inevitable there
should be found a specially large number of persons sworn foes to any
constitutional change in the direction of oligarchy, and this for two
reasons. First, because the population of this city, compared with
other Hellenic cities, is enormously large; and again, owing to the
length of time during which the people has battened upon liberty. Now,
as to two points we are clear. The first is that democracy is a form
of government detestable to persons like ourselves--to us and to you;
the next is that the people of Athens could never be got to be
friendly to our friends and saviours, the Lacedaemonians. But on the
loyalty of the better classes the Lacedaemonians can count. And that
is our reason for establishing an oligarchical constitution with their
concurrence. That is why we do our best to rid us of every one whom we
perceive to be opposed to the oligarchy; and, in our opinion, if one
of ourselves should elect to undermine this constitution of ours, he
would deserve punishment. Do you not agree? And the case," he
continued, "is no imaginary one. The offender is here present--
Theramenes. And what we say of him is, that he is bent upon destroying
yourselves and us by every means in his power. These are not baseless
charges; but if you will consider it, you will find them amply
established in this unmeasured censure of the present posture of
affairs, and his persistent opposition to us, his colleagues, if ever
we seek to get rid of any of these demagogues. Had this been his
guiding principle of action from the beginning, in spite of hostility,
at least he would have escaped all imputation of villainy. Why, this
is the very man who originated our friendly and confidential relations
with Lacedaemon. This is the very man who authorised the abolition of
the democracy, who urged us on to inflict punishment on the earliest
batch of prisoners brought before us. But to-day all is changed; now
you and we are out of odour with the people, and he accordingly has
ceased to be pleased with our proceedings. The explanation is obvious.
In case of a catastrophe, how much pleasanter for him once again to
light upon his legs, and leave us to 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, in proportion as it is harder to guard against a hidden assassin
than an open foe, but it bears the impress of a more enduring
hostility, inasmuch as men fight their enemies and come to terms with
them again and are fast friends; but whoever heard of reconciliation
with a traitor? There he stands unmasked; he has forfeited our
confidence for evermore. But to show you that these are no new tactics
of his, to prove to you that he is a traitor in grain, I will recall
to your memories some points in his past history.

"He began by being held in high honour by the democracy; but taking a
leaf out of his father's, Hagnon's, book, he next showed a most
headlong anxiety to transform the democracy into the Four Hundred,
and, in fact, for a time held the first place in that body. But
presently, detecting the formation of rival power to the oligarchs,
round he shifted; and we find him next a ringleader of the popular
party in assailing them. It must be admitted, he has well earned his
nickname 'Buskin.'[9] Yes, Theramenes! clever you may be, but the man
who deserves to live should not show his cleverness in leading on his
associates into trouble, and when some obstacle presents itself, at
once veer round; but like a pilot on shipboard, he ought then to
redouble his efforts, until the wind is fair. Else, how in the name of
wonderment are those mariners to reach the haven where they would be,
if at the first contrary wind or tide they turn about and sail in the
opposite direction? Death and destruction are concomitants of
constitutional changes and revolution, no doubt; but you are such an
impersonation of change, that, as you twist and turn and double, you
deal destruction on all sides. At one swoop you are the ruin of a
thousand oligarchs at the hands of the people, and at another of a
thousand democrats at the hands of the better classes. Why, sirs, this
is the man to whom the orders were given by the generals, in the sea-
fight off Lesbos, to pick up the crews of the disabled vessels; and
who, neglecting to obey orders, turned round and accused the generals;
and to save himself murdered them! What, I ask you, of a man who so
openly studied the art of self-seeking, deaf alike to the pleas of
honour and to the claims of friendship? Would not leniency towards
such a creature be misplaced? Can it be our duty at all to spare him?
Ought we not rather, when we know the doublings of his nature, to
guard against them, lest we enable him presently to practise on
ourselves? The case is clear. We therefore hereby cite this man before
you, as a conspirator and traitor against yourselves and us. The
reasonableness of our conduct, one further reflection may make clear.
No one, I take it, will dispute the splendour, the perfection of the
Laconian constitution. Imagine one of the ephors there in Sparta, in
lieu of devoted obedience to the majority, taking on himself to find
fault with the government and to oppose all measures. Do you not think
that the ephors themselves, and the whole commonwealth besides, would
hold this renegade worthy of condign punishment? So, too, by the same
token, if you are wise, do you spare yourselves, not him. For what
does the alternative mean? I will tell you. His preservation will
cause the courage of many who hold opposite views to your own to rise;
his destruction will cut off the last hopes of all your enemies,
whether within 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,
with your permission I will first touch upon the charge against me
which Critias has mentioned last. The assertion is that as the accuser
of the generals I was their murderer. Now I presume it was not I who
began the attack upon them, but it was they who asserted that in spite
of the orders given me I had neglected to pick up the unfortunates in
the sea-fight off Lesbos. All I did was to defend myself. My defence
was that the storm was too violent to permit any vessel to ride at
sea, much more therefore to pick up the men, and this defence was
accepted by my fellow-citizens as highly reasonable, while the
generals seemed to be condemned out of their own mouths. For while
they kept on asserting that it was possible to save the men, the fact
still remained that they abandoned 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 he was not in Athens. He was away in Thessaly, laying the
foundations of a democracy with Prometheus, and arming the
Penestae[11] against their masters. Heaven forbid that any of his
transactions there should be re-enacted here. However, I must say, I
do heartily concur with him on one point. Whoever desires to exclude
you from the government, or to strength the hands of your secret foes,
deserves and ought to meet with condign punishment; but who is most
capable of so doing? That you will best discover, I think, by looking
a little more closely into the past and the present conduct of each of
us. Well, then! up to the moment at which you were formed into a
senatorial body, when the magistracies were appointed, and certain
notorius 'informers' were brought to trial, we all held the same
views. But later on, when our friends yonder began to 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 he had not
committed the shadow of a crime, I knew that all his equals must
tremble for themselves, and, so trembling, be driven into opposition
to the new constitution. In the same way, when Niceratus,[13] the son
of Nicias, was arrested; a wealthy man, who, no more than his father,
had never done anything that could be called popular or democratic in
his life; it did not require much insight to discover that his
compeers would be converted into our foes. But to go a step further:
when it came to Antiphon[14] falling at our hands--Antiphon, who
during the war contributed two fast-sailing men-of-war out of his own
resources, it was then plain to me, that all who had ever been zealous
and patriotic must eye us with suspicion. Once more I could not help
speaking out in opposition to my colleagues when they suggested that
each of us ought to seize some one resident alien.[15] For what could
be more certain than that their death-warrant would turn the whole
resident foreign population into enemies of the constitution. I spoke
out again when they insisted on depriving the populace of their arms;
it being no part of my creed 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 and destruction merely that we might become a handful
of people, powerless to aid them in the day of need. Had that been
their object, they might have 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, can I say that the importation of mercenary
foreign guards was altogether to my taste, when it would have been so
easy for us to add to our own body a sufficient number of fellow-
citizens to ensure our supremacy as governors over those we essayed to
govern. But when I saw what an army of malcontents this government had
raised up within the city walls, besides another daily increasing host
of exiles without, I could not but regard the banishment of people
like Thrasybulus and Anytus and Alcibiades[16] as impolitic. Had our
object been to strengthen the rival power, we could hardly have set
about it better than by providing the populace with the competent
leaders whom they needed, and the would-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 of
day justly to be regarded as a traitor, and not as a benefactor?
Surely Critias, the peacemaker, the man who hinders the creation of
many enemies, whose counsels tend to the acquistion of yet more
friends,[17] cannot be accused of strengthening the hands of the
enemy. Much more truly may the imputation be retorted on those who
wrongfully appropriate their neighbours' goods and put to death those
who have done no wrong. These are they who cause our adversaries to
grow and multiply, and who in very truth are traitors, not to their
friends only, but to themselves, 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 to
look at the matter thus. With which condition of affairs here in
Athens do you think will Thrasybulus and Anytus and the other exiles
be the better pleased? That which I have pictured as desirable, or
that which my colleagues yonder are producing? For my part I cannot
doubt but that, as things now are, they are saying to themselves, 'Our
allies muster thick and fast.' But were the real strength, the pith
and fibre of this city, kindly disposed to us, they would find it an
uphill task even to get a foothold anywhere in the country.

"Then, with regard to what he said of me and my propensity to be for
ever changing sides, let me draw your attention to the following
facts. Was it not the people itself, the democracy, who voted the
constitution of the Four Hundred? This they did, because they had
learned to think that the Lacedaemonians would trust any other form of
government rather than a democracy. But when the efforts of Lacedaemon
were not a whit relaxed, when Aristoteles, Melanthius, and
Aristarchus,[18] and the rest of them acting as generals, were plainly
minded to construct an intrenched fortress on the mole for the purpose
of admitting the enemy, and so getting the city under the power of
themselves and their associates;[19] because I got wind of these
schemes, and nipped them in the 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 of an
endeavour on my part to fit both parties. But what of the man who
pleases neither? What in heaven's name are we to call him? Yes! you--
Critias? Under the democracy you were looked upon as the most arrant
hater of the people, and under the aristocracy you have proved
yourself the bitterest foe of everything respectable. Yes! Critias, I
am, and ever have been, a foe of those who think that a democracy
cannot reach perfection until slaves and those who, from poverty,
would sell the city for a drachma, can get their drachma a day.[20]
But not less am I, and ever have been, a pronounced opponent of those
who do not think there can possibly exist a perfect oligarchy until
the State is subjected to the despotism of a few. On the contrary, my
own ambition has been to combine with those who are rich enough to
possess a horse and shield, and to use them for the benefit of the
State.[21] That was my ideal in the old days, and I hold to it without
a shadow of turning still. If you can imagine when and where, in
conjunction with despots or demagogues, I have set to my hand to
deprive honest gentlefolk of their citizenship, pray speak. If you can
convict me of such crimes at present, or can prove my perpetration of
them in the past, I admit that I 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 which
followed marked the favourable impression produced upon the senate. It
was plain to Critias, that if he allowed his adversary's fate to be
decided by formal voting, Theramenes would escape, and life to himself
would become intolerable. Accordingly he stepped forward and spoke a
word or two in the ears of the Thirty. This done, he went out and gave
an order to the attendants with the daggers to stand close to the bar
in full view of the senators. Again he entered and addressed the
senate thus: "I hold it to be the duty of a good president, when he
sees the friends about him being made the dupes of some delusion, to
intervene. That at any rate is what I propose to do. Indeed our
friends here standing by the bar say that if we propose to acquit a
man so openly bent upon the ruin of the oligarchy, they do not mean to
let us do so. Now there is a clause in the new code forbidding any of
the Three Thousand to be put to death without your vote; but the
Thirty have power of life and death over all outside that list.
Accordingly," he proceeded, "I herewith strike this man, Theramenes,
off the list; and this with the concurrence of my colleagues. And
now," he continued, "we condemn 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
and justice. Let it not be in the power of Critias to strike off
either me, or any one of you whom he will. But in my case, in what may
be your case, if we are tried, let our trial be in accordance with the
law they have made concerning those on the list. I know," he added,
"but too well, that this altar will not protect me; but I will make it
plain that these men are as impious towards the gods as they are
nefarious towards men. 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 that the 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
the order to the Eleven to seize Theramenes. They at that instant
entered with their satellites--at their head Satyrus, the boldest and
most shameless of the body--and Critias exclaimed, addressing the
Eleven, "We deliver over to you Theramenes yonder, who has been
condemned according to the law. Do you take him and lead him away to
the proper place, and do there with him what remains to do." As
Critias uttered the words, Satyrus laid hold upon Theramenes to drag
him from the altar, and the attendants lent their aid. But he, as was
natural, called upon gods and men to witness what was happening. The
senators the while kept silence, seeing the companions of Satyrus at
the bar, and the whole front of the senate house crowded with the
foreign guards, nor did they need to be told that there were daggers
in reserve among those present.

And so Theramenes was dragged through the Agora, in vehement and loud
tones proclaiming the wrongs that he was suffering. One word, which is
said 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 I be 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 he playfully jerked out the dregs from the bottom of the cup,
like one who plays "Cottabos,"[22] with the words, "This to the lovely
Critias." These are but "apophthegms"[23] too trivial, it may be
thought, to find a place in history. Yet I must deem it an admirable
trait in this man's character, if at such a moment, when death
confronted him, neither his wits forsook him, nor could the childlike
sportiveness vanish from his soul.

[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 latagon toxa 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 tyrant
without fear, issued an order forbidding all, whose names were not on
the list, to set foot within the city. Retirement in the country
districts was no protection, thither the prosecutor followed them, and
thence dragged them, that their farms and properties might fall to the
possession of the Thirty and their friends. Even Piraeus was not safe;
of those who sought refuge there, many were driven forth in similar
fashion, until Megara and Thebes overflowed with the crowd of
refugees.

Presently Thrasybulus, with about seventy followers, sallied out from
Thebes, and made himself master of the fortress of Phyle.[1] The
weather was brilliant, and the Thirty marched out of the city to repel
the invader; with them were the Three Thousand and the Knights. When
they reached the place, some of the young men, in the foolhardiness of
youth, made a dash at the fortress, but without effect; all they got
was wounds, and so retired. The intention of the Thirty now was to
blockade the place; by shutting off all the avenues of supplies, they
thought to force the garrison to capitulate. But this project was
interrupted by a steady downfall of snow that night and the following
day. Baffled by this all-pervading enemy they beat a retreat to the
city, but not without the sacrifice of many of their camp-followers,
who fell a prey to the men in Phyle. The next anxiety of the
government in Athens was to secure the farms and country houses
against the plunderings and forays to which they would be exposed, if
there were no armed force to protect them. With this object a
protecting force was despatched to the "boundary estates,"[2] about
two miles south of Phyle. This corps consisted of the Lacedaemonian
guards, or nearly all of them, and two divisions of horse.[3] They
encamped in a wild and broken district, and the 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 in
Phyle; and with these Thrasybulus one night descended. When he was not
quite half a mile from the enemy's encampment he grounded arms, and a
deep silence was maintained until it drew towards day. In a little
while the men opposite, one by one, were getting to their legs or
leaving the camp for necessary purposes, while a suppressed din and
murmur arose, caused by the grooms currying and combing their horses.
This was the moment for Thrasybulus and his men to snatch up their
arms and make a dash at the enemy's position. Some they felled on the
spot; and routing the whole body, pursued them six or seven furlongs,
killing one hundred and twenty hoplites and more. Of the cavalry,
Nicostratus, "the beautiful," as men called him, and two others
besides were slain; they were 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 horse sent from the city could not discover
the vestige of a foe; but waited on the scene of battle until the
bodies of the slain had been picked up by their relatives, when they
withdrew again to the city.

After this the Thirty, who had begun to realise the insecurity of
their position, were anxious to appropriate Eleusis, so that an asylum
might be ready for them against the day of need. With this view an
order was issued to the Knights; and Critias, with the rest of the
Thirty, visited Eleusis. There they held a review of the Eleusians in
the presence of the Knights;[4] and, on the pretext of wishing to
discover how many they were, and how large a garrison they would
further require, they ordered the townsfolk to enter their names. As
each man did so he had to retire by a postern leading to the sea. But
on the sea-beach this side there were lines of cavalry drawn up in
waiting, and as each man appeared he was handcuffed by the satellites
of the Thirty. When all had so been seized and secured, they gave
orders to Lysimachus, the commander of the cavalry, to take them off
to the city and deliver them over to the Eleven. Next day they
summoned the heavy armed who were on the list, and the rest of the
Knights[5] to the Odeum, and Critias rose and addressed them. He said:
"Sirs, the constitution, the lines of which we are laying down, is a
work undertaken in your interests no less than ours; it is incumbent
on you therefore to participate in its dangers, even as you will
partake of its honours. We expect you therefore, in reference to these
Eleusians here, who have been seized and secured, to vote their
condemnation, so that our hopes and fears may be identical." Then,
pointing to a particular spot, he said peremptorily, "You will please
deposit your votes there within sight of all." It must be understood
that the Laconian guards were present at the time, and armed to the
teeth, and filling one-half of the Odeum. As to the proceedings
themselves, they found acceptance with those members of the State,
besides the Thirty, who could be satisfied with a simple policy of
self-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
one thousand strong, descended from Phyle and reached Piraeus in the
night. The Thirty, on their side, informed of this new move, were not
slow to rally to the rescue, with the Laconian guards, supported by
their own cavalry and hoplites. And so they advanced, marching down
along the broad carriage road which leads into Piraeus. The men from
Phyle seemed at first inclined to dispute their passage, but as the
wide circuit of the walls needed a defence beyond the reach of their
still scanty numbers, they fell back in a compact body upon
Munychia.[6] Then the troops from the city poured into the Agora of
Hippodmus.[7] Here they formed in line, stretching along and filling
the street which leads to the temple of Artemis and the Bendideum.[8]
This line must have been at least fifty shields deep; and in this
formation they at once began to march up. As to the men of Phyle, they
too blocked the street at the opposite end, and facing the foe. They
presented only a thin line, not more than ten deep, though behind
these, certainly, were ranged a body of targeteers and light-armed
javelin men, who were again supported by an artillery of stone-
throwers--a tolerably numerous division drawn from the population of
the port and district itself. While his antagonists were still
advancing, Thrasybulus gave the order to ground their heavy shields,
and having done so himself, whilst retaining the rest of his arms, he
stood in the midst, and thus addressed them: "Men and fellow-citizens,
I wish to inform some, and to remind others of you, that of the men
you see advancing beneath us there, the right division are the very
men we routed and pursued only five days ago; while on the extreme
left there you see the Thirty. These are the men who have not spared
to rob us of our city, though we did no wrong; who have hounded us
from our homes; who have set the seal of proscription on our dearest
friends. But to-day the wheel of fortune has revolved; that has come
about which least of all they looked for, which most of all we prayed
for. Here we stand with our good swords in our hands, face to face
with our foes; and the gods themselves are with us, seeing that we
were arrested in the midst of our peaceful pursuits; at any moment,
whilst we supped, or slept, or marketed, sentence of banishment was
passed upon us: we had done no wrong--nay, many of us were not even
resident in the country. To-day, therefore, I repeat, the gods do
visibly fight upon our side; the great gods, who raise a tempest even
in the midst of calm for our benefit, and when we lay to our hand to
fight, enable our little company 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 steep ascent must needs hinder our foes from
reaching with lance or arrow further than our foremost ranks; but we
with our volley of spears and arrows and stones cannot fail to reach
them with terrible effect. Had we been forced to meet them vanguard to
vanguard, on an equal footing, who could have been surprised? But as
it is, all I say to you is, let fly your missiles with a will in right
brave style. No one can miss his mark when the road is full of them.
To avoid our darts they must be for ever ducking and skulking beneath
their shields; but we will rain blows upon them 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 shall be conscious to himself that
victory was won by him and him alone. Victory--which, God willing,
shall this day restore to us the land of our fathers, our homes, our
freedom, and the rewards of civic life, our children, if children we
have, our darlings, and our wives! Thrice happy those among us who as
conquerors shall look upon this gladdest of all days. Nor less
fortunate the man who falls to-day. Not all the wealth in the world
shall purchase him a monument so glorious. At the right instant I will
strike the keynote of the paean; then, with an invocation to the God
of battle,[9] and in return for the wanton insults they put upon 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 to charge
before one of their side was slain or wounded. "As soon as that
happens," said the seer, "we will lead you onwards, and the victory
shall be yours; but for myself, if I err not, death is waiting." And
herein he spoke truly, for they had barely resumed their arms when he
himself as though he were driven by some fatal hand, leapt out in
front of 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 were victorious, and pursued the routed enemy down to the level
ground. There fell in this engagement, out of the number of the
Thirty, Critias himself and Hippomachus, and with them Charmides,[10]
the son of Glaucon, one of the ten archons in Piraeus, and of the rest
about seventy 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 the men, on either side, in numbers stept forward and
conversed with one another. Then Cleocritus (he was the Herald of the
Initiated,[11] a truly "sweet-voiced herald," if ever there was),
caused a deep silence 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 we have shared with you in the most solemn rites and sacrifices,
and in festivals of the fairest: we have been companions in the
chorus, the school, the army. We have braved a thousand dangers with
you by land and sea in behalf of our common safety, our common
liberty. By the gods of our fathers, by the gods of our mothers, by
the hallowed names of kinship, intermarriage, comradeship, those three
bonds which knit the hearts of so many of us, bow in reverence before
God and man, and cease to sin against the land of our fathers: cease
to obey these most unhallowed Thirty, who for the sake of private gain
have in eight months slain almost more men than the Peloponnesians
together in ten years of warfare. See, we have it in our power to live
as citizens in peace; it is only these men, who lay upon us this most
foul burthen, this hideous horror 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 a bitter 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
were left, unwilling that their troops should listen to such topics at
that moment, led them back to the city. But the next day the Thirty,
in deep down-heartedness and desolation, sat in the council chamber.
The Three Thousand, wherever their several divisions were posted, were
everywhere a prey to discord. Those who were implicated in deeds of
violence, and whose fears could not sleep, protested hotly that to
yield to the party in Piraeus were preposterous. Those on the other
hand who had faith in their own innocence, argued in their own minds,
and tried to convince their neighbours that they could well dispense
with most of their present evils. "Why yield obedience to these
Thirty?" they asked, "Why assign to them the privilege of destroying
the State?" In the end they voted a resolution to depose the
government, and to elect another. This was 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 over
the men in the city, whose anarchy and mutual distrust were rampant.
The Knights did not return to quarters at night, but slept out in the
Odeum, keeping their horses and shields close beside them; indeed the
distrust was so great that from evening onwards they patrolled the
walls on foot with their shields, and at break of day mounted their
horses, at every moment fearing some sudden attack upon them by the
men in Piraeus. These latter were now so numerous, and of so mixed a
company, that it was difficult to find arms for all. Some had to be
content with shields of wood, others of wicker-work, which they spent
their time in coating with whitening. Before ten days had elapsed
guarantees were given, securing full citizenship, with equality of
taxation and tribute to all, even foreigners, who would take part in
the fighting. Thus they were presently able to take the field, with
large detachments both of heavy infantry and light-armed troops,
besides a division of cavalry, about seventy in number. Their system
was to push forward foraging parties in quest of wood and fruits,
returning at nightfall to Piraeus. Of the city party no one ventured
to take the field under arms; only, from time to time, the cavalry
would capture stray pillagers from Piraeus or inflict some damage on
the main body of their opponents. Once they fell in with a party
belonging to the deme Aexone,[12] marching to their own farms in
search of provisions. These, in spite of many prayers for mercy and
the strong disapprobation of many of the knights, were ruthlessly
slaughtered by Lysimachus, the general of cavalry. The men of Piraeus
retaliated by putting to death a horseman, named Callistratus, of the
tribe Leontis, whom they captured in the country. Indeed their courage
ran so high at present that they even meditated an assault upon the
city walls. And here perhaps the reader will pardon the record of a
somewhat ingenious device on the part of the city engineer, who, aware
of the enemy's intention to advance his batteries along the
racecourse, which slopes from the Lyceum, had all the carts and
waggons which were to be found laden with blocks of stone, each one a
cartload in itself, and so sent them to deposit their freights
"pele-mele" on the course in question. The annoyance created by these
separate blocks of stone was enormous, and quite out of proportion to
the simplicity of the contrivance.

[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 Thirty
despatched one set of ambassadors from Eleusis, while another set
representing the government of the city, that is to say the men on the
list, was despatched to summon the Lacedaemonians to their aid, on the
plea that the people had revolted from Sparta. At Sparta, Lysander,
taking into account the possibility of speedily reducing the party in
Piraeus by blockading them by land and sea, and so cutting them off
from all supplies, supported the application, and negotiated the loan
of one hundred talents[13] to his clients, backed by the appointment
of himself as harmost on land, and of his brother, Libys, as admiral
of the fleet. And so proceeding to the scene of action at Eleusis, he
got together a large body of Peloponnesian hoplites, whilst his
brother, the admiral, kept watch and ward by sea to prevent the
importation of supplies into Piraeus by water. Thus the men in Piraeus
were soon again reduced to their former helplessness, while the ardour
of the city folk rose 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 of achievement, about to reach the pinnacle of
popularity, with Athens laid like a pocket dependency at his feet)--
the king persuaded three of the ephors to support him, and forthwith
called out the ban. With him marched contingents of all the allied
States, except the Boeotians and Corinthians. These maintained, that
to undertake such an expedition against the Athenians, in whose
conduct they saw nothing contrary to the treaty, was inconsistent with
their oaths. But if that was the language held by them, the secret of
their behaviour lay deeper; they seemed to be aware of a desire on the
part of the Lacedaemonians to annex the soil of the Athenians and to
reduce the state to vassalage. Pausanias encamped on the
Halipedon,[14] as the sandy flat is called, with his right wing
resting on Piraeus, and Lysander and his mercenaries forming the left.
His first act was to send an embassage to the party in Piraeus,
calling upon them to retire peacably to their homes; when they refused
to obey, he made, as far as mere noise went, the semblance of an
attack, with sufficient show of fight to prevent his kindly
disposition being too apparent. But gaining nothing by the feint, he
was forced to retire. Next day he took two Laconian regiments, with
three tribes of Athenian horse, and crossed over to the Mute[15]
Harbour, examining the lie of the ground to discover how and where it
would be easiest to draw lines of circumvallation round Piraeus. As he
turned his back to retire, a party of the enemy sallied out and caused
him annoyance. Nettled at the liberty, he ordered the cavalry to
charge at the gallop, supported by the ten-year-service[16] infantry,
whilst he himself, with the rest of the troops, followed close,
holding quietly back in reserve. They cut down about thirty of the
enemy's light troops and pursued the rest hotly to the theatre in
Piraeus. Here, as chance would have it, the whole light and heavy
infantry of the Piraeus men were getting under arms; and in an instant
their light troops rushed out and dashed at the assailants; thick and
fast flew missiles of all sorts--javelins, arrows and sling stones.
The Lacedaemonians finding the number of their wounded increasing
every minute, and sorely called, slowly fell back step by step, 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 lie entombed
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
whole of his heavy infantry to support his light troops and quickly
fell into line eight deep, acting as a screen to the rest of his
troops. Pausanias, on his side, had retired, sorely pressed, about
half a mile towards a bit of rising ground, where he sent orders to
the Lacedaemonians and the other allied troops to bring up
reinforcements. Here, on this slope, he reformed his troops, giving
his phalanx the full depth, and advanced against the Athenians, who
did not hesitate to receive him at close quarters, but presently had
to give way; one portion being forced into the mud and clay at
Halae,[18] while the others wavered and broke their line; one hundred
and fifty of them were left dead on the field, whereupon Pausanias set
up a trophy and retired. Not even so, were his feelings embittered
against his adversary. On the contrary he sent secretly and instructed
the men of Piraeus, what sort of terms they should propose to himself
and the ephors in attendance. To this advice they listened. He also
fostered a division in the party within the city. A deputation, acting
on his orders, sought an audience of him and the ephors. It had all
the appearance of a mass meeting. In approaching the Spartan
authorities, they had no desire or occasion, they stated, to look upon
the men of Piraeus as enemies, they would prefer a general
reconciliation and the friendship of both sides with Lacedaemon. The
propositions were favourably received, and by no less a person than
Nauclidas. He was present as ephor, in accordance with the custom
which obliges two members of that board to serve on all military
expeditions with the king, and with his colleague shared the political
views represented by Pausanias, rather than those of Lysander and his
party. Thus the authorities were quite ready to despatch to Lacedaemon
the representatives of Piraeus, carrying their terms of truce with the
Lacedaemonians, as also two private individuals belonging to the city
party, 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 of
representatives to state on their behalf: that they were prepared to
deliver up themselves and the fortifications in their possession to
the Lacedaemonians, to do with them what they liked. "Are the men of
Piraeus," they asked, "prepared to surrender Piraeus and Munychia in
the same way? If they are sincere in their profession of friendship to
Lacedaemon, they ought to do so." The ephors and the members of
assembly at Sparta[19] gave audience to these several parties, and
sent out fifteen commissioners to Athens empowered, in conjunction
with Pausanias, to discover the best settlement possible. The
terms[20] arrived at were that a general peace between the rival
parties should be established, liberty to return to their own homes
being granted to all, with the exception of the Thirty, the Eleven,
and the Ten who had been governors in Piraeus; but a proviso was
added, enabling any of the city party 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 his
army, and the men from Piraeus marched up under arms into the
acropolis and offered sacrifice to Athena. When they were come down,
the generals called a meeting of the Ecclesia,[21] and Thrasybulus
made a speech in which, addressing the city party, he said: "Men of
the city! I have one piece of advice I would tender to you; it is that
you should learn to know yourselves, and towards the attainment of
that self-knowledge I would have you make a careful computation of
your good qualities and satisfy yourselves on the strength of which of
these it is that you claim to rule over us. Is it that you are more
just than ourselves? Yet the people, who are poorer--have never
wronged you for the purposes of plunder; but you, whose wealth would
outweight the whole of ours, have wrought many a shameful deed for the
sake of gain. If, then, you have no monopoly of justice, can it be on
the score of courage that you are warranted to hold your heads so
high? If so, what fairer test of courage will you propose than the
arbitrament of war--the war just ended? Or do you claim superiority of
intelligence?--you, who with all your wealth of arms and walls, money
and Peloponnesian allies, have been paralysed by men who had none of
these things to aid them! Or is it on these Laconian friends of yours
that you pride yourselves? What! when these same friends have dealt by
you as men deal by vicious dogs. You know how that is. They put a
heavy collar round the neck of the brutes and hand them over muzzled
to their masters. So too have the Lacedaemonians handed you over to
the people, this very people whom you have injured; and now they have
turned their backs and are gone. But" (turning to the mass) "do not
misconceive me. It is not for me, sirs, coldly to beg of you, in no
respect to violate your solemn undertakings. I go further; I beg you,
to crown your list of exploits by one final display of virtue. Show
the world that you can be faithful to your oaths, and flawless in your
conduct." By these and other kindred arguments he impressed upon them
that there was no need for anarchy or disorder, seeing that there were
the 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 several
magistrates; the constitution began to work afresh, and civic life was
recommenced. At a subsequent period, on receiving information that the
party at Eleusis were collecting a body of mercenaries, they marched
out with their whole force against them, and put to death their
generals, who came out to parley. These removed, they introduced to
the others their friends and connections, and so persuaded them to
come to terms and be reconciled. The oath they bound themselves by
consisted of a simple asseveration: "We will remember past offences no
more;" and to this 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 a
subsequent date Cyrus sent messengers to Lacedaemon, claiming requital
in kind for the service which he had lately rendered in the war with
Athens.[1] The demand seemed to the ephorate just and reasonable.
Accordingly they ordered Samius,[2] who was admiral at the time, to
put himself at the disposition of Cyrus for any service which he might
require. Samius himself needed no persuasion to carry out the wishes
of Cyrus. With his own fleet, accompanied by that of Cyrus, he sailed
round to Cilicia, and so made it impossible for Syennesis, the ruler
of that province, to oppose Cyrus by land in his advance against the
king his brother.

[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
pages of the Syracusan Themistogenes,[3] who describes the mustering
of the armament, and the advance of Cyrus at the head of his troops;
and then the battle, and death of Cyrus himself, and the consequent
retreat of the 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 sequal 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
in this affair, that Tissaphernes was despatched to Lower Asia by the
king his master. He came as satrap, not only of his own provinces, but
of those which had belonged to Cyrus; and he at once demanded the
absolute submission of the Ionic cities, without exception, to his
authority. These communities, partly from a desire to maintain their
freedom, and partly from fear of Tissaphernes himself, whom they had
rejected in favour of Cyrus during the lifetime of that prince, were
loth to admit the satrap within their gates. They thought it better to
send an embassy to 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 suffer their 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 one
thousand neodamodes[7] (i.e. enfranchised helots) and four thousand
Peloponnesians. In addition to these, Thibron himself applied to the
Athenians for a detachment of three hundred horse, for whose service-
money he would hold himself responsible. The Athenians in answer 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 they went
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 collected
contingents from the Hellenic cities on the continent; for at this
time the word of a Lacedaemonian was law. He had only to command, and
every city 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 he succeeded in protecting from pillage the particular
district in which he 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 their safe return, that he assumed a bolder attitude. He
was now ready to confront Tissaphernes, army against army, on the
level ground, and won over a number of cities. Pergamum came in of her
own accord. So did Teuthrania and Halisarna. These were under the
government of Eurysthenes and Procles,[11] the descendants of
Demaratus the Lacedaemonian, who in days of old had received this
territory as a gift from the Persian monarch in return for his share
in the campaign against Hellas. Gorgion and Gongylus, two brothers,
also gave in their adhesion; they were lords, the one of Gambreum and
Palae-Gambreum, the other of Myrina and Gryneum, four cities which,
like those above named, had originally been gifts from the king to an
earlier Gongylus--the sole Eretrian who "joined the Mede," and in
consequence was banished. Other cities which were too weak to resist,
Thibron took by force of arms. In the case of one he was not so
successful. This was the Egyptian[12] Larisa, as it is called, which
refused to capitulate, and was forthwith invested and subjected to a
regular siege. When all other attempts to take it failed, he set about
digging a tank or reservoir, and in connection with the tank an
underground channel, by means of which he proposed to draw off the
water supply of the inhabitants. In this he was baffled by frequent
sallies of the besieged, and a continual discharge of timber and
stones into the cutting. He retaliated by the construction of a wooden
tortoise which he erected over the tank; but once more the tortoise
was burnt to a cinder in a successful night attack on the part of the
men of Larisa. These ineffectual efforts induced the ephors to send a
despatch bidding Thibron 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 into
Caria, when Dercylidas arrived to take command of his army. The new
general was a man whose genius for invention had won him the nickname
of Sisyphus. Thus it was that Thibron returned home, where on his
arrival he was fined and banished, the allies accusing him of allowing
his troops to plunder their friends.

Dercylidas was not slow to perceive and turn to account the jealousy
which subsisted between Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus. Coming to terms
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
was an old story, dating back to a period during the naval command[13]
of Lysander, when he was himself governor in Abydos; where, thanks to
Pharnabazus, he had got into trouble with his superior officer, and
had been made to stand "with his shield on his arm"--a stigma on his
honour which no true Lacedaemonian would forgive, since this is the
punishment of insubordination.[14] For this reason, doubtless,
Dercylidas had the greater satisfaction in marching against
Pharnabazus. From the moment he assumed command there was a marked
difference for the better between his methods and those of his
predecessor. Thus he contrived to conduct his troops 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 held
as a satrapy under him by a Dardanian named Zenis whilst he was alive;
but when Zenis fell sick and died, Pharnabazus made preparation to
give the satrapy to another. Then Mania the wife of Zenis, herself
also a Dardanian, fitted out an expedition, and taking with her gifts
wherewith to make a present to Pharnabazus himself, and to gratify his
concubines and those whose power was greatest with Pharnabazus, set
forth on her journey. When she had obtained audience with him she
spoke as follows: "O Pharnabazus, thou knowest that thy servant my
husband was in all respects friendly to thee; moreover, he paid my
lord the tributes which were 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 to appoint another satrap?--nay but, if in
any matter I please thee not, is it not in thy power to take from me
the government on that day, and to give it to another?" When he had
heard her words, Pharnabazus decided that the woman ought to be
satrap. She, as soon as she was mistress of the territory, never
ceased to render the tribute in due season, even as her husband before
her had done. Moreover, whenever she came to the court of Pharnabazus
she brought him gifts continually, and whenever Pharnabazus went down
to visit her provinces she welcomed him with all fair and courteous
entertainment beyond what his other viceroys were wont 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 no allegiance, she
acquired, on the seaboard, Larisa and Hamaxitus and Colonae--attacking
their walls by aid of Hellenic mercenaries, whilst she herself sat in
her carriage and watched the spectacle. Nor was she sparing of her
gifts to those who won her admiration; and thus she furnished herself
with a mercenary force of exceptional splendour. She also went with
Pharnabazus on his campaigns, even when, on pretext of some injury
done to the king's territory, Mysians or Pisidians were the object 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 own
daughter, Meidias--flustered by the suggestions of certain people who
said that it was monstrous a woman should rule and he remain a private
person[17]--found his way into her presence, as the story goes, and
strangled her. For Mania, albeit she carefully guarded herself against
all 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
ready to greet him at all times with open arms. He also murdered her
son, a youth of marvellous beauty, who was about seventeen years of
age. He next seized upon the strong cities of Scepsis and Gergithes,
in which lay for the most part the property and wealth of Mania. As
for the other cities of the satrapy, they would not receive the
usurper, their garrisons keeping them safely for Pharnabazus.
Thereupon Meidias sent gifts to Pharnabazus, and claimed to hold the
district even as Mania had held it; to whom the other answered, "Keep
your gifts and guard them safely until that day when I shall come in
person and take both you and them together"; adding, "What care I to
live longer if I avenge not myself for the murder of Mania!"

[17] Or, "his brains whimsied with insinuations."

Just at the critical moment Dercylidas arrived, and in a single day
received the adhesion of the three seaboard cities Larisa, Hamaxitus,
and Colonae--which threw open their gates to him. Then he sent
messengers to the cities of the Aeolid also, offering them freedom if
they would receive him within their walls and become allies.
Accordingly the men of Neandria and Ilium and Cocylium lent willing
ears; for since the 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 for Pharnabazus, he would receive honour at his hands,
refused to admit Dercylidas. Whereupon the latter, in a rage, prepared
to take the place by force; but when he came to sacrifice, on the
first day the victims would 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 in sacrificing, cherishing wrath the while--
for he was in haste to become master of the whole Aeolid before
Pharnabazus came to the succour of the district.

Meanwhile a certain Sicyonian captain, Athenadas by name, said to
himself: "Dercylidas does but trifle to waste his time here, whilst I
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 the
spring which supplied the city. But the garrison sallied out and
covered the Sicyonian himself with wounds, besides killing two of his
men. Indeed, they plied their swords and missiles with such good
effect that the whole company was forced to beat a retreat. Dercylidas
was not a little annoyed, thinking that now the spirit of the
besiegers would certainly die away; but whilst he was in this mood,
behold! there arrived from the beleaguered fortress emissaries of the
Hellenes, who stated that the action taken by the commandant was not
to their taste; for themselves, they would far rather be joined in
bonds of fellowship with Hellenes than with barbarians. While the
matter was still under discussion there came a messenger also from the
commandant, to say that whatever the former deputation had proposed
he, on his side, was ready to endorse. Accordingly Dercylidas, who, it
so happened, had at length obtained favourable omens on that day,
marched his force without more ado up to the gates of the city, which
were flung open by those within; and so he entered.[18] Here, then, he
was content to appoint a garrison, 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 had
come--sent to Dercylidas, proposing to meet him in conference provided
he might take security of hostages. In answer to this suggestion the
other sent him one man from each of the cities of the allies, and bade
him take his pick of these, whichsoever and how many soever he chose,
as hostages for his own security. Meidias selected ten, and so went
out. In conversation with Dercylidas, he asked him on what terms he
would accept his alliance. The other answered: "The terms are that you
grant the citizens freedom and self-government." The words were
scarcely out of his 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 Athena in the citadel of the Scepsians, turned out the
bodyguards of Meidias, and handed over the city to the citizens. And
so, having admonished them to regulate their civic life as Hellenes
and free men ought, he left the place and continued his advance
against Gergithes. On this last march he was escorted by many of the
Scepsians themselves; such was the honour they paid him and so great
their satisfaction at his exploits. Meidias also followed close at his
side, petitioning that he would hand over the city of Gergithians to
himself. To whom Dercylidas only made reply, that he should not fail
to obtain any of his just rights. And whilst the words were yet upon
his lips, he was drawing close to the gates, with Meidias at his side.
Behind him followed the troops, marching two and two in peaceful
fashion. The defenders of Gergithes from their towers--which were
extraordinarily high--espied Meidias in company of the Spartan, and
abstained from shooting. And Dercylidas said: "Bid them open the
gates, Meidias, when you shall lead the way, and I will enter the
temple along with you and do sacrifice to Athena." And Meidias, though
he shrank from opening the gates, yet in terror of finding himself on
a sudden seized, reluctantly gave the order to open the gates. As soon
as he was entered in, the Spartan, still taking Meidias with him,
marched up to the citadel and there ordered the main body of his
soliders to take up their position round the walls, whilst he with
those about him did sacrifice to Athena. When the sacrifice was ended
he ordered Meidias's bodyguard to pile arms[19] in the van of his
troops. Here for the future they would serve as mercenaries, since
Meidias their former master stood no longer in need of their
protection. The latter, being at his wits' end what to do, exclaimed:
"Look you, I will now leave you; I go to make preparation for my
guest." But the other replied: "Heaven forbid! Ill were it that I who
have offered sacrifice should be treated as a guest by you. I rather
should be the entertainer and 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 he
did," answered the other. "And how many dwelling-houses have you? what
landed estates? how much pasturage?" The other began running off an
inventory, whilst some of the Scepsians who were present kept
interposing, "He is lying to you, Dercylidas." "Nay, you take too
minute a view of matters," replied the Spartan. When the inventory of
the paternal property was completed, he proceeded: "Tell me, Meidias,
to whom 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 of conquest, since Pharnabazus is at war with us.
Will some one of you escort me to the place where the property of
Mania and Pharnabazus lies?" So the rest led the way to the dwelling-
place of Mania which Meidias had taken from her, and Meidias followed
too. When he was entered, Dercylidas summoned the stewards, and
bidding his attendants seize them, gave them to understand that, if
detected stealing anything which belonged to Mania, they would lose
their heads on the spot. The stewards proceeded to point out the
treasures, and he, when he had looked through the whole store, bolted
and barred the doors, affixing his seal, and setting a watch. As he
went out he found at the doors certain 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 eight thousand men--and if we can
win anything besides, there will be so much the more." This he said,
knowing that those who heard it would be all the more amenable to
discipline, and would yield him a more flattering obedience. Then
Meidias asked, "And where am I to live, Dercylidas?" "Where you have
the very best right to live," replied the other, "in your 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 avoid
falling into the fatal error of Thibron and becoming a burthen to his
allies, whilst wintering in a friendly country? how, again, was he to
prevent Pharnabazus from overriding the Hellenic states in pure
contempt with his cavalry? Accordingly he sent to Pharnabazus and put
it to him point-blank: Which will you have, peace or war? Whereupon
Pharnabazus, who could not but perceive that the whole Aeolid had now
been converted practically into a fortified base of operations, which
threatened his own 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 of annoyance, since the Bithynians were perpetually at war with
himself. For the most part, Dercylidas continued to harry[1] Bithynia
in perfect security, and found provisions without stint. Presently he
was joined from the other side of the straits by some Odrysian allies
sent by Seuthes;[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; then having got from Dercylidas some heavy infantry
soldiers to act as guards 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 the Bithynians, having ascertained the actual numbers of the
marauding parties as well as of the Hellenes left as guards behind,
collected in large masses of light troops and cavalry, and attacked
the garrison, who were not more than two hundred strong. As soon as
they came close enough, they began discharging spears and other
missiles on the little body, who on their side continued to be wounded
and shot down, but were quite unable to retaliate, cooped up as they
were within a palisading barely six feet high, until in desperation
they tore down their defences with their own hands, and dashed at the
enemy. These had nothing to do but to draw back from the point of
egress, and being light troops easily escaped beyond the grasp of
heavy-armed men, while ever and again, from one point of vantage or
another, they poured their shower of javelins, and at every sally laid
many a brave man low, till at length, like sheep penned in a fold, the
defenders were shot down almost to a man. A remnant, it is true, did
escape, consisting of some fifteen who, seeing the turn affairs were
taking, had already made off in the middle of the fighting. Slipping
through their assailants' fingers,[4] to the small concern of the
Bithynians, they reached the main Hellenic camp in safety. The
Bithynians, satisfied with their achievement, part of which consisted
in cutting down the tent guards of the Odrysian Thracians and
recovering all their prisoners, made off without delay; so that by the
time the Hellenes got wind of the affair and rallied to the rescue,
they found nothing left in the camp save only the stripped corpses of
the slain. When the Odrysians themselves returned, they fell to
burying their own dead, quaffing copious draughts of wine in their
honour and holding horse-races; but for the future they deemed it
advisable to camp along with the Hellenes. Thus they harried and
burned Bithynia the winter 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 back
upon the Bithynians and came to Lampsacus. Whilst at this place envoys
reached him from the home authorities. These were Aracus, Naubates,
and Antisthenes. They were sent to inquire generally into the
condition of affairs in Asia, and to inform Dercylidas of the
extension of his office for another year. They had been further
commissioned by the ephors to summon a meeting of the soldiers and
inform them that the ephors held them to blame for their former
doings, though for their present avoidance of evil conduct they must
needs praise them; and for the future they must understand that while
no repetition of misdoing would be tolerated, all just and upright
dealing by the allies would receive its meed of praise. The soldiers
were therefore summoned, and the envoys delivered their message, to
which the leader of the Cyreians answered: "Nay, men of Lacedaemon,
listen; we are the same to-day as we were last year; only our general
of to-day is different from our general in the past. If to-day we have
avoided our offence of yesterday, the cause is not far to seek; you
may discover it for youselves."

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
embassy from the men of Chersonese in Lacedaemon. According to their
statement, he added, it was impossible for them to till their land
nowadays, so perpetually were they robbed and plundered by the
Thracians; whereas the peninsula needed only to be walled across from
sea to sea, and there would be abundance of good land to cultivate--
enough for themselves and as many others from Lacedaemon as cared to
come. "So that it would not surprise us," continued the envoys, "if a
Lacedaemonian were actually sent out from Sparta with a force to carry
out the project." Dercylidas kept his ears open but his counsel close,
and so sent forward the commissioners to Ephesus.[5] It pleased him to
picture their progress through the Hellenic cities, and the spectacle
of peace and prosperity which would everywhere greet their eyes. When
he knew that his stay was to be prolonged, he sent again to
Pharnabazus and offered him once more as an alternative either the
prolongation of the winter truce or war. And once again Pharnabazus
chose truce. It was thus that Dercylidas was able to leave the cities
in the neighbourhood of the satrap[6] in peace and friendship.
Crossing the Hellespont himself he brought his army into Europe, and
marching through Thrace, which was also friendly, was entertained 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 a
dozen cities,[8] but was singularly fertile. The soil was of the best,
but ruined by the ravages of the Thracians, precisely as he had been
told. Accordingly, having measured and found the breadth of the
isthmus barely four miles,[9] he no longer hesitated. Having offered
sacrifice, he commenced his line of wall, distributing the area to the
soldiers in detachments, and promising to award them prizes for their
industry--a first prize for the section first completed, and the rest
as each detachment of workers might deserve. By this means the whole
wall begun in spring was finished before autumn. Within these lines he
established eleven cities, with numerous harbours, abundance of good
arable land, and plenty of land under plantation, besides magnificent
grazing grounds for 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 a
tour of inspection, found the cities for the most part in a thriving
condition; but when he came to Atarneus he discovered that certain
exiles from Chios had got possession of the stronghold, which served
them as a convenient base for pillaging and plundering Ionia; and
this, in fact, was their means of livelihood. Being further informed
of the large supplies of grain which they had inside, he proceeded to
draw entrenchments around the place with a view to a regular
investment, and by this means he reduced it in eight months. Then
having appointed Draco of Pellene[10] commandant, he stocked the
fortress with an abundance of provisions of all sorts, to serve him as
a halting-place when he chanced to 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
Tissaphernes and Dercylidas, as also between the Hellenes and the
barbarians in those parts. But the time came when an embassy arrived
at Lacedaemon from the Ionic cities, protesting that Tissaphernes
might, if he chose, leave the Hellenic cities independent. "Our idea,"
they added, "is, that if Caria, the home of Tissaphernes, felt the
pinch of war, the satrap would very soon agree to grant us
independence." The ephors, on hearing this, sent a despatch to
Dercylidas, and bade him cross the frontier with his army into Caria,
whilst Pharax the admiral coasted round with the fleet. These orders
were carried out. Meanwhile a visitor had reached Tissaphernes. This
was not less a person than Pharnabazus. His coming was partly owing to
the fact that Tissaphernes had been appointed general-in-chief, and
party in order to testify his readiness to make common cause with his
brother satrap in fighting and expelling the Hellenes from the king's
territory; for if his heart was stirred by jealousy on account of the
generalship bestowed upon his rival, he was not the less aggrieved at
finding himself robbed of the Aeolid. Tissaphernes, lending willing
ears to the proposal, had answered: "First cross over with me in
Caria, and then we will take counsel on these matters." But being
arrived in Caria, they determined to establish garrisons of some
strength in the various fortresses, and so crossed back again into
Ionia.

Hearing that the satraps had recrossed the Maeander, Dercylidas grew
apprehensive for the district which lay there unprotected. "If
Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus," he said to Pharax, "chose to make a
descent, they could harry the country right and left." In this mind he
followed suit, and recrossed the frontier too. And now as they marched
on, preserving no sort of battle order--on the supposition that the
enemy had got far ahead of them into the district of Ephesus--suddenly
they caught sight of his scouts perched on some monumental structures
facing them. To send up scouts into similar edifices and towers on
their own side was the work of a few moments, and before them lay
revealed the long lines of troops drawn up just where their road lay.
These were the Carians, with their white shields, and the whole
Persian troops there present, with all the Hellenic contingents
belonging to either satrap. Besides these there was a great cloud of
cavalry: on the right wing the squadrons of Tissaphernes, and on the
left those of Pharnabazus.

Seeing how matters lay, Dercylidas ordered the generals of brigade and
captains to form into line as quickly as possible, eight deep, placing
the light infantry on the fringe of battle, with the cavalry--such
cavalry, that is, and of such numerical strength, as he chanced to
have. Meanwhile, as general, he sacrificed.[11] During this interval
the troops from Peloponnese kept quiet in preparation as for battle.
Not so the troops from Priene and Achilleum, from the islands and the
Ionic cities, some of whom left their arms in the corn, which stood
thick and deep in the plain of the Maeander, and took to their heels;
while those who remained at their posts gave evident signs that their
steadiness would not last. Pharnabazus, it was reported, had given
orders to engage; but Tissaphernes, who recalled his experience of his
own exploits with the Cyreian army, and assumed that all other
Hellenes were of similar mettle, had no desire to engage, but sent to
Dercylidas saying, he should be glad to meet him in conference. So
Dercylidas, attended by the pick of his troops, horse and foot, in
personal attendance on himself,[12] went forward to meet the envoys.
He told them that for his own part he had made his preparations to
engage, as they themselves might see, but still, if the satraps were
minded to meet in 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 armies
retired for the night--the Asiatics to Tralles in Caria, the Hellenes
to Leucophrys, where was a temple[13] of Artemis of great sanctity,
and a sandy-bottomed lake more than a furlong in extent, fed by a
spring of ever-flowing water fit for drinking and warm. For the moment
so much was effected. On the next day they met at the place appointed,
and it was agreed that they should mutually ascertain the terms on
which either party was willing to make peace. On his side, Dercylidas
insisted that the king should grant independence to the Hellenic
cities; while Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus demanded the evacuation of
the country by the Hellenic army, and the withdrawal of the
Lacedaemonian governors from the cities. After this interchange of
ideas a truce was entered into, so as to allow time for the reports of
the proceedings to be sent by 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 the
guidance of Dercylidas, the Lacedaemonians at home were at the same
time no less busily employed with other matters. They cherished a
long-standing embitterment against the Eleians, the grounds of which
were that the Eleians had once[14] contracted an alliance with the
Athenians, Argives, and Mantineans; moreover, on pretence of a
sentence registered against the Lacedaemonians, they had excluded them
from the horse-race and gymnastic contests. Nor was that the sum of
their offending. They had taken and scourged Lichas,[15] under the
following circumstances:--Being a Spartan, he had formally consigned
his chariot to the Thebans, and when the Thebans were proclaimed
victors he stepped forward to crown his charioteer; whereupon, in
spite of his grey hairs, the Eleians put those indignities upon him
and expelled him from the festival. Again, at a date subsequent to
that occurrence, Agis being sent to offer sacrifice to Olympian Zeus
in accordance with the bidding of an oracle, the Eleians would not
suffer him to offer prayer for victory in war, asserting that the
ancient law and custom[16] forbade Hellenes to consult the god for war
with Hellenes; and Agis was forced to 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 Assembly
determined "to bring the men of Elis to their senses." Thereupon they
sent an embassy to that state, announcing that the authorities of
Lacedaemon deemed it just and right that they should leave the
country[17] townships in the territory of Elis free and independent.
This the Eleians flatly refused to do. The cities in question were
theirs by right of war. Thereupon the ephors called out the ban. The
leader of the expedition 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 of devastation begun, when an earthquake took place, and
Agis, taking this as a sign from Heaven, marched back again out of the
country and disbanded his army. Thereat the men of Elis were much more
emboldened, and sent embassies to various cities which they knew to be
hostile to the 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 again
called out the ban against Elis, and the invading host of Agis was
this time swelled by the rest of the allies, including the Athenians;
the Boeotians and Corinthians alone excepted. The Spartan king now
entered through Aulon,[20] and the men of Lepreum[21] at once revolted
from the Eleians and gave in their adhesion to the Spartan, and
simultaneously with these the Macistians and their next-door
neighbours the Epitalians. As he crossed the river further adhesions
followed, on the 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 did
sacrifice to Olympian Zeus. There was no attempt to stay his
proceedings now. After sacrifice he marched against the capital,[22]
devastating and burning the country as he went. Multitudes of cattle,
multitudes of slaves, were the fruits of conquest yielded, insomuch
that the fame thereof spread, and many more Arcadians and Achaeans
flocked to join the standard of the invader and to share in the
plunder. In fact, the expedition became one enormous foray. Here was
the chance to fill all the granaries of Peloponnese with corn. When he
had reached the capital, the beautiful suburbs and gymnasia became a
spoil to the troops; but the city itself, though it lay open before
him a defenceless and unwalled town, he kept aloof from. He would not,
rather than could not, take it. Such was the explanation given. Thus
the country was a prey to devastation, 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 that
he might measure the silver coin, inherited from his father, by the
bushel--wishing to be the leading instrument in bringing over the
state to Lacedaemon, rushed out of the house, sword in hand, and began
a work of butchery. Amongst other victims they killed a man who
strongly resembled the leader of the democratic party,
Thrasydaeus.[23] Everyone believed it was really Thrasydaeus who was
slain. The popular party were panic-stricken, and stirred neither hand
nor foot. On their side, the cut-throats poured their armed bands into
the market-place. But Thrasydaeus was laid asleep the while where the
fumes of wine had overpowered him. When the people came to discover
that their hero was not dead, they crowded round his house this side
and that,[24] like a swarm of bees clinging to their leader; and as
soon as Thrasydaeus had put himself in the van, with the people at his
back, a battle was fought, and the people won. And those who had laid
their hands to deeds of 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 was
careful to leave a garrison in Epitalium near that river, with
Lysippus as governor, and the exiles from Elis along with him. Having
done so, he disbanded his army and returned home himself.

B.C. 400-399 (?).[25] During the rest of the summer and the ensuing
winter the territory of the Eleians was ravaged and ransacked by
Lysippus and his troops, until Thrasydaeus, the following summer, sent
to Lacedaemon and agreed to dismantle the walls of Phea and Cyllene,
and to grant autonomy to the Triphylian townships[26]--together with
Phrixa and Epitalium, the Letrinians, Amphidolians, and Marganians;
and besides these 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 had purchased the whole district from its then owners, for thirty
talents,[27] which sum they had actually paid. But the Lacedaemonians,
acting on the principle "that a purchase which forcibly deprives the
weaker party of his possession is no more justifiable than a seizure
by violence," compelled them to emancipate Epeium also. From the
presidency of the temple of Olympian Zeus, however, they did not oust
them; not that it belonged to Elis of ancient right, but because the
rival claimants,[28] it was felt, were "villagers," hardly equal to
the exercise of the presidency. After these concessions, peace and
alliance between the Eleians and the Lacedaemonians were established,
and the war between Elis 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
the spoil. On his return journey he fell ill at Heraea--being by this
time an old man--and was carried back to Lacedaemon. He survived the
journey, but being there arrived, death speedily overtook him. He was
buried with a 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 necessary
to 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 there
chance to be no son, in that case shall the brother of the king be
king." Agesilaus: "Then must I needs be king." Leotychides: "How so,
seeing that I am not dead?" Agesilaus: "Because he whom you call your
father denied you, saying, 'Leotychides is no son of mine.'"
Leotychides: "Nay, but my mother, who would know far better than he,
said, and still to-day says, I am." Agesilaus: "Nay, but the god
himself, Poteidan, laid his finger on thy falsity when by his
earthquake he 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 to the witness of the god; for just ten months from the
moment at which he fled and was no more seen within that chamber, you
were born."[2] So they 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
lame reign." But Diopethes was met by Lysander, who in behalf of
Agesilaus demurred to this interpretation put upon the language of the
god. If they were to beware of a lame reign, it meant not, beware lest
a man stumble and halt, but rather, beware of him in whose veins flows
not the blood of Heracles; most assuredly the kingdom would halt, and
that would be a lame reign in very deed, whensoever the descendants of
Heracles should 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 he
sacrificed one of the appointed sacrifices in behalf of the city,[4]
the soothsayer warned him, saying: "The gods reveal a conspiracy of
the most fearful character"; and when the king sacrificed a second
time, he said: "The aspect of the victims is now even yet more
terrible"; but when he had sacrificed for the third time, the
soothsayer exclaimed: "O Agesilaus, the sign is given to me, even as
though we were in the very midst of the enemy." Thereupon they
sacrificed to the deities who avert evil and work salvation, and so
barely obtained good omens and ceased sacrificing. Nor had five days
elapsed after the sacrifices were ended, ere one came bringing
information to the ephors of a conspiracy, and named Cinadon as the
ringleader; a young man robust of body as of soul, but not one of the
peers.[5] Accordingly the ephors questioned their informant: "How say
you the occurrence is to take place?" and he who gave the information
answered: "Cinadon took me to the limit of the market-place, and bade
me count how many Spartans there were in the market-place; and I
counted--'king, ephors, and elders, and others--maybe forty. But tell
me, Cinadon,' I said to him, 'why have you bidden me count them?' and
he answered me: 'Those men, I would have you know, are your sworn
foes; and all those others, more than four thousand, congregated there
are your natural allies.' Then he took and showed me in the streets,
here one and there two of 'our enemies,' as we chanced to come across
them, and all the rest 'our natural allies'; and so again running
through the list of Spartans to be found in the country districts, he
still kept harping on that string: 'Look you, on each estate one
foeman--the master--and all the rest allies.'" The ephors asked: "How
many do you reckon are in the secret of this matter?" The informant
answered: "On that point also he gave me to understand that there were
by no means many in their secret who were prime movers of the affair,
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 their
demeanour when Spartans chance to be the topic of their talk. Not one
of them can conceal the delight it would give him if he might eat up
every Spartan raw.'"[7] Then, as the inquiry went on, the question
came: "And where did they propose to find arms?" The answer followed:
"He explained that those of us, of course, who are enrolled in
regiments have arms of our own already, and as for the mass--he led
the way to the war foundry, and showed me scores and scores of knives,
of swords, of spits, hatchets, and axes, and reaping-hooks. 'Anything
or everything,' he told me, 'which men use to delve in earth, cut
timber, or quarry stone, would serve our purpose; nay, the instruments
used for other arts would in nine cases out of ten furnish weapons
enough and to spare, especially when dealing with unarmed
antagonists.'" Once more being asked what time the affair was to come
off, he replied his orders were "not to leave the city."

[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's statements were based upon things he had really seen,[8] and
they were so alarmed that they did not even venture to summon the
Little Assembly,[9] as it was named; but holding informal meetings
among themselves--a few senators here and a few there--they determined
to send Cinadon and others of the young men to Aulon, with
instructions to apprehend certain of the inhabitants and helots, whose
names were written on the scytale (or scroll).[10] He had further
instructions to capture another resident in Aulon; this was a woman,
the fashionable beauty of the place--supposed to be the arch-
corruptress of all Lacedaemonians, young and old, who visited Aulon.
It was not the first mission of the sort on which Cinadon had been
employed by the ephors. It was natural, therefore, that the ephors
should entrust him with the scytale on which the names of the suspects
were inscribed; and in answer to his inquiry which of the young men he
was to take with him, they said: "Go and order the eldest of the
Hippagretae[11] (or commanders of horse) to let you have six or seven
who chance to be there." But they had taken care to let the commander
know whom he was to send, and that those sent should also know that
their business was to capture Cinadon. Further, the authorities
instructed Cinadon that they would send three waggons to save bringing
back his captives on foot--concealing as deeply as possible 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 not really know the
extent of the mischief; and they wished, in the first instance, to
learn from Cinadon who his accomplices were before these latter could
discover they were informed against and effect their escape. His
captors were to secure him first, and having learnt from him the names
of his confederates, to write them down and send them as quickly as
possible to the ephors. The ephors, indeed, were so much concerned
about the whole occurrence that they further sent a company of horse
to assist their agents at Aulon.[12] As soon as the capture was
effected, and one of the horsemen was back with the list of names
taken down on the information of Cinadon, they lost no time in
apprehending the soothsayer Tisamenus and the rest who were the
principals in the conspiracy. When Cinadon[13] himself was brought
back and cross-examined, and had made a full confession of the whole
plot, his plans, and his accomplices, they put to him one final
question: "What was your object in undertaking this business?" He
answered: "I wished to be inferior to no man in Lacedaemon." Let that
be as it might, his fate was to be taken out forthwith in irons, just
as he was, and to be placed with his two hands and his neck in the
collar, and so under scourge and goad to be driven, himself and his
accomplices, round the city. Thus upon 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 Syracusan
named Herodas brought news to Lacedaemon. He had chanced to be in
Phoenicia with a certain shipowner, and was struck by the number of
Phoenician triremes which he observed, some coming into harbour from
other ports, others already there with their ships' companies
complete, while others again were still completing their equipments.
Nor was it only what he saw, but he had heard say further that there
were to be three hundred of these vessels all told; whereupon he had
taken passage on the first sailing ship bound for Hellas. He was in
haste to lay this information before the Lacedaemonians, feeling sure
that the king and Tissaphernes were concerned in these preparations--
though where the fleet 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
and anxiety. They summoned a meeting of the allies, and began to
deliberate as to what ought to be done. Lysander, convinced of the
enormous superiority of the Hellenic navy, and with regard to land
forces drawing an obvious inference from the exploits and final
deliverance of the troops with Cyrus, persuaded Agesilaus, to
undertake a campaign into Asia, provided the authorities would furnish
him with thirty Spartans, two thousand of the enfranchised,[2] and
contingents of the allies amounting to six thousand men. Apart from
these calculations, Lysander had a personal object: he wished to
accompany the king himself, and by his aid to re-establish the
decarchies originally set up by himself in the different cities, but
at a later date expelled through the action of the ephors, who had
issued a fiat re-establishing the old order of constitution.

[2] Technically, "neodamodes."

B.C. 396. To this offer on the part of Agesilaus to undertake such an
expedition the Lacedaemonians responded by presenting him with all he
asked for, and six months' provisions besides. When the hour of
departure came he offered all such sacrifices as are necessary, and
lastly those "before crossing the border,"[3] and so set out. This
done, he despatched to the several states[4] messengers with
directions as 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 as Agamemnon had offered sacrifice in that place ere he
set sail for Troy. But when he had reached the place and had begun to
sacrifice, the Boeotarchs[5] being apprised of his design, sent a body
of cavalry and bade him desist from further sacrificing;[6] and
lighting upon victims already offered, they hurled them from off the
altars, scattering the fragments. Then Agesilaus, calling the gods to
witness, got on board his trireme in bitter indignation, and sailed
away. Arrived at Geraestus, he there collected as large a portion of
his troops as possible, and with the 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 the
Spartan king made answer: "With the intention that the cities in Asia
shall be independent even as are the cities in our quarter of Hellas."
In answer to this Tissaphernes said: "If you on your part choose to
make a truce whilst I send ambassadors to the king, I think you may
well arrange the matter, and sail back home again, if so you will."
"Willing enough should I be," replied Agesilaus, "were I not persuaded
that you are cheating me." "Nay, but it is open to you," replied the
satrap, "to exact a surety for the execution of the terms . . .
'Provided always that you, Tissaphernes, carry out what you say
without deceit, we on our side will abstain from injuring your
dominion in any respect whatever during the truce.'"[7] Accordingly in
the presence of three commissioners--Herippidas, Dercylidas, and
Megillus--Tissaphernes took an oath in the words prescribed: "Verily
and indeed, I will effect peace honestly and without guile." To which
the commissioners, on behalf of Agesilaus, swore a counter-oath:
"Verily and indeed, provided Tissaphernes 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 of
adhering to peace he sent up to demand a large army from the king, in
addition to what he already had. But Agesilaus, though he was fully
alive to these proceedings, adhered as rigidly as ever to the truce.

To keep quiet and enjoy leisure was his duty, in the exercise of which
he wore away the time at Ephesus. But in reference to the organisation
of the several states it was a season of vehement constitutional
disturbance in the several cities; that is to say, there were neither
democracies as in the old days of the Athenians, nor yet were there
decarchies as in the days of Lysander. But here was Lysander back
again. Every one recognised him, and flocked to him with petitions for
one favour or another, which he was to obtain for them from Agesilaus.
A crowd of suitors danced attendance on his heels, and formed so
conspicuous a retinue that Agesilaus, any one would have supposed, was
the private person and Lysander the king. All this was maddening to
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
to Agesilaus that the super-regal splendour in which Lysander lived
was a violation of the constitution. So when Lysander took upon
himself to introduce some of his petitioners to Agesilaus, the latter
turned them a deaf ear. Their being aided and abetted by Lysander was
sufficient; he sent them away discomfited. At length, as time after
time things turned out contrary to his wishes, Lysander himself
perceived the position of affairs. He now no longer suffered that
crowd to follow him, and gave those who asked him help in anything
plainly to understand that they would gain nothing, but rather be
losers, by his intervention. But being bitterly annoyed at the
degradation put upon him, he came to the king and said to him: "Ah,
Agesilaus, how well you know the art of humbling your friends!" "Ay,
indeed," the king replied; "those of them whose one idea it is to
appear greater than myself; if I did not know how also to requite with
honour those who work for my good, I should be ashamed." And Lysander
said: "maybe there is more reason in your doings than ever guided my
conduct;" adding, "Grant me for the rest one favour, so shall I cease
to blush at the loss of my influence with you, and you will cease to
be embarrassed by my presence. Send me off on a mission somewhere;
wherever I am I will strive to be of service to you." Such was the
proposal of Lysander. Agesilaus resolved to act upon it, and
despatched Lysander to the Hellespont. And this is what befell.[8]
Lysander, being made aware of a slight which had been put upon
Spithridates the Persian by Pharnabazus, got into conversation with
the injured man, and so worked upon him that he was persuaded to bring
his children and his personal belongings, and with a couple of hundred
troops to revolt. The next step was to deposit all the goods safely in
Cyzicus, and the last to get on shipboard with Spithridates and his
son, and so to present himself with his Persian friends to Agesilaus.
Agesilaus, on his side, was delighted at the transaction, and set
himself at once to get information about Pharnabazus, his territory
and his government.

[8] See "Ages." iii. 3; "Anab." VI. v. 7.

Meanwhile Tissaphernes had waxed bolder. A large body of troops had
been sent down by the king. On the strength of that he declared war
against Agesilaus, if he did not instantly withdraw his troops from
Asia. The Lacedaemonians there[9] present, no less than the allies,
received the news with profound vexation, persuaded as they were that
Agesilaus had no force capable of competing with the king's grand
armament. But a smile lit up the face of Agesilaus as he bade the
ambassadors return to Tissaphernes and tell him that he was much in
his debt for the perjury by which he had won the enmity of Heaven and
made the very gods themselves allies of Hellas. He at once issued a
general order to the troops to equip themselves for a forward
movement. He warned the cities through which he must pass in an
advance upon Caria, to have markets in readiness, and lastly, he
despatched a message to the Ionian, Aeolian, and Hellespontine
communities to send their contingents to join him at Ephesus.

[9] I.e. at Ephesus.

Tissaphernes, putting together the facts that Agesilaus had no cavalry
and that Caria was a region unadapted to that arm, and persuaded in
his own mind also that the Spartan could not but cherish wrath against
himself personally for his chicanery, felt convinced that he was
really intending to invade Caria, and that the satrap's palace was his
final goal. Accordingly he transferred the whole of his infantry to
that province, and proceeded to lead his cavalry round into the plain
of the Maeander. Here he conceived himself capable of trampling the
Hellenes under foot with his horsemen before they could reach the
craggy districts where no cavalry could operate.

But, instead of marching straight into Caria, Agesilaus turned sharp
off in the opposite direction towards Phrygia. Picking up various
detachments of troops which met him on his march, he steadily
advanced, laying cities prostrate before him, and by the
unexpectedness of his attack reaping a golden harvest of spoil. As a
rule the march was prosecuted safely; but not far from Dascylium his
advanced guard of cavalry were pushing on towards a knoll to take a
survery of the state of things in front, when, as chance would have
it, a detachment of cavalry sent forward by Pharnabazus--the corps, in
fact, of Rhathines and his natural brother Bagaeus--just about equal
to the Hellenes in number, also came galloping up to the very knoll in
question. The two bodies found themselves face to face not one hundred
and fifty yards[10] apart, and for the first moment or two stood stock
still. The Hellenic horse were drawn up like an ordinary phalanx four
deep, the barbarians presenting a narrow front of twelve or
thereabouts, and a very disproportionate depth. There was a moment's
pause, and then the barbarians, taking the initiative, charged. There
was a hand-to-hand tussle, in which any Hellene who succeeded in
striking his man shivered his lance with the blow, while the Persian
troopers, armed with cornel-wood javelins, speedly despatched a dozen
men and a couple of horses.[11] At this point the Hellenic cavalry
turned and fled. But as Agesilaus came up to the rescue with his heavy
infantry, the Asiatics were forced in their turn to withdraw, with the
loss of one man slain. This cavalry engagement gave them pause.
Agesilaus on the day following it offered sacrifice. "Was he to
continue his advance?" But the victims proved hopeless.[12] There was
nothing for it after this manifestation but to turn and march towards
the sea. It was clear enough to his mind that without a proper cavalry
force it would be impossible to conduct a campaign in the flat
country. Cavalry, therefore, he must get, or be driven to mere
guerilla warfare. With this view he drew up a list of all the
wealthiest inhabitants belonging to the several cities of those parts.
Their duty would be to support a body of cavalry, with the proviso,
however, that any one contributing a horse, arms, and rider, up to the
standard, would be exempted from personal service. The effect was
instantaneous. The zeal with which the recipients of these orders
responded could hardly have been greater if they had been seeking
substitutes 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 collected
the whole of his army at Ephesus. But the army needed training. With
that object he proposed a series of prizes--prizes to the heavy
infantry regiments, to be won by those who presented their men in the
best condition; prizes for the cavalry regiments which could ride
best; prizes for those divisions of peltasts and archers which proved
most efficient in their respective duties. And now the gymnasiums were
a sight to see, thronged as they were, one and all, with warriors
stripping for exercise; or again, the hippodrome crowded with horses
and riders performing their evolutions; or the javelin men and archers
going through their peculiar drill. In fact, the whole city where he
lay presented under his hands a spectacle not to be forgotten. The
market-place literally teemed with horses, arms, and accoutrements of
all sorts for sale. The bronze-worker, the carpenter, the smith, the
leather-cutter, the painter and embosser, were all busily engaged in
fabricating the implements of war; so that the city of Ephesus itself
was fairly converted into a military workshop.[13] It would have done
a man's heart good to see those long lines of soldiers with Agesilaus
at their head, as they stepped gaily be-garlanded from the gymnasiums
to dedicate their wreaths to the goddess Artemis. Nor can I well
conceive of elements more fraught with hope than were here combined.
Here were reverence and piety towards Heaven; here practice in war and
military training; here discipline with habitual obedience to
authority. But contempt for one's enemy will infuse a kind of strength
in battle. So the Spartan leader argued; and with a view to its
production he ordered the quartermasters to put up the prisoners who
had been captured by his foraging bands for auction, stripped naked;
so that his Hellenic soldiery, as they looked at the white skins which
had never been bared to sun and wind, the soft limbs unused to toil
through constant riding in carriages, came to the conclusion that war
with such adversaries would 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
these Agesilaus 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 the contingents from the states. Agesilaus gave them to
understand that he intended to lead them forthwith by the most
expeditious route against the stronghold of the country,[15] so that
without further ceremony they might prepare their minds and bodies for
the tug of battle. Tissaphernes, however, was firmly persuaded that
this was only talk intended to deceive him; Agesilaus would this time
certainly invade Caria. Accordingly he repeated his former tactics,
transporting his infantry bodily into Caria and posting his cavalry in
the valley of the Maeander. But Agesilaus was as good as his word, and
at once invaded the district of Sardis. A three days' march through a
region denuded of the enemy threw large supplies into his hands. On
the fourth day the cavalry of the enemy approached. Their general
ordered the officer in charge of his baggage-train to cross the
Pactolus and encamp, while his troopers, catching sight of stragglers
from the Hellenic force scattered in pursuit of booty, put several of
them to the sword. Perceiving which, Agesilaus ordered his cavalry to
the rescue; and the Persians on their side, seeing their advance,
collected together in battle order to receive them, with dense
squadrons of horse, troop upon troop. The Spartan, reflecting that the
enemy had as yet no infantry to support him, whilst he had all
branches of the service to depend upon, concluded that the critical
moment had arrived at which to risk an engagement. In this mood he
sacrificed, and began advancing his main line of battle against the
serried lines of cavalry in front of him, at the same time ordering
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 their supports
at the double. The order passed to his cavalry was to charge in
confidence that he and the whole body of his troops were close behind
them. The cavalry charge was received by the Persians without
flinching, but presently finding themselves environed by the full tide
of war they swerved. Some found a speedy grave within the river, but
the mass of them gradually made good their escape. The Hellenes
followed close on the heels of the flying foe and captured his camp.
here the peltasts not unnaturally fell to pillaging; whereupon
Agesilaus planted his troops so 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 by Agesilaus into Hellas, which were
captured here. At the moment of the battle Tissaphernes lay in Sardis.
Hence the Persians argued that they had been betrayed by the satrap.
And the king of Persia, coming to a like conclusion himself that
Tissaphernes was to blame for the evil turn of 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 as
follows: "The author of all our trouble, yours and ours, Agesilaus,
has paid the penalty of his misdoings; the king therefore asks of you
first that you should sail back home in peace; secondly, that the
cities in Asia secured in their autonomy should continue to render him
the ancient tribute." To this proposition Agesilaus made answer that
"without the authorities 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 of your enemy?" "While, then, I am on my way thither,"
rejoined Agesilaus, "will you support my army with provisions?" On
this wise Tithraustes handed him thirty talents,[19] which the other
took, and forthwith began his march into Phrygia (the Phrygia of
Pharnabazus). He lay in the plain district above Cyme,[20] when a
message reached him from the home authorities, giving him absolute
disposal of the naval forces,[21] with the right to appoint the
admiral of his choice. This course the Lacedaemonians were led to
adopt by the following considerations: If, they argued, the same man
were in command of both services, the land force would be greatly
strengthened through the concentration of the double force at any
point necessary; and the navy likewise would be far more useful
through the immediate presence and co-operation of the land force
where needed. Apprised of these measures, Agesilaus in the first
instance sent an order to the cities on the islands and the seaboard
to fit out as many ships of war as they severally might deem
desirable. The result was a new navy, consisting of the vessels thus
voluntarily furnished by the states, with others presented by private
persons out of courtesy to their commander, and amounting in all to a
fleet of one hundred and twenty sail. The admiral whom he selected was
Peisander, his wife's brother, a man of genuine ambition and of a
vigorous spirit, but not sufficiently expert in the details of
equipment to achieve a great naval 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
disposition to despise the fortunes of the Persian monarch--he
evidently had no intention to withdraw from Asia; on the contrary, he
was cherishing hopes vast enough to include the capture of the king
himself. Being at his wits' end how to manage matters, he resolved to
send Timocrates the Rhodian to Hellas with a gift of gold worthy fifty
silver talents,[1] and enjoined upon him to endeavour to exchange
solemn pledges with the leading men in the several states, binding
them to undertake a war against Lacedaemon. Timocrates arrived and
began to dole out his presents. In Thebes he gave gifts to
Androcleidas, Ismenias, and Galaxidorus; in Corinth to Timolaus and
Polyanthes; in Argos to Cylon and 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 empire was theirs by right.[3] The recipients of
the moneys forthwith began covertly to attack the Lacedaemonians in
their respective states, and, when they had brought these to a
sufficient pitch of hatred, bound together 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 struck
the first blow, the Lacedaemonians would never be brought to break the
truce with their allies. They therefore persuaded the Opuntian
Locrians[4] to levy moneys on a debatable district,[5] jointly claimed
by the Phocians and themselves, when the Phocians would be sure to
retaliate by an attack on Locris. These expectations were fulfilled.
The Phocians immediately invaded Locris and seized moneys on their
side with ample interest. Then Androcleidas and his friends lost no
time in persuading the Thebans to assist the Locrians, on the ground
that it was no debatable district which had been entered by the
Phocians, but the admittedly friendly and allied territory of Locris
itself. The counter-invasion of Phocis and pillage of their country by
the Thebans promptly induced the Phocians to send an embassy to
Lacedaemon. In claiming assistance they explained that the war was not
of their own seeking, but that they had attacked the Locrians in self-
defence. On their side the Lacedaemonians were glad enough to seize a
pretext for marching upon the Thebans, against whom they cherished a
long-standing bitterness. They had not forgotten the claim which the
Thebans had set up to a tithe for Apollo in Deceleia,[6] nor yet their
refusal to support Lacedaemon in the attack on Piraeus;[7] and they
accused them further of having persuaded the Corinthians not to join
that expedition. Nor did they fail to call to mind some later
proceedings of the Thebans--their refusal to allow Agesilaus to
sacrifice in Aulis;[8] their snatching the victims already offered and
hurling them from the altars; their refusal to join the same general
in a campaign directed even against Asia.[9] The Lacedaemonians
further reasoned that now, if ever, was the favourable moment to
conduct an expedition against the Thebans, and once for all to put a
stop to their insolent behaviour towards them. Affairs in Asia were
prospering under the strong arm of Agesilaus, and in Hellas they had
no other war on hand to trammel their movements. Such, therefore,
being the general view of the situation adopted at Lacedaemon, the
ephors proceeded to call out the ban. Meanwhile they despatched
Lysander to Phocis with orders to put himself at the head of the
Phocians along with the Oetaeans, Heracleotes, Melians, and
Aenianians, and to march upon Haliartus; before the walls of which
place Pausanias, the destined leader of the expedition, undertook to
present himself at the head of the Lacedaemonians and other
Peloponnesian forces by a specified date. Lysander not only carried
out his instructions to the letter, but going a little beyond them,
succeeded in detaching Orchomenus from Thebes.[10] Pausanias, on the
other hand, after finding the sacrifice for crossing the frontier
favourable, sat down at Tegea and set about despatching to and fro the
commandants of allied troops whilst contentedly awaiting the soldiers
from 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 Lacedaemonians
would invade their territory, they sent ambassadors to Athens, who
spoke as follows:--

"Men of Athens, it is a mistake on your part to blame us for certain
harsh resolutions concerning Athens at the conclusion of the war.[12]
That vote was not authorised by the state of Thebes. It was the
utterance merely of one man,[13] who was at that time seated in the
congress of the allies. A more important fact is that when the
Lacedaemonians summoned us to attack Piraeus[14] the collective state
of Thebes passed a resolution refusing to join in the campaign. As
then you are to a large extent the cause of the resentment which the
Lacedaemonians feel towards us, we consider it only fair that you in
your 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 soul
into war with the Lacedaemonians. For what were their services to you?
They first deliberately converted you into an oligarchy and placed you
in hostility to the democracy, and then they came with a great force
under guise of being your allies, and delivered you over to the
majority, so that, for any service they rendered you, you were all
dead men; 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 to
recover the empire which you formerly possessed; and how can you
compass your object better than by coming to the aid yourselves of the
victims of Lacedaemonian injustice? Is it their wide empire of which
you are afraid? Let not that make cowards of you--much rather let it
embolden you as you lay to heart and ponder your own case. When your
empire was widest then the crop of your enemies was thickest. Only so
long as they found 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 once showed what they really felt towards you. So too to-
day. Let us show plainly that we mean to stand shoulder to
shoulder[16] embattled against the Lacedaemonians; and haters enough
of them--whole armies--never fear, will be forthcoming. To prove the
truth of this assertion you need only to count upon your fingers. How
many friends have they left to them to-day? The Argives have been,
are, and ever will be, hostile to them. Of course. But the Eleians?
Why, the Eleians have quite lately[17] been robbed of so much
territory and so many cities that their friendship is converted into
hatred. And what shall we say of the Corinthians? the Arcadians? the
Achaeans? In the war which Sparta waged against you, there was no
toil, no danger, no expense, which those peoples did not share, in
obedience to the dulcet coaxings[18] and persuasions of that power.
The Lacedaemonians gained what they wanted, and then not one
fractional portion of empire, honour, or wealth did these faithful
followers come in for. That is not all. They have no scruple in
appointing their helots[19] as governors, and on the free necks of
their alies, in the day of their good fortune, they have planted 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 from
yourselves. In the most patent way they have cajoled and cheated them;
in place of freedom they have presented them with a twofold slavery.
The allies are tyrannised over by the governor and tyrannised over by
the ten commissioners set up by Lysander over every city.[20] And to
come lastly to the great king. In spite of all the enormous
contributions with which he aided them to gain a mastery over you, is
the lord of Asia one whit better off to-day than if he had taken
exactly the opposite course 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 the
champions of this crowd of sufferers from injustice, and you will
attain to a pinnacle of power quite unprecedented? In the days of your
old empire you were leaders of the maritime powers merely--that is
clear; but your new empire to-day will be universal. You will have at
your backs not only your former subjects, but ourselves, and the
Peloponnesians, and the king himself, with all that mighty power which
is his. We do not deny that we were serviceable allies enough to
Lacedaemon, as you will bear us witness; but this we say:--If we
helped the Lacedaemonians vigorously in the past, everything tends to
show that we shall help you still more vigorously to-day; for our
swords will be unsheathed, not in behalf of islanders, or Syracusans,
or men of alien stock, as happened in the late war, but of ourselves,
suffering under a sense of wrong. And there is another important fact
which you ought to realise: this selfish system of organised greed
which is Sparta's will fall more readily to pieces than your own late
empire. Yours was the proud assertion of naval empire over subjects
powerless by sea. Theirs is the selfish sway of a minority asserting
dominion over states equally well armed with themselves, and many
times more numerous. Here our remarks end. Do not forget, however, men
of Athens, that as far as we can understand the matter, the field to
which we invite you is destined to prove far richer in blessings to
your own state of Athens than to ours, Thebes."

With these words the speaker ended. Among the Athenians, speaker after
speaker spoke in favour of the proposition,[21] and finally a
unanimous resolution was passed voting assitance to the Thebans.
Thrasybulus, in an answer communicating the resolution, pointed out
with pride that in spite of the unfortified condition of Piraeus,
Athens would not shrink from repaying her former debt of gratitude to
Thebes with interest. "You," he added, "refused to join in a campaign
against us; we are prepared to fight your battles with you against the
enemy, if he attacks you." Thus the Thebans returned home and made
preparations to defend themselves, 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 the king
advanced into Boeotia with the home army and the whole of the
Peloponnesian contingents, saving only the Corinthians, who declined
to serve. Lysander, at the head of the army supplied by Phocis and
Orchomenus and the other strong places in those parts, had already
reached Haliartus, in front of Pausanias. Being arrived, he refused to
sit down quietly and await the arrival of the army from Lacedaemon,
but at once marched with what troops he had against the walls of
Haliartus; and in the first instance he tried to persuade the citizens
to detach themselves from Thebes and to assume autonomy, but the
intention was cut short by certain Thebans within the fortress.
Whereupon Lysander attacked the place. The Thebans were made
aware,[22] and hurried to the rescue with heavy infantry and cavalry.
Then, whether it was that the army of relief fell upon Lysander
unawares, or that with clear knowledge of his approach he preferred to
await the enemy, with intent to crush him, is uncertain. This only is
clear: a battle was fought beside the walls, and a trophy still exists
to mark the victory of the townsfolk before the gates of Haliartus.
Lysander was slain, and the rest fled to the mountains, the Thebans
hotly pursuing. But when the pursuit had led them to some considerable
height, and they were fairly environed and hemmed in by difficult
ground and narrow space, then the heavy infantry turned 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 the precipitous incline, and
pressed on their late pursuers with much zeal, until the Thebans
turned tail and quitted the deadly slope, leaving behind 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 they
counted their losses and found them equal to their gains; but the next
day they discovered that during the night the Phocians and the rest of
them had made off to their several homes, whereupon they fell to
pluming themselves highly on their achievement. But presently
Pausanias appeared at the head of the Lacedaemonian army, and once
more their dangers seemed to thicken round them. Deep, we are told,
was the silence and abasement 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 the confidence of the Thebans took a larger
range. Pausanias, on his side, having summoned his generals and
commanders of fifties,[24] deliberated whether to give battle or to
content himself with picking up the bodies of 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 and the
other high officers of the Lacedaemonians seem to have been that
Lysander was dead and his defeated army in retreat; while, as far as
they themselves were concerned, the Corinthian contingent was
absolutely wanting, and the zeal of the troops there present at the
lowest ebb. They further reasoned that the enemy's cavalry was
numerous and theirs the reverse; whilst, weightiest of all, there lay
the dead right under the walls, so that if they had been ever so much
stronger it would have been no easy task to pick up the bodies within
range of the towers of Haliartus. On all these grounds they determined
to ask for a flag of truce, in order to pick up the bodies of the
slain. These, however, the Thebans were not disposed to give back
unless they agreed to retire from their territory. The terms were
gladly accepted by the Lacedaemonians, who at once picked up the
corpses of the slain, and prepared to quit the territory of Boeotia.
The preliminaries were transacted, and the retreat commenced.
Despondent indeed was the demeanour of the Lacedaemonians, in contrast
with the insolent bearing of the Thebans, who visited the slightest
attempt to trespass on their private estates with blows and chased the
offenders back on to the high roads unflinchingly. Such was the
conclusion of the campaign of the Lacedaemonians.

As for Pausanias, on his arrival at home he was tried on the capital
charge. The heads of indictment set forth that he had failed to reach
Haliartus as soon as Lysander, in spite of his undertaking to be there
on the same day: that, instead of using any endeavour to pick up the
bodies 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
of Athens fairly in his grip at Piraeus, he had suffered it to slip
through his fingers and escape. Besides this,[25] he failed to present
himself at the trial, and a sentence of death was passed upon him. He
escaped to Tegea and there died of an illness whilst still in exile.
Thus closes the chapter of events enacted on the soil of Hellas. To
return to Asia and Agesilaus.

[25] Or, add, "as a further gravamen."

BOOK IV

I

B.C. 395. With the fall of the year Agesilaus reached Phrygia--the
Phrygia of Pharnabazus--and proceeded to burn and harry the district.
City after city was taken, some by force and some by voluntary
surrender. To a proposal of Spithridates to lead him into
Paphlagonia,[1] where he would introduce the king of the country to
him in conference and obtain his alliance, he readily acceded. It was
a long-cherished ambition of Agesilaus to alienate some one of the
subject nations 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 was
made. (The fact was, he had been summoned by the king to Susa and had
not gone up.) More than that, through the persuasion of Spithridates
he left behind as a parting gift to Agesilaus one thousand cavalry and
a couple of thousand peltasts. Agesilaus was anxious in some way to
show his gratitude to Spithridates for such help, and spoke as
follows:--"Tell me," he said to Spithridates, "would you not like to
give 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
lord of a vast territory and forces." Nothing more was said at the
time about the marriage; but when Otys was on the point of departure
and came to bid farewell, Agesilaus, having taken care that
Spithridates should be out 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: "Have you observed how beautiful his son
is?" Otys: "To be sure; last evening I was supping with him."
Agesilaus: "And they tell me his daughter is 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, I should like to advise you
to take this girl to wife. Not only is she very beautiful--and what
more should a husband ask for?--but her father is of noble family, and
has a force at his back large enough to retaliate on Pharnabazus for
an injury. He has made the satrap, as you see, a fugitive and a
vagabond in his own vast territory. I need not tell you," he added,
"that a man who can so chastise an enemy is well able to benefit a
friend; and of this be assured: by such an alliance you will gain not
the connection of Spithridates alone, but of myself and the
Lacedaemonians, and, as we are the leaders of Hellas, of the rest of
Hellas also. And what a wedding yours will be! Were ever nuptials
celebrated on so grand a scale before? Was ever bride led home by such
an escort of cavalry and light-armed troops and heavy infantry, as
shall escort your wife home to your palace?" Otys asked: "Is
Spithridates of one mind with you in this proposal?" and Agesilaus
answered: "In good sooth he did not bid me make it for him. And for my
own part in the matter, though it is, I admit, a rare pleasure to
requite an enemy, yet I had far rather at any time discover some good
fortune for my friends." Otys: "Why not ask if your project pleases
Spithridates too?" Then Agesilaus, turning to Herippidas and the rest
of the Thirty, bade them go to Spithridates; "and give him such good
instruction," he added, "that he shall wish what we wish." The Thirty
rose and retired to administer their lesson. But they seemed to tarry
a long time, and Agesilaus asked: "What say you, King Otys--shall we
summon him hither ourselves? You, I feel certain, are better able to
persuade him than the whole Thirty put together." Thereupon Agesilaus
summoned Spithridates and the others. As they came forward, Herippidas
promptly delivered himself thus: "I spare you the details, Agesilaus.
To make a long story short, Spithridates says, 'He will be glad to do
whatever pleases you.'" Then Agesilaus, turning first to one and then
to the other: "What pleases me," said he, "is that you should wed a
daughter--and you a wife--so happily.[4] But," he added, "I do not see
how we can well bring home the bride by land till spring." "No, not by
land," the suitor answered, "but you might, if you chose, conduct her
home at once by sea." Thereupon they exchanged pledges to ratify the
compact; 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 once
fitted 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 his
march on Dascylium. Here was the palace of Pharnabazus. It lay in the
midst of abundant supplies. Here, too, were most fair hunting grounds,
offering the hunter choice between enclosed parks[5] and a wide
expanse of field and fell; and all around there flowed a river full of
fish of every sort; and for the sportsman versed in fowling, winged
game in abundance.

[5] Lit. "paradises." See "Anab." I. ii. 7; "Cyrop." I. iv. 11.

In these quarters the Spartan king passed the winter, collecting
supplies for the army either on the spot or by a system of forage. On
one of these occasions the troops, who had grown reckless and scornful
of the enemy through long immunity from attack, whilst engaged in
collecting supplies were scattered over the flat country, when
Pharnabazus fell upon them with two scythe-chariots and about four
hundred horse. Seeing him thus advancing, the Hellenes ran together,
mustering possibly seven hundred men. The Persian did not hesitate,
but placing his chariots in front, supported by himself and the
cavalry, he gave the command to charge. The scythe-chariots charged
and scattered the compact mass, and speedily the cavalry had laid low
in the dust about a hundred men, while the rest retreated hastily,
under cover of Agesilaus and his hoplites, who were fortunately near.

It was the third or fourth day after this that Spithridates made a
discovery: Pharnabazus lay encamped in Caue, a large village not more
than eighteen miles[6] away. This news he lost no time in reporting to
Herippidas. The latter, who was longing for some brilliant explout,
begged Agesilaus to furnish him with two thousand hoplites, an equal
number of peltasts, and some cavalry--the latter to consist of the
horsemen of Spithridates, the Paphlagonians, and as many Hellene
troopers as he might perchance persuade to follow him. Having got the
promise of them from Agesilaus, he proceeded to take the auspices.
Towards late afternoon he obtained favourable omens and broke off the
sacrifice. Thereupon he ordered the troops to get their evening meal,
after which they were to present themselves in front of the camp. But
by the time darkness had closed in, not one half of them had come out.
To abandon the project was to call down the ridicule of the rest of
the Thirty. So he set out with the force to hand, and about daylight,
falling on the camp of Pharnabazus, put many of his advanced guard of
Mysians to the sword. The men themselves made good their escape in
different directions, but the camp was taken, and with it divers
goblets and other gear such as a man like Pharnabazus would have, not
to speak of much baggage and many baggage animals. It was the dread of
being surrounded and besieged, if he should establish himself for long
at any one spot, which induced Pharnabazus to flee in gipsy fashion
from point to point over the country, carefully obliterating his
encampments. Now as the Paphlagonians and Spithridates brought back
the captured property, they were met by Herippidas with his brigadiers
and captains, who stopped them and[7] relieved them of all they had;
the object being to have as large a list as possible of captures to
deliver over to the officers who superintended the sale of booty.[8]
This treatment the Asiatics found intolerable. They deemed themselves
at once injured and insulted, got their kit together in the night, and
made off in the direction of Sardis to join Ariaeus without mistrust,
seeing that he too had revolted and gone to war with the king. On
Agesilaus himself no heavier blow fell during the whole campaign than
the desertion of Spithridates 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
an old friend of Pharnabazus, and at this time had become a friend
also of Agesilaus.[9] This man informed Agesilaus that he thought he
could bring about a meeting between him and Pharnabazus, which might
tend to friendship; and having so got ear of him, he obtained pledges
of good faith between his two friends, and presented himself with
Pharnabazus at the trysting-place, where Agesilaus with the Thirty
around him awaited their coming, reclined upon a grassy sward.
Pharnabazus presently arrived clad in costliest apparel; but just as
his attendants were about to spread at his feet the carpets on which
the Persians delicately seat themselves, he was touched with a sense
of shame at his own luxury in sight of the simplicity of Agesilaus,
and he also without further ceremony seated himself on the bare
ground. And first the two bade one another hail, and then Pharnabazus
stretched out his right hand and Agesilaus his to meet him, and the
conversation began. Pharnabazus, as the elder of the two, spoke first.
"Agesilaus," he said, "and all you Lacedaemonians here present, while
you were at war with the Athenians I was your friend and ally; it was
I who furnished the wealth that made your 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 of Tissaphernes, I challenge you to
accuse me of having played you false by word or deed. Such have I ever
been; and in return how am I treated by yourselves to-day?--in such
sort that I cannot even sup in my own country unless, like the wild
animals, I pick up the scraps you chance to 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 heart rejoiced, lie before
my eyes hacked to pieces, burnt to ashes. Maybe I do not comprehend
the first principles of justice and holiness; do you then explain to
me how all this resembles the conduct of men who know how to repay a
simple debt of gratitude." He ceased, and the Thirty were ashamed
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 of
one community contract relations of friendship and hospitality with
one another;[13] but if these states should go to war, then each man
will side with his fatherland, and friend will find himself pitted
against friend in the field of battle, and, if it so betide, the one
may even deal the other his death-blow. So too we to-day, being at war
with your sovereign lord the king, must needs regard as our enemy all
that he calls his; not but that with yourself personally we should
esteem it our high fortune to be friends. If indeed it were merely an
exchange of service--were you asked to give up your lord the king and
to take us as your 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 no man, to call no man master, to reap the produce of
your own domain in freedom--freedom, which to my mind is more precious
than all riches. Not that we bid you to become a beggar for the sake
of freedom, but rather to use our friendship to increase not the
king's authority, but your own, by subduing those who are your fellow-
slaves to-day, and who to-morrow shall be your willing subjects. Well,
then, freedom given and wealth added--what more would you desire to
fill the cup of happiness to overflowing?" Pharnabazus replied: "Shall
I tell you plainly what I will do?" "That were but kind and courteous
on your part," he answered. "Thus it stands with me, then," said
Pharnabazus. "If the king should send another general, and if he
should wish to rank me under this new man's orders, I, for my part, am
willing to accept your friendship and alliance; but if he offers me
the supreme command--why, then, I plainly tell you, there is a certain
something in the very name ambition which whispers 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 what haste I may,
and for the future--even in case of war--as long as we can find 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 his
horse and rode away, but his son by Parapita, who was still in the
bloom of 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 the beautiful javelin in his hand to Agesilaus, who
received it, and unclasping a splendid trapping[15] which his
secretary, Idaeus, had round 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 his father.[16] At a later date, during the absence of
Pharnabazus abroad, this same youth, the son of Parapita, was deprived
of the government by his brother and driven into exile. Then Agesilaus
took great interest in him, and as he had a strong attachment to the
son of Eualces, an Athenian, Agesilaus did all he could to have this
friend of his, who was the tallest of the boys, admitted to the two
hundred yards race at Olympia.

[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 "turqoise-studded rein."

B.C. 394. But to return to the actual moment. Agesilaus was as good as
his word, and at once marched out of the territory of Pharnabazus. The
season verged on spring. Reaching the plain of Thebe,[17] he encamped
in the neighbourhood of the temple of Artemis of Astyra,[18] and there
employed himself in collecting troops from every side, in addition to
those which he already had, so as to form a complete armament. These
preparations were pressed forward with a view to penetrating as far as
possible into the interior. He was persuaded that every tribe or
nation placed 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 the
Lacedaemonians at home were quite alive to the fact that moneys had
been sent into Hellas, and that the bigger states were leagued
together to declare war against them. It was hard to avoid the
conclusion that Sparta herself was in actual danger, and that a
campaign was inevitable. While busy, therefore, with preparations
themselves, they lost no time in despatching Epicydidas to fetch
Agesilaus. That officer, on his arrival, explained the position of
affairs, and concluded by delivering a peremptory summons of the state
recalling him to the assistance of the fatherland without delay. The
announcement could not but come as a grievous blow to Agesilaus, as he
reflected on the vanished hopes, and the honours plucked from his
grasp. Still, he summoned the allies and announced to them the
contents of the despatch from home. "To aid our fatherland," he added,
"is an imperative duty. If, however, matters turn out well on the
other side, rely upon it, friends and allies, I will not forget you,
but I shall be back anon to carry out your wishes." When they heard
the announcement many wept, and they passed a resolution, one and all,
to assist Agesilaus in assisting Lacedaemon; if matters turned out
well there, they undertook to take him as their leader and come back
again to Asia; and so they fell to making preparations to follow him.

Agesilaus, on his side, determined to leave behind him in Asia Euxenus
as governor, and with him a garrison numbering no less than four
thousand 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 of
the soldiers would far rather stay behind than undertake service
against fellow-Hellenes, and on the other hand he wished to take as
fine and large an army with him as he could, he offered prizes first
to that state or city which should continue the best corps of troops,
and secondly to that captain of mercenaries who should join the
expedition with the best equipped battalion of heavy infantry,
archers, and light infantry. On the same principle he informed the
chief cavalry officers that the general who succeeded in presenting
the best accoutred and best mounted regiment would receive from
himself some victorious distinction. "The final adjudication," he
said, "would not be made until they had crossed from Asia into Europe
and had reached the Chersonese; and this with a view to impress upon
them that the prizes were not for show but for real campaigners."[1]
These consisted for the most part of infantry or cavalry arms and
accoutrements tastefully furnished, besides which there were chaplets
of gold. The whole, useful and ornamental alike, must have cost nearly
a thousand pounds,[2] but as the result of this outlay, no doubt, arms
of great value were procured for the expedition.[3] When the
Hellespont was crossed the judges were appointed. The Lacedaemonians
were represented by Menascus, Herippidas, and Orsippus, and the allies
by one member from each state. As soon as the adjudication was
complete, the army commenced its march with Agesilaus at its head,
following the very route taken by the great king when he invaded
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
still a boy, the state called upon Aristodemus, who was of the royal
family and guardian of the young king, to lead the expedition; and now
that the Lacedaemonians were ready to take the field and the forces of
their opponents were duly mustered, the latter met[4] to consider the
most advantageous 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 mighty
river--at its sources small and easily crossed, but as it farther and
farther advances, other rivers discharge themelves into its channel,
and its stream grows ever more formidable. So is it with the
Lacedaemonians. Take them at the starting-point and they are but a
single community, but as they advance and attach city after city they
grow more numerous and more resistless. I observe that when people
wish to take wasps' nests--if they try to capture the creatures on the
wing, they are liable to be attacked by half the hive; whereas, if
they apply fire to them ere they leave their homes, they will master
them without scathe themselves. On this principle I think it best to
bring about the battle within the hive 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 was
passed in that sense; but before it could be carried out there were
various arrangements to be made. There was the question of headship.
Then, again, what was the proper depth of line to be given to the
different army corps? for if any particular state or states gave too
great a depth to their battle line they would enable the enemy to turn
their flank. Whilst they were debating these points, the
Lacedaemonians had incorporated the men of Tegea and the men of
Mantinea, and were ready to debouch into the bimarine region.[6] And
as the two armies advanced almost at the same time, the Corinthians
and the rest reached the Nemea,[7] and the Lacedaemonians and their
allies occupied Sicyon. The Lacedaemonians entered by Epieiceia, and
at first were severely handled by the light-armed troops of the enemy,
who discharged stones and arrows from the vantage-ground on their
right; but as they dropped down upon the Gulf of Corinth they advanced
steadily onwards through the flat country, felling timber and burning
the fair land. Their rivals, on their side, after a certain forward
movement,[8] paused and encamped, placing the ravine in front of them;
but still the Lacedaemonians advanced, and it was only when they were
within ten furlongs[9] of the hostile position that they followed suit
and encamped, and then they remained 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 Lacedaemonian
heavy-armed infantry levies amounted to six thousand men. Of Eleians,
Triphylians, Acroreians, and Lasionians, there must have been nearly
three thousand, with fifteen hundred Sicyonians, while Epidaurus,
Troezen, Hermione, and Halieis[10] contributed at least another three
thousand. To these heavy infantry troops must be added six hundred
Lacedaemonian cavalry, a body of Cretan archers about three hundred
strong, besides another force of slingers, at least four hundred in
all, consisting of Marganians, Letrinians, and Amphidolians. The men
of Phlius were not represented. Their plea was they were keeping "holy
truce." That was the total of the forces on the Lacedaemonian side.
There was collected on the enemy's side six thousand Athenian heavy
infantry, with about, as was stated, seven thousand Argives, and in
the absence of the men of Orchomenus something like five thousand
Boeotians. There were besides three thousand Corinthians, and again
from the whole of 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 Chalcidians of Euboea one hundred, the Opuntian Locrians[12]
fifty. Their light troops, including those of the Corinthians, were
more numerous, as the Ozolian Locrians, the Melians, and
Arcarnanians[13] helped to swell their 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
they occupied the left wing, showed no anxiety to join battle, but
after a rearrangement which gave them the right, placing the Athenians
opposite the Lacedaemonians, and themselves opposite the Achaeans, at
once, we are told,[14] the victims proved favourable, and the order
was passed along the lines to prepare for immediate action. The
Boeotians, in the first place, abandoning the rule of sixteen deep,
chose to give their division the fullest possible depth, and,
moreover, kept veering more and more to their right, with the
intention of overlapping their opponent's flank. The consequence was
that the Athenians, to avoid being absolutely severed, were forced to
follow suit, and edged towards the right, though they recognised the
risk they ran of having their flank turned. For a while the
Lacedaemonians had no idea of the advance of the enemy, owing to the
rough nature of the ground,[15] but the notes of the paean at length
announced to them the fact, and without an instant's delay the
answering order "prepare for battle" ran along the different sections
of their army. As soon as their troops were drawn up, according to the
tactical disposition of the various generals of foreign brigades, the
order was passed to "follow the lead," and then the Lacedaemonians on
their side also began edging to their right, and eventually stretched
out their wing so far that only six out of the ten regimental
divisions of the Athenians confronted the Lacedaemonians, the other
four finding themselves face to face with the men of Tegea. And now
when they were less than a furlong[16] apart, the Lacedaemonians
sacrificed in customary fashion a kid to the huntress goddess,[17] and
advanced upon their opponents, wheeling round their overlapping
columns to outflank his left. As the two armies closed, the allies of
Lacedaemon were as a rule fairly borne down by their opponents. The
men of Pellene alone, steadily confronting the Thespiaeans, held their
ground, and the dead of either side strewed the position.[18] As to
the Lacedaemonians themselves: crushing that portion of the Athenian
troops which lay immediately in front of them, and at the same time
encircling them with their overlapping right, they slew man after man
of them; and, absolutely unscathed themselves, their unbroken columns
continued their march, and so passed behind the four remaining
divisions[19] of the Athenians before these latter had returned from
their own victorious pursuit. Whereby the four divisions in question
also emerged from battle intact, except for the casualties inflicted
by the Tegeans in the first clash of the engagement. The troops next
encountered by the Lacedaemonians were the Argives retiring. These
they fell foul of, and the senior polemarch was just on the point of
closing with them "breast to breast" when some one, it is said,
shouted, "Let their front ranks pass." This was done, and as the
Argives raced past, their enemies thrust at their unprotected[20]
sides and killed many of them. The Corinthians were caught in the same
way as they retired, and when their turn had passed, once more the
Lacedaemonians lit upon a portion of the Theban division retiring from
the pursuit, and strewed the field with their dead. The end of it all
was that the defeated troops in the first instance made for safety to
the walls of their city, but the Corinthians within closed the gates,
whereupon the troops took up quarters once again in their old
encampment. The Lacedaemonians on their side withdrew to the point at
which they first closed with the enemy, and there set up a 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 from
Asia. He had reached Amphipolis when Dercylidas brought the news of
this fresh victory of the Lacedaemonians; their own loss had been
eight men, that of the enemy considerable. It was his business at the
same time to explain that not a few of the allies had fallen also.
Agesilaus asked, "Would it not be opportune, Dercylidas, if the cities
that have furnished us with contingents could hear of this victory as
soon as possible?" And Dercylidas replied: "The news at any rate is
likely to put them in better heart." Then said the king: "As you were
an eye-witness there could hardly be a better bearer of the news than
yourself." To this proposal Dercylidas lent a willing ear--to travel
abroad[1] was his special delight--and he replied, "Yes, under your
orders." "Then you have my orders," the king said. "And you may
further inform 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
the Hellespont;[2] while Agesilaus crossed Macedonia, and arrived in
Thessaly. And now the men of Larissa, Crannon, Scotussa, and
Pharsalus, who were allies of the Boeotians--and in fact all the
Thessalians except the 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] posting
half his cavalry in front and half on his rear; but finding that the
Thessalians checked his passage by repeated charges from behind, he
strengthened his rearguard by sending round the cavalry from his van,
with the exception of his own personal escort.[5] The two armies stood
confronted in battle order; but the Thessalians, not liking the notion
of a cavalry engagement with heavy infantry, turned, and step by step
retreated, while the others followed them with considerable caution.
Agesilaus, perceiving the error under which both alike laboured, now
sent his own personal guard of stalwart troopers with orders that both
they and the rest of the horsemen should charge at full gallop,[6] and
not give the enemy the chance to recoil. The Thessalians were taken
aback by this unexpected onslaught, and half of them never thought of
wheeling about, whilst those who did essay to do so presented the
flanks 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
his immediate followers. This was the signal for a flight so
precipitate on the part of the Thessalians, that their dead and dying
lined the road, and prisoners were taken; nor was any halt made until
they reached Mount Narthacius. Here, then, midway between Pras and
Narthacius, Agesilaus set up a trophy, halting for the moment, in
unfeigned satisfaction at the exploit. It was from antagonists who
prided themselves on their cavalry beyond everything that he had
wrested victory, with a body of cavalry of his own mustering. Next day
he crossed the mountains of Achaea Phthiotis, and for the future
continued his march through friendly 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 of the defeat of the Lacedaemonians in a naval engagement, and the
death of the admiral Peisander. Details of the disaster were not
wanting. The engagement of the hostile fleets took place off Cnidus.
Pharnabazus, the Persian admiral, was present with the Phoenician
fleet, and in front of him were ranged the ships of the Hellenic
squadron under Conon. Peisander had ventured to draw out his squadron
to meet the combined fleets, though the numerical inferiority of his
fleet to that of the Hellenic navy under Conon was conspicuous, and he
had the mortification of seeing the allies who formed his left wing
take to flight immediately. He himself came to close quarters with the
enemy, and was driven on shore, on board his trireme, under pressure
of the hostile rams. The rest, as many as were driven to shore,
deserted their ships and sought safety as best they could in the
territory of Cnidus. The admiral 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 tidings
at first; on further reflection, however, it seemed to him that the
moral quality of more than half his troops well entitled them to share
in the sunshine of success, but in the day of trouble, when things
looked black, he was not bound to take them into his confidence.
Accordingly he turned round and gave out that he had received news
that Peisander was dead, but that he had fallen in the arms of victory
in a sea-fight; and suiting his action to the word, he proceeded to
offer sacrifice in return for good tidings,[9] distributing portions
of the victims to a large number of recipients. So it befell that in
the first skirmish with the enemy the troops of Agesilaus gained the
upper hand, in consequence of the report that the Lacedaemonians had
won a victory by 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 both
divisions of the Locrians. Agesilaus on his side had with him a
division[10] of Lacedaemonians, which had crossed from Corinth, also
half the division from Orchomenus; besides which there were the
neodamodes[11] from Lacedaemon, on service with him already; and in
addition to these the foreign contingent under Herippidas;[12] and
again the quota furnished by the Hellenic cities in Asia, with others
from the cities in Europe which he had brought over during his
progress; and lastly, there were additional levies from the spot--
Orchomenian and Phocian heavy infantry. In light-armed troops, it must
be admitted, the numbers told heavily in favour of Agesilaus, but the
cavalry[13] on both sides were fairly 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 the battles of our time. The two armies met on the plain of
Coronea--the troops of Agesilaus advancing from the Cephisus, the
Thebans and their allies from the slopes of Helicon. Agesilaus
commanded his own right in person, with the men of Orchomenus on his
extreme left. The Thebans formed their own right, while the Argives
held their left. As they drew together, for a while deep silence
reigned on either side; but when they were not more than a furlong[14]
apart, with the loud hurrah[15] the Thebans, quickening to a run,
rushed furiously[16] to close quarters; and now there was barely a
hundred yards[17] breadth between the two armies, when Herippidas with
his foreign brigade, and with them the Ionians, Aeolians, and
Hellespontines, darted out from the Spartans' battle-lines to greet
their onset. One and all of the above played their part in the first
rush forward; in another instant they were[18] within spear-thrust of
the enemy, and had routed the section immediately before them. As to
the Argives, they actually declined to receive the attack of
Agesilaus, and betook themselves in flight to Helicon. At this moment
some of the foreign division were already in the act of crowning
Agesilaus with the wreath of victory, when some one brought him word
that the Thebans had cut through the Orchomenians and were in among
the baggage train. At this the Spartan general immediately turned his
army right about and advanced against them. The Thebans, on their
side, catching sight of their allies withdrawn in flight to the base
of the Helicon, and anxious to get across to their own friends, formed
in close order 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 he
certainly did not choose the safest course. It was open to him to make
way for the enemy to pass, which done, he might have hung upon his
heels and mastered his rear. This, however, he refused to do,
preferring to crash full front against the Thebans. Thereupon, with
close interlock of shield wedged in with shield, they shoved, they
fought, they dealt death,[19] they breathed out life, till at last a
portion of the Thebans broke their way through towards Helicon, but
paid for that departure by the loss of many lives. And now the victory
of Agesilaus was fairly won, and he himself, wounded, had been carried
back to the main line, when a party of horse came galloping up to tell
him that something like eighty of the enemy, under arms, were
sheltering under the temple, and they asked what they ought to do.
Agesilaus, though he was 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 any injury to be done to them. And now, seeing it
was already late, they took 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
the troops in battle order, and to set up a trophy, every man crowned
with a wreath in honour of the god, and all the pipers piping. Thus
they busied themselves in the Spartan camp. On their side the Thebans
sent heralds asking to bury their dead, under a truce; and in this
wise a truce was made. Agesilaus withdrew to Delphi, where on arrival
he offered to the god a tithe of the produce of his spoils--no less
than a hundred talents.[20] Gylis the polemarch meanwhile withdrew
into Phocis at the head of his troops, and from that district made a
hostile advance into Locris. Here nearly a whole day was spent by the
men in freely helping themselves to goods and chattels out of the
villages and pillaging the corn;[21] but as it drew towards evening
the troops began to retire, with the Lacedaemonians in the rear. The
Locrians hung upon their heels with a heavy pelt of stones and
javelins. Thereupon the Lacedaemonians turned short round and gave
chase, laying some of their assailants low. Then the Locrians ceased
clinging to their rear, but continued their volleys from the vantage-
ground above. The Lacedaemonians again made efforts to pursue their
persistent foes even up the slope. At last darkness descended on them,
and as they retired man after man dropped, succumbing to the sheer
difficulty of the ground; some in their inability to see what lay in
front, or else shot down by the enemy's missiles. It was then that
Gylis the polemarch met his end, as also Pelles, who was on his
personal staff, and the whole of the Spartans present without
exception--eighteen or thereabouts--perished, either crushed by stones
or succumbing to other wounds. Indeed, except for timely aid brought
from the camp where the men were supping, the chances are 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,
the contingents retiring to their several cities, and Agesilaus home
across the Gulf by sea.

B.C. 393. Subsequently[1] the war between the two parties recommenced.
The Athenians, Boeotians, Argives, and the other allies made Corinth
the base of their operations; the Lacedaemonians and their allies held
Sicyon 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
territory which was ravaged and their people who perished, while the
rest of the allies abode in peace and reaped the fruits of their lands
in due season. Hence the majority of them, including the better class,
desired peace, and gathering into knots they indoctrinated one another
with these 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 of
the allied powers, the Argives, Athenians, and Boeotians, as also
those of the Corinthians themselves who had received a share of the
king's moneys, 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, ten chances to one the old laconising policy would again hold the
field. It seemed there was nothing for it but the remedy of the knife.
There was a refinement of wickedness in the plan adopted. With most
people the life even of a legally condemned criminal is held sacred
during a solemn season, but these men deliberately selected the last
day of the Eucleia,[3] when they might reckon on capturing more
victims in the crowded market-place, for their murderous purposes.
Their agents were supplied with the names of those to be gotten rid
of, the signal was given, and then, drawing their daggers, they fell
to work. Here a man was struck down standing in the centre of a group
of talkers, and there another seated; a third while peacably enjoying
himself at the play; a fourth actually whilst officiating as a judge
at some dramatic contest.[4] When what was taking place became known,
there was a general flight on the part of the better classes. Some
fled to the images of the gods in the market-place, others to the
altars; and here these unhallowed miscreants, ringleaders and
followers alike, utterly regardless of duty and law, fell to
butchering their victims even within the sacred precincts of the gods;
so that even some of those against whom no hand was lifted--honest,
law-abiding folk--were filled with sore amazement at sight of such
impiety. In this way many of the elder citizens, as mustering more
thickly in the market-place, were done to death. The younger men,
acting on a suspicion conceived by one of their number, Pasimelus, as
to what was going to take place, kept quiet in the Kraneion;[5] but
hearing screams and shouting and being joined anon by some who had
escaped from the affair, they took the hint, and, running up along the
slope of the Acrocorinthus, succeeded in repelling an attack of the
Argives and the rest. While they were still deliberating what they
ought to do, down fell a capital from its column--without assignable
cause, whether of earthquake or wind. Also, when they sacrificed, the
aspect of the victims was such that the soothsayers said it 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
beyond the territory of Corinth. It was only upon the persuasion of
their friends and the earnest entreaties of their mothers and sisters
who came out to them, supported by the solemn assurance of the men in
power themselves, who swore to guarantee them against evil
consequences, that some of them finally consented to return home.
Presented to their eyes was the spectacle of a tyranny in full
exercise, and to their minds the consciousness of the obliteration of
their city, seeing that boundaries were plucked up and the land of
their fathers had come to be re-entitled by the name of Argos instead
of Corinth; and furthermore, compulsion was put upon them to share in
the constitution in vogue at Argos, for which they had ltitle
appetite, while in their own city they wielded less power than the
resident aliens. So that a party sprang up among them whose creed was,
that life was not worth living on such terms: their endeavour must be
to make their fatherland once more the Corinth of old days--to restore
freedom to their city, purified from the murderer and his pollution
and fairly rooted in good order and legality.[6] It was a design worth
the venture: if they succeeded they would become the saviours of their
country; if not--why, in the effort to grasp the fairest flower of
happiness, they would but overreach, and find instead a 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 and
Alcimenes--undertook to creep through a watercourse and effect a
meeting with Praxitas the polemarch of the Lacedaemonians, who was on
garrison duty with his own division in Sicyon. They told him they
could give him 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 detention in Sicyon of the division which was on the
point of departure, he busied himself with plans for the enterprise.
When the two men, partly by chance and partly by contrivance, came to
be on guard at the gate where the tophy now stands, without further
ado Praxitas presented himself with his division, taking with him also
the men of Sicyon and the whole of the Corinthian exiles.[7] Having
reached the gate, he had a qualm of misgiving, and hesitated to step
inside until he had first sent in a man on whom he could rely to take
a look at things within. The two Corinthians introduced him, and made
so simple and straightforward a representation[8] that the visitor was
convinced, and reported everything as free of pitfalls as the two had
asserted. Then the polemarch entered, but owing to the wide space
between the double walls, as soon as they came to form in line within,
the intruders were impressed by the paucity of their numbers. They
therefore erected a stockade, 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 they passed the whole day which followed the night of
ingress without striking 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. The
Lacedaemonians were on their own right, the men of Sicyon next, and
leaning against the eastern wall the Corinthian exiles, one hundred
and fifty strong.[9] Their opponents marshalled their lines face to
face in correspondence: Iphicrates with his mercenaries abutting on
the eastern wall; next to them the Argives, whilst the Corinthians of
the city held their left. In the pride inspired by numbers they began
advancing at once. They overpowered the Sicyonians, and tearing
asunder the stockade, pursued them to the sea and here slew numbers of
them. At that instant Pasimachus, the cavalry general, at the head of
a handful of troopers, seeing the Sicyonians sore presed, made fast
the horses of his troops to the trees, and relieving the Sicyonians of
their heavy infantry shields, advanced with his volunteers against the
Argives. The latter, seeing the Sigmas on the shields and taking them
to be "Sicyonians," had not the slightest fear. Whereupon, as the
story goes, Pasimachus, exclaiming in his broad Doric, "By the twin
gods! these Sigmas will cheat you, you Argives," came to close
quarters, and in that battle of a handful against a host, was slain
himself with all his followers. In another quarter of the field,
however, the Corinthian exiles had got the better of their opponents
and worked their way up, so that they were now touching the city
circumvallation walls.

[9] See Grote, ix. p. 333 foll.

The Lacedaemonians, on their side, perceiving the discomfiture of the
Sicyonians, sprang out with timely aid, keeping the palisade-work on
their left. But the Argives, discovering that the Lacedaemonians were
behind them, wheeled round and came racing back, pouring out of the
palisade at full speed. Their extreme right, with unprotected flanks
exposed, fell victims to the Lacedaemonians; the rest, hugging the
wall, made good their retreat in dense masses towards the city. Here
they encountered the Corinthian exiles, and discovering that they had
fallen upon foes, swerved aside in the reverse direction. In this
predicament some mounted by the ladders of the city wall, and, leaping
down from its summit, were destroyed;[10] others yielded up their
lives, thrust through, as they jostled at the foot of the steps;
others again were literally 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 at
that instant a work was assigned to them to do,[11] such as they could
hardly have hoped or prayed for. To find delivered into their hands a
mob of helpless enemies, in an ecstasy of terror, presenting their
unarmed sides in such sort that none turned to defend himself, but
each victim rather seemed to contribute what he could towards his own
destruction--if that was not divine interposition, I know now what to
call it. Miracle or not, in that little space so many fell, and the
corpses lay piled so thick, that eyes familiar with the stacking of
corn or wood or piles of stones were called upon to gaze at layers of
human bodies. Nor did the guard of the Boeotians in the port
itself[12] escape death; some were slain upon the ramparts, others on
the roofs of the dock-houses, which they had scaled for refuge.
Nothing remained but for the Corinthians and Argives to carry away
their dead under cover of a truce; whilst the allies of Lacedaemon
poured in their reinforcements. When these were collected, Praxitas
decided in the first place to raze enough of the walls to allow a free
broadway for an army on march. This done, he put himself at the head
of his troops and advanced on the road to Megara, taking by assault,
first Sidus and next Crommyon. Leaving garrisons in these two
fortresses, he retraced his steps, and finally fortifying Epieiceia as
a garrison outpost to protect the territory of the allies, he at once
disbanded his troops and himself withdrew to Lacedaemon.

[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 belligerents
had ceased to exist. The states merely furnished garrisons--the one
set at Corinth, the other set at Sicyon--and were content to guard the
walls. Though even so, a vigorous war was carried on by dint of the
mercenary 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 by
Iphicrates. He laid an ambuscade, and with a small body of troops
adopting a system of guerilla war, took occasion of an unguarded sally
of the citizens of Phlius to inflict such losses on them, that though
they had never previously received the Lacedaemonians within their
walls, they received them now. They had hitherto feared to do so lest
it might lead to the restoration of the banished members of their
community, who gave out that they owed their exile to their
Lacedaemonian sympathies;[14] but they were now in such abject fear of
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 time
they held the city, so much as breathe the thought of bringing back
the exiles; on the contrary, as soon as the city seemed to have
recovered its confidence, they took their departure, leaving city and
laws precisely as they had found them on their entry.

[14] Lit. "laconism."

To return to Iphicrates and his men: they frequently extended their
incursions even into Arcadia in many directions,[15] following their
usual guerilla tactics, but also making assaults on fortified posts.
The heavy infantry of the Arcadians positively refused to face them in
the field, so profound was the terror in which they held these light
troops. In compensation, the light troops themselves entertained a
wholesome dread of the Lacedaemonians, and did not venture to approach
even within javelin-range of their heavy infantry. They had been
taught a lesson when, within that distance, some of the younger
hoplites had made a dash at them, catching and putting some of them to
the sword. But however profound the contempt of the Lacedaemonians for
these light troops, their contempt for their own allies was deeper.
(On one occasion[16] a reinforcement of Mantineans had sallied from
the walls between Corinth and Lechaeum to engage the peltasts, and had
no sooner come under attack than they swerved, losing some of their
men as they made good their retreat. The Lacedaemonians were unkind
enough to poke fun at these unfortunates. "Our allies," they said,
"stand in as much awe of these peltasts as children of the bogies and
hobgoblins of their nurses." For themselves, starting from Lechaeum,
they found no difficulty in marching right round the city of Corinth
with a single Lacedaemonian division and the 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 Lacedaemonians
to be dangerously close, now that the walls of Corinth had been laid
open, and even apprehended a direct attack upon themselves, determined
to rebuild the portion of the wall severed by Praxitas. Accordingly
they set out with their whole force, including a suite of stonelayers,
masons, and carpenters, and within a few days erected a quite splendid
wall on the side facing Sicyon towards the west,[18] and then
proceeded with 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 at
the notion that the Argives should be gathering the produce of their
lands in peace at home, as if war were a pastime, marched against
them. Agesilaus commanded the expedition, and after ravaging their
territory from one end to the other, crossed their frontier at
Tenea[19] and swooped down upon Corinth, taking the walls which had
been lately rebuilt by the Athenians. He was supported on the sea side
by his brother Teleutias[20] with a naval force of about twelve
triremes, and the mother of both was able to congratulate herself on
the joint success of both her sons; one having captured the enemy's
walls by land and the other his ships and naval arsenal by sea, on the
same day. These achievements sufficed Agesilaus for the present; he
disbanded the army of 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 expedition
against Corinth. They heard from the exiles that the citizens
contrived to preserve all their cattle in Peiraeum; indeed, large
numbers derived their subsistence from the place. Agesilaus was again
in command of the expedition. In the first instance he advanced upon
the Isthmus. It was the month of the Isthmian games,[2] and here he
found the Argives engaged in conducting the sacrifice to Poseidon, as
if Corinth were Argos. So when they perceived the approach of
Agesilaus, the Argives and their friends left the offerings as they
lay, including the preparations for the breakfast, and retired with
undisguised alarm into the city by 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 until the Corinthian exiles had
celebrated the sacrifice to Poseidon, along with 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 same competitors 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
finding it strongly defended, he made a sudden retrograde march after
the morning meal in the direction of the capital, as though he
calculated on the betrayal of the city. The Corinthians, in
apprehension of some such possible catastrophe, sent to summon
Iphicrates with the larger portion of his light infantry. These passed
by duly in the night, not unobserved, however, by Agesilaus, who at
once turned round at break of day and advanced on Piraeum. He himself
kept to the low ground by the hot springs,[4] sending a division to
scale the top of the pass. That night he encamped at the hot springs,
while the division bivouacked in the open, in possession of the pass.
Here Agesilaus distinguished himself by an invention as seasonable as
it was simple. Among those who carried provisions for the division not
one had thought of bringing fire. The altitude was considerable; there
had been a fall of rain and hail towards evening and the temperature
was low; besides which, the scaling party were clad in thin garments
suited to the summer season. There they sat shivering in the dark,
with scarcely heart to attack their suppers, when Agesilaus sent up to
them as many as ten porters carrying fire in earthen pots. One found
his way up one way, one another, and presently there were many
bonfires blazing--magnificently enough, since there was plenty of wood
to hand; so that all fell to oiling themselves and many supped over
again. The same night the sky was lit up by the blaze of the temple of
Poseidon--set on fire no one knows how.

[4] Near mod. Lutraki.

When the men in Piraeum perceived that the pass was occupied, they at
once abandoned all thought of self-defence and fled for refuge to the
Heraion[5]--men and women, slaves and free-born, with the greater part
of their flocks and herds. Agesilaus, with the main body, meanwhile
pursued his march by the sea-shore, and the division, simultaneously
descending from the heights, captured the fortified position of Oenoe,
appropriating its contents. Indeed, all the troops on that day reaped
a rich harvest in the supplies they brought in from various
farmsteads. Presently those who had escaped into the Heraion came out,
offering to leave it to Agesilaus to decide what he would do with
them. He decided to 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 out a long line of prisoners, whilst from other sides
embassies arrived in numbers; and amongst these a deputation from the
Boeotians, anxious to learn what they should do to obtain peace. These
latter Agesilaus, with a certain loftiness of manner, affected not
even to see, although Pharax,[6] their proxenus, stood by their side
to introduce them. Seated in a circular edifice on the margin of the
lake,[7] he surveyed the host of captives and valuables as they were
brought out. Beside the prisoners, to guard them, stepped the
Lacedaemonian warriors from the camp, carrying their spears--and
themselves plucked all gaze their way, so readily will success and the
transient fortune of the moment rivet attention. But even while
Agesilaus was still thus seated, wearing a look betokening
satisfaction at some great achievement, a horseman came galloping up;
the flanks of his charger streamed with sweat. To the many inquiries
what news he brought, the rider responded never a word; but being now
close beside Agesilaus, he leaped from his horse, and running up to
him with lowering visage narrated the disaster of the Spartan
division[8] at Lechaeum. At these tidings the king sprang instantly
from his seat, clutching his spear, and bade his herald summon to a
meeting the generals, captains of fifties, and commanders of foreign
brigades.[9] When these had rapidly assembled he bade them, seeing
that the morning meal had not yet been tasted, to swallow hastily what
they could, and with all possible speed to overtake him. But for
himself, he, with the officers of the royal staff,[10] set off at once
without breakfast. His bodyguard, with their heavy arms, accompanied
him with all speed--himself in advance, the officers following behind.
In this fashion he had already passed beyond the warm springs, and was
well within the plateau of Lechaeum, when three horsemen rode up with
further news: the dead bodies had been picked up. On receipt of these
tidings he commanded the troops to order arms, and having rested them
a little space, led them back again to the Heraion. The next day he
spent in disposing 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
to explain the object of their coming, made no further mention of the
word "peace," but replied that, if there was nothing to hinder it,
they wished to have a pass to their own soldiers within the capital.
The king answered with a smile: "I know your desire is not so much to
see your soldiers as to feast your eyes on the good fortune of your
friends, and to measure its magnitude. Wait then, I will conduct you
myself; with me you will be better able to discover the true value of
what has taken place." And he was as good as his word. Next day he
sacrificed, and led his army up to the gates of Corinth. The trophy he
respected, but not one tree did he leave standing--chopping and
burning, as proof positive that no one dared to face him in the field.
And having so done, he encamped about Lechaeum; and as to the Theban
ambassadors, in lieu of letting them pass into the city, he sent them
off by sea across to Creusis.

But in proportion to the unwontedness of such a calamity befalling
Lacedaemonians, a widespread mourning fell upon the whole Laconian
army, those alone excepted whose sons or fathers or brothers had died
at their post. The bearing of these resembled that of conquerors,[12]
as with bright faces they moved freely to and fro, glorying in their
domestic sorrow. 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 at the Hyacinthia,[13] to join in the sacred paean, a custom not
to be interrupted by active service or absence from home or for any
other reason. So, too, on this occasion, Agesilaus had left behind all
the Amyclaeans serving in any part of his army at Lechaeum. At the
right moment the general in command of the garrison at that place had
posted the 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 that of the cavalry,[14] and led the Amyclaeans past the walls of
Corinth. Arrived at a point within three miles or so[15] of Sicyon,
the polemarch turned back himself in the direction of Lechaeum with
his heavy infantry regiment, six hundred strong, giving orders to the
cavalry commandant to escort the Amyclaeans with his division as far
as they required, and then to turn and overtake him. It cannot be said
that the Lacedaemonians were ignorant of the large number of light
troops and heavy infantry inside Corinth, but owing to their former
successes they arrogantly presumed that no one would attack them.
Within the capital of the Corinthians, however, their scant numbers--a
thin line of heavy infantry unsupported by light infantry or cavalry--
had been noted; and Callias, the son of Hipponicus,[16] who was in
command of the Athenian hoplites, and Iphicrates at the head of his
peltasts, saw no risk in attacking with the light brigade. Since if
the enemy continued his march by the high road, he would be cut up by
showers of javelins on his exposed right flank; or if he were tempted
to take the offensive, they with their peltasts, the nimblest of all
light troops, would easily slip out 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 while
Callias drew up his heavy infantry in line at no great distance from
the city, 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
pick up the men and bear them into Lechaeum; and these indeed were the
only members of the mora who were, strictly speaking, saved. Then the
polemarch ordered the ten-years-service men[19] to charge and drive
off their assailants. Charge, however, as they might, they took
nothing by their pains--not a man could they come at within javelin
range. Being heavy infantry opposed to light troops, before they could
get to close quarters the enemy's word of command sounded "Retire!"
whilst as soon as their own ranks fell back, scattered as they were in
consequence of a charge where each man's individual speed had told,
Iphicrates and his men turned right about and renewed the javelin
attack, while others, running alongside, harassed their exposed flank.
At the very first charge the assailants had shot down nine or ten,
and, encouraged by this success, pressed on with increasing audacity.
These attacks told so severely that the polemarch a second time gave
the order (and this time for the fifteen-years-service men) to charge.
The order was promptly obeyed, 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 succumbed that they were joined by their returning
cavalry, in whose company they once again attempted a charge. The
light infantry gave way, but the attack of the cavalry was feebly
enforced. Instead of pressing home the charge until at least they had
sabred some of the enemy, they kept their horses abreast of their
infantry skirmishers,[20] charging and wheeling side 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 repeated
itself, except that as their own ranks grew thinner and their courage
ebbed, the courage of their assailants grew bolder and their numbers
increased. In desperation they massed compactly upon the narrow slope
of a hillock, distant a couple of furlongs[21] or so from the sea, and
a couple of miles[22] perhaps from Lechaeum. Their friends in
Lechaeum, perceiving them, embarked in boats and sailed round until
they were immediately under the hillock. And now, in the very slough
of despair, being so sorely troubled as man after man dropped dead,
and unable to strike a blow, to crown their distress they saw the
enemy's heavy infantry advancing. Then they took to flight; some of
them threw themselves into the sea; others--a mere handful--escaped
with the cavalry into Lechaeum. The death-roll, including those who
fell in the second fight and the final flight, must have numbered two
hundred and fifty slain, or thereabouts.[23] Such is the tale of the
destruction of the 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, Agesilaus
turned his back upon Lechaeum, leaving another division behind to
garrison that port. On his passage homewards, as he wound his way
through the various cities, he made a point of arriving at each as
late in the day as possible, renewing his march as early as possible
next morning. Leaving Orchomenus at the first streak of dawn, he
passed Mantinea still under cover of darkness. The spectacle of the
Mantineans rejoicing at their misfortune would have been too severe an
ordeal for his soldiers.

But Iphicrates had not yet reached the summit of his good fortune.
Success followed upon success. Lacedaemonian garrisons had been placed
in Sidus and Crommyon by Praxitas when he took these fortresses, and
again in Oenoe, when Peiraeum was taken quite lately by Agesilaus. One
and all of these now fell into the hands of Iphicrates. Lechaeum still
held out, garrisoned as it was by the Lacedaemonians and their allies;
while the Corinthian exiles, unable since[24] the disaster of the mora
any longer to pass freely by land from Sicyon, had the sea passage
still open to them, and using Lechaeum as their base,[25] kept up a
game of mutual 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 of
Calydon, a town from old times belonging to Aetolia, and having
further incorporated the Calydonians as citizens,[2] were under the
necessity of garrisoning their new possession. The reason was, that
the Arcarnanians were threatening the place with an army, and were
aided by contingents from Athens and Boeotia, who were anxious to help
their allies.[3] Under the strain of this combined attack the Achaeans
despatched ambassadors to Lacedaemon, who on arrival complained of the
unfair conduct of Lacedaemon towards themselves. "We, sirs," they
said, "are ever ready to serve in your armies, in obedience to
whatever orders you choose to issue; we follow you whithersoever you
think fit to lead; but when it comes to our being beleaguered by the
Acarnanians, with their allies the Athenians and Boeotians, you show
not the slightest concern. 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 cross over in full force to engage the Arcarnanians,
or we must make peace with them on whatever terms we can." This
language was a tacit threat that if they failed to obtain the
assistance they felt entitled to from Lacedaemon 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 alternative
but to assist the Achaeans in their campaign against the Acarnanians.
Accordingly they sent out Agesilaus with two divisions and the proper
complement of allies. The Achaeans none the less marched out in full
force themselves. No sooner had Agesilaus crossed the gulf than there
was a general flight of the population from the country districts into
the towns, whilst the flocks and herds were driven into remote
districts that they might not be captured by the troops. Being now
arrived on the frontier of the enemy's territory, Agesilaus sent to
the general assembly of the Acarnanians at Stratus,[4] warning them
that unless they chose to give up their alliance with the Boeotians
and Athenians, and to take instead themselves and their allies, he
would ravage their territory through its length and breadth, and not
spare a single thing. When they turned a deaf ear to this summons, the
other proceeded to do what he threatened, systematically laying the
district waste, felling the timber and cutting down the fruit-trees,
while slowly moving on at the rate of ten or twelve furlongs a day.
The Acarnanians, owing to the snail-like progress of the enemy, were
lulled into a sense of security. They even began bringing down their
cattle from their alps, and devoted themselves 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 the country he sacrificed at
early dawn, and before evening had traversed eighteen miles[5] or so
of country to the lake[6] round which were collected nearly all the
flocks and herds of the Acarnanians, and so captured a vast quantity
of cattle, horses, and grazing stock of all kinds, 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 the
following day, and devoted himself to disposing of the captured
property by public sale. While he was thus engaged, a large body of
Arcarnanian light infantry appeared, and availing themselves of the
position in which Agesilaus was encamped against the mountain side,
assailed him with volleys of sling-stones and rocks from the
razor-edge of the mountain, without suffering any scathe themselves.
By this means they succeeded in dislodging and forcing his troops down
into the level plain, and that too at an hour when the whole camp was
engaged in preparations for the evening meal. As night drew on, the
Acarnanians retired; sentinels were posted, and the troops slept in
peace.

Next day Agesilaus led off his army. The exit from the plain and
meadow-land round the lake was a narrow aperture through a close
encircling range of hills. In occupation of this mountain barrier the
Acarnanians, from the vantage-ground above, poured down a continuous
pelt of stones and other missiles, or, creeping down to the fringes,
dogged and annoyed them so much that the army was no longer able to
proceed. If the heavy infantry or cavalry made sallies from the main
line they did no harm to their assailants, for the Acarnanians had
only to retire and they had quickly gained their strongholds. It was
too severe a task, Agesilaus thought, to force his way through the
narrow pass so sorely beset. He made up his mind, therefore, to charge
that portion of the enemy who dogged his left, though these were
pretty numerous. The range of hills on this side was more accessible
to heavy infantry and horse alike. During the interval needed for the
inspection of victims, the Acarnanians kept plying them with javelins
and bullets, and, coming into close proximity, wounded man after man.
But presently came the word of command, "Advance!" and the fifteen-
years-service men of the heavy infantry[7] ran forward, accompanied by
the cavalry, at a round pace, the general himself steadily following
with the rest of the column. Those of the Acarnanians who had crept
down the mountain side at that instant in the midst of their
sharpshooting turned and fled, and as they climbed the steep, man
after man was slain. When, however, the top of the pass was reached,
there stood the hoplites of the Acarnanians drawn up in battle line,
and supported by the mass of their light infantry. There they steadily
waited, keeping up a continuous discharge of missiles the while, or
launching their long spears; whereby they dealt wounds to the cavalry
troopers and death in some cases to the horses. But when they were all
but within the clutches of the advancing heavy infantry[8] of the
Lacedaemonians their firmness forsook them; they swerved and fled, and
there died of them on that day about three hundred. 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 of
the country, he visited it with fire and sword.[9] Occasionally, in
obedience to pressure put upon him by the Achaeans, he would assault
some city, but did not capture a single one. And now, as the season of
autumn rapidly approached, he prepared to leave the country; whereupon
the Achaeans, who looked upon his exploits as abortive, seeing that
not a single city, willingly or unwillingly, had as yet been detached
from their opponents, begged him, as the smallest service he could
render them, at any rate to stay long enough in the country to prevent
the Acarnanians from sowing their corn. He answered that the course
they suggested ran counter to expediency. "You forget," he said, "that
I mean to invade your enemies again next summer; and therefore the
larger their sowing 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
traversed without the consent of the inhabitants. The Aetolians,
however, were only too glad to yield the Spartan king a free passage,
cherishing hopes as they did that he would aid them to recover
Naupactus. On reaching Rhium[10] he crossed the gulf at that point and
returned homewards, the more direct passage from Calydon to
Peloponnesus being effectually barred 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 his
promise to the Achaeans, Agesilaus called out the ban once more with
early spring to invade the Acarnanians. The latter were apprised of
his intention, and, being persuaded that owing to the midland
situation of their cities they would just as truly be blockaded by an
enemy who chose to destroy their corn as they would be if besieged
with entrenchments in regular form, they sent ambassadors to
Lacedaemon, and made peace with the Achaeans and alliance with the
Lacedaemonians. Thus closes this page of 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 the
Lacedaemonians[2] that no expedition against Athens or Boeotia would
be safe so long as a state so important and so close to their own
frontier as Argos remained in open hostility behind them. Accordingly
they called out the ban against Argos. Now when Agesipolis learnt that
the duty of leadership devolved on him, and, moreover, that the
sacrifices before crossing the frontier were favourable, he went to
Olympia and consulted the will of the god. "Would it be lawful to
him," he inquired, "not to accept the holy truce, on the ground that
the Argives made the season for it[3] depend not on a fixed date, but
on the prospect of a Lacedaemonian invasion?" The god indicated to the
inquirer that he might lawfully repudiate any holy truce which was
fraudulently antedated.[4] Not content with this, the young king, on
leaving Olympia, went at once to Delphi, and at that shrine put the
same question to Apollo: "Were his views in accordance with his
Father's as touching the holy truce?"--to which 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 been
collecting), he advanced by Nemea into the enemy's territory. The
Argives, on their side, perceiving that they would be unable to hinder
his advance, in accordance with their custom sent a couple of heralds,
garlanded, and presented their usual plea of a holy truce. Agesipolis
answered them curtly that the gods were not satisfied with the justice
of their plea, and, refusing to accept the truce, pushed forward,
causing thereby great perplexity and consternation throughout the
rural districts and the capital itself.

But while he was getting his evening meal that first evening in the
Argive territory--just at the moment when the after-dinner libation
had been poured out--the god sent an earthquake; and with one consent
the Lacedaemonians, beginning with the officers of the royal quarters,
sang the sacred hymn of Poseidon. The soldiers, in general, expected
to retreat, arguing that, on the occurrence of an earthquake once
before, Agis had retired from Elis. But Agesipolis held another view:
if the god had 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 a signal of his approval.[6] Accordingly next morning
he sacrificed to Poseidon, 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's minds, and Agesipolis was eager to ascertain from the soldiers
how close his predecessor had advanced to the fortification walls; or
again, how far he had gone in ravaging the open country--not unlike a
competitor in the pentathlon,[8] eager to cap the performance of his
rival in each event. On one occasion it was only the discharge of
missiles from the towers which forced him to recross the trenches
round the walls; on another, profiting by the absence of the majority
of the Argives in Laconian territory, he came so close to the gates
that their officers actually 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 for the accidental absence of the
Cretans,[9] who had gone off on a raid to Nauplia, without a doubt
numbers of men and horses would have been shot down. At a later date,
while encamping in the neighbourhood of the Enclosures,[10] a thunder-
bolt fell into his camp. One or two men were struck, while others died
from the effect of the concussion on their brains. At a still later
period he was anxious to fortify some sort of garrison outpost in the
pass of Celusa,[11] but upon offering sacrifice the victims proved
lobeless,[12] and he was constrained to lead back and disband his army
--not without serious injury inflicted on the Argives, as the result
of an invasion which had taken them wholly by surprise.

[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 another
series of events was being enacted on the sea and within the seaboard
cities; and these I will now narrate in detail. But I shall confine my
pen to the more memorable incidents, and others of less account I
shall pass over.

In the first place, then, Pharnabazus and Conon, after defeating the
Lacedaemonians in the naval engagement of Cnidus, commenced a tour of
inspection round the islands and the maritime states, expelling from
them, as they visited them, one after another the Spartan
governors.[1] Everywhere they gave consolatory assurances to the
citizens that they had no intention of establishing fortress citadels
within their walls, or in any way interfering with their self-
government.[2] Such words fell soothingly upon the ears of those to
whom they were addressed; the proposals were courteously accepted; all
were eager to present Pharnabazus with gifts of friendship and
hospitality. The satrap, indeed, was only applying the instructions of
his master Conon on these matters--who had taught him that if he acted
thus all the states would be friendly to him, whereas, if he showed
any intention to enslave them, the smallest of them would, as Conon
insisted, be capable of causing a world of trouble, and the chances
were, if apprehensions were once excited, he would find himself face
to face with a coalition of united Hellas. 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 a
fleet of forty sail,[3] and having further instructed him to meet him
at Sestos,[4] set off himself by land along the coast to visit his own
provinces. For here it should be mentioned that his old enemy
Dercylidas happened to be in Abydos at the time of the sea-fight;[5]
nor had he at a later date suffered eclipse with the other
governors,[6] but on the contrary, had kept tight hold of Abydos and
still preserved it in attachment to Lacedaemon. The course he had
adopted was to summon a meeting 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 prove faithful to his friends in the
heyday of their good fortune is no great marvel; but to prove
steadfast when his friends are in misfortune--that is a service
monumental for all time. But do not mistake me. It does not follow
that, because we have been defeated in a great sea-fight, we are
therefore annihilated.[7] Certainly not. Even in old days, you will
admit, when Athens was mistress of the sea, our state was not
powerless to benefit friends or chastise enemies. Moreover, in
proportion as the rest of the cities have joined hands with fortune to
turn their backs upon us, so much the more certainly will the grandeur
of your fidelity shine forth. Or, is any one haunted by the fear that
we may find ourselves blockaded by land and sea?--let him consider
that at present there is no Hellenic navy whatever on the seas, and if
the barbarian attempts to clutch the empire of the sea, Hellas will
not sit by and suffer it; so that, if only in self-defence, she must
inevitably take your 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 with
willingness approaching enthusiasm--extending the hand of fellowship
to the ex-governors, some of whom were already flocking to Abydos as a
harbour 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
more than a mile[8] distant, directly facing Abydos. There he not only
set about collecting those who held lands in the Chersonese through
Lacedaemonian influence, but extended his welcome also to the
governors[9] who had been driven out of European states.[10] He
insisted that, if they came to think of it, not even was their case
desperate, reminding them that even in Asia, which originally belonged
to the Persian monarch, places were to be found--such as the little
state of Temnos, or Aegae, and others, capable of administering their
affairs, unsubjected to the king of Persia. "But," he added, "if you
want a strong impregnable position, I cannot conceive what better you
can find than Sestos. Why, it would need a combined naval and military
force to invest that port." By these and such like arguments he
rescued them from the 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 gave
them 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 closed
against them, he proceeded in person to ravage the territory of the
men of Abydos. Presently, finding himself no nearer the fulfilment of
his object--which was their reduction--he set off home himself and
left it to Conon the while so to conciliate the Hellespontine states
that as large a naval power as possible might be mustered against the
coming spring. In his wrath against the Lacedaemonians, in return for
the treatment he had received from them, his paramount object was to
invade their territory and exact what vengeance he could.

B.C. 393. The winter was thus fully taken up with preparations; but
with the approach of spring, Pharnabazus and Conon, with a large fleet
fully manned, and a foreign mercenary brigade to boot, threaded their
way through the islands to Melos.[11] This island was to serve as a
base of operations against Lacedaemon. And in the first instance he
sailed down to Pherae[12] and ravaged that district, after which he
made successive descents at various other points on the seaboard, and
did what injury he could. But in apprehension of the harbourless
character of the coast, coupled with the enemy's facility of
reinforcement and his own scarcity of supplies, he very soon turned
back and sailed away, until finally he came to moorings in the harbour
of Phoenicus in Cythera. The occupants of the city of the Cytherians,
in terror of being taken by storm, evacuated the walls. To dismiss
these under a flag of truce across to Laconia was his first step; his
second was to repair the fortress in question and to leave a garrison
in the island under an Athenian governor--Nicophemus. After this he
set sail to the Isthmus of Corinth, where he delivered an exhortation
to the allies begging them to prosecute the war vigorously, and to
show themselves faithful to the Great King; and so, having left them
all the moneys he had with him, set off 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 to
keep the fleet, he would undertake, in the first place, to support it
free of expense from the islands; besides which, he would sail to his
own country and help his fellow-citizens the Athenians to rebuild
their long walls and the fortifications round Piraeus. No heavier
blow, he insisted, could well be inflicted on Lacedaemon. "In this
way, I can assure you," he added, "you will win the eternal gratitude
of the Athenians and wreak consummate vengeance on the Lacedaemonians,
since at one stroke you will render null and void that on which they
have bestowed their utmost labour." These arguments so far weighed
with Pharnabazus that he despatched Conon to Athens with alacrity, and
further supplied him with funds for the restoration of the walls. Thus
it was that Conon, on his arrival at Athens, was able to rebuild a
large portion of the walls--partly by lending his own crews, and
partly by giving pay to carpenters and stone-masons, and meeting all
the necessary expenses. There were other portions of the walls which
the Athenians and Boeotians and other states raised as a joint
voluntary undertaking.

Nor must it be forgotten that the Corinthians, with the funds left
them by Pharnabazus, manned a fleet--the command of which they
entrusted to their admiral Agathinus--and so were undisputed masters
of the sea within the gulf round Achaia and Lechaeum.

B.C. 393-391. The Lacedaemonians, in opposition, fitted out a fleet
under the command of Podanemus. That officer, in an attack of no great
moment, lost his life, and Pollis,[13] his second in command, was
presently in his turn obliged to retire, being wounded, whereupon
Herippidas took command of the vessels. On the other hand, Proaenus
the Corinthian, who had relieved Agathinus, evacuated Rhium, and the
Lacedaemonians recovered that post. Subsequently Teleutias succeeded
to Herippidas's fleet, and it was then the turn of that admiral to
dominate the 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 of
Conon. They knew that he was not only restoring the fortifications of
Athens by help of the king's gold, but maintaining a fleet at his
expense besides, and conciliating the islands and seaboard cities
towards Athens. If, therefore, they could indoctrinate Tiribazus--who
was a general of the king--with their sentiments, they believed they
could not fail either to draw him aside to their own interests, or, at
any rate, to put a stop to his feeding Conon's navy. With this
intention they sent Antalcidas to Tiribazus:[15] his orders were to
carry out this policy and, if possible, to arrange a peace between
Lacedaemon and the king. The Athenians, getting wind of this, sent a
counter-embassy, consisting of Hermogenes, Dion, Callisthenes, and
Callimedon, with Conon himself. They at the same time invited the
attendance of ambassadors from the allies, and there were also present
representatives of the Boeotians, of Corinth, and of Argos. When they
had arrived at their destination, Antalcidas explained to Tiribazus
the object of his visit: he wished, if possible, to cement a peace
between the state he represented and the king--a peace, moreover,
exactly suited to the aspirations of the king himself; in other words,
the Lacedaemonians gave up all claim to the Hellenic cities in Asia as
against the king, while for their own part they were content that all
the islands and other cities should be independent. "Such being our
unbiassed wishes," he continued, "for what earthly reason should [the
Hellenes or] the king go to war with us? or why should he expend his
money? The king is guaranteed against attack on the part of Hellas,
since the Athenians are powerless apart from our hegemony, and we are
powerless so long as the separate states are independent." The
proposals of Antalcidas sounded very pleasantly in the ears of
Tiribazus, but to the opponents of Sparta they were the merest talk.
The Athenians were apprehensive of an agreement which provided for the
independence of the cities in the islands, whereby they might be
deprived of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros. The Thebans, again, were
afraid of being compelled to let the Boeotian states go free. The
Argives did not see how such treaty contracts and covenants were
compatible with the realisation of their own great object--the
absorption of Corinth by Argos. And so it came to pass that this
peace[16] proved abortive, and the representatives departed each to
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
safety to adopt the cause of the Lacedaemonians without the
concurrence of the king--a scruple which did not prevent him from
privately presenting Antalcidas with a sum of money, in hopes that
when the Athenians and their allies discovered that the Lacedaemonians
had the wherewithal to furnish a fleet, they might perhaps be more
disposed to desire peace. Further, accepting the statements of the
Lacedaemonians as true, he took on himself to secure the person of
Conon, as guilty of wrongdoing towards the king, and shut him up.[17]
That done, he set off up country to the king to recount the proposals
of Lacedaemon, with his own subsequent capture of Conon as a
mischievous man, and to ask for further guidance 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 Struthas
to take charge of the seaboard district. The latter, however, was a
strong partisan of Athens and her allies, since he found it impossible
to forget the long list of evils which the king's country had suffered
at the hands of Agesilaus; so that the Lacedaemonians, contrasting the
hostile disposition of the new satrap towards themselves with his
friendliness to the Athenians, sent Thibron to deal with him by force
of arms.

B.C. 391.[18] That general crossed over and established his base of
operations in Ephesus and the towns in the plain of the Maeander--
Priene, Leucophrys, and Achilleum--and proceeded to harry the king's
territory, sparing neither live nor dead chattels. But as time went
on, Struthas, who could not but note the disorderly, and indeed
recklessly scornful manner in which the Lacedaemonian brought up his
supports on each occasion, despatched a body of cavalry into the
plain. Their orders were to gallop down and scour the plain, making a
clean sweep[19] of all they could lay their hands on. Thibron, as it
befell, had just finished breakfast, and was returning to the mess
with Thersander the flute-player. The latter was not only a good
flute-player, but, as affecting Lacedaemonian manners, laid claim to
personal prowess. Struthas, then, seeing the disorderly advance of the
supports and the paucity of the vanguard, appeared suddenly at the
head of a large body of cavalry, all in orderly array. Thibron and
Thersander were the first to be cut down, and when these had fallen
the rest of the troops were easily turned. A mere chase ensued, in
which man after man was felled to earth, though a remnant contrived to
escape into the friendly cities; still larger numbers owed their
safety to their late discovery of the business on hand. Nor, indeed,
was this the first time the Spartan commander had rushed to the field,
without even issuing a general 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 of
Rhodian exiles expelled by the popular party. They insisted that it
was not equitable to allow the Athenians to subjugate Rhodes and thus
build up so vast a power. The Lacedaemonians were alive to the fact
that the fate of Rhodes depended on which party in the state
prevailed: if the democracy were to dominate, the whole island must
fall into the hands of Athens; if the wealthier classes,[21] into
their own. Accordingly they fitted out for them a fleet of eight
vessels, and put Ecdicus in command of 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
vessels named Diphridas, on a separate mission. His orders were to
cross over into Asia and to secure the states which had received
Thibron. He was also 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 quarter open to him, he was to prosecute the war against
Struthas. Diphridas followed out his instructions, and amongst other
achievements was fortunate enough to capture Tigranes,[22] the son-in-
law of Struthas, with his wife, on their road to Sardis. The sum paid
for their ransom was so large that he at once had the wherewithal to
pay his mercenaries. Diphridas was no less attractive than his
predecessor Thibron; but he was of a more orderly temperament,
steadier, and incomparably more enterprising as a general; the secret
of this superiority being that he was a man over whom the pleasures of
the body exercised no sway. He became readily absorbed in the business
before him--whatever he had to do 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 in
Rhones were entirely masters of the situation. They were dominant by
land and sea; indeed they possessed a fleet twice the size of his own.
He was therefore content to keep quiet in Cnidus until the
Lacedaemonians, perceiving that his force was too small to allow him
to benefit their friends, determined to relieve him. With this view
they ordered Teleutias to take the twelve ships which formed his
squadron (at present in the gulf adjoining Achaia and Lechaeum),[23]
and to feel his way round to Ecdicus: that officer he was to send
home. For himself, he was to undertake personally to protect the
interests of all who cared to be 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
to his fleet, set sail to Cnidus. At this point Ecdicus returned home,
and Teleutias, continuing his voyage, reached Rhodes, at the head now
of seven-and-twenty vessels. It was during this portion of the voyage
that he fell in with Philocrates, the son of Ephialtes, who was
sailing from Athens to Cyprus with ten triremes, in aid of their ally
Evagoras.[24] The whole flotilla fell into the Spartan's hands--a
curious instance, it may be added, of cross purposes on the part of
both belligerents. Here were the Athenians, supposed to be on friendly
terms with the king, engaged in sending an allied force to support
Evagoras, who was at open war with him; and here again was Teleutias,
the representative of a people at war with Persia, engaged in
crippling a fleet which had been despatched on a mission hostile to
their adversary. Teleutias put back into Cnidus to dispose of his
captives, and so eventually reached Rhodes, where his arrival brought
timely aid to the party in favour of Lacedaemon.

[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 belief
that their rivals were laying the basis of a new naval supremacy,
despatched Thrasybulus the Steirian to check them, with a fleet of
forty sail. That officer set sail, but abstained from bringing aid to
Rhodes, and for good reasons. In Rhodes the Lacedaemonian party had
hold of the fortress, and would be out of reach of his attack,
especially as Teleutias was close at hand to aid them with his fleet.
On the other hand, his own friends ran no danger of succumbing to the
enemy, as they held the cities and were numerically much stronger, and
they had established their superiority in the field. Consequently he
made for the Hellespont, where, in the absence of any rival power, he
hoped to achieve some stroke of good fortune for his city. Thus, in
the first place, having detected the rivalries existing between
Medocus,[26] the king of the Odrysians, and Seuthes,[27] the rival
ruler of the seaboard, he reconciled them to each other, and made them
friends and allies of Athens; in the belief that if he secured their
friendship the Hellenic cities on the Thracian coast would show
greater proclivity to Athens. Such being the happy state of affairs
not only in Europe but as regards the states in Asia also, thanks to
the friendly attitude of the king to his fellow-citizens, he sailed
into Byzantium and sold the tithe-duty levied on vessels arriving from
the Euxine. By another stroke he converted the oligarchy of Byzantium
into a democracy. The result of this was that the Byzantine demos[28]
were no longer sorry to see as vast a concourse of Athenians in their
city as possible. Having so done, and having further won the
friendship of the men of Calchedon, he set sail south of the
Hellespont. Arrived at Lesbos, he found all the cities devoted to
Lacedaemon with the exception of Mytilene. He was therefore loth to
attack any of the former until he had organised a force within the
latter. This force consisted of four hundred hoplites, furnished from
his own vessels, and a corps of exiles from the different cities who
had sought shelter in Mytilene; to which he added a stout contingent,
the pick of the Mytileneian citizens themselves. He stirred the ardour
of the several contingents by suitable appeals: representing to the
men of Mytilene that by their capture of the cities they would at once
become the chiefs and patrons of Lesbos; to the exiles he made it
appear that if they would but unite to attack each several city in
turn, they might all reckon on their particular restoration; while he
needed only to remind his own warriors that the acquisition of Lesbos
meant not only the attachment of a friendly city, but the discovery of
a mine of wealth. The exhortations ended and the contingents
organised, he advanced 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 body of
marines from his vessels, and, aided by the citizens of Methymna
themselves, along with all the Mytileneian exiles to be found in that
place, advanced to meet the enemy on their borders. A battle was
fought and Therimachus was slain, a fate shared by several of the
exiles of his party.

As a result[29] of his victory the Athenian general succeeded in
winning the adhesion of some of the states; or, where adhesion was
refused, he could at least raise supplies for his soldiers by
freebooting expeditions, and so hastened to reach his goal, which was
the island of Rhodes. His chief concern was to support as powerful an
army as possible in those parts, and with this object he proceeded to
levy money aids, visiting various cities, until he finally reached
Aspendus, and came to moorings in the river Eurymedon. The money was
safely collected from the Aspendians, and the work completed, when,
taking occasion of some depredations[30] of the soldiers on the
farmsteads, the people of the place in a fit of irritation burst into
the 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. In
room of him the Athenians chose Agyrrhius,[32] who was despatched to
take command of the fleet. And now the Lacedaemonians--alive to the
fact that the sale of the Euxine tithe-dues had been negotiated in
Byzantium by Athens; aware also that as long as the Athenians kept
hold on Calchedon the loyalty of the other Hellespontine cities was
secured to them (at any rate while Pharnabazus remained their friend)
--felt that the state of affairs demanded their serious attention.
They attached no blame indeed to Dercylidas. Anaxibius, however,
through the friendship of the ephors, contrived to get himself
appointed as governor, on a mission to Abydos. With the requisite
funds and ships, he promised to exert such hostile pressure upon
Athens that at least her prospects in the Hellespont would cease to be
so sunny. His friends the ephors granted him in return for these
promises three ships of war and funds to support a thousand
mercenaries, and so they despatched him on his mission. Reaching
Abydos, he set about improving his naval and military position. First
he collected a foreign brigade, by help of which he drew off some of
the Aeolid cities from Pharnabazus. Next he set on foot a series of
retaliatory expeditions against the states which attacked Abydos,
marching upon them and ravaging their territories; and lastly, manning
three vessels besides those which he already held in the harbour of
Abydos, he intercepted and brought into port all the merchant ships of
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
fair foundation laid for them by Thrasybulus in the Hellespont should
be ruined, sent out Iphicrates with eight vessels and twelve hundred
peltasts. The majority of them[33] consisted of troops which he had
commanded 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 real fact 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 in Athens 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 and
Anaxibius carried on war against each other by the despatch of
guerilla or piratic bands across the straits. But as time wore on,
information reached him of the departure of Anaxibius to Antandrus,
accompanied by his mercenaries and his own bodyguard of Laconians and
two hundred Abydenian hoplites. Hearing further that Anaxibius had won
the friendly adhesion of Antandrus, Iphicrates conjectured that after
establishing a garrison in that place he would make the best of his
way back, if only to bring the Abydenians home again. He therefore
crossed in the night, selecting a desert point on the Abydene coast,
from which he scaled the hills above the town and planted himself in
ambuscade within their folds. The triremes which brought him across
had orders at break of day to coast up northwards along the
Chersonese, which would suggest the notion that he was only out on one
of his customary voyages to collect money. The sequel more than
fulfilled his expectations. Anaxibius began his return march, and if
report speaks truly, he did so notwithstanding that the victims were
against his marching that day; contemptuously disregarding the
warning, and satisfied that his march lay all along through a friendly
country and was directed to a friendly city. Besides which, those whom
he met assured him that Iphicrates was off on a voyage to Proconnesus:
hence the unusual absence of precaution on the march. On his side
Iphicrates saw the chance, but, so long as the troops of Anaxibius
lingered on the level bottoms, refused to spring from his lair,
waiting for the moment when the Abydenian division in the van was
safely landed in the plain of Cremaste, at the point where the gold
mines stand; the main column following on the downward slope, and
Anaxibius with his Laconians just beginning the descent. At that
instant Iphicrates set his ambuscade in motion, and dashed against the
Spartan at full speed. The latter quickly discerned that there was no
hope of escape as he scanned the long straggling line of his
attenuated column. The troops in advance, he was persuaded, would
never be able to come back to his aid up the face of that acclivity;
besides which, he observed the utter bewilderment of the whole body at
sight of the ambuscade. 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; but for 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 he took from the hands of his attendant shield-bearer
his heavy shield, and there, at his post, unflinchingly fought and
fell; not quite alone, for by his side faithfully lingered a favourite
youth, and of the Lacedaemonian governors who had rallied to Abydos
from their several cities 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 the city. The death-roll amounted to something like
fifty hoplites of the Abydenians, and of the rest two hundred. After
this exploit Iphicrates returned 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 at
least as Athens and Sparta are concerned. Eteonicus was once more in
Aegina; and notwithstanding that the Aeginetans and Athenians had up
to this time held commercial intercourse, yet now that the war was
plainly to be fought out on the sea, that officer, with the
concurrence of the ephorate, gave permission to any one who liked to
plunder Attica.[1] The Athenians retaliated by despatching a body of
hoplites under their general 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 in question of contributions, had chanced to reach a point
where he received information of the turn in affairs with regard to
the construction of the fortress, whereupon he came to the rescue of
the beleaguered Aeginetans, and so far succeeded that he drove off the
enemy's blockading squadron. But Pamphilus kept a firm hold on the
offensive 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 naval
force was transferred into his successor's hands, and under the
happiest auspices Teleutias set sail for home. As he descended to the
seashore to start on his homeward voyage there was not one among his
soldiers who had not a warm shake of the hand for their old admiral.
Here one presented him with a crown, and there another with a victor's
wreath; and those who arrived too late, still, as the ship weighed
anchor, threw garlands into the sea and wafted him many a blessing
with prayerful lips. I am well aware that in the above incident I have
no memorable story of munificence, peril, or invention to narrate, but
in all sincerity I protest that a man may find food for reflection in
the inquiry what Teleutias had done to create such a disposition in
his subordinates. Here we are brought face to face with a true man's
work more 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
vessels in Aegina under his vice-admiral Gorgopas, who was now
installed as governor of that island. In consequence of this chance
the Athenian troops inside the fortres were more blockaded than the
Aeginetans themselves, so much so that a vote was passed by the
Athenian assembly, in obedience to which a large fleet was manned, and
the garrison, after four months' sojourn in Aegina, were brought back.
But this was no sooner done than they began to be harassed by Gorgopas
and the privateers again. To operate aganst these they fitted out
thirteen vessels, choosing Eunomus as admiral in command. Hierax was
still in Rhodes when the Lacedaemonians sent out a new admiral,
Antalcidas; they believed that they could not find a better mode of
gratifying Tiribazus. Accordingly Antalcidas, after visiting Aegina in
order to pick up the vessels under Gorgopas, set sail for Ephesus. At
this point he sent back Gorgopas with his twelve ships to Aegina, and
appointed his vice-admiral Nicolochus to command the remainder of the
fleet.

Nicolochus was to relieve Abydos, and thither set sail; but in the
course of the voyage turned aside to Tenedos, where he ravaged the
territory, and, with the money so secured, sailed on to Abydos. The
Athenian 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, they selected the Chersonese as their base, and proceeded to
blockade him and his fleet of five-and-twenty vessels with the two-
and-thirty vessels under 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 Athenian
admiral Eunomus, and, shunning an encounter at the moment, sought
shelter in Aegina, which he reached a little before sunset; and at
once disembarking his men, set them down to their evening meal; whilst
Eunomus on his side, after hanging back for a little while, sailed
away. Night fell, and the Athenian, showing the customary signal light
to prevent his squadron straggling, led the way in the darkness.
Gorgopas instantly got his men on board again, and, taking the lantern
for his guide, followed the Athenians, craftily lagging behind a
little space, so as not to show himself or raise any suspicion of his
presence. In place of the usual cry the boatswains timed the rowers by
a clink of stones, and silently the oars slid, feathering through the
waves[5]; and just when the squadron of Eunomus was touching the
coast, off Cape Zoster[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 yet only bearing down to land. The
engagement was fought by the light of the moon, and Gorgopas captured
four triremes, which he tied astern, and so set sail with his prizes
in tow towards Aegina. The rest of the Athenian squadron 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 to
Cyprus, bringing relief to Evagoras. His force consisted at first of
eight hundred light troops and ten triremes, but was further increased
by other vessels from Athens and a body of heavy infantry. Thus
reinforced, the admiral chose a night and landed in Aegina; and
secreted himself in ambuscade with his light troops in hollow ground
some way beyond the temple of Heracles. At break of day, as
prearranged, the Athenian hoplites made their appearance under command
of Demaenetus, and began mounting up between two and three miles[8]
beyond the Kerakleion at Tripurgia, as it is called. The news soon
reached Gorgopas, who sallied out to the rescue with the Aeginetans
and the marines of his vessels, being further accompanied by eight
Spartans who happened to be with him. Not content with these he issued
orders inviting any of the ships' crews, who were free men, to join
the relief party. A large number of these sailors responded. They
armed themselves as best they could, and the advance commenced. When
the vanguard were well past the ambuscade, Chabrias and his men sprang
up from their hiding-place, and poured a volley of javelins and stones
upon the enemy. At the same moment the hoplites, who had
disembarked,[9] were advancing, so that the Spartan vanguard, in the
absence of anything like collective action, were speedily cut down,
and among them fell Gorgopas with the Lacedaemonians. At their fall
the rest of course turned and fled. One hundred and fifty Aeginetans
were numbered among the slain, while the loss incurred by the
foreigners, metics, and sailors who had joined the relief party,
reached a total of two hundred. After this the Athnenians sailed the
sea as freely as in the times of actual peace. Nor would anything
induce the sailors to row a single stroke for Eteonicus--even under
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
take command of the squadron, and when the sailors saw it was he who
had come, they were overjoyed. He summoned a meeting and addressed
them thus: "Soldiers, I am back again, but I bring with me no money.
Yet if God be willing, and your zeal flag not, I will endeavour to
supply you with provisions without stint. Be well assured, as often as
I find myself in command of you, I have but one prayer--that your
lives may be spared no less than mine; and as for the necessaries of
existence, perhaps it would astonish you if I said I would rather you
should have 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 days to every comer? Open again it shall stand now; and so it
shall be; where your own board overflows, you shall look in and mark
the luxury of your general; but if at other times you see him bearing
up against cold and heat and sleepless nights, you must apply the
lesson to yourselves and study to endure those evils. I do not bid you
do aught of this for self-mortification's sake, but that you may
derive some after-blessing from it. Soldiers, let Lacedaemon, our own
mother-city, be to you an example. Her good fortune is reputed to
stand high. That you know; and you know too, that she purchased her
glory and her greatness not by faint-heartedness, but by choosing to
suffer pain and incur dangers in the day of need. 'Like city,' I say,
'like citizens.' You, too, as I can bear you witness, have been in
times past brave; but to-day must we strive to be better than
ourselves. So shall we share our pains without repining, and when
fortune smiles, mingle our joys; for indeed the sweetest 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 source to which honour
pre-eminently invites us; since, I need not remind you, abundance won
from the enemy in war furnishes forth not bodily nutrition only, but a
feast of glory the wide world over."

So he spoke, and with one voice they all shouted to him to issue what
orders he thought fit; they would not fail him in willing service. The
general's sacrifice was just concluded, and he answered: "Good, then,
my men; go now, as doubtless you were minded, and take your evening
meal, and next provide yourselves, please, with one day's food. After
that repair to your ships without delay, for we have a voyage on hand,
whither God wills, and must arrive in time." So then, when the men
returned, he embarked them on their ships, and sailed under cover of
night for the great harbour of Piraeus: at one time he gave the rowers
rest, passing the order to take a snatch of sleep; at another he
pushed forward towards his goal with rise and fall of oars. If any one
supposes that there was a touch of madness in such an expedition--with
but twelve triremes to attack an enemy possessed of a large fleet--he
should consider the calculations of Teleutias. He was under the firm
persuasion that the Athenians were more careless than ever about their
navy in the harbour since the death of Gorgopas; and in case of
finding warships riding at anchor--even so, there was less danger, he
conjectured, in attacking twenty ships in the port of Athens than ten
elsewhere; for, whereas, anywhere outside the harbour the sailors
would certainly be quartered on board, at Athens it was easy to divine
that the captains and officers would be sleeping at their homes, and
the crews located here 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 the
first streak of dawn he led the way, the rest following. The admiral's
orders to the crews were explicit. They were on no account to sink any
merchant vessel; they were equally to avoid damaging[11] their own
vessels, but if at any point they espied a warship at her moorings
they must try and cripple her. The trading vessels, provided they had
got their cargoes on board, they must seize and tow out of the
harbour; those of larger tonnage they were to board wherever they
could and capture the crews. Some of his men actually jumped on to the
Deigma quay,[12] where they seized hold of various traders and pilots
and deposited them bodily on board ship. So the Spartan admiral
carried out his 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 was
happening rushed from indoors outside to see what the commotion meant,
others from the streets home to get their arms, and others again were
off to the city with the news. The whole of Athens rallied to the
rescue at that instant, heavy infantry and cavalry alike, the
apprehension being that Piraeus was taken. But the Spartan sent off
the captured vessels to Aegina, telling off three or four of his
triremes to convoy them thither; with the rest he followed along the
coast of Attica, and emerging in seemingly innocent fashion from the
harbour, captured a number of fishing smacks, and passage boats laden
with passengers crossing to Piraeus from the islands; and finally, on
reaching Sunium he captured some merchantmen laden with corn or other
merchandise. After these performances he sailed back to Aegina, where
he sold his prizes, and with the proceeds was able to provide his
troops with a month's pay, and for the future was free to cruise about
and make what reprisals chance cast in his way. By such a procedure he
was able to support a full quota of mariners on board his squadron,
and procured to himself the prompt and enthusiastic service of his
troops.

B.C. 388-387. Antalcidas had now returned from the Persian court with
Tiribazus. The negotiations had been successful. He had secured the
alliance of the Persian king and his military co-operation in case the
Athenians and their allies refused to abide by the peace which the
king dictated. But learning that his second in command, Nicolochus,
was being blockaded with his fleet by Iphicrates and Diotimus[13] in
Abydos, he set off at once by land for that city. Being come thither
he took the fleet one night and put out to sea, having first spread a
story that he had invitations from a party in Calchedon; but as a
matter of fact he came to anchorage in Percote and there kept quiet.
Meanwhile the Athenian forces under Demaenetus and Dionysius and
Leontichus and Phanias had got wind of his movement, and were in hot
pursuit towards Proconnesus. As soon as they were well past, the
Spartan veered round and returned to Abydos, trusting to information
brought him of the approach of Polyxenus with the Syracusan[14] and
Italian squadron of twenty 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 making
his way up with eight ships from Thrace, his object being to effect a
junction with the main Athenian squadron. The scouts signalled the
approach of eight triremes, whereupon Antalcidas, embarking his
marines on board twelve of the fastest sailers of his fleet, ordered
them to make up their full complements, where defective, from the
remaining vessels; 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; and they catching sight of him took to flight. With his
swiftest sailors he speedily overhauled their laggards, and ordering
his vanguard to let these alone, he followed hard on those ahead. But
when the foremost had fallen into his clutches, the enemy's hinder
vessels, seeing their leaders taken one by one, out of sheer
despondency fell an easy prey to the slower sailors of the foe, so
that not one of the eight vessels escaped.

[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
again another squadron from Ionia, or rather so much of that district
as lay under the control of Tiribazus. The full quota of the
contingent was further made up from the territory of Ariobarzanes
(which whom Antalcidas kept up a friendship of long standing), in the
absence of Pharnabazus, who by this date had already been summoned up
country on the 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 the passage of vessels bound to Athens from the
Euxine, but to convoy them into the harbours of Sparta's allies.

The Athenians could not but watch with alarm the growth of the enemy's
fleet, and began to fear a repetition of their former discomfiture. To
be trampled under foot by the hostile power seemed indeed no remote
possibility, now that the Lacedaemonians had procured an ally in the
person of the Persian monarch, and they were in little less than a
state of siege themselves, pestered as they were by privateers from
Aegina. On all these grounds the Athenians became passionately
desirous of peace.[16] The Lacedaemonians were equally out of humour
with the war for various reasons--what with their garrison duties, one
mora at Lechaeum and another at Orchomenus, and the necessity of
keeping watch and ward on the states, if loyal not to lose them, if
disaffected to prevent their revolt; not to mention that reciprocity
of annoyance[17] of which Corinth was the centre. So again the Argives
had a strong appetite for peace; they knew that the ban had been
called out against them, and, it was plain, that no fictitious
alteration of the calendar would any longer stand them in good stead.
Hence, when Tiribazus issued a summons calling on all who were willing
to listen to the terms of peace sent down by the king[18] to present
themselves, the invitation was promptly accepted. At the opening of
the conclave[19] Tiribazus pointed to the king's seal attached to the
document, and proceeded to read the contents, 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 the
islands of Clazomenae and Cyprus, should belong to himself; the rest
of the Hellenic cities he thinks it just to leave independent, both
small and great, with the exception of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros,
which three are to belong to Athens as of yore. Should any of the
parties concerned not accept this peace, I, Artaxerxes, will war
against him or them with those who share my views. This will I do by
land and by sea, with ships and with money."

After listening to the above declaration the ambassadors from the
several states proceeded to report the same to their respective
governments. One and all of these took the oaths[20] to ratify and
confirm the terms unreservedly, with the exception of the Thebans, who
claimed to take the oaths in behalf of all Boeotians. This claim
Agesilaus repudiated: unless they chose to take the oaths in precise
conformity with the words of the king's edict, which insisted on "the
future autonomy of each state, small or great," he would not admit
them. To this the Theban ambassadors made no other reply, except that
the instructions they had received were different. "Pray go, then,"
Agesilaus retorted, "and ask the question; and you may inform your
countrymen that if they will not comply, they will be excluded from
the treaty." The Theban ambassadors departed, but Agesilaus, out of
hatred to the Thebans, took active measures at once. Having got the
consent of the ephors he forthwith offered sacrifice. The offerings
for crossing the frontier were propitious, and he pushed on to Tegea.
From Tegea he despatched some of the knights right and left to vist
the perioeci and hasten their mobilisation, and at the same time sent
commanders of foreign brigades to the allied cities on a similar
errand. But before he had started from Tegea the answer from Thebes
arrived; the point was yielded, they would suffer the states to be
independent. Under these circumstances the Lacedaemonians returned
home, and the Thebans were forced to accept the truce unconditionally,
and to recognise the autonomy of the Boeotian cities.[21] But now the
Corinthians were by no means disposed to part with the garrison of the
Argives. Accordingly Agesilaus had a word of warning for both. To the
former he said, "if they did not forthwith dismiss the Argives," and
to the latter, "if they did not instantly quit Corinth," he would
march an army into their territories. The terror of both was so great
that the Argives marched out of Corinth, and Corinth was once again
left to herself;[22] whereupon the "butchers"[23] and their
accomplices in the deed of blood determined to retire from Corinth,
and the rest of the citizens welcomed back 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 by
their oaths to abide by the peace sent down to them by the king, the
immediate result was a general disarmament, military and naval forces
being alike disbanded; and so it was that the Lacedaemonians and
Athenians, with their allies, found themselves in the enjoyment of
peace for the first time since the period of hostilities subsequent to
the demolition of the walls of Athens. From a condition which, during
the war, can only be described as a sort of even balance with their
antagonists, the Lacedaemonians now emerged; and reached a pinnacle of
glory consequent upon the Peace of Antalcidas,[24] so called. As
guarantors of the peace presented by Hellas to the king, and as
administrators personally of the autonomy of the states, they had
added Corinth to their alliance; they had obtained the independence of
the states of Boeotia at the expense of Thebes,[25] which meant the
gratification of an old ambition; and lastly, by calling out the ban
in case the Argives refused to evacuate Corinth, they had put a stop
to the appopriation 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 in
conformity with the wishes of the Lacedaemonians, that they determined
to go a step farther and chastise those of their allies who either had
borne hard on them during the war, or otherwise had shown themselves
less favourable to Lacedaemon than to her enemies.[1] Chastisement was
not all; they must lay down such secure foundations for the future as
should render the like disloyalty impossible again.[2] As the first
step towards this policy they sent a dictatorial message to the
Mantinaeans, and bade them raze their fortifications, on the sole
ground that they could not otherwise trust them not to side with their
enemies. Many things in their conduct, they alleged, from time to
time, had not escaped their notice: their frequent despatches of corn
to the Argives while at war with Lacedaemon; at other times their
refusal to furnish contingents during a campaign, on the pretext of
some holy truce or other;[3] or if they did reluctantly take the field
--the miserable inefficiency of their service. "But, more than that,"
they added, "we note the jealousy with which you eye any good fortune
which may betide our state; the extravagant pleasure[4] you exhibit at
the sudden descent 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 war
on the plea that the city of Mantinea had done frequent service to his
father[6] in his Messenian wars. Accordingly Agesipolis led the
expedition--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's
territory to devastation; but failing by such means to induce them to
raze their walls, he proceeded to draw lines of circumvallation round
the city, keeping half his troops under arms to screen the entrenching
parties whilst the other half pushed on the work with the spade. As
soon as the trench was completed, he experienced no further difficulty
in building a wall round the city. Aware, however, of the existence of
a huge supply of corn inside the town, the result of the bountiful
harvest of the preceding year, and averse to the notion of wearing out
the city of Lacedaemon and her allies by tedious campaigning, he hit
upon the expedient of damming up the river which flowed through the
town.

It was a stream of no inconsiderable size.[8] By erecting a barrier at
its exit from the town he caused the water to rise above the basements
of the private dwellings and the foundations of the fortification
walls. Then, as the lower layers of bricks became saturated and
refused their support to the rows above, the wall began to crack and
soon to totter to its fall. The citizens for some time tried to prop
it with pieces of timber, and used other devices to avert the imminent
ruin of their tower; but finding themselves overmatched by the water,
and in dread lest the fall at some point or other of the circular
wall[9] might deliver them captive to the spear of the enemy, they
signified their consent to raze their walls. But the Lacedaemonians
now steadily refused any form of truce, except on the further
condition that the Mantineans would suffer themselves to be broken up
and distributed into villages. They, looking the necessity in the
face, consented to do even that. The sympathisers 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 for them--sixty in
number--on condition that they should quit the city. The Lacedaemonian
troops stood lining the road on both sides, beginning from the gates,
and watched the outgoers; and with their spears in their hands, in
spite of bitter hatred, kept aloof from them with less difficulty than
the Mantineans of the better classes themselves--a weighty testimony
to the power of Spartan discipline, be it said. In conclusion, 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 down their
present houses and erecting others, yet when the owners[11] found
themselves located so much nearer their estates round about the
villages, in the full enjoyment of aristocracy, and rid for ever of
"those troublesome demagogues," they were delighted with the turn
which affairs had taken. It became the custom for Sparta to send them,
not one commander of contingents,[12] but four, one for each village;
and the zeal displayed, now that the quotas for military service were
furnished from the several village centres, was far greater than it
had been under the democratic system. So the transactions in
connection with Mantinea were brought to a conclusion, and thereby one
lesson of wisdom was taught 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 the
severe scrutiny to which the behaviour of the allies of Lacedaemon
during the late war was being subjected, felt that their opportunity
had come. They repaired to Lacedaemon, and laid great emphasis on the
fact that, so long as they had been in power themselves at home,
"their city used to welcome Lacedaemonians within her walls, and her
citizens flocked to the campaign under their leadership; but no sooner
had they been driven into exile than a change had come. The men of
Phlius now flatly refused to follow Lacedaemon anywhere; the
Lacedaemonians, alone of all men living, must not be admitted within
their gates." After listening to their story, the ephors agreed that
the matter demanded attention. Then they sent to the state of Phlius a
message to this effect; the Phliasian exiles were friends of
Lacedaemon; nor did it appear that they owed their exile to any
misdoing. Under the circumstances, Lacedaemon claimed their recall
from banishment, not by force, but as a concession voluntarily
granted. When the matter was thus stated, the Phliasians were not
without alarm that an army might much upon Phlius, and a party inside
the town might admit the enemy within the walls; for within the walls
of Phlius were to be found many who, either as blood relations or for
other reasons, were partisans of the exiles, and as so often happens,
at any rate in the majority of states, there was a revolutionary party
who, in their ardour to reform, would welcome gladly their
restoration. Owing to fears of this character, a formal decree was
passed: to welcome home the exiles, and to restore to them all
undisputed property, the purchasers of the same being indemnified from
the treasury of the state; and in the event of any ambiguity or
question arising between the parties, the same to be determined before
a court of justice. Such was the position of affairs in connection
with the Phliasian exiles at the date in question.

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

[13] Al. B.C. 382.

"Men of Lacedaemon and of the allied states," he said, "are you aware
of a silent but portentous growth within the bosom of Hellas?[14] Few
here need to be told that for size and importance Olynthus now stands
at the head of the Thracian cities. But are you aware that the
citizens of Olynthus had already brought over several states by the
bribe of joint citizenship and common laws; that they have forcibly
annexed some of the larger states; and that, so encouraged, they have
taken in hand further to free the cities of Macedonia from Amyntas the
king of the Macedonians; that, as soon as their immediate neighbours
had shown compliance, they at once proceeded to attack larger and more
distant communities; so much so, that when we started to come hither,
we left them masters not only of many other places, but of Pella
itself, the capital of Macedonia. Amyntas,[15] we saw plainly, must
ere long withdraw from his cities, and was in fact already all but in
name an outcast 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 of
Apollonia a joint embassy, warning us of their intention to attack us
if we refuse to present ourselves at Olynthus with a military
contingent. Now, for our parts, men of Lacedaemon, we desire nothing
better than to abide by our ancestral laws and institutions, to be
free and independent citizens; but if aid from without is going to
fail us, we too must follow the rest and coalesce with the Olynthians.
Why, even now they muster no less than eight hundred[16] heavy
infantry and a considerably larger body of light infantry, while their
cavalry, when we have joined them, will exceed one thousand men. At
the date of our departure we left embassies from Athens and Boeotia in
Olynthus, and we were told that the Olynthians themselves had passed a
formal resolution to return the compliment. They were to send an
embassy on their side to the aforesaid states to treat of an alliance.
And yet, if the power of the Athenians and the Thebans is to be
further increased by such an accession of strength, look to it," the
speaker added, "whether hereafter you will find 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, you have it in the fact that notwithstanding the bitter hatred
which they bear to Olynthus, not one of them has dared to send
ambassadors along with us to apprise you of these matters.

"Reflect, how you can reconcile your anxiety to prevent the
unification of Boeotia with your neglect to hinder the solidifying of
a far larger power--a power destined, moreover, to become formidable
not on land only, but by sea? For what is to stop it, when the soil
itself supplies timber for shipbuilding,[17] and there are rich
revenues derived from numerous harbours and commercial centres?--it
cannot but be that abundance of food and abundance of population will
go hand in hand. Nor have we yet reached the limits of Olynthian
expansion; there are their neighbours to be thought of--the kingless
or independent Thracians. These are already to-day the devoted
servants of Olynthus, and when it comes to their being actually under
her, that means at once another vast accession of strength to her.
With the Thracians in her train, the gold mines 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 thousand
times repeated in the democracy of Olynthus. And as to their confident
spirit, 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
proud thoughts and vast designs of humanity. For ourselves, men of
Lacedaemon and of the allied states, our task is completed. We have
played our parts in announcing to you how things stand there. To you
it is left to determine whether what we have described is worthy of
your concern. One only thing further you ought to recognise: the power
we have spoken of as great is not as yet invincible, for those states
which are involuntary participants in the citizenship of Olynthus
will, in prospect of any rival power appearing in the field, speedily
fall away. On the contrary, let them be once closely knit and welded
together by the privileges of intermarriage and reciprocal rights of
holding property in land--which have already become enactments; let
them discover 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 march in your ranks, whereby they save their own
property and pillage their neighbours'); let these things come to
pass, and perhaps you may find the 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 the
allies to speak, bidding them give their joint advice as to the best
course to be pursued in the interests of Peloponnese and the allies.
Thereupon many members, and especially those who wished to gratify the
Lacedaemonians, agreed in counselling active measures; and it was
resolved that the states should severally send contingents to form a
total 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
Aeginetan obols[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 of four hoplites; while, in the event of any defaulting in
service, the Lacedaemonians should be allowed to mulct the said state
of a stater per man per diem. These resolutions were passed, and the
deputies from Acanthus rose again. They argued that, though excellent,
these resolutions were not of a nature to be rapidly carried into
effect. Would it not be better, they asked, pending the mobilisation
of the troops, to despatch an officer at once in command of a force
from Lacedaemon and the other states, not too large to start
immediately. The effect would be instantaneous, for the states which
had not yet given in their adhesion to Olynthus would be brought to a
standstill, and those already forcibly enrolled would be shaken in
their alliance. These further resolutions being also passed, the
Lacedaemonians despatched Eudamidas, accompanied by a body of
neodamodes, with perioeci and Sciritae,[20] to the number of two
thousand odd. Eudamidas lost no time in setting out, having obtained
leave from the ephors for his brother Phoebidas to follow later with
the remainder of the troops assigned to him. Pushing on himself to the
Thracian territory, he set about despatching garrisons to various
cities at their request. He also secured the voluntary adhesion of
Potidaea, although already a member of the Olynthian alliance; and
this town now served as his base of operations for carrying on war on
a scale adapted to his somewhat limited 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 duly
mustered, put himself at their head and commenced his march. On
reaching Thebes the troops encamped outside the city, round the
gymnasium. Faction was rife within the city. The two polemarchs in
office, Ismenias and Leontiades, were diametrically opposed,[21] being
the respective heads of antagonistic political clubs. Hence it was
that, while Ismenias, ever inspired by hatred to the Lacedaemonians,
would not come anywhere near the Spartan general, Leontiades, on the
other hand, was assiduous in courting him; and when a sufficient
intimacy was established between them, he made a proposal as follows:
"You have it in your power," he said, addressing Phoebidas, "this very
day to confer supreme benefit on your country. Follow me with your
hoplites, and I will introduce you into the citadel. That done, you
may rest assured Thebes will be completely under the thumb of
Lacedaemon and of us, your friends. At present, as you see, there is a
proclamation forbidding any Theban to take service with you against
Olynthus, but we will change all that. You have only to act with us as
we suggest, and we shall at once be able to furnish you with large
supplies of infantry and cavalry, so that you will join your brother
with a magnificent reinforcement, and pending his proposed reduction
of Olynthus, you will have accomplished the reduction of a far larger
state than that--to wit, this city of Thebes."

[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
tempting proposal. 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 have been deficient altogether in sound sense. The consent of
the Spartan secured, Leontiades bade him set his troops in motion, as
if everything were ready for his departure. "And anon, when the hour
is come," added the 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, since
the Cadmeia was in possession of the women who were celebrating the
Thesmophoria.[23] It was noon of a hot summer's day; scarcely a soul
was stirring in the streets. This was the moment for Leontiades. He
mounted on horseback and galloped off to overtake Phoebidas. He turned
him back, and led him without further delay into the acropolis. Having
posted Phoebidas and his soldiers inside, he handed him the key of the
gates, and warning him not to suffer any one to enter into the citadel
without a pass from himself, he straightway betook himself to the
senate. Arrived there, he delivered himself thus: "Sirs, the
Lacedaemonians are in possession of the citadel; but that is no cause
for despondency, since, as they assure us, they have no hostile
intention, except, indeed, towards any one who has an appetite for
war. For myself, and acting in obedience to the law, which empowers
the polemarch to apprehend all persons suspected of capital crimes, I
hereby seize the person of Ismenias as an arch-formenter of war. I
call upon you, sirs, who are captains of companies, and you who are
ranked with them, to do your duty. Arise and secure the prisoner, and
lead him away to 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, presented
themselves, and the orders were promptly carried out. Of those not in
the secret, but opposed to the party of Leontiades, some sought refuge
at once outside the city in terror for their lives; whilst the rest,
albeit they retired to their houses at first, yet when they found that
Ismenias was imprisoned in the Cadmeia, and further delay seemed
dangerous, retreated to Athens. These were the men who shared the
views of Androcleidas and Ismenias, and they must have numbered about
three hundred.

Now that the transactions were concluded, another polemarch was chosen
in place of Ismenias, and Leontiades at once set out to Lacedaemon.
There he found the ephors and the mass of the community highly
incensed agaisnt Phoebidas, "who had failed to execute the orders
assigned to him by the state." Against this general indignation,
however, Agesilaus protested.[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 was a time-honoured custom to allow full
scope for impromptu acts of this character. "The sole point you have
to look to," he urged, "is whether what has been done is good or
evil." After this, however, Leontiades presented himself to the
assembly[25] and addressed the members as follows: "Sirs,
Lacedaemonians, the hostile attitude of Thebes towards you, before the
occurrence of late events, was a topic constantly on your lips, since
time upon time your eyes were called upon to witness her friendly
bearing to your foes in contrast with her hatred of your friends. Can
it be denied that Thebes refused to take part with you in the campaign
against your direst enemy, the democracy in Piraeus; and balanced that
lukewarmness by on onslaught on the Phocians, whose sole crime was
cordiality to yourselves?[26] Nor is that all. In full knowledge that
you were likly to be engaged in war with Olynthus, she proceeded at
once to make an alliance with that city. So that up to the last moment
you were in constant expectation of hearing that the whole of Boeotia
was laid at the feet of Thebes. With the late incidents all is
changed. You need fear Thebes no longer. One brief despatch[27] in
cipher will suffice to procure a dutiful subservience to your every
wish in that quarter, provided only you will take as kindly an
interest in us as 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] resolved
formally, now that the citadel had been taken, to keep it, and to put
Ismenias on his trial. In consequence of this resolution a body of
commissioners[29] was despatched, three Lacedaemonians and one for
each of the allied states, great and small alike. The court of inquiry
thus constituted, the sittings commenced, and an indictment was
preferred against Ismenias. He was accused of playing into the hands
of the barbarian; of seeking amity with the Persians to the detriment
of Hellas; of accepting sums of money as bribes from the king; and,
finally, of being, along with Androcleidas, the prime cause of the
whole intestine trouble to which Hellas was a prey. Each of these
charges was met by the defendant, but to no purpose, since he failed
to disabuse the court of their conviction that the grandeur of his
designs was only equalled by their wickedness.[30] The verdict was
given against him, and he was put to death. The party of Leontiades
thus possessed the city; and went beyond the injunctions given them in
the eager performance 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 pressed
on the combined campaign against Olynthus with still greater
enthusiasm. They not only set out Teleutias as governor, but by their
united efforts furnished him with an aggregate army of ten thousand
men.[31] They also sent despatches to the allied states, calling upon
them to support Teleutias in accordance with the resolution of the
allies. All the states were ready to display devotion to Teleutias,
and to do him service, since he was a man who never forgot a service
rendered him. Nor was Thebes an exception; for was not the governor a
brother of Agesilaus? Thebes, therefore, was enthusiastic in sending
her contribution of heavy infantry and cavalry. The Spartan conducted
his march slowly and surely, taking the utmost pains to avoid injuring
his friends, and to collect as large a force as possible. He also sent
a message in advance to Amyntas, begging him, if he were truly
desirous of recovering his empire, to raise a body of mercenaries, and
to distribute sums of money among the neighbouring kings with a view
to their alliance. 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 the great power of Macedonia, would certainly not suffer
his lesser power to escape unless they were stayed up by force in arms
in their career of insolence. Proceeding thus, by the time he had
reached the territory of the allied powers he was at the head of a
very considerable army. At Potidaea he halted to make the necessary
disposition of his troops, and thence advanced into the territory of
the enemy. As he approached the hostile city, he abstained from
felling and firing alike, being persuaded that to do so was only to
create difficulties in his own path, whether advancing or retreating;
it would be time enough, when he retired from Olynthus, to fell the
trees and lay them as a barrier in the 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. The
left division was under his personal command, for it suited him to
advance in a line opposite the gate from which the enemy sallied; the
other division of the allies stretched away to the right. The cavalry
were thus distributed: the Laconians, Thebans, and all the Macedonians
present were posted on the right. With his own division he kept Derdas
and his troopers, four hundred strong. This he did partly out of
genuine admiration for this body of horse, and partly as a mark of
courtesy to Derdas, which should make him not regret his coming.

[32] Lit. "ten stades."

Presently the enemy issued forth and formed in line opposite, under
cover of their walls. Then their cavalry formed in close order and
commenced the attack. Dashing down upon the Laconians and Boeotians
they dismounted Polycharmus, the Lacedaemonian cavalry general,
inflicting a hundred wounds on him as he lay on the ground, and cut
down others, and finally put to flight the cavalry on the right wing.
The flight of these troopers infected the infantry in close proximity
to them, who in turn swerved; 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 of Olynthus, Teleutias supporting him with the
troops of his division. The Olynthian cavalry, seeing how matters were
going, and in dread of finding the gates closed upon them, wheeled
round and retired with alacrity. Thus it was that Derdas had his
chance to cut down man after man 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 was trifling. Teleutias claimed the
victory, and a trophy was duly erected, after which he turned his back
on Olynthus and devoted himself to felling the fruit-trees. This was
the campaign of the summer. He now dismissed both the Macedonians and
the cavalry force of Derdas. Incursions, however, on the part of the
Olynthians themselves against the states allied to Lacedaemon were
frequent; lands were pillaged, and people put to the sword.

III

B.C. 381. With the first symptoms of approaching spring the Olynthian
cavalry, six hundred strong, had swooped into the territory of
Apollonia--about the middle of the day--and dispersing over the
district, were employed in pillaging; but as luck would have it,
Derdas had arrived that day with his troopers, and was breakfasting in
Apollonia. He noted the enemy's incursion, but kept quiet, biding his
time; his horses were ready saddled, and his troopers armed cap-a-
pied. As the Olynthians came galloping up contemptuously, not only
into the suburbs, but to the very gates of the city, he seized his
opportunity, and with his compact and well-ordered squadron dashed
out; whereupon the invaders took to flight. Having once turned them,
Derdas gave them no respite, pursuing and slaughtering them for ten
miles or more,[1] until he 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 expedition
against the city of Olynthus. His object was to destroy any timber[2]
still left standing, or fields still cultivated in the hostile
territory. This brought out the Olynthian cavalry, who, stealthily
advancing, crossed the river which washes the walls of the town, and
again continued their silent march right up to the adversary's camp.
At sight of an audacity which nettled him, Teleutias at once ordered
Tlemonidas, the officer commanding his light infantry division, to
charge the assailants at the run. On their side the men of Olynthus,
seeing the rapid approach of the light infantry, wheeled and quietly
retired until they had recrossed the river, drawing the enemy on, who
followed with conspicuous hardihood. Arrogating to themselves the
position of pursuers towards fugitives, they did not hesitate to cross
the river which stood between them and their prey. Then the Olynthian
cavalry, choosing a favourable moment, when those who had crossed
seemed easy to deal with, wheeled and attacked them, putting
Tlemonidas himself to 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 anger and began leading his hoplites swiftly forward,
ordering at the same time his peltasts and cavalry to give chase and
not to slacken. Their fate was the fate of many before and since, who,
in the ardour of pursuit, have come too close to the enemy's walls and
found it hard to get back again. Under a hail of missiles from the
walls they were forced to retire in disorder and with the necessity of
guarding themselves against the missiles. At this juncture the
Olynthians sent out their cavalry at full gallop, backed by supports
of light infantry; and finally their heavy infantry reserves poured
out and fell upon the enemy's lines, now in thorough confusion. Here
Teleutias fell fighting, and when that happened, without further pause
the troops immediately about him swerved. Not one soul longer cared to
make a stand, but the flight became general, some fleeing towards
Spartolus, others in the direction of Acanthus, a third set seeking
refuge within the walls of Apollonia, and the majority within those of
Potidaea. As the tide of fugitives broke into several streams, so also
the pursuers divided the work between them; this way and that they
poured, dealing death wholesale. 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 are
meant to teach mankind, I think, is plain. If in a general sense one
ought not to punish any one, even one's own slave, in anger--since the
master in his wrath may easily incur worse evil himself than he
inflicts--so, in the case of antagonists in war, to attack an enemy
under the influence of passion rather than of judgment is an absolute
error. For wrath is but a blind impulse devoid of foresight, whereas
to the penetrating eye of reason a blow parried may be better than a
wound inflicted.[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
trifling description, if only to quench the victors' pride, and to
prevent their own achievements from becoming null and void. In this
determination they sent out King Agesipolis, as general, attended,
like Agesilaus[4] on his Asiatic campaign, by thirty Spartans.[5]
Volunteers flocked to his standard. They were partly the pick and
flower of the provincials,[6] partly foreigners of the class called
Trophimoi,[7] or lastly, bastard sons of Spartans, comely and
beautiful of limb, and well versed in the lore of Spartan chivalry.
The ranks of this invading force were further swelled by volunteers
from the allied states, the Thessalians notably contributing a corps
of cavalry. All were animated by the desire of becoming known to
Agesipolis, so that even Amyntas and Derdas in zeal of service outdid
themselves. With this promise of success Agesipolis marched 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
amount of the funds contributed by them to his expedition and the
celerity with which the money had been raised, and in full belief that
while one king was in the field they were secure against the hostile
attack of the other (since it was hardly to be expected that both
kings should be absent from Sparta at one moment), boldly desisted
from doing justice by her lately reinstated citizens. On the one hand,
these exiles claimed that points in dispute should be determined
before an impartial court of justice; the citizens, on the other,
insisted on the claimants submitting the cases for trial in the city
itself. And when the latter demurred to that solution, asking "What
sort of trial that would be where the offenders were also the judges?"
they appealed to deaf ears. Consequently the restored party appealed
at Sparta, to prefer a complaint against their city. They were
accompanied by other members of the community, who stated that many of
the Phliasians themselves besides the appellants recognised the
injustice of their treatment. The state of Phlius was indignant at
this manouvre, and retaliated by imposing a fine on all who had
betaken themselves to Lacedaemon without a mandate from the state.
Those who incurred the fine hesitated to return home; they preferred
to stay where they were and enforce their views: "It is quite plain
now who were the perpetrators of all the violence--the very people who
originally drove us into exile, and shut their gates upon Lacedaemon;
the confiscators of our property one day, the ruthless opponents of
its restoration the next. Who else but they have now brought it about
that we should be fined for appearing at Lacedaemon? and for what
purpose but to deter any one else for the future from venturing 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 of
insolence; so much so that the ephors called out the ban against them.

B.C. 380. Nor was Agesilaus otherwise than well satisfied with this
decision, not only on the ground of old relations of friendly
hospitality between his father Archidamus and the party of Podanemus,
who were numbered among the restored exiles at this time, but because
personally he was bound by similar ties himself towards the adherents
of Procles, son of Hipponicus. The border sacrifices proving
favourable, the march commenced at once. As he advanced, embassy after
embassy met him, and would fain by presents of money avert invasion.
But the king answered that the purpose of his march was not to commit
wrongdoing, but to protect the victims of injustice. Then the
petitioners offered to do anything, only they begged him to forgo
invasion. Again he replied--How could he trust to their words when
they had lied to him already? He must have the warrant of acts, not
promises. And being asked, "What act (would satisfy him)?" he answered
once more, saying, "The same which you performed aforetime, and
suffered no wrong at our hands"--in other words, the surrender of the
acropolis.[8] But to this they could not bring themselves. Whereupon
he invaded the territory of Phlius, and promptly drawing lines of
circumvallation, commenced the siege. Many of the Lacedaemonians
objected, for the sake of a mere handful of wretched people, 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 met
regularly in assembly in full view of those outside. But Agesilaus was
not 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's instructions were to place the public messes[10] at the service
of the visitors, and, if they were willing to go through the course of
gymnastic training, to give them enough to procure necessaries. All
members of these classes were, by the general's strict injunctions,
further to be provided with arms, and loans were to be raised for the
purpose without delay. Presently the superintendents of this branch of
the service were able to turn out a detachment of over a thousand men,
in the prime of bodily perfection, well disciplined and splendidly
armed, so that in the end the Lacedaemonians affirmed: "Fellow-
soldiers of this stamp are too good to lose." Such were the concerns
of Agesilaus.

[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 upon
Olynthus and took up a strategical position in front of the town.
Finding that no one came out to oppose him, he occupied himself for
the present with pillaging any remnant of the district till intact,
and with marching into the territory allied with the enemy, where he
destroyed the corn. The town of Torone he attacked and took by storm.
But while he was so engaged, in the height of mid-summer he was
attacked by a burning fever. In this condition his mind reverted to a
scene once visited, the temple of Dionysus at Aphytis, and a longing
for its cool and sparkling waters and embowered shades[11] seized him.
To this spot accordingly he was carried, still living, but only to
breathe his last outside the sacred shrine, within a week of the day
on which he sickened. His body was laid in honey and conveyed home to
Sparta, where he obtained royal sepulchre.

[11] Lit. "shady tabernacles."

When the news reached Agesilaus he displayed none of the satisfaction
which might possibly have been expected at the removal of an
antagonist. On the contrary, he wept and pined for the companionship
so severed, it being the fashion at Sparta for the kings when at home
to mess together and to share the same quarters. Moreover, Agesipolis
was admirably suited to Agesilaus, sharing with the merriment of youth
in tales of the chase and horsemanship and boyish loves;[12] while, to
crown all, the touch of reverence due from younger to elder was not
wanting in their common life. In place of Agesipolis, the
Lacedaemonians despatched Polybiades as governor to Olynthus.

[12] See "Ages." viii. 2.

B.C. 379. Agesilaus had already exceeded the time during which the
supplies of food in Phlius were expected to last. The difference, in
fact, between self-command and mere appetite is so great that the men
of Phlius had only to pass a resolution to cut down the food
expenditure by one half, and by doing so were able to prolong the
siege for twice the calculated period. But if the contrast between
self-restraint and appetite is so great, no less startling is that
between boldness and faint-heartedness. A Phliasian named Delphion, a
real hero, it would seem, took to himself three hundred Phliasians,
and not only succeeded in preventing the peace-party from carrying out
their wishes, but was equal to the task of incarcerating and keeping
safely under lock and key those whom he mistrusted. Nor did his
ability end there. He succeeded in forcing the mob of citizens to
perform garrison duty, and by vigorous patrolling kept them constant
to the work. Over and over again, accompanied by his personal
attendants, he would dash out of the walls and drive in the enemy's
outposts, first at one point and then at another of the beleaguering
circle. But the time eventually came when, search as they might by
every means, these picked defenders[13] could find no further store of
food within the walls, and they were forced to send to Agesilaus,
requesting a truce for an embassy to visit Sparta, adding that they
were resolved to leave it to the discretion of the authorities at
Lacedaemon to do with their city what they liked. Agesilaus granted a
pass to the embassy, but, at the same time, he was so angry at their
setting his personal authority aside, that he sent to his friends at
home and arranged that the fate of Phlius should be left to his
discretion. Meanwhile he proceeded to tighten the cordon of
investment, so as to render it impossible that a single soul inside
the city should escape. In spite of this, however, Delphion, with one
comrade, a branded dare-devil, who had shown great dexterity in
relieving the besieging parties of their arms, escaped by night.
Presently the deputation returned with the answer from Lacedaemon that
the state simply left it entirely to the discretion of Agesilaus to
decide the fate of Phlius as seemed to him best. Then Agesilaus
announced his verdict. A board of one hundred--fifty taken from the
restored exiles, fifty from those within the city--were in the first
place to make inquisition as to who deserved to live and who to die,
after which they were to lay down laws as the basis of a new
constitution. Pending the carrying out of these transactions, he left
a detachment of troops to garrison the place for six months, with pay
for that period. After this he dismissed the allied forces, and led
the state[14] division home. Thus the transactions concerning Phlius
were brought to a conclusion, having occupied altogether one year and
eight months.

[13] See below, "Hell." VII. i. 19.

[14] {to politokon}, the citizen army. See above, IV. iv. 19; "Pol.
Lac." xi.

Meanwhile Polybiades had reducd the citizens of Olynthus to the last
stage of misery through famine. Unable to supply themselves with corn
from their own land, or to import it by sea, they were forced to send
an embassy to Lacedaemon to sue for peace. The plenipotentiaries on
their arrival accepted articles of agreement by which they bound
themselves to have the same friends and the same foes as Lacedaemon,
to follow her lead, and to be enrolled among her allies; and so,
having taken an oath to abide by these terms, they returned home.

On every side the affairs of Lacedaemon had signally prospered: Thebes
and the rest of the Boeotian states lay absolutely at her feet;
Corinth had become her most faithful ally; Argos, unable longer to
avail herself of the subterfuge of a movable calendar, was humbled to
the dust; Athens was isolated; and, lastly, those of her own allies
who displayed a hostile feeling towards her had been punished; so
that, to all outward appearance, the foundations of her empire were at
length absolutely well and firmly laid.

IV

Abundant examples might be found, alike in Hellenic and in foreign
history, 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] The
Lacedaemonians, who had pledged themselves by oath to leave the states
independent, had laid violent hands on the acropolis of Thebes, and
were eventually punished by the victims of that iniquity single-handed
--the Lacedaemonians, be it noted, who had never before been mastered
by living man; and not they alone, but those citizens of Thebes who
introduced them to their acropolis, and who wished to enslave their
city to Lacedaemon, that they might play the tyrant themselves--how
fared it with them? A bare score of the fugitives were sufficient to
destroy their 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 his
chief other services, and all apparently in an exemplary fashion. A
visit to Athens in pursuance of some business brought this man into
contact with a former acquaintance of his, Melon, one of the exiles
who had fled for safety to Athens. Melon had various questions to ask
touching the sort of tyranny practised by Archias in the exercise of
the polemarchy, and by Philip. He soon discovered that affairs at home
were still more detestable to Phyllidas than to himself. It only
remained to exchange pledges, and to arrange the details of what was
to be done. After a certain interval Melon, accompanied by six of the
trustiest comrades he could find among his fellow-exiles, set off for
Thebes. They were armed with nothing but daggers, and first of all
crept into the neighbourhood under cover of night. The whole of the
next day they lay concealed in a desert place, and drew near to the
city gates in the guise of labourers returning home with the latest
comers from the fields. Having got safely within the city, they spent
the whole of that night at the house of a man named Charon, and again
the next day in the same fashion. Phyllidas meanwhile was busily taken
up with the concerns of the polemarchs, who were to celebrate a feast
of Aphrodite on going out of office. Amongst other things, the
secretary was to take this opportunity of fulfilling an old
undertaking, which was the introduction of certain women to the
polemarchs. They were to be the most majestic and the most beautiful
to be found in Thebes. The polemarchs, on their side (and the
character of the men is sufficiently marked), were looking forward to
the pleasures of the night with joyful anticipation. Supper was over,
and thanks to the zeal with which the master of the ceremonies
responded to their mood, they were speedily intoxicated. To their oft-
repeated orders to introduce their mistresses, he went out and fetched
Melon and the rest, three of them dressed up as ladies and the rest as
their attendant maidens. Having brought them into the treasury of the
polemarchs' residence,[3] he returned himself and announced to Archias
and his friends that the women would not present themselves as long as
any of the attendants remained in the room; whereupon they promptly
bade all withdraw, and Phyllidas, furnishing the servants with a stoup
of wine, sent them off to the house of one of them. And now at last he
introduced the mistresses, and led them to their seats beside their
respective lords. It was preconcerted that as soon as they were seated
they were to throw aside their veils and strike home. That is one
version of the death of the polemarchs.[4] According to another, Melon
and 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 of
Leontiades. Arrived there, he knocked on the door, and sent in word
that he had a message from the polemarchs. Leontiades, as chance
befell, was still reclining in privacy after dinner, and his wife was
seated beside him working wools. The fidelity of Phyllidas was well
known to him, and he gave orders to admit him at once. They entered,
slew Leontiades, and with threats silenced his wife. As they went out
they ordered the door to be shut, threatening that if they found it
open they would kill every one in the house. And now that this deed
was done, Phyllidas, with two of the band, presented himself at the
prison, telling the gaoler he had brought a man from the polemarchs to
be locked up. The gaoler opened the door, and was at once despatched,
and the prisoners were released. These they 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 position there, after which they
at once made a proclamation calling on all Thebans to come out, horse
and foot, seeing that the tyrants were dead. The citizens, indeed, as
long as it was night, not knowing whom or what to trust, kept quiet,
but when day dawned and revealed what had occurred, the summons was
responded to with alacrity, heavy infantry and cavalry under arms
alike sallying forth. Horsemen were also despatched by the now
restored exiles to the two Athenian generals on the frontier; and
they, being aware of the object of the mesage [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 soon
as that night's proclamation reached his ears, was not slow to send to
Plataeae[7] and Thespiae for reinforcements. The approach of the
Plataeans was perceived by the Theban cavalry, who met them and killed
a score of them and more, and after that achievement returned to the
city, to find the Athenians from the frontier already arrived. Then
they assaulted the acropolis. The troops within recognised the paucity
of their own numbers, whilst the zeal of their opponents (one and all
advancing to the attack) was plainly visible, and loud were the
proclamations, promising rewards to those who should be first to scale
the walls. All this so worked upon their fears that they agreed to
evacuate the place if the citizens would allow them a safe-conduct to
retire with their arms. To this request the others gladly yielded, and
they made a truce. Oaths were taken on the terms aforesaid, and the
citizens dismissed their adversaries. For all that, as the garrison
retired, those of them who were recognised as personal foes were
seized and put to death. Some were rescued through the good offices of
the Athenian reinforcements from the frontier, who smuggled them
across and saved them. The Thebans were not content with putting the
men to death; if any of them had children, these also were sacrificed
to their vengeance.

[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 first
thing the Lacedaemonians did was to put to death the governor, who had
abandoned the Cadmeia instead of awaiting reinforcements, and the next
was to call out the ban against Thebes. Agesilaus had little taste to
head the expedition; he pointed out that he had seen more than forty
years' service,[8] and that the exemption from foreign duty applicable
to others at that age was applicable on the same principle to the
king. Such were the ostensible grounds on which he excused himself
from the present expedition, but his real objections lay deeper. He
felt certain that if he led the expedition his fellow-citizens would
say: "Agesilaus caused all this trouble to the state in order to aid
and abet tyrants." Therefore he preferred to leave his countrymen to
settle the matter themselves as they liked. Accordingly the ephors,
instructed by the Theban exiles who had escaped the late massacres,
despatched Cleombrotus. He had not commanded before, and it was the
depth of winter.

[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 and
ward over the road through Eleutherae, Cleombrotus made his way up by
the direct route to Plataeae. His column of light infantry, pushing
forward in advance, fell upon the men who had been released from the
Theban prison, guarding the summit, to the number of about one hundred
and fifty. These, with the exception of one or two who escaped, were
cut down by the peltasts, and Cleombrotus descended in person upon
Plataeae, which was still friendly to Sparta. Presently he reached
Thespiae, and that was the base for an advance upon Cynoscephalae,
where he encamped on Theban territory. Here he halted sixteen days,
and then again fell back upon Thespiae. At this latter place he now
left Sphodrias as governor, with a third portion of each of the
contingents of the allies, handing over to him all the moneys he had
brought with him from home, with directions to supplement his force
with a contingent of mercenaries.

While Sphodrias was so employed, Cleombrotus himself commenced his
homeward march, following the road through Creusis at the head of his
own moiety of the troops, who indeed were in considerable perplexity
to discover whether they were at war with the Thebans or at peace,
seeing that the general had led his army into Theban territory, had
inflicted the minimum of mischief, and again retired. No sooner,
however, was his back turned than a violent wind storm assailed him in
his rear, which some construed as an omen clearly significant of what
was about to take place. Many a blow this assailant dealt them, and as
the general and his army, crossing from Creusis, scaled that face of
the mountain[9] which stretches seaward, the blast hurled headlong
from the precipices a string of asses, baggage and all: countless arms
were wrested from the bearers' grasp and whirled into the sea;
finally, numbers of the men, unable to march with their arms,
deposited them at different points of the pass, first filling the
hollow of their shields with stones. For the moment, then, they halted
at Aegosthena, on Megarian soil, and supped as best they could. Next
day they returned and recovered their arms. After this adventure the
contingents lost no time in returning to their several homes, as
Cleombrotus disbanded them.

[9] I.e. "Cithaeron."

Meanwhile at Athens and Thebes alike fear reigned. To the Athenians
the strength of the Lacedaemonians was unmistakable: the war was
plainly no longer confined to Corinth; on the contrary, the
Lacedaemonians had ventured to skirt Athenian territory and to invade
Thebes. They were so worked upon by their alarm that the two generals
who had been privy to the insurrection of Melon against Leontiades and
his party had to suffer: the one was formally tried and put to death;
the other, refusing to abide his trial, was banished.

The apprehensions of the Thebans were of a different sort: their fear
was rather lest they should find themselves in single-handed war with
Lacedaemon. To prevent this they hit upon the following expedient.
They worked upon Sphodrias,[10] the Spartan governor left in Thespiae,
by offering him, as at least was suspected, a substantial sum, in
return for which he was to make an incursion into Attica; their great
object being to involve Athens and Lacedaemon in hostilities.
Sphodrias lent a willing ear, and, pretending that he could easily
capture Piraeus in its present gateless condition, gave his troops an
early evening meal and marched out of Thespiae, saying that he would
reach Piraeus before daybreak. As a matter of fact day overtook him at
Thria, nor did he take any pains even to draw a veil over his
intentions; on the contrary, being forced to turn aside, he amused
himself by recklessly lifting cattle and sacking houses. Meanwhile
some who chanced upon him in the night had fled to the city and
brought news to the men of Athens that a large body of troops was
approaching. It needs no saying with what speed the cavalry and heavy
infantry armed themselves and stood on guard to protect the city. As
chance befell, there were some Lacedaemonian ambassadors in Athens at
the moment, at the house of Callias their proxenos; their names were
Etymocles, Aristolochus, and Ocyllus. Immediately on receipt of the
news the Athenians seized these three and imprisoned them, as not
improbably concerned in the plot. Utterly taken aback by the affair
themselves, the ambassadors pleaded that, had they been aware of an
attempt to seize Piraeus, they would hardly have been so foolish as to
put themselves into the power of the Athenians, or have selected the
house of their proxenos for protection, where they were so easily to
be found. It would, they further urged, soon be plain to the Athenians
themselves that the state of Lacedaemon was quite as little cognisant
of these proceedings as they. "You will hear before long"--such was
their confident prediction--"that Sphodrias has paid for his behaviour
by his life." On this wise the ambassadors were acquitted of all
concern in the matter and dismissed. Sphodrias himself was recalled
and indicted by the ephors on the capital charge, and, in spite of his
refusal to face the trial, he was acquitted. This miscarriage of
justice, as it seemed to many, who described it as unprecedented in
Lacedaemon, has an explanation.

[10] See Plut. "Pel." xiv. (Clough, ii. p. 214).

Sphodrias had a son named Cleonymus. He was just at the age when youth
emerges from boyhood, very handsome and of high repute among his
fellows. To this youth Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus, was
passionately attached. Now the friends of Cleombrotus, as comrades of
Sphodrias, were disposed to acquit him; but they feared Agesilaus and
his friends, not to mention the intermediate party, for the enormity
of his 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, by begging Archidamus to dispose Agesilaus favourably to me
at my trial." Thus instructed, the youth did not shrink from visiting
Archidamus, and implored him for his sake to save his father. Now when
Archidamus saw how 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 bare truth 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 beg assistance from the whole world sooner than from
my father. Still, since it is you who bid me, rest assured I will do
my best to bring this about for you as you desire." He then left the
common hall[12] and retired home to rest, but with dawn he arose and
kept watch that his father might not go out without his knowledge.
Presently, when he saw him ready to go forth, first some citizen was
present, and then another and another; and in each case he stepped
aside, while they held his father in conversation. By and by a
stranger would come, and then another; and so it went on until he even
found himself making way for a string of petitioning attendants. At
last, when his father had turned his back on the Eurotas, and was
entering his house again, he was fain to turn his back also and be
gone without so much as accosting him. The next day he 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, on his
side, was longing, as was natural, to see his friend Cleonymus; but
how he was to visit him, without having held the desired conversation
with his father, he knew not. The friends of Sphodrias, observing that
he 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. At last, however, Archidamus dared to go to his father, and
said, "Father, Cleonymus bids me ask you to save his father; grant me
this boon, if possible, I beg you." He answered: "For yourself, my
son, I can make excuse, but how shall my city make excuse for me if I
fail to condemn that man who, for his own base purpose, traffics to
the injury of the state?" For the moment the other made no reply, but
retired crestfallen before the verdict of justice. Afterwards, whether
the thought was his own 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 you for our sakes?" And the father answered:
"If it can be done without loss of honour on our parts, so shall it
be." At that word the young man, in deep despondency, turned and went.
Now one of the friends of Sphodrias, conversing with Etymocles,
remarked to him: "You are all bent on putting Sphodrias to death, I
take it, you friends of Agesilaus?" And Etymocles replied: "If that be
so, we all are bent on one thing, and Agesilaus on another, since in
all his conversations he still harps upon one string: that Sphodrias
has done a wrong there is no denying, yet Sphodrias is a man who, from
boyhood to ripe manhood,[13] was ever constant to the call of honour.
To put such a man as that to death is hard; nay, Sparta needs such
soldiers." The other accordingly went off and reported what he had
just heard to Cleonymus; and he in the joy of his heart went
straightway to Archidamus and said: "Now we know that you care for us;
rest assured, Archidamus, that we in turn will take great pains that
you shall never have cause to blush for our friendship." Nor did his
acts belie his words; but so long as he lived he was ever faithful to
the code of Spartan chivalry; and at Leuctra, fighting in front of the
king side by side with Deinon the polemarch, thrice fell or ever he
yielded up his breath--foremost of the citizens amidst the foe. And
so, albeit he caused his friend the bitterest sorrow, yet to that
which he had promised he was faithful, seeing he wrought Archidamus no
shame, but contrariwise shed lustre on him.[14] In this way Sphodrias
obtained his acquittal.

[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 people
that his countrymen, so far from punishing Sphodrias, had even
applauded him for his designs on Athens; and in consequence of this
the Athenians not only furnished Piraeus with gates, but set to work
to build a fleet, and displayed great zeal in sending aid to the
Boeotians.[15] The Lacedaemonians, on their side, called out the ban
against the Thebans; and being persuaded that in Agesilaus they would
find a more prudent general than Cleombrotus had proved, they begged
the former to undertake the expedition.[16] He, replying that the wish
of the state was for him law, 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 Mount
Cithaeron any attack on Thebes would be difficult. Learning then that
the men of Cleitor were just now at war with the men of
Orchomenus,[17] and were maintaing a foreign brigade, he came to an
understanding with the Cleitorians that in the event of his needing
it, this force would be at his service; and as soon as the sacrifices
for crossing the frontier proved favourable, he sent to the commander
of the Cleitorian mercenaries, and handing him a month's pay, ordered
him to occupy Cithaeron with his men. This was before he himself
reached Tegea. Meanwhile he sent a message to the men of Orchomenus
that so long as the campaign lasted they must cease from war. If any
city during his campaign abroad took on itself to march against
another city, his first duty, he declared, would be to march against
such offending city in accordance 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 base
made the territory of Thebes his objective. Finding the great plain
fenced round with ditch and palisade, as also the most valuable
portions of the country, he adopted the plan of shifting his
encampment from one place to another. Regularly each day, after the
morning meal, he marched out his troops and ravaged the territory,
confining himself to his own side of the palisadings and trench. The
appearance of Agesilaus at any point whatever was a signal to the
enemy, who within the circuit of his entrenchment kept moving in
parallel line to the invader, and was ever ready to defend the
threatened point. On one occasion, the Spartan king having retired and
being well on the road back to camp, the Theban cavalry, hitherto
invisible, suddenly dashed out, following one of the regularly
constructed roads out of the entrenchment. Taking advantage of the
enemy's position--his light troops breaking off to supper or busily
preparing 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 cut
down; and three cavalry troopers besides--two Spartans, Cleas and
Epicydidas by name, and the third a provincial[20] named Eudicus, who
had not had time to mount their horses, and whose fate was shared by
some Theban[21] exiles. But presently Agesilaus wheeled about and
advanced with his heavy infantry to the succour; his cavalry dashed at
the enemy's cavalry, and the flower of the heavy infantry, the ten-
years-service men, charged by their side. The Theban cavalry at that
instant looked like men who had been imbibing too freely in the
noontide heat--that is to say, they awaited the charge long enough to
hurl their spears; but the volley sped without effect, and wheeling
about within that 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 enemy
presented himself after the morning meal. Turning the observation to
account, he offered sacrifice with day's dawn, and marched with all
possible speed, and so crossed within the palisadings, through what
might have been a desert, as far as defence or sign of living being
went. Once well inside, he proceeded to cut down and set on fire
everything up to the city gates. After this exploit he beat a retreat,
retiring into Thespiae, where he fortified their citadel for them.
Here he left Phoebidas as governor, while he himself crossed the
passes back into Megara. Arrived here he disbanded the allies, and led
the city troops homewards.

After the departure of Agesilaus, Phoebidas devoted himself to
harrying the Thebans by sending out robber bands, and laid waste their
land by a system of regular incursions. The Thebans, on their side,
desiring to retaliate, marched out with their whole force into the
territory of Thespiae. But once well inside the district they found
themselves closely beset by Phoebidas and his light troops, who would
not give them the slightest chance to scatter from their main body, so
that the Thebans, heartily vexed at the turn their foray had taken,
beat a retreat quicker than they had come. The muleteers threw away
with their own hands the fruits they had captured, in their anxiety to
get home as quickly 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 leaving the heavy infantry under orders to follow him in
battle order. He was in hopes even that he might put the enemy to
complete rout, so valiantly did he lead the advance, encouraging the
light troops to "come to a close grip with the invadors," or summoning
the heavy infantry of the Thespiaeans to "bring up their supports."
Presently the Theban cavalry as they retired found themselves face to
face with an impassable glen or ravine, where in the first instance
they collected in a mob, and next wheeled right-about-face in sheer
resourcelessness where to cross. The handful of light troops who
formed the Spartan vanguard took fright at the Thebans and fled, and
the Theban horsemen seeing this put in practice the lesson of attack
which the fugitives taught them. As for Phoebidas 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 infantry
reserves, they too, in spite of much boasting beforehand that they
would never yield to Thebans, took to flight, though there was now
absolutely no pursuit whatever, for it was now late. The number slain
was not large, but, for all that, the men of Thespiae did not come to
a standstill until they found themselves safe inside their walls. As a
sequel, the hopes and spirits of the Thebans were again kindled into
new life, and they made campaigns against Thespiae and the other
provincial cities of Boeotia.[22] It must be admitted that in each
case the democratical party retired from these cities to Thebes; since
absolute governments had been established in all of them on the
pattern previously adopted at Thebes; and the result was that the
friends of Lacedaemon in these cities also needed her assistance.[23]
After the death of Phoebidas the Lacedaemonians despatched a polemarch
with a division 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
the ban against Thebes, and requested Agesilaus to lead the
expedition, as on the former campaign. He, holding to his former
theory with regard to the invasion, even before sacrificing the
customary frontier sacrifice, sent a despatch to the polemarch at
Thespiae, with orders to seize the pass which commands the road over
Cithaeron, and to guard it against his arrival. Then, having once more
crossed the pass and reached Plataeae, he again made a feint of
marching first into Thespiae, and so sent a despatch ordering supplies
to be in readiness, and all embassies to be waiting his arrival there;
so that the Thebans concentrated their attention on the approaches
from Thespiae, which they strongly guarded. Next morning, however,
Agesilaus sacrificed at daybreak and set out on the road to
Erythrae,[25] and completing in one day what was a good two days'
march for an army, gave the Thebans the slip, and crossed their
palisade-work at Scolus before the enemy had arrived from the closely-
guarded point at which he had effected his entrance formerly. This
done he proceeded to ravage the eastward-facing districts of the city
of Thebes as far as the territory of Tanagra, for at that date Tanagra
was still in the hands of Hypatodorus and his party, who were friends
of the Lacedaemonians. After that he turned to retire, keeping the
walls of Thebes on his left. But the Thebans, who had stolen, as it
were, upon the scene, drew up at the spot called "The Old Wife's
Breast,"[26] keeping the trench and palisading in their rear: they
were persuaded that here, if anywhere, lay their chance to risk a
decisive engagement, the ground at this point being somewhat narrow
and difficult to traverse. Agesilaus, however, in view of the
situation, refused to accept the challenge. Instead of marching upon
them he turned sharp off in the direction of the city; and the
Thebans, in alarm for the city in its undefended state, abandoned the
favourable ground on which they were drawn up in battle line, and
retired at the double towards the city along the road to Potniae,
which seemed the safer route. This last move of Agesilaus may be
described as a stroke of genius:[27] while it allowed him to retire to
a distance, it forced the enemy themselves to retreat at the double.
In spite of this, however, one or two of the polemarchs, with their
divisions, charged the foe as he raced past. But again the Thebans,
from the vantage-ground of their heights, sent volleys of spears upon
the assailants, which cost one of the polemarchs, Alypetus, his life.
He fell pierced by a spear. But again from this particular crest the
Thebans on their side were forced to turn in flight; so much so that
the Sciritae, with some of the cavalry, scaled up and speedily cut
down the rearmost ranks of the Thebans as they galloped past into the
city. When, however, they were close under cover of their walls the
Thebans turned, and the Sciritae seeing them retreated at more than a
steady walking pace. No one, it is true, was slain; but the Thebans
all the same set up a trophy in record of the incident at the point
where the scaling party had been forced to retreat.

[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 on
the 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, who
formed a free corps in the pay of the Thebans, hung audaciously at his
heels. Their shouts could be heard calling out to Chabrias[28] for not
bringing up his supports; when the cavalry of the Olynthians (who now
contributed a contingent in accordance with their oaths)[29] wheeled
round on them, caught the pursuers in the heat of their pursuit, and
drove them uphill, putting large numbers of them to the sword--so
quickly are infantry overhauled by cavalry on steep ground which can
be ridden over. Being arrived within the walls of Thespiae, Agesilaus
found the citizens in a state of party feud, the men of Lacedaemonian
proclivities desiring to put their political opponents, one of whom
was Menon, to death[30]--a proceeding which Agesilaus would not
sanction. After having healed their differences and bound them over by
solemn oath to keep the peace with one another, he at once retired,
taking his old route across Cithaeron to Megara. Here once more he
disbanded the allies, and at the head of the city troops himself
marched back to Sparta.

[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 years
now, and began to be sorely pinched for want of corn; they therefore
sent a body of men on board a couple of triremes to Pagasae, with ten
talents[31] in hand for the purchase of corn. But while these
commissioners were engaged in effecting their purchases, Alcetas, the
Lacedaemonian 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 captured not only the corn but the triremes, escort and all,
numbering no less than three hundred men. This done he locked up his
prisoners in the citadel, where he himself was also quartered. Now
there was a youth, the son of a native of Oreus, fair of mien and of
gentle breeding,[33] who danced attendance on the commandant: and the
latter must needs leave the citadel and go down to busy himself with
this youth. This was a piece of carelessness which the prisoners did
not fail to observe, and turned to good account by seizing the
citadel, whereupon the town revolted, and the Thebans experienced no
further difficulty in obtaining corn supplies.

[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 bedridden
invalid. The history of the case is this: During the withdrawal of his
army from Thebes the year before, when at Megara, while mounting from
the Aphrodision[34] to the Government house he ruptured a vein or
other vessel of the body. This was followed by a rush of blood to his
sound leg. The knee was much swelled, and the pain intolerable, until
a Syracusan surgeon made an incision in the vein near the ankle. The
blood thus let flowed night and day; do what they could to stop the
discharge, all failed, till the patient fainted away; then it ceased.
In this plight Agesilaus was conveyed home on a litter to Lacedaemon,
and remained 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 Lacedaemonians again
called out the ban, and gave orders to Cleombrotus to lead the
expedition. The king found himself presently with his troops at the
foot of Cithaeron, and his light infantry advanced to occupy the pass
which commands the road. But here they found a detachment of Thebans
and Athenians already in occupation of the desired height, who for a
while suffered them to approach; but when they were close upon them,
sprang from their position and charged, putting about forty to the
sword. This incident was sufficient to convince Cleombrotus that to
invade Thebes by this mountain passage was out of the question, and in
this faith he led back and disbanded his troops.

The allies met in Lacedaemon, and arguments were adduced on the part
of the allies to show that faintheartedness would very soon lead to
their being 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, and to reduce that city by starvation; it was open to them, in
the self-same ships, to carry an army across into Theban territory,
and they had a choice of routes--the road into Phocis, or, if they
preferred, by Creusis. After thus carefully considering the matter
they manned a fleet of sixty triremes, and Pollis was appointed
admiral in command. Nor indeed were their expectations altogether
belied. The Athenians were soon so closely blockaded that their corn
vessels could get no farther than Geraestus;[35] there was no inducing
them to coast down father south, with a Lacedaemonian navy hovering
about Aegina and Ceos and Andros. The Athenians, making a virtue of
necessity, manned their ships in person, gave battle to Pollis under
the leadership of Chabrias, and came 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. The
Lacedaemonians, on their side, were preparing to transport an army
across the water into Boeotia, when the Thebans sent a request to the
Athenians urging them to despatch an armament round Peloponnesus,
under the persuasion that if this were done the Lacedaemonians would
find it impossible at once to guard their own or the allied territory
in that part of the world, and at the same time to convery an army of
any size to operate against Thebes. The proposals fell in with the
present temper of the Athenians, irritated with Lacedaemon on account
of the exploit of Sphodrias. Accordingly they eagerly manned a fleet
of sixty vessels, appointing Timotheus as admiral in command, and
despatched it on a cruise round Peloponnesus.

The Thebans, seeing that there had been no hostile invasion of their
territory for so long (neither during the campaign of Cleombrotus nor
now,[37] whilst Timotheus prosecuted his coasting voyage), felt
emboldened to carry out a campaign on their own account against the
provincial 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.
That done, he neither enslaved the inhabitants nor drove them into
exile, nor changed their laws. And of this conduct he reaped the
benefit of the increased cordiality[39] of all the cities of those
parts. The Lacedaemonians thereupon fitted out and despatched a
counter fleet, with Nicolochus in command, an officer of consummate
boldness. This admiral no sooner caught sight of Timotheus's fleet
than without hesitation, and in spite of the absence of six Ambraciot
vessels which formed part of his squadron, he gave battle, with
fifty-five ships to the enemy's sixty. The result was a defeat at the
moment, and Timotheus set up a trophy at Alyzia. But as soon as the
six missing Ambraciot vessels had reinforced him--the ships of
Timotheus meanwhile being docked and undergoing repairs--he bore down
upon Alyzia in search of the Athenian, and as Timotheus refused to put
out to meet him, the Lacedaemonian in turn 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 manning
more vessels from Corcyra, found himself at the head of more than
seventy ships. His naval superiority was undisputed, but he was forced
to send to Athens for moneys, seeing his fleet was large and his wants
not trifling.

BOOK VI

I

B.C. 374. The Athenians and Lacedaemonians were thus engaged. But to
return to the Thebans. After the subjugation of the cities in Boeotia,
they extended the area of aggression and marched into Phocis. The
Phocians, on their side, sent an embassy to Lacedaemon, and pleaded
that without assistance from that power they must inevitably yield to
Thebes. The Lacedaemonians in response conveyed by sea into the
territory of Phocis their king Cleombrotus, at the head of four
regiments and the contingents of the allies.

About the same time Polydamus of Pharsalus arrived from Thessaly to
address the general assembly[1] of Lacedaemon. He was a man of high
repute throughout the whole of Thessaly, while in his native city he
was regarded as so true a gentleman that the faction-ridden
Pharsalians were content to entrust the citadel to his keeping, and to
allow their revenues to pass through his hands. It was his privilege
to disburse the money needed for sacred rites or other expenditure,
within the limits of their written law and constitution. Out of these
moneys this faithful steward of the state was able to garrison and
guard in safety for the citizens their capital. Every year he rendered
an account of his administration in general. If there was a deficit he
made it up out of his own pocket, and when the revenues expanded he
paid himself back. For the rest, his hospitality to foreigners and his
magnificence were on a true Thessalian scale. Such was the style and
character of the man who now 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, or rather am bound, in case of any difficulty to come to you,
and, in case of any complication dangerous to your interests in
Thessaly, to give you warning. The name of Jason, I feel sure, is not
unknown to Lacedaemonian ears. His power as a prince is sufficiently
large, and his fame widespread. It is of Jason I have to speak. Under
cover of a treaty of peace he has lately conferred with me, and this
is the substance of what he urged: 'Polydamas,' he said, 'if I chose I
could lay your city at my feet, even against its will, as the
following considerations will prove to you. See,' he went on, 'the
majority and the most important of the states of Thessaly are my
allies. I subdued them in campaigns in which you took their side in
opposition to myself. Again, you do not need to be told that I have
six thousand mercenaries who are a match in themselves, I take it, for
any single state. It is not the mere numbers on which I insist. No
doubt as large an army could be raised in other quarters; but these
citizen armies have this defect--they include men who are already
advanced in years, with others whose beards are scarcely grown. Again,
it is only a fraction of the citizens who attend to bodily training in
a state, whereas with me no one takes mercenary service who is not as
capable of endurance as myself.'

"And here, Lacedaemonians, I must tell you what is the bare truth.
This Jason is a man stout of limb and robust of body, with an
insatiable appetite for toil. Equally true is it that he tests the
mettle of those with him day by day. He is always at their head,
whether on a field-day under arms, or in the gymnasium, or on some
military expedition. The weak members of the corps he weeds out, but
those whom he sees bear themselves stout-heartedly in the face of war,
like true lovers of danger and of toil, he honours with double,
treble, and quadruple pay, or with other gifts. On the bed of sickness
they will not lack attendance, nor honour in their graves. Thus every
foreigner in his service knows that his valour in war may obtain for
him a livelihood--a life 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, that
the Maracians, and the Dolopians, and Alcetas the hyparch[3] in
Epirus, were already subject to his sway; 'so that I may fairly ask
you, Polydamas,' he proceeded, 'what I have to apprehend that I should
not look on your future subjugation as mere child's play. Perhaps some
one who 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
you not march at once against Pharsalia?" For the good reason, I
reply, that it suits me better to win you voluntarily than to annex
you against your wills. Since, if you are forced, you will always be
planning all the mischief you can against me, and I on my side shall
be striving to diminish your power; whereas if you throw in your lot
with mine trustfully and willingly, it is certain we shall do what we
can to help each other. I see and know, Polydamas, that your country
fixes her eyes on 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 will raise you up to be the greatest man in Hellas next to
me. Listen, while I 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 own reasoning. First, is it not plain to us both, that
with the adhesion of Pharsalus and the swarm of pettier states
dependent on yourselves, I shall with infinite ease become Tagos[4] of
all the Thessalians; and then the corollary--Thessaly so united--
sixteen thousand cavalry and more than ten thousand heavy infantry
leap into life. Indeed, when I contemplate the physique and proud
carriage of these men, I cannot but persuade myself that, with proper
handling, there is not a nation or tribe of men to which Thessalians
would deign to yield submission. Look at the broad expanse of Thessaly
and consider: when once a Tagos is established here, all the tribes in
a circle round will lie stilled in subjection; and almost every member
of each of these tribes is an archer born, so that in the light
infantry division of the service our power must needs excel.
Furthermore, the Boeotians and all the rest of the world in arms
against Lacedaemon are my allies; they clamour to follow my banner, if
only I will free them from Sparta's yoke. So again the Athenians, I
make sure, will do all they can to gain our alliance; but with them I
do not think we will make friends, for my persuasion is that empire by
sea will be even easier to acquire than empire by land; and to show
you the justice of this reasoning I would have you weigh the following
considerations. With Macedonia, which is the timber-yard[5] of the
Athenian navy, in our hands we shall be able to construct a far larger
fleet than theirs. That stands to reason. And as to men, which will be
the better able to man vessels, think you--Athens, or ourselves with
our stalwart and numerous Penestae?[6] Which will better support
mariners--a nation which, like our own, out of her abundance exports
her corn to foriegn parts, or Athens, which, but for foreign
purchases, has not enough to support herself? And so as to wealth in
general it is only natural, is it not, that we, who do not look to a
string of little islands for supplies, but gather the fruits of
continental peoples, should find our resources more copious? As soon
as the scattered powers of Thessaly are gathered into a principality,
all the tribes around, I repeat, will become our tributaries. I need
not tell you that the king of Persia reaps the fruits, not of islands,
but of a continent, and he is the wealthiest of men! But the reduction
of Persia will be still more practicable, I imagine, than that of
Hellas, for there the men, save one, are better versed in slavery than
in prowess. Nor have I forgotten, during the advance of Cyrus, and
afterwards under Agesilaus, how scant the 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 answer
I told him that what he urged was well worth weighing, but that we,
the friends of Lacedaemon, should so, without a quarrel, desert her
and rush into the arms of her opponents, seemed to me sheer madness.
Whereat he praised me, and said that now must he needs cling all the
closer to me if that were my disposition, and so charged me to come to
you and tell you the plain truth, which is, that he is minded to march
against Pharsalus if we will not hearken to him. Accordingly he bade
me demand assistance from you; 'and if they suffer you,'[7] he added,
'so to work upon them that they will send you a force sufficient to do
battle with me, it is well: we will abide by war's arbitrament, nor
quarrel with the consequence; but if in your eyes that aid is
insufficient, look to yourself. How shall you longer be held blameless
before that fatherland which 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
to Lacedaemon. I have told you the whole story; it is based partly on
what I 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
despatch a force sufficient, not in my eyes only, but in the eyes of
all the rest of Thessaly, to cope with Jason in war, the states will
revolt from him, for they are all in alarm as to the future
development of the man's power; but if you think a company of newly-
enfranchised slaves and any amateur general will suffice, I advise you
to rest in peace. You may take my word for it, you will have a great
power to contend against, and a man who is so prudent a general that,
in all he essays to do, be it an affair of secrecy, or speed, or
force, he is wont to hit the mark of his endeavours: one who is
skilled, should occasion serve, to make the night of 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 for repose, he thinks
that the time for it has come when the goal is reached or the business
on hand accomplished. And to this same practice he has habituated
those about him. Right well he knows how to reward the expectations of
his soldiers, when by the extra toil which makes the difference they
have achieved success; so that in his school all have laid to heart
that maxim, 'Pain first and pleasure after.'[10] And in regard to
pleasure of the senses, of all men I know, he is the most continent;
so that these also are powerless to make him idle at the expense of
duty. You must consider the matter then and tell me, as befits 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
the time being, deferred their answer; but after calculating the next
day and the day following how many divisions[11] they had on foreign
service, and how many ships on the coast of Laconia to deal with the
foreign squadron of the Athenians, and taking also into account the
war with their neighbours, they gave their answer to Polydamas: "For
the present they would not be able to send him sufficient aid: under
the circumstances they advised him to go back and make the best
settlement he could of his own affairs and those of his city." He,
thanking the Lacedaemonians 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
safe keeping; his own sons Jason was free to take as hostages, and he
would do his best to procure for him the voluntary adhesion of his
city by persuasion, and in every way to further his appointment as
Tagos of Thessaly. Accordingly, after interchange of solemn assurances
between the pair, the Pharsalians were let alone and in peace, and ere
long Jason was, by general consent, appointed Tagos of all the
Thessalians. Once fairly vested with that authority, he drew up a list
of the cavalry and heavy infantry which the several states were
capable of furnishing as their quota, with the result that his
cavalry, inclusive of allies, numbered more than eight thousand, while
his infantry force was computed at not less than twenty thousand; and
his light troops would have been a match for those of the whole world
--the mere enumeration of their cities would be a labour in
itself.[12] His next act was a summons to all the dwellers round[13]
to pay tribute exactly the amount imposed in the days of Scopas.[14]
And here in this state of accomplishment we may leave these matters. I
return to the point reached when this digression into 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 kai noo tetragonon, aneu psogou tetugmenon.}

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

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

Do you know the poem?"--Jowett, "Plat." i. 153. But whether this
Scopas is 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 in
Phocia, and the Thebans, after retreating into their own territory,
were guarding the approaches. At this juncture the Athenians, seeing
the Thebans growing strong at their expense without contributing a
single penny to the maintenance of the fleet, while they themselves,
what with money contributions, and piratical attacks from Aegina, and
the garrisoning of their territory, were being pared to the bone,
conceived a desire to cease from war. In this mood they sent an
embassy to Lacedaemon 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 a
decree of the state, set sail at once from Laconian territory, bearing
orders to Timotheus to sail home, since peace was established. That
officer, while obeying his orders, availed himself of the homeward
voyage to land certain Zacynthian exiles[2] on their native soil,
whereupon the Zacynthian city party sent to Lacedaemon and complained
of the treatment they had received from Timotheus; and the
Lacedaemonians, without further consideration, decided that the
Athenians were in the wrong, and proceeded to equip another navy, and
at length collected from Laconia itself, from Corinth, Leucas,[3]
Ambracia, Elis, Zacynthus, Achaia, Epidaurus, Troezen, Hermione, and
Halieis, a force amounting to sixty sail. In command of this squadron
they appointed Mnasippus admiral, with orders to attack Corcyra, and
in general to look after their interests in those seas. They,
moreover, sent an embassy to Dionysius, instructing him that his
interests would be advanced by the withdrawal 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 was
ready, direct to Corcyra; he took with him, besides his troops from
Lacedaemon, a body of mercenaries, making a total in all of no less
than fifteen hundred men. His disembarked, and soon became master of
the island, the country district falling a prey to the spoiler. It was
in a high state of cultivation, and rich with fruit-trees, not to
speak of magnificent dwelling-houses and wine-cellars fitted up on the
farms: so that, it was said, the soldiers reached such a pitch of
luxury that they refused 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 about
three-quarters of a mile[4] from the city district, so that any
Corcyraean who attempted to leave the city to go into the country
would certainly be cut off on that side. The fleet he stationed on the
other side of the city, at a point where he calculated on detecting
and preventing the approach of convoys. Besides which he established a
blockade in front of the harbour when the weather permitted. In this
way the city was completely invested.

[4] Lit. "five stades."

The Corcyraeans, on their side, were in the sorest straits. They could
get nothing from their soil owing to the vice in which they were
gripped by land, whilst owing to the predominance of the enemy at sea
nothing could be imported. Accordingly they sent to the Athenians and
begged for their assistance. They urged upon them that it would be a
great mistake if they suffered themselves to be robbed of Corcyra. If
they did so, they would not only throw away a great advantage to
themselves, but add a considerable strength to their enemy; since,
with the exception of Athens, no state was capable of furnishing a
larger fleet or revenue. Moreover, Corcyra lay favourably[5] for
commanding the Corinthian gulf and the cities which line its shores;
it was splendidly situated for injuring the rural districts of
Laconia, and still more splendidly in relation to the opposite shores
of the continent of Epirus, and the passage between Peloponnesus and
Sicily.

[5] See Thuc. i. 36.

This appeal did not fall on deaf ears. The Athenians were persuaded
that the matter demanded their most serious attention, and they at
once despatched 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 point in the open country, and found their way into the
city. Nor was that all. The Athenians passed a decree to man sixty
ships of war, and elected[7] Timotheus admiral. The latter, being
unable to man the fleet on the spot, set sail on a cruise to the
islands and tried to make up the complements of his crews from those
quarters. He evidently looked upon it as no light matter to sail round
Peloponnesus as if on a voyage of pleasure, and to attack a fleet in
the perfection of training.[8] To the Athenians, however, it seemed
that he was wasting the precious time seasonable for the coastal
voyage, and they were not disposed to condone such an error, but
deposed him, appointing Iphicrates in his stead. The new general was
no sooner appointed than he set about getting his vessels manned with
the utmost activity, putting pressure on the trierarchs. He further
procured from the Athenians for his use not only any vessels cruising
on the coast of Attica, but the Paralus and Salaminia[9] also,
remarking that, if things turned out well yonder, he would soon send
them back plenty of ships. Thus his numbers grew to something 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
became every day more frequent, so much so that Mnasippus caused
proclamation to 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 within the lines, and numbers died outside.
Mnasippus, not blind to what was happening, soon persuaded himself
that he had as good as got the city into his possession: and he began
to try experiments on his mercenaries. Some of them he had already
paid off;[11] others still in his service had as much as two months'
pay owing to them by the general, who, if report spoke true, had no
lack of money, since the majority of the states, not caring for a
campaign across the seas, sent him hard cash instead of men. But now
the beleaguered citizens, who could espy from their towers that the
outposts were less carefully guarded than formerly, and the men
scattered about the rural districts, made a sortie, capturing some and
cutting down others. Mnasippus, perceiving the 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 it was not so easy to
command obedience when the necessaries of life were lacking; whereat
the Spartan struck one man with his staff, and another with the butt
of his spear. Without spirit and full of resentment against their
general, the men mustered--a condition very unfavourable to success in
battle. Having drawn up the troops, the general in person repulsed the
division of the enemy which was opposite the gates, and pursued them
closely; but these, rallying close under their walls, turned right
about, and from under cover of the tombs kept up a continuous
discharge of darts and other missiles; other detachments, dashing out
at other gates, meanwhile fell heavily on the flanks of the enemy. The
Lacedaemonians, being drawn up eight deep, and thinking that the wing
of their phalanx was of inadeqate strength, essayed to wheel around;
but as soon as they began the movement the Corcyraeans attacked them
as if they were fleeing, and they were then unable to recover
themselves,[13] while the troops next in position abandoned themselves
to flight. Mnasippus, unable to succour those who were being pressed
owing to the attack of the enemy immediately in front, found himself
left from moment to moment with decreasing numbers. At last the
Corcyraeans collected, and with one united effort made a final rush
upon Mnasippus and his men, whose numbers were now considerably
reduced. At the same instant the townsmen,[14] eagerly noticing the
posture of affairs, rushed out to play their part. First Mnasippus was
slain, and then the pursuit became general; nor could the pursuers
well have failed to capture the camp, barricade and all, had they not
caught sight of the mob of traffickers with a long array of attendants
and slaves, and thinking 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 trophy
and to give back the enemy's dead under a flag of truce; but the
after-consequences were even more important to them in the revival of
strength and spirits which were sunk in despondency. The rumour spread
that Iphicrates would soon be there--he was even at the doors; and in
fact 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 then sailing round to the entrenched camp, filled all the
transports with prisoners and valuables and other stock, and sent them
off. He himself, with his marines and the survivors of his troops,
kept watch over the entrenchments; but at last even this remnant in
the excess of panic and confusion got on board the men-of-war and
sailed off, leaving behind them vast quantities of corn and wine, with
numerous prisoners and invalided soldiers. The fact was, they were
sorely afraid of being caught by the Athenians in the island, and so
they made safely off to Leucas.

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 to
be the prelude of a battle; his flying jibs, even if there was a good
breeze, were but little used, since by making his progres depend on
sheer rowing, he hoped at once to improve the physique of his men and
the speed of his attack. Often when the squadron was about to put into
shore 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 point in question; and then facing round again with the triremes
posted well in line, prow for prow, at a given signal let loose the
whole fleet in a stoutly contested race for the shore. Great was the
triumph in being the first to take in water or whatever else they
might need, or the first to breakfast; just as it was a heavy penalty
on the late-comers, not only to come short in all these objects of
desire, but to have to put out to sea with the rest as soon as the
signal was given; since the first-comers had altogether a quiet time
of it, whilst the hindmost must get through the whole business in hot
haste. So again, in the matter of outposts, if he chanced to be
getting the morning meal on hostile territory, pickets would be
posted, as was right and proper, on the land; but, apart from these,
he would raise his masts and keep look-out men on the maintops. These
commanded of course a far wider prospect from their lofty perches than
the outposts on the level ground. So too, when he dined or slept he
had no fires burning in the camp at night, but only a beacon kindled
in front of the encampment to prevent any unseen approach; and
frequently in fine weather he put out to sea immediately after the
evening meal, when, if the breeze favoured, they ran along and took
their rest simultaneously, or if they depended on oars he gave his
mariners repose by turns. During the voyage in daytime he would at one
time signal to "sail in column," and at another signal "abreast in
line." So that whilst they prosecuted the voyage they at the same time
became (both as to theory and practice) well versed in all the details
of an engagement before they reached the open sea--a sea, as they
imagined, occupied by their foes. For the most part they breakfasted
and dined on hostile territory; but as he confined himelf to bare
necessaries he was always too quick for the enemy. Before the hostile
reinforcement would come up he had finished his business and was out
to sea again.

At the date of Mnasippus's death he chanced to be off Sphagiae in
Laconian territory. Reaching Elis, and coasting past the mouth of the
Alpheus, 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 up
his line and conducting the voyage that he might be prepared in every
detail to engage if necessary. The tale about Mnasippus and his demise
had reached him, but he had not heard it from an eye-witness, and
suspected that it might have been invented to deceive him and throw
him off his guard. He was therefore on the look-out. It was, in fact,
only on 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 are
customary in anticipation of a sea-fight, but what I single out for
praise in the case before us is the skill with which the Athenian
admiral attained a twofold object. Bearing in mind that it was his
duty to reach a certain point at which he expected to fight a naval
battle without delay, it was a happy discovery on his part not to
allow tactical skill, on the one hand, to be sacrificed to the pace of
sailing,[16] nor, on the other, the need of training to interfere with
the 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 Dionysius
were expected to relieve the Lacedaemonians. On receipt of this
information he set off in person and surveyed the country, in order to
find a spot from which it would be possible to see the vessels
approaching and to signal to the city. Here he stationed his look-out
men. A code of signals was agreed upon to signify "vessels in sight,"
"mooring," etc.; which done he gave his orders to twenty of his
captains of men-of-war who were to follow him at a given word of
command. Any one who failed to follow him must not grumble at the
penalty; that he warned them. Presently the vessels were signalled
approaching; the word of command was given, and then the enthusiasm
was a sight to see--every man of the crews told off for the expedition
racing to join his ship and embark. Sailing to the point where the
enemy's vessels lay, he had no difficulty in capturing the crews, who
had disembarked from all the ships with one exception. The exception
was that of Melanippus the Rhodian, who had advised the other captains
not to stop at this point, and had then manned his own vessel and
sailed off. Thus he encountered the 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 the
harbour of Corcyra with the captured triremes in tow. With the captive
crews themselves he came to an agreement that each should pay a fixed
sum as ransom, with one exception, that of Crinippus, their commander.
Him he kept under guard, with the intention apparently of exacting a
handsome 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 sent about their business by Iphicrates, who accepted the
Corcyraeans as sureties for the money. His own sailors he supported
for the most part as labourers on the lands of the Corcyraeans, while
at the head of his light infantry and the hoplites of the contingent
he crossed over into Acarnania, and there lent his aid to any friendly
state that needed his services; besides which he went to war with the
Thyrians,[17] a sturdy race 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
first instance to Cephallenia, where he exacted money--which was in
some cases voluntarily paid, in others forcibly extorted. In the next
place he began making preparations partly to harass the territory of
the Lacedaemonians, and partly to win over voluntarily the other
states in that quarter which were hostile to Athens; or in case of
refusal to go to war with them.

The whole conduct of the campaign reflects, I think, the highest
credit on Iphicrates. If his strategy was admirable, so too was the
instinct which led him to advise the association with himself of two
such colleagues as Callistratus and Chabrias--the former a popular
orator but no great friend of himself politically,[18] the other a man
of high military reputation. Either he looked upon them as men of
unusual sagacity, and wished to profit by their advice, in which case
I commend the good sense of the arrangement, or they were, in his
belief, antagonists, in which case the determination to approve
himself a consummate general, neither indolent nor incautious, was
bold, I admit, but indicative of a laudable self-confidence. Here,
however, we must part 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 pasage 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
their friends the Plataeans (who had sought an asylum with
themselves), forced also to listen to the supplications of the
Thespiaeans (who begged them not to suffer them to be robbed of their
city), could no longer regard the Thebans with favour;[1] though, when
it came to a direct declaration of war, they were checked in part by a
feeling of shame, and partly by considerations of expediency. Still,
to go hand in hand with them, to be a party to their proceedings, this
they absolutely refused, now that they saw them marching against time-
honoured friends of the city like the Phocians, and blotting out
states whose loyalty in the great Persian war was conspicuous no less
than their friendship to Athens. Accordingly the People passed a
decree to make peace; but in the first instance they sent an embassy
to Thebes, inviting that state to join them if it pleased them on an
embassy which they proposed to send to Lacedaemon to treat of peace.
In the next place they despatched such an embassy on their own
account. Among the commissioners appointed were 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 the
Lacedaemonians and the allies.[3]] Nor ought the name of Callistratus
to be omitted. That statesman and orator was present. He had obtained
furlough from Iphicrates on an undertaking either to send money for
the fleet or to arrange a peace. Hence his arrival in Athens and
transactions in behalf of peace. After being introduced to the
assembly[4] of the Lacedaemonians and to the allies, Callias,[5] who
was the dadouchos (or torch-holder) in the mysteries, made the first
speech. He was a man just as well pleased to praise himself as to hear
himself praised 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 is
a privilege which I am not the first member of my family to enjoy; my
father's father held it as an heirloom of our family and handed it
down as a heritage to his descendants. If you will permit me, I should
like to show you the disposition of my fatherland towards yourselves.
If in times of war she chooses us as her generals, so when her heart
is set upon quiet she sends us out as her messengers of peace. I
myself have twice already[6] stood here to treat for conclusion of
war, and on both embassies succeeded in arranging a mutually agreeable
peace. Now for the third time I am come, and I flatter myself that to-
day again I shall obtain a reconciliation, and on grounds
exceptionally just. My eyes bear witness that our hearts are in
accord; you and we alike are pained at the effacement of Plataeae and
Thespiae. Is it not then reasonable that out of agreement should
spring concord rather than discord? It is never the part, I take it,
of wise men to raise the standard of war for the sake of petty
differences; but where there is nothing but unanimity they must 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 against
each other; since, as the story runs, the first strangers to whom our
forefather Triptolemus showed the unspeakable mystic rites of Demeter
and Core, the mother and the maiden, were your ancestors;--I speak of
Heracles, the first founder of your state, and of your two citizens,
the great twin sons of Zeus--and to Peloponnesus first he gave as a
gift the seed of Demeter's corn-fruits. How, then, can it be just or
right either that you should come and ravage the corn crops of those
from whom you got the sacred seed of corn, or that we should not
desire that they to whom the gift was given should share abundantly of
this boon? But if, as it would seem, it is a fixed decree of heaven
that war shall never cease among men, yet ought we--your people and
our people--to be as slow as possible to begin it, and being in it, as
swift as possible to bring it to 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
and orator, and addressed the meeting as follows: "Lacedaemonians, I
do not conceal from myself that what I am about to say is not
calculated to please you, but it seems to me that, if you wish the
friendship which we are cementing to last as long as possible, we are
wise to show each other the underlying causes of our wars. Now, you
are perpetually saying that the states ought to be independent; but it
is you yourselves who most of all stand in the way of independence--
your first and last stipulation with the allied states being that they
should follow you whithersoever you choose to lead; and yet what has
this principle of follow-my-leader got to do with independent
action?[8] Again, you pick quarrels without consulting your allies,
and lead them against those whom you account enemies; so that in many
cases, with all their vaunted independence, they are forced to march
against their greatest friends; and, what is still more opposed to
independence than all else, you are for ever setting up here your
decarchies and there your thirty commissioners, and your chief aim in
appointing these officers and governors seems to be, not that they
should fulfil their office and govern legally, but that they should be
able to keep the cities under their heels by sheer force. So that it
looks as if you delighted in despotisms 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, if they did not suffer
each state to govern itself and to use the laws of its own choice,
would be failing to act in the spirit of the king's rescript. But no
sooner had you got hold of Cadmeia than you would not suffer the
Thebans themselves to be independent. Now, if the maintenance of
friendship be an object, it is no use for people to claim justice from
others while they themselves are doing all they can to prove the
selfishness 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 of
those who were annoyed with Lacedaemon they stirred pleasure. After
Autocles spoke Callistratus: "Trespasses, men of Lacedaemon, have been
committed on both sides, yours and ours, I am free to confess; but
still it is not my view that because a man has done wrong we can never
again have dealings with him. Experience tells me that no man can go
very far without a slip, and it seems to me that sometimes the
transgressor by reason of his transgression becomes more tractable,
especially if he be chastened through the error he has committed, as
has been the case with us. And so on your own case I see that
ungenerous acts have sometimes reaped their own proper reward: blow
has been met by counter-blow; and as a specimen I take the seizure of
the Cadmeia in Thebes. To-day, at any rate, the very cities whose
independence you strove for have, since your unrighteous treatment of
Thebes, fallen one and all of them again into her power.[10] We are
schooled now, both of us, to know that grasping brings not gain. We
are prepared, I hope, to be once more moderate under the influence of
a mutual friendship. Some, I know, in their desire to render our
peace[11] abortive accuse us falsely, as though we were come hither,
not seeking friendship, but because we dread the arrival of some[12]
Antalcidas with moneys from the king. But consider, what arrant
nonsense they talk! Was it not, pray, the great king 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 he prefers spending
money in making others great to finding his favourite projects
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 need or
difficulty in our affairs. That you may discover by a glance at our
maritime condition, or, if you prefer, at the present posture of our
affairs on land. Well, then, how does the matter stand? It is obvious
that 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 be
credited 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 common
interests. It is admitted, I presume, that, looking at the states
collectively, half support your views, half ours; and in every single
state one party is for Sparta and another for Athens. Suppose, then,
we were to shake hands, from what quarter can we reasonably anticipate
danger and trouble? To put the case in so many words, so long as you
are our friends no one can vex us by land; no one, whilst we are your
supports, can injure you by sea. Wars like tempests gather and grow to
a head 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
expire under the multitude of our ills, rather than take time by the
forelock and, before some irremediable mischief betide, make peace? I
cannot admire the man who, because he has entered the lists and has
scored many a victory and obtained to himself renown, is so eaten up
with the spirit of rivalry that he must needs go on until he is beaten
and all his training is made futile. Nor again do I praise the gambler
who, if he makes one good stroke of luck, insists on doubling the
stakes. Such conduct in the majority of cases must end in absolute
collapse. Let us lay the lesson of these to heart, and forbear to
enter into any such lists as theirs for life or death; but, while we
are yet in the heyday of our strength and fortune, shake hands in
mutual amity. So assuredly shall we through you and you through us
attain to an unprecedented pinnacle of glory throughout Hellas."

The arguments of the speakers were approved, and the Lacedaemonians
passed a resolution to accept peace on a threefold basis: the
withdrawal of the governors from the cities,[14] the disbanding of
armaments naval and military, and the guarantee of independence to the
states. "If any state transgressed these stipulations, it lay at the
option of any power whatsoever to aid the states so injured, while,
conversely, to bring such aid was not compulsory on any power against
its will." On these terms the oaths were administered and accepted by
the Lacedaemonians on behalf of themselves and their allies, and by
the Athenians and their allies separately state by state. The Thebans
had entered their individual name among the states which accepted the
oaths, but their ambassadors came the next day with instructions to
alter the name of the signatories, substituting for Thebans
Boeotians.[15] But Agesilaus answered to this demand that he would
alter nothing of what they had in the first instance sworn to and
subscribed. If they did not wish to be included in the treaty, he was
willing to erase their name at their bidding. So it came to pass that
the rest of the world made peace, the sole point of dispute being
confined to the Thebans; and the Athenians came to the conclusion that
there was a fair prospect of the Thebans being now literally
decimated.[16] As to the Thebans themselves, they retired 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 their
garrisons from the different sates, and sent to recall Iphicrates with
his fleet; besides which they forced him to restore eveything captured
subsequently to the late solemn undertaking at Lacedaemon. The
Lacedaemonians acted differently. Although they withdrew their
governors and garrisons from the other states, in Phocis they did not
do so. Here Cleombrotus was quartered with his army, and had sent to
ask directions from the home authorities. A speaker, Prothous,
maintained that their business was to disband the army in accordance
with their oaths, and then to send round invitations to the states to
contribute what each felt individually disposed, and lay such sum in
the temple of Apollo; after which, if any attempt to hinder the
independence of the states on any side were manifested, it would be
time enough then again to invite all who cared to protect the
principle of autonomy to march against its opponents. "In this way,"
he added, "I think the goodwill of heaven will be secured, and the
states will suffer least annoyance." But the Assembly, on hearing
these views, agreed that this man was talking nonsense. Puppets in the
hands of fate![1] An unseen power, it would seem, was already driving
them onwards; so they sent instructions to Cleombrotus not to disband
the army, but to march straight against the Thebans if they refused to
recognise the autonomy of the states. [Cleombrotus, it is understood,
had, on hearing the news of the establishment of peace, sent to the
ephorate to ask for guidance; and then they sent him the above
instructions, bidding him under the circumstances 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 Boeotian
states their autonomy, the Thebans were not even preparing to disband
their army, clearly in view of a general engagement; he therefore felt
justified in marching his troops into Boeotia. The point of ingress
which he adopted was not that which the Thebans anticipated from
Phocis, and where they were keeping guard at a defile; but, marching
through Thisbae by a mountainous and unsuspected route, he arrived
before Creusis, taking that fortress and capturing twelve Theban war-
vessels besides. After this achievement he advanced from the seaboard
and encamped in Leuctra on Thespian territory. The Thebans encamped in
a rising ground immediately opposite at no great distance, and were
supported by no allies except the Boeotians.

At this juncture the friends of Cleombrotus came to him and urged upon
him strong reasons for delivering battle. "If you let the Thebans
escape without a battle," they said, "you will run great risks of
suffering the extreme penalty at the hands of the state. People will
call to mind against you the time when you reached Cynoscephelae and
did not ravage a square foot of Theban territory; and again, a
subsequent expedition when you were driven back foiled in your attempt
to make an entry into the enemy's country--while Agesilaus on each
occasion found his entry by Mount Cithaeron. If then you have any care
for yourself, or any attachment to your fatherland, march you against
the enemy." That was what his friends urged. As to his opponents, what
they said was, "Now our fine friend will show whether he really is so
concerned on behalf of the Thebans as he is said to be."

Cleombrotus, with these words ringing in his ears, felt driven[3] to
join battle. On their side the leaders of Thebes calculated that, if
they did not fight, their provincial cities[4] would hold aloof from
them and Thebes itself would be besieged; while, if the commonalty of
Thebes failed to get supplies, there was every prospect that the city
itself would turn against them; and, seeing that many of them had
already tasted the bitterness of exile, they came to the conclusion
that it was better for them to die on the field of battle than to
renew that experience. Besides this they were somewhat encouraged by
the recital of an oracle which predicted that the Lacedaemonians would
be defeated on the spot where the monument of the maidens stood, who,
as the story goes, being violated by certain Lacedaemonians, had slain
themselves.[5] This sepulchral monument the Thebans decked with
ornaments before the battle. Furthermore, tidings were brought them
from the city that all the temples had opened of their own accord; and
the priestesses asserted that the gods revealed victory. Again, from
the Heracleion men said that the arms had disappeared, as though
Heracles himself had sallied forth to battle. It is true that another
interpretation[6] of these marvels made them out to be one and all the
artifices of the leaders of Thebes. However this may be, everything in
the battle turned out adverse to the Lacedaemonians; while fortune
herself lent aid to the Thebans and crowned their efforts with
success. Cleombrotus held his last council "whether to fight or not,"
after the morning meal. In the heat of noon a little goes a long way;
and the people said that it took a 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 of
approaching battle, when, as the first incident, there issued from the
Boeotian lines a long train bent on departure--these were the
furnishers of the market, a detachment of baggage bearers, and in
general such people as had no inclination to join in the fight. These
were met on their retreat and attacked by the mercenary troops under
Hiero, who got round them by a circular movement.[8] The mercenaries
were supported by the Phocian light infantry and some squadrons of
Heracleot and Phliasian cavalry, who fell upon the retiring train and
turned them back, pursuing them and driving them into the camp of the
Boeotians. The immediate effect was to make the Boeotian portion of
the army more numerous and closer packed than before. The next feature
of the combat was that in consequence of the flat space of plain[9]
between the opposing armies, the Lacedaemonians posted their cavalry
in front of their squares of infantry, and the Thebans followed suit.
Only there was this difference--the Theban cavalry was in a high state
of training and efficiency, owing to their war with the Orchomenians
and again their war with Thespiae, whilst the cavalry of the
Lacedaemonians was at its worst at this period.[10] The horses were
reared and kept by the wealthiest members of the state; but whenever
the ban was called out, an appointed trooper appeared who took the
horse with any sort of arms which might be 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: raw recruits set simply astride
their horses, and devoid of soldierly ambition. 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 by
sections three files abreast,[11] allowing a total depth to the whole
line of not more than twelve. The Thebans were formed in close order
of not less than fifty shields deep, calculating that victory gained
over the 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 foe
when, before in fact the troops with him were aware of his advance,
the cavalry had already come into collision, and that of the
Lacedaemonians was speedily worsted. In their flight they became
involved with their own heavy infantry; and to make matters worse, the
Theban regiments were already attacking vigorously. Still strong
evidence exists for supposing that Cleombrotus and his division were,
in the first instance, victorious in the battle, if we consider the
fact that they could never have picked him up and brought him back
alive unless his vanguard had been masters of the situation for the
moment.

When, however, Deinon the polemarch and Sphodrias, a member of the
king's council, with his son Cleonymus,[12] had fallen, then it was
that the cavalry and the polemarch's adjutants,[13] as they are
called, with the rest, under pressure of the mass against them, began
retreating; and the left wing of the Lacedaemonians, seeing the right
borne down in this way, also swerved. Still, in spite of the numbers
slain, and broken as they were, as soon as they had crossed the trench
which 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 steep incline. At this juncture there were some of the
Lacedaemonians who, looking upon such a disaster as intolerable,
maintained that they ought to prevent the enemy from erecting a
trophy, and try to recover the dead not under a flag of truce but by
another battle. The polemarchs, however, seeing that nearly a thousand
men of the total Lacedaemonian troops were slain; seeing also that of
the seven hundred Spartans themselves 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 frame of mind not far removed in some
instances from positive satisfaction at what had taken place)--under
the circumstances, I say, the polemarchs called a council of the
ablest representatives of the shattered army[16] and deliberated as to
what should be done. Finally the unanimous opinion was to pick up the
dead under a flag of truce, and they sent a herald to treat for terms.
The Thebans after that set up a trophy and gave 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 news
of the calamity. He reached his destination on the last day of the
gymnopaediae,[17] just when the chorus of grown men had entered the
theatre. The ephors heard the mournful tidings not without grief and
pain, as needs they must, I take it; but for all that they did not
dismiss the chorus, but allowed the contest to run out its natural
course. What they did was to deliver the names of those who had fallen
to their friends and families, with a word of warning to the women not
to make any loud lamentations but to bear their sorrow in silence; and
the next day it was a striking spectacle to see those who had
relations among the slain moving to and fro in public with bright and
radiant looks, whilst of those whose friends were reported to be
living barely a man was to be seen, and these flitted by with lowered
heads and scowling brows, 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 the
forty-years-service men of the two remaining regiments;[18] and they
proceeded further to despatch the reservces of the same age belonging
to the six regiments already on foreign service. Hitherto the Phocian
campaign had only drawn upon the thirty-five-years-service list.
Besides these they now ordered out on active service the troops
retained at the beginning of the campaign in attendance on the
magistrates at the government offices. Agesilaus being still disabled
by his infirmity, the city imposed the duty of command upon his son
Archidamus. The new general found eager co-operators in the men of
Tegea. The friends of Stasippus at this date were still living,[19]
and they were stanch in their Lacedaemonian proclivities, and wielded
considerable power in their state. Not less stoutly did the Mantineans
from their villages under their aristocratic form of government flock
to the Spartan standard. Besides Tegea and Mantinea, the Corinthians
and Sicyonians, the Phliasians and Achaeans were equally enthusiastic
to joining the campaign, whilst other states sent out soldiers. Then
came the fitting out and manning of ships of war on the part of the
Lacedaemonians themselves and of the Corinthians, whilst the
Sicyonians were requested to furnish a supply of vessels on board of
which it was proposed to transport the army across the gulf. And so,
finally, Archidamus was able to 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.

Imediately after the battle the Thebans sent a messenger to Athens
wearing a chaplet. Whilst insisting on the magnitude of the victory
they at the same time called upon the Athenians to send them aid, for
now the opportunity had come to wreak vengeance on the Lacedaemonians
for all the evil they had done to Athens. As it chanced, the senate of
the Athenians was holding a session on the Acropolis. As soon as the
news was reported, the annoyance caused by its announcement was
unmistakeable. They neither invited the herald to accept of
hospitality nor sent back one word in reply to the request for
assistance. And so the herald turned his back on Athens and departed.

But there was Jason still to look to, and he was their ally. To him
then the Thebans sent, and earnestly besought his aid, their thoughts
running on the possible turn which events might take. Jason on his
side at once proceeded to man a fleet, with the apparent intention of
sending assistance by sea, besides which he got together his foreign
brigade and his own cavalry; and although the Phocians and he were
implacable enemies,[20] he marched through their territory to Boeotia.
Appearing like a vision to many of the states before his approach was
even announced--at any rate before levies could be mustered from a
dozen different points--he had stolen a march upon them and was a long
way ahead, giving proof that expedition is sometimes a better tool to
work with 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 the
right moment to attack the Lacedaemonians: he with his foreign brigade
from the upper ground, they face to face in front; but Jason dissuaded
them from their intention. He reminded them that after a noble
achievement won it was not worth their while to play for so high a
stake, involving a still greater achievement or else the loss of
victory already gained. "Do you not see," he urged, "that your success
followed close on the heels of necessity? You ought then to reflect
that the Lacedaemonians 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 ones small."[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 the difference between an army defeated and an army
flushed with victory. "If you are minded," he said, "to forget this
disaster, my advice to you is to take time to recover breath and
recruit your energies. When you have grown stronger then give battle
to these unconquered veterans.[22] At present," he continued, "you
know without my telling you that among your own allies there are some
who are already discussing terms of friendship with your foes. My
advice is this: by all means endeavour to obtain a truce. This," he
added, "is my own ambition: I want to save you, on the ground of my
father's friendship with yourselves, and as being myself your
representative."[23] Such was the tenor of his speech, but the secret
of action was perhaps to be found in a desire to make these mutual
antagonists put their dependence on himself alone. Whatever his
motive, the Lacedaemonians took his advice, and commissioned 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
polemarchs passed an order round: the troops were to take their
evening meal, get their kit together, and be ready to set off that
night, so as to scale the passes of Cithaeron by next morning. After
supper, before the hour of sleep, the order to march was given, and
with the generals at their head the troops advanced as the shades of
evening fell, along the road to Creusis, trusting rather to the chance
of their escaping notice, than to the truce itself. It was weary
marching in the dead of night, making their retreat in fear, and along
a difficult road, until they fell in with Archidamus's army of relief.
At this point, then, Archidamus waited till all the allies had
arrived, and so led the whole of the united armies back to Corinth,
from which point he dismissed the allies and led his fellow-citizens
home.

Jason took his departure from Boeotia through Phocis, where he
captured the suburbs of Hyampolis[24] and ravaged the country
districts, putting many to the sword. Content with this, he traversed
the rest of Phocis without meddling or making. Arrived at
Heraclea,[25] he knocked down the fortress of the Heracleots, showing
that he was not troubled by any apprehension lest when the pass was
thrown open somebody or other might march against his own power at
some future date. Rather was he haunted by the notion that some one or
other might one day seize Heraclea, which commanded the pass, and bar
his passage into Hellas--should Hellas ever be his goal.[26] At the
moment of his return to Thessaly he had reached the zenith of his
greatness. He was the lawfully constituted Prince[27] of Thessaly, and
he had under him a large mercenary force of infantry and cavalry, and
all in the highest perfection of training. For this twofold reason he
might claim the title great. But he was still greater as the head of a
vast alliance. Those who were prepared to fight his battles were
numerous, and he might still count upon the help of many more 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 went
round the cities from Jason to make preparation for the solemn
sacrifice of oxen, sheep and goats, and swine. It was reported that
although the requisitions upon the several cities were moderate, the
number of beeves did not fall short of a thousand, while the rest of
the sacrificial beasts exceeded ten times that number. He issued a
proclamation also to this effect: a golden wreath of victory should be
given to whichever city could produce the best-bred bull to head the
procession in honour of the god. And lastly there was an order issued
to all the Thessalians to be ready for a campaign at the date of the
Pythian games. His intention, as people said, was to act as manager of
the solemn assembly and games in person. What the thought was that
passed through his mind with 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 the Delphians, "What ought we to do, if he takes any
of the treasures of the god?" the god made answer, "He would see to
that himself." This great man, his brain teeming with vast designs of
this high sort, came now to his end. He had ordered a military
inspection. The cavalry of the 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 seven the Prince was despatched; his
throat gashed, his body gored with wounds. 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 of mounting his horse, was caught, and
dropped dead, the recipient of many wounds. The rest leaped on the
horses which they had ready waiting and escaped. To whatever city of
Hellas they came honours were almost universally accorded them. The
whole incident proves clearly that the Hellenes stood in much alarm of
Jason. They looked upon him as a tyrant in embryo.

So Jason was dead; and his brothers Polydorus and Polyphron were
appointed princes[29] in his place. But of these twain, as they
journeyed together to Larissa, Polydorus was slain in the night, as he
slept, by his brother Polyphron, it was thought; since a death so
sudden, 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
refashioned his princedom into the likeness of a tyranny. In Pharsalus
he put to death Polydamas[30] and eight other of the best citizens;
and from Larissa 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 avenge Polydorus and to destroy the tyranny. This man now
assumed the reins of office, and had no sooner done so than he showed
himself a harsh prince to the Thessalians: harsh too and hostile to
the Thebans and Athenians,[31] and an unprincipled freebooter
everywhere by land and by sea. But if that was his character, he too
was doomed to perish shortly. The perpetrators of the deed were his
wife's brothers.[32] The counsellor of it and the inspiring soul was
the wife herself. She it was who reported to them that Alexander had
designs against them; who hid them within the house a whole day; who
welcomed home her husband deep in his cups and laid him to rest, and
then while the lamp still burned brought out the prince's sword. It
was she also who, perceiving her brothers shrank bank, fearing to go
in and attack Alexander, said to them, "If you do not be quick and do
the deed, I will wake him up!" After they had gone in, she, too, it
was who caught and pulled to the door, clinging fast 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 it was said to date
from the day when Alexander, having imprisoned his own favourite--who
was a fair young stripling--when his wife supplicated him to release
the boy, brought him forth and stabbed him in the throat. Others say
it originated through his sending to Thebes and seeking the hand of
the wife of Jason in marriage, because his own wife bore him no
children. These are the various causes assigned to explain the treason
of his wife against him. Of the brothers who executed it, the eldest,
Tisiphonus, in virtue of his seniority accepted, and up to the date of
this 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 incidents
connected with Jason, and those subsequent to his death, down to the
government of Tisiphonus. I now return to the point at which we
digressed.

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 an obligation to follow the Lacedaemonians to the field, whilst
Sparta herself was by no means as yet reduced to a condition
resembling that to which she had reduced Athens, sent invitations to
those states which cared to participate in the peace authorised by the
great king.[1] A congress met, and they passed a resolution in
conjunction with those who wished to make common cause with them to
bind themselves by oath as follows: "I will abide by the treaty terms
as conveyed in the king's rescript, as also by the decrees of the
Athenians and the allies. If any one marches against any city among
those which have accepted this oath, I will render assistance to that
city with all my strength." The oath gave general satisfaction, the
Eleians alone gainsaying its terms and protesting that it was not
right to make either the Marganians or the Scilluntians or the
Triphylians independent, since these cities belonged to them, and were
a part of Elis.[2] The Athenians, however, and the others passed the
decree in the precise language of the king's rescript: that all
states--great and small alike--were to be independent; and they sent
out administrators of the oath, and enjoined upon them to administer
it to the highest authorities in each state. This oath they all, 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, the
Mantineans, on the assumption that they were now absolutely
independent, met in a body and passed a decree to make Mantinea into a
single state and to fortify the town.[3] The proceeding was not
overlooked by the Lacedaemonians, who thought it would be hard if this
were done without their consent. Accordingly they despatched Agesilaus
as ambassador to the Mantineans, choosing him as the recognised
ancestral friend of that people. When the ambassador arrived, however,
the chief magistrates had no inclination to summon a meeting of the
commons to listen to him, but urged him to make a statement of his
wishes to themselves. He, on his side, was ready to undertake for
himself and in their interests that, if they would at present desist
from their fortification work, he would bring it about that the
defensive walls should be built with the sanction of Lacedaemon and
without cost. Their answer was, that it was impossible to hold back,
since a decree had been passed by the whole state of Mantinea to build
at once. Whereupon Agesilaus went off in high dudgeon; though as to
sending troops to stop them,[4] the idea seemed impracticable, as the
peace was based upon the principle of autonomy. Meanwhile the
Mantineans received help from several of the Arcadian states in the
building of their walls; and the Eleians contributed actually three
talents[5] of silver to cover the expense of their construction. And
here leaving the Mantineans thus engaged, we will turn to 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 of
Callibius and Proxenus, who were for drawing together the whole
Arcadian population in a confederacy,[6] in which all measures carried
in the common assembly should be held valid for the individual
component states. The programme of the other (Stasippus's) party was
to leave Tegea undisturbed and in the enjoyment of the old national
laws. Perpetually defeated in the Sacred College,[7] the party of
Callibius and Proxenus were persuaded that if only the commons met
they would gain an easy victory by an appeal to the multitude; and in
this faith they proceeded to march out the citizen soldiers.[8] At
sight of this Stasippus and his friends on their side armed in
opposition, and proved not inferior in numbers. The result was a
collision and battle, in which Proxenus and some few others with him
were slain and the rest put to flight; though the conquerors did not
pursue, for Stasippus was a man who did not care to stain his hands
with the blood of his fellow-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
and gates facing Mantinea; but, as their opponents made no further
attempts against them, they here collected together and remained
quiet. Some while ago they had sent messages to the Mantineans
demanding assistance, but now they were ready to discuss terms of
reconciliation with the party of Stasippus. Presently they saw the
Mantineans advancing; whereupon some of them sprang to the walls, and
began calling to them to bring succour with all speed. With shouts
they urged upon them to make haste, whilst others threw open wide the
gates to them. Stasippus and his party, perceiving what was happening,
poured out by the gates leading to Pallantium,[10] and, outspeeding
their pursuers, succeeded in 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 began striking them down with the tiles. They,
recognising that there was no choice, called upon their assailants to
desist, and undertook to come forth. Then their opponents, capturing
them like birds in a fowler's hand, 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 and put 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
the Tegeans who formed the party of Stasippus, numbering eight
hundred; but as a sequel to what had taken place, the Lacedaemonians
determined that they were bound by their oaths to aid the banished
Tegeans and to avenge the slain. With this purpose they marched
against the Mantineans, on the ground that they had violated their
oaths in marching against Tegea with an armed force. The ephors called
out the ban and the state commanded Agesilaus 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 actually
welcomed within their city a mercenary force under Polytropus, which
had been collected at Corinth. The Mantineans themselves were forced
to stay at home to keep an eye on these. The men of Heraea and Lepreum
made common 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 march
at once upon Arcadia. He began by occupying the border city of Eutaea,
where he found the old men, women, and children dwelling in their
houses, while the rest of the population of a military age were off to
join the Arcadian league. In spite of this he did not stir a finger
unjustly against the city, but suffered the inhabitants to continue in
their homes undisturbed. The troops took all they needed, and paid for
it in return; if any pillage had occurred on his first entrance into
the town, the property was hunted up and restored by the Spartan king.
Whilst awaiting the arrival of Polytropus's mercenaries, he amused
himself 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 in
retiring, and lost some of their men. On their retreat they found
themselves in Elymia;[13] here the heavy infantry of the Orchomenians
ceased to follow them; but Polytropus and his troops continued to
assail their rear with much audacity. At this conjuncture, seeing at a
glance that either they must beat back the foe or suffer their own men
to be shot down, the Mantineans turned right about and met the
assailant in a hand-to-hand encounter. Polytropus fell fighting on
that battlefield; and of the rest who took to flight, many would have
shared his fate, but for the opportune arrival of the Phliasian
cavalry, who swooped round to the 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; while
Agesilaus, to whom the news was brought, no longer expecting that the
Orchomenian mercenaries could effect a junction with himself,
determined to advance without further delay.[15] On the first day he
encamped for the evening meal in the open country of Tegea, and the
day following crossed into Mantinean territory. Here he encamped under
the westward-facing[16] mountains of Mantinea, and employed himself in
ravaging the country district and sacking the farmsteads; while the
troops of the Arcadians who were mustered in Asea stole by night into
Tegea. The next day Agesilaus shifted his position, encamping about
two miles'[17] distance from Mantinea; and the Arcadians, issuing from
Tegea and clinging to the mountains between Mantinea and that city,
appeared with large bodies of heavy infantry, wishing to effect a
junction with the Mantineans. The Argives, it is true, supported them,
but they were not in full force. And here counsellors were to be found
who urged on Agesilaus to attack these troops separately; but fearing
lest, in proportion as he pressed on to engage them, the Mantineans
might issue from the city behind and attack him on flank and rear, he
decided it was best to let the two bodies coalesce, and then, if they
would 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
united with the Mantineans. The next incident was the sudden
apparition at break of day, as Agesilaus was sacrificing in front of
the camp, of a body of troops. These proved to be the light infantry
from Orchomenus, who in company with the Phliasian cavalry had during
the night made their way across past the town of Mantinea; and so
caused the mass of the army to rush to their ranks, and Agesilaus
himself to retire within the lines. Presently, however, the newcomers
were recognised as friends; and as the sacrifices were favourable,
Agesilaus led his army forward a stage farther after breakfast. As the
shades of evening descended he encamped unobserved within the fold of
the hills behind the Mantinean territory, 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 encumbent 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
hills which overhung the rear of his army, he decided that he must
lead his troops out of the hollow by the quickest route. But he feared
lest, if he himself led off, the enemy might fall upon his rear. In
this dilemma he kept quiet; presenting a hostile front to the enemy,
he sent orders to his rear to face about to the right,[19] and so
getting into line behind his main body, to move forward upon him; and
in this way he at once extricated his troops from their cramped
position and kept continually adding to the weight and solidity of his
line. As soon as the phalanx was doubled in depth he emerged upon the
level ground, with his heavy infantry battalions in this order, and
then again extended his line until his troops were once more nine or
ten shields deep. But the Mantineans were no longer so ready to come
out. The arguments of the Eleians who had lent them their co-operation
had prevailed: that it was better not to engage until the arrival of
the Thebans. The Thebans, it was certain, would soon be with them; for
had they not borrowed ten talents[20] from Elis in order to be able to
send aid? The Arcadians with this information before them kept quiet
inside Mantinea. On his side Agesilaus was anxious to lead off his
troops, seeing it was midwinter; but, to avoid seeming to hurry his
departure out of fear, he preferred to remain three days longer and no
great distance from Mantinea. On the fourth day, after an early
morning meal, the retreat commenced. His intention was to encamp on
the same ground which he had made his starting-point on leaving
Eutaea. But as none of the Arcadians appeared, he marched with all
speed and reached Eutaea itself, although very late, that day; being
anxious to lead off his troops without catching a glimpse of the
enemy's watch-fires, so as to silence the tongues of any one
pretending that he withdrew in flight. His main object was in fact
achieved. To some extent he had recovered the state from its late
despondency, since he had invaded Arcadia and ravaged the country
without any one caring to offer him battle. But, once arrived on
Laconian soil, he dismissed the Spartan troops to their homes and
disbanded 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, realising
that he had disbanded his troops, while they themselves were fully
mustered, marched upon Heraea, the citizens of which town had not only
refused to join the Arcadian league, but had joined the Lacedaemonians
in 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 at
Mantinea, on the strength of which they left Heraea and hastened to
fraternise[22] with their Theban friends. When they were met together,
the Thebans, on their side, were well content with the posture of
affairs: they had duly brought their succour, and no enemy was any
longer to be discovered in the country; so they made preparations to
return home. But the Arcadians, Argives and Eleians were eager in
urging them to lead the united forces forthwith into Laconia: they
dwelt proudly on their own numbers, extolling above measure the
armament of Thebes. And, indeed, the Boeotians one and all were
resolute in their military manouvres and devotion to arms,[23]
exulting in the victory of Leuctra. In the wake of Thebes followed the
Phocians, who were now their subjects, Euboeans from all the townships
of the island, both sections of the Locrians, the Acarnanians,[24] and
the men of Heraclea and of Melis; while their force was further
swelled by Thessalian cavalry and light infantry. With the full
consciousness of facts like these, and further justifying their appeal
by dwelling on the desolate condition of Lacedaemon, deserted by her
troops, they entreated them not to turn back without invading the
territory of Laconia. But the Thebans, albeit they listened to their
prayers, urged arguments on the other side. In the first place,
Laconia was by all accounts most difficult to invade; and their belief
was that garrisons were posted at all the points most easily
approached. (As a matter of fact, Ischolaus was posted at Oeum in the
Sciritid, with a garrison of neodamodes and about four hundred of the
youngest of the Tegean exiles; and there was a second outpost on
Leuctrum above the Maleatid.[25]) Again it occurred to the Thebans
that the Lacedaemonian forces, though disbanded, would not take long
to muster, and once collected they would fight nowhere better than on
their own native soil. Putting all these considerations together, they
were not by any means impatient to march upon Lacedaemon. A strong
counter-impulse, however, was presently given by the arrival of
messengers from Caryae, giving positive information as to the
defenceless condition of the country, and offering to act as guides
themselves; they were ready to lose their lives if they were convicted
of perfidy. A further impulse in the same direction was given by the
presence of some of the provincials,[26] with invitations and promises
of revolt, if only they would appear in the country. These people
further stated that even at the present moment, on a summons of the
Spartans proper, the provincials did not care to render them
assistance. With all these arguments and persuasions echoing from all
sides, the Thebans at last yielded, and invaded. They chose the Caryan
route themselves, 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 them
on the difficult ground above Oeum. Had he done so, not a man, it is
believed, would have scaled the passes there. But for the present,
wishing to turn the help of the men of Oeum to good account, he waited
down in the village; and so the invading Arcadians scaled the heights
in a body. At this crisis Ischolaus and his men, as long as they
fought face to face with their foes, held the superiority; but,
presently, when the enemy, from rear and flank, and even from the
dwelling-houses up which they scaled, rained blows and missiles upon
them, then and there Ischolaus 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 Thebans at
Caryae, and the Thebans, hearing what wonders the Arcadians had
performed, commenced their descent with far greater confidence. Their
first exploit was to burn and ravage the district of Sellasia, but
finding themselves ere long in the flat land within the sacred
enclosure of Apollo, they encamped for the night, and the next day
continued their march along the Eurotas. When they came to the bridge
they made no attempt to cross it to attack the city, for they caught
sight of the heavy infantry in the temple of Alea[28] ready to meet
them. So, keeping the Eurotas on their right, they tramped along,
burning and pillaging homesteads stocked with numerous stores. The
feelings of the citizens may well be imagined. The women who had never
set eyes upon a foe[29] could scarcely contain themselves as they
beheld the cloud of smoke. The Spartan warriors, inhabiting a city
without fortifications, posted at intervals, here one and there
another, were in truth what they appeared to be--the veriest handful.
And these kept watch and ward. The authorities passed a resolution to
announce to the helots that whosoever among them chose to take arms
and join a regiment should have his freedom guaranteed to him by
solemn pledges in return for assistance in the common war.[30] More
than six thousand helots, it is said, enrolled themselves, so that a
new terror was excited by the very incorporation of these men, whose
numbers seemed to be excessive. But when it was found that the
mercenaries from Orchomenus remained faithful, and reinforcements came
to Lacedaemon from Phlius, Corinth, Epidaurus, and Pellene, and some
other states, the dread of these new levies was speedily 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 the
Eurotas. The Thebans wherever they encamped at once formed a stockade
of the fruit-trees they had felled, as thickly piled as possible, and
so kept ever on their guard. The Arcadians did nothing of the sort.
They left their camping-ground and took themselves off to attack the
homesteads and loot. On the third or fourth day after their arrival
the cavalry advanced, squadron by squadron, as far as the
racecourse,[32] within the sacred enclosure of Gaiaochos. These
consisted of the entire Theban cavalry and the Eleians, with as many
of the Phocian or Thessalian or Locrian cavalry as were present. The
cavalry of the Lacedaemonians, looking a mere handful, were drawn up
to meet them. They had posted an ambuscade chosen from their heavy
infantry, the younger men, about three hundred in number, in the house
of the Tyndarids[33]; and while the cavalry charged, out rushed the
three hundred at the same instant at full pace. The enemy did not wait
to receive the double charge, but swerved, and at sight of that many
also of the infantry took to headlong flight. But the pursuers
presently paused; the Theban army remained motionless; and both
parties returned to their camps. And now the hope, the confidence
strengthened that an attack upon the city itself would never come; nor
did it. The invading army broke up from their ground, and marched off
on the road to Helos and Gytheum.[34] The unwalled cities were
consigned to the flames, but Gytheum, where the Lacedaemonians had
their naval arsenal, was subjected to assault for three 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 pondering what
they ought to do concerning the Lacedaemonians, and they held an
assembly in accordance with a resolution of the senate. It chanced
that the ambassadors of the Lacedaemonians and the allies still
faithful to Lacedaemon were present. The Lacedaemonian ambassadors
were Aracus, Ocyllus, Pharax, Etymocles, and Olontheus, and from the
nature of the case they all used, roughly speaking, similar arguments.
They reminded the Athenians how they had often in old days stood
happily together, shoulder to shoulder, in more than one great crisis.
They (the Lacedaemonians), on their side, had helped to expel the
tyrant from Athens, and the Athenians, when Lacedaemon was besieged by
the Messenians, had heartly leant her a helping hand.[36] Then they
fell to enumerating all the blessings that marked the season when the
two states shared a common policy, hinting how in common they had
warred against the barbarians, and more boldly recalling how the
Athenians with the full consent and advice of the Lacedaemonians were
chosen by united Hellas leaders of the common navy[37] and guardians
of all the common treasure, while they themselves were selected by all
the Hellenes as confessedly the rightful leaders on land; and this
also not without the full 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: "If
you and we, sirs, can only agree, there is hope to-day that the old
saying may be fulfilled, and Thebes be 'taken and tithed.'"[38] The
Athenians, however, were not in the humour to listen to that style of
argument. A sort of suppressed murmur ran through the assembly which
seemed to say, "That language may be well enough now; but when they
were well off they pressed hard enough on us." But of all the pleas
put forward by the Lacedaemonians, the weightiest appeared to be this:
that when they had reduced the Athenians by war, and the Thebans
wished to wipe Athens off the face of the earth, they (the
Lacedaemonians) themselves had opposed the measure.[39] If that was
the argument of most weight, the reasoning which was the most commonly
urged was to the effect that "the solemn oaths necessitated the aid
demanded. Sparta had done no wrong to justify this invasion on the
part of the Arcadians and their allies. All she had done was to assist
the men of Tegea when[40] the Mantineans had marched against that
township contrary to their solemn oaths." Again, for the second time,
at these expressions a confused din ran through the assembly, half the
audience maintaining that the Mantineans were justified in supporting
Proxenus and his friends, who were put to death by the party with
Stasippus; the other half that they were wrong in bringing an armed
force against the men of Tegea.

[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, men
of Athens, there is a double answer to the question, Who began the
wrongdoing? But take the case of ourselves. Since peace began, no one
can accuse us either of wantonly attacking any city, or of seizing the
wealth of any, or of ravaging a foreign territory. In spite of which
the Thebans have come into our country and cut down our fruit-treees,
burnt to the ground our houses, filched and torn to pieces our cattle
and our goods. How then, I put it to you, will you not be acting
contrary to your solemn oaths if you refuse your aid to us, who are so
manifestly the victims of wrongdoings? Yes; and when I say solemn
oaths, I speak of oaths and undertakings which you yourselves took
great pains to exact from 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 out
of the way? The answer to that question is obvious. You would be the
first object of Theban invasion. Clearly; for they must feel that you
and you alone stand in the path between them and empire over Hellas.
If this be so, I do not consider that you are more supporting
Lacedaemon by a campaign in her behalf than you are helping
yourselves. For imagine the Thebans, your own sworn foes and next-door
neighbours, masters of Hellas! You will find it a painful and onerous
exchange indeed for the distant antagonism of Sparta. As a mere matter
of self-interest, now is the time to help yourselves, while you may
still reckon upon allies, instead of waiting until they are lost, and
you are forced to fight a life-and-death battle with the Thebans
single-handed. But the fear suggests itself, that should the
Lacedaemonians escape now, they will live 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 of those we injure, which
causes apprehension. And this other also, that it 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 their former labours
have achieved.[42] To you now, at this time, a heaven-sent opportunity
is presented. In return for assistance to the Lacedaemonians in their
need, you may win their sincere, unhesitating friendship for all time.
Yes, I say it deliberately, for the acceptance of these benefits at
your hands will not be in the presence of one or two chance witnesses.
The all-seeing gods, in whose sight to-morrow is even as to-day, will
be cognisant of these things. The knowledge of them will be jointly
attested by allies and enemies; nay, by Hellenes and barbarians alike,
since to not one of them is what we are doing a matter of unconcern.
If, then, in the presence of these witnesses, the Lacedaemonians
should prove base towards you, no one will ever again be eager in
their cause. But our hope, our expectation should rather be that they
will prove themselves good men and not base; since they beyond all
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
lay to heart. If danger were ever again to visit Hellas from the
barbarian world outside, in whom would you place your confidence if
not in the Lacedaemonians? Whom would you choose to stand at your
right hand in battle if not these, whose soldiers at Thermopylae to a
man preferred to fall at their posts rather than save their lives by
giving the barbarian free passage into Hellas? Is it not right, then,
considering for what thing's sake they dislayed that bravery in your
companionship, considering also the good hope there is that they will
prove the like again--is it not just that you and we should lend them
all countenance and goodwill? Nay, even for us their allies' sake, who
are present, it would be worth your while to manifest this goodwill.
Need you be assured that precisely those who continue faithful to them
in their misfortunes would 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 their dangers with them, lay to heart that there is a
speedy cure for this defect: with the accession of your city the
reproach that, in spite of all our assistance, we are but small
cities, will cease to be.

"For my part, men of Athens, I have hitherto on hearsay admired and
envied this great state, whither, I was told, every one who was
wronged or stood in terror of aught needed only to betake himself and
he would obtain assistance. To-day I no longer hear, I am present
myself and see these famous citizens of Lacedaemon here, and by their
side their trustiest friends, who have come to you, and ask you in
their day of need to give them help. I see Thebans also, the same who
in days bygone failed 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 to
your ancestors, that they did not suffer those Argives who died on the
Cadmeia[44] to lie unburied; but a fairer wreath of glory would you
weave for your own brows if you suffer not these still living
Lacedaemonians to be trampled under the heel of insolence and
destroyed. Fair, also, was that achievement when you stayed the
insolence of Eurystheus and saved the sons of Heracles;[45] but fairer
still than that will your deed be if you rescue from destruction, not
the primal authors[46] merely, but the whole city which they founded;
fairest of all, if because yesterday the Lacedaemonians won you your
preservation by a vote which cost them nothing, you to-day shall bring
them help with arms, and at the price of peril. It is a proud day for
some of us to stand here and give what aid we can in pleading for
asistance to brave men. What, then, must you feel, who in very deed
are able to render that assistance! How generous on your parts, who
have been so often the friends and foes of Lacedaemon, to forget the
injury and remember only the good they have done! How noble of you to
repay, not for yourelves only, but for the sake of Hellas, the debt
due to those who proved themselves 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 was
opposition, the arguments of gainsayers[47] fell upon deaf ears. The
assembly finally passed a decree to send assistance to Lacedaemon in
force, and they chose Iphicrates general. Then followed the
preliminary sacrifices, and then the general's order to his troops to
take the evening 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 their posts before him. Presently, however, he put himself at
the head of his troops, and the men followed cheerily, in firm
persuasion that he was about to lead them to some noble exploit. On
arrival at Corinth he frittered away some days, and there was a
momentary outburst of discontent at so much waste of precious time;
but as soon as he led the troops out of Corinth there was an obvious
rebound. The men responded to all orders with enthusiasm, heartily
following their general's lead, and attacking 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 find
that the Arcadians, Argives, and Eleians had retired in large numbers.
They had every inducement so to do since their homes bordered on
Laconia; and off they went, driving or carrying whatever they had
looted. The Thebans and the rest were no less anxious to get out of
the country, though for other reasons, partly because the army was
melting away under their eyes day by day, partly because the
necessities of life were growing daily scantier, so much had been
either fairly eaten up and pillaged or else recklessly squandered and
reduced to ashes. Besides this, it was winter; so that on every ground
there was a general desire by this time to get away home.

As son as the enemy began his retreat from Laconian soil, Iphicrates
imitated his movement, and began leading back his troops out of
Arcadia into Corinthia. Iphicrates exhibited much good generalship, no
doubt, with which I have no sort of fault to find. But it is not so
with that final feature of the campaign to which we are now come. Here
I find his strategy either meaningless in intent or inadequate in
execution. He made an attempt to keep guard at Oneion, in order to
prevent the Boeotians making their way out homewards; but left
meanwhile far the best passage through Cenchreae unguarded. Again,
when he wished to discover whether or not the Thebans had passed
Oneion, he sent out on a reconnaissance the whole of the Athenian and
Corinthian cavalry; whereas, for the object in view, the eyes of a
small detachment would have been as useful as a whole regiment;[49]
and when it came to falling back, clearly the smaller number had a
better chance of hitting on a traversable road, and so effecting the
desired movement quietly. But the height of folly seems to have been
reached when he threw into the path of the enemy a large body of
troops which were still too weak to cope with him. As a matter of
fact, this body of cavalry, owing to their very numbers, could not
help covering a large space of ground; and when it became necessary to
retire, had to cling to a series of difficult positions in succession,
so that they lost not fewer than twenty horsemen.[50] It was thus the
Thebans effected their object and retired 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] from
the Lacedaemonians and their allies arrived at Athens to consider and
take counsel in what way the alliance between Athens and Lacedaemon
might be best cemented. It was urged by many speakers, foreigners and
Athenians also, that the alliance ought to be based on the principle
of absolute equality,[3] "share and share alike," when Procles of
Phlius put 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 to
secure the friendship of Lacedaemon, the point, as it appears to me,
which you ought now to consider is, by what means this friendship may
be made to last as long as possible. The probability is, that we shall
hold together best by making a treaty which shall suit the best
interests of both parties. On most points we have, I believe, a
tolerable unanimity, but there remains the question of leadership. The
preliminary decree of your senate anticipates a division of the
hegemony, crediting you with the chief maritime power, Lacedaemon with
the chief power on land; and to me, personally, I confess, that seems
a division not more established by human invention than preordained by
some divine naturalness or happy fortune. For, in the first place, you
have a geographical position pre-eminently adapted for naval
supremacy; most of the states to whom the sea is important are massed
round your own, and all of these are inferior 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 a traditional policy; all the
arts and sciences connected with these matters you possess as home
products, and, what is more, in skill and experience of nautical
affairs you are far ahead of the rest of the world. The majority of
you derive your livelihood from the sea, or things connected with it;
so that in the very act of minding your own affairs you are training
yourselves to enter the lists of naval combat.[4] Again, no other
power in the world can send out a larger collective fleet, and that is
no insignificant point in reference to the question of leadership. The
nucleus of strength first gained becomes a rallying-point, round which
the rest of the world will gladly congregate. Furthermore, your good
fortune in this department must be looked upon as a definite gift of
God: for, consider among the numberless great sea-fights which you
have fought how few you have lost, how many you have won. It is only
rational, then, that your allies should much prefer to share this
particular risk with you. Indeed, to show you how natural and vital to
you is this maritime study, the following reflection may serve. For
several years the Lacedaemonians, when at war with you in old days,
dominated your territory, but they made no progress towards destroying
you. At last God granted them one day to push forward their dominion
on the sea, and then in an instant you completely succumbed to
them.[5] Is it not self-evident that your safety altogether depends
upon the sea? The sea is your natural element--your birthright; it
would be base indeed to entrust the hegemony of it to the
Lacedaemonians, and the more so, since, as they themselves admit, they
are far less acquained with this business than yourselves; and,
secondly, your risk in naval battles would not be for equal stakes--
theirs involving only the loss of the men on board their ships, but
yours, that of your children and your wives and the entire state.

[4] See "Pol. Ath." i. 19 foll.

[5] See "Hell." II. i.

"And if this is a fair statement of your position, turn, now, and
consider that of the Lacedaemonians. The first point to notice is,
that they are an inland power; as long as they are dominant on land it
does not matter how much they are cut off from the sea--they can carry
on existence happily enough. This they so fully recognise, that from
boyhood they devote themselves to training for a soldier's life. The
keystone of this training is obedience to command,[6] and in this they
hold the same pre-eminence on land which you hold on the sea. Just as
you with your fleets, so they on land can, at a moment's notice, put
the largest army in the field; and with the like consequence, that
their allies, as is only rational, attach themselves to them with
undying courage.[7] Further, God has granted them to enjoy on land a
like good fortune to that vouchsafed to you on sea. Among all the many
contests they have entered into, it is surprising in how few they have
failed, in how many they have been successful. The same unflagging
attention which you pay to maritime affairs is required from them on
land, and, as the facts of history reveal, it is no less indispensable
to them. Thus, although you were at war with them for several years
and gained many a naval victory over them, you never advanced a step
nearer to reducing them. But once worsted on land, in an instant they
were confronted with a danger affecting the very lives of child and
wife, and vital to the interests of the entire state. We may very well
understand, then, the strangeness, not to say monstrosity, in their
eyes, of surrendering to others the military leadership on land, in
matters which they have made their special study for so long and with
such eminent success. I end where I began. I agree absolutely with the
preliminary decrees of your own senate, which I consider the solution
most advantageous to both parties. My prayer[8] is that you may be
guided in your deliberations to 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
were vehemently applauded by the Athenians no less than by the
Lacedaemonians who were present. Then Cephisodotus[9] stepped forward
and addressed the assembly. He said, "Men of Athens, do you not see
how you are being deluded? 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 they will send you admirals and captains, and possibly
marines, of Laconian breed; but who will the sailors be? Helots
obviously, or mercenaries of some sort. These are the folk over whom
you will exercise your leadership. Reverse the case. The
Lacedaemonians have issued a general order summoning you to join them
in the field; it is plain again, you will be sending your heavy
infantry and your cavalry. You see what follows. You have invented a
pretty machine, by which they become leders of your very selves, and
you become the leaders either of their slaves or of the dregs of their
state. I should like to put a question to the Lacedaemonian Timocrates
seated yonder. Did you not say just now, Sir, that you came to make an
alliance on terms of absolute equality, 'share and share alike'?
Answer me." "I did say so." "Well, then, here is a plan by which you
get the perfection of equality. I cannot conceive of anything more
fair and impartial than that 'turn and turn about' each of us should
command the navy, each the army; whereby whatever advantage there 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, and
passed a decree vesting the command in either state[10] for periods of
five days alternately.

[10] See "Revenues," v. 7.

B.C. 369.[11] The campaign was commenced by both Athenians and
Lacedaemonians with their allies, marching upon Corinth, where it was
resolved to keep watch and ward over Oneion jointly. On the advance of
the Thebans and their allies the troops were drawn out to defend the
pass. They were posted in detachments at different points, the most
assailable of which was assigned to the Lacedaemonians and the men of
Pellene.[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 four
miles[13] of the troops guarding the pass, encamped in the flat ground
below; but presently, after a careful calculation of the time it would
take to start and reach the goal in the gloaming, they advanced
against the Lacedaemonian outposts. In spite of the difficulty they
timed their movements to a nicety, and fell upon the Lacedaemonians
and Pellenians just at the interval when the night pickets were
turning in and the men were leaving their shakedowns and retiring for
necessary purposes.[14] This was the instant for the Thebans to fling
themselves upon them; they plied their weapons with good effect, blow
upon blow. Order was pitted against disorder, preparation against
disarray. When, however, those who escaped from the thick of the
business had retired to the nearest rising ground, the Lacedaemonian
polemarch, who might have taken as many heavy, or light, infantry of
the allies as he wanted, and thus have held the position (no bad one,
since it enabled him to get his supplies safely enough from
Cenchreae), failed to do so. On the contrary, and in spite of the
great perplexity of the Thebans as to how they were to get down from
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 withdrew
his 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 on Epidaurus, laid waste the whole territory of that people.
Returning from that exploit with a consummate disdain for all their
opponents, when they found themselves near the city of Corinth they
advanced at the double against the gate facing towards Phlius;
intending if they found it open to rush in. However, a body of light
troops sallied out of the city 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 the monuments and commanding eminences, with
volleys of sling stones and arrows 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 slain to the wall, and finally gave them up
under a flag of truce, erecting a trophy to record the victory. As a
result of this occurrence the allies of 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
by the arrival of a naval reinforcement from Dionysius, consisting of
more than twenty warships, which conveyed a body of Celts and Iberians
and about fifty cavalry. The day following, the Thebans and the rest
of the allies, posted, at intervals, in battle order, and completely
filling the flat land down to the sea on one side, and up to the
knolls on the other which form the buttresses of the city, proceeded
to destroy everything precious they could lay their hands on in the
plain. The Athenian and Corinthian cavalry, eyeing the strength,
physical and numerical, of their antagonists, kept at a safe distance
from their armament. But the little body of cavalry lately arrived
from Dionysius spread out in a long thin line, and one at one point
and one at another galloped along the front, discharging their
missiles as they dashed forward, and when the enemy rushed against
them, retired, and again wheeling about, showered another volley. Even
while so engaged they would dismount from their horses and take
breath; and if their foemen galloped up while they were so dismounted,
in an instant they had leapt on their horses' backs and were in full
retreat. Or if, again, a party pursued them some distance from the
main body, as soon as they turned to retire, they would press upon
them, and discharging volleys of missiles, made terrible work, forcing
the whole army to advance and retire, merely to keep pace with the
movements of fifty horsemen.

B.C. 369-368. After this the Thebans remained only a few more days and
then turned back homewards; and the rest likewise to their several
homes. Thereupon the troops sent by Dionysius attacked Sicyon.
Engaging the Sicyonians in the flat country, they defeated them,
killing about seventy men and capturing by assault the fortres of
Derae.[19] After these achievements this first reinforcement from
Dionysius re-embarked and 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 from
Lacedaemon had acted together in perfect harmony, and were content to
campaign under the leadership of Thebes; but now a certain
Lycomedes,[20] a Mantinean, broke the spell. Inferior in birth and
position to none, while in wealth superior, he was for the rest a man
of high ambition. This man was able to inspire the Arcadians with high
thoughts by reminding them that to Arcadians alone the Peloponnese was
in a literal sense a fatherland; since they and they alone were the
indigenous inhabitants of its sacred soil, and the Arcadian stock the
largest among the Hellenic tribes--a good stock, moreover, and of
incomparable physique. And then he set himself to panegyrise them as
the bravest of the brave, adducing as evidence, if evidence were
needed, the patent fact, that every one in need of help invariably
turned to the Arcadians.[21] Never in old days had the Lacedaemonians
yet invaded Athens without the Arcadians. "If then," he added, "you
are wise, you will 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 train of Sparta you only enhanced her power, so to-day, if you
follow Theban guidance without thought or purpose instead of claiming
a division of the headship, you will speedily find, perhaps, in her
only a second edition 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
puff them up with pride. They were lavish in their love of Lycomedes,
and thought there was no one his equal. He became their hero; he had
only to give his orders, and they appointed their magistrates[23] at
his bidding. But, indeed, a series of brilliant exploits entitled the
Arcadians to magnify themselves. The first of these arose out of an
invasion of Epidaurus by the Argives, which seemed likely to end in
their finding their escape barred by Chabrias and his foreign brigade
with the Athenians and Corinthians. Only, at the critical moment the
Arcadians came to the rescue and extricated the Argives, who were
closely besieged, and this in spite not only of the enemy, but of the
savage nature of the ground itself. Again they marched on Asine[24] in
Laconian territory, and defeated the Lacedaemonian garrison, putting
the polemarch Geranor, who was a Spartan, to the sword, and sacking
the suburbs of the town. Indeed, whenever or wherever they had a mind
to send an invading force, neither night nor wintry weather, nor
length of road nor mountain barrier could stay their march. So that at
this date they regarded their prowess as invincible.[25] The Thebans,
it will be understood, could not but feel a touch of jealousy at these
pretensions, and their former friendship to the Arcadians lost its
ardour. With the Eleians, indeed, matters were worse. The revelation
came to them when they demanded back from the Arcadians certain
cities[26] of which the Lacedaemonians had deprived them. They
discovered that their views were held of no account, but that the
Triphylians and the rest who had revolted from them were to be made
much of, because they claimed to be Arcadians.[27] Hence, as
contrasted with the Thebans, the Eleians cherished feelings towards
their late friends which were positively hostile.

[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
which animated each section of the allies, when a new phase was
introduced by the arrival of Philiscus[28] of Abydos on an embassy
from Ariobarzanes[29] with large sums of money. This agent's first
step was to assemble a congress of Thebans, allies, and Lacedaemonians
at Delphi to treat of peace. On their arrival, without attempting to
communicate or take counsel with the god as to how peace might be re-
established, they fell to deliberating unassisted; and when the
Thebans refused to acquiesce in the dependency of Messene[30] upon
Lacedaemon, Philiscus set about collecting a large foreign brigade to
side with Lacedaemon and to prosecute 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
from Dionysius[31] arrived. There was a difference of opinion as to
where the troops should be employed, the Athenians insisting that they
ought to march into Thessaly to oppose the Thebans, the Lacedaemonians
being in favour of Laconia; and among the allies this latter opinion
carried the day. The reinforcement from Dionysius accordingly sailed
round to Laconia, where Archidamus incorporated them with the state
troops and opened the campaign. Caryae he took by storm, and put every
one captured to the sword, and from this point marching straight upon
the Parrhasians of Arcadia, he set about ravaging the country along
with his Syracusan supporters.

[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, he
retreated and encamped on the knolls above Medea.[32] While he was
there, Cissidas, the officer in charge of the reinforcement from
Dionysius, made the announcement that the period for his stay abroad
had elapsed; and the words were no sooner out of his lips than off he
set on the road to Sparta. The march itself, however, was not effected
without delays, for he was met and cut off by a body of Messenians at
a narrow pass, and was forced in these straits to send to Archidamus
and beg for assistance, which the latter tendered. When they had got
as far as the bend[33] on the road to Eutresia, there were the
Arcadians and Argives advancing upon Laconia and apparently intending,
like the Messenians, to shut 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 to
Eutresia and Medea converge, drew up his troops and offered battle.
When happened then is thus told:--He passed in front of the regiments
and addressed them in terms of encouragement thus: "Fellow-citizens,
the day has come which calls upon us to prove ourselves brave men and
look the world in the face with level eyes.[34] Now are we to deliver
to those who come after us our fatherland intact as we received it
from our fathers; now will we cease hanging our heads in shame before
our children and wives, our old men and our foreign friends, in sight
of whom in days of old we shone forth conspicuous beyond all other
Hellenes."

[34] See Plut. "Ages." 53 (Clough, vol. iv. p. 41).

The words were scarcely uttered (so runs the tale), when out of the
clear sky came lightnings and thunderings,[35] with propitious
manifestation to him; and it so happened that on his right wing there
stood a sacred enclosure and a statue of Heracles, his great ancestor.
As the result of all these things, so deep a strength and courage came
into the hearts of his soldiers, as they tell, that the generals had
hard work to restrain their men as they pushed forward to the front.
Presently, when Archidamus led the advance, a few only of the enemy
cared to await them at the spear's point, and were slain; the mass of
them fled, and fleeing fell. Many were cut down by the cavalry, many
by the Celts. When the battle ceased and a trophy had been erected,
the Spartan at once despatched home Demoteles, the herald, with the
news. He had to announce not only the greatness of the victory, but
the startling fact that, while the enemy's dead were numerous, not one
single Lacedaemonian had been slain.[36] Those in Sparta to whom the
news was brought, as says the story, when they heard it, one and all,
beginning with Agesilaus, and, after him, the elders and the ephors,
wept for joy--so close akin are tears to joy and pain alike. There
were others hardly less pleased than the Lacedaemonians themselves at
the misfortune which had overtaken the Arcadians: these were the
Thebans and Eleians--so offensive to them had the boastful behaviour
of these men become.

[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
they were to compass the headship of Hellas; and they persuaded
themselves that, if they sent an embassy to the King of Persia, they
could not but gain some advantage by his help. Accordingly they did
not delay, but called together the allies, on the plea that Euthycles
the Lacedaemonian was already at the Persian court. The commissioners
sent up were, on the 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 and Leon.

[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 was
preponderant with the Persian. He could point out that, besides the
fact that the Thebans alone among all the Hellenes had fought on the
king's side at Plataeae,[38] they had never subsequently engaged in
military service against the Persians; nay, the very ground of
Lacedaemonian hostility to them was that they had refused to march
against the Persian king with Agesilaus,[39] and would not even suffer
him to sacrifice to Artemis at Aulis (where Agamemnon sacrificed
before he set sail for Asia and captured Troy). In addition, there
were two things which contributed to raise the prestige of Thebes, and
redounded to the honour of Pelopidas. These were the victory of the
Thebans at Leuctra, and the indisputable fact that they had invaded
and laid waste the territory of Laconia. Pelopidas went on to point
out that the Argives and Arcadians had lately been defeated in battle
by the Lacedaemonians, when his own countrymen were not there to
assist. The Athenian Timagoras supported all these statements of the
Theban by independent testimony, and stood second 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, what
special clause he desired inserted in the royal rescript. He replied
as follows: "Messene to be independent of Lacedaemon, and the
Athenians to lay up their ships of war. Should either power refuse
compliance in these respects, such refusal to be a casus belli; and
any state refusing to take part in the military proceedings
consequent, to be herself the first object of attack." These clauses
were drawn up and read to the ambassadors, when Leon, in the hearing
of the king, exclaimed: "Upon my word! Athenians, it strikes me it is
high time you looked for some other friend than the great king." The
secretary reported the comment of the Athenian envoy, and produced
presently an altered copy of the document, with a clause inserted: "If
the Athenians have any better and juster views 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 variously
received. Timagoras, on the indictment of Leon, who proved that his
fellow-commissioner not only refused to lodge with him at the king's
court, but in every way played into the hands of Pelopidas, was put to
death. Of the other joint commissioners, the Eleian, Archidamus, was
loud in his praises of the king and his policy, because he had shown a
preference to Elis over the Arcadians; while for a converse reason,
because the Arcadian league was slighted, Antiochus not only refused
to accept any gift, but brought back as his report to the general
assembly of the Ten Thousand,[41] that the king appeared to have a
large army of confectioners and pastry-cooks, butlers and doorkeepers;
but as for men capable of doing battle with Hellenes, he had looked
carefully, and could not discover any. Besides all which, even the
report of his wealth seemed to him, he said, bombastic nonsense. "Why,
the golden plane-tree that is so belauded is not big enough to furnish
shade to a single grasshopper."[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
the great king's letter. The Persian who bore the missive merely
pointed to the royal seal, and read the document; whereupon the
Thebans invited all, who wished to be their friends, to take an oath
to what they had just heard, as binding on the king and on themselves.
To which the ambassadors from the states replied that they had been
sent to listen to a report, not to take oaths; if oaths were wanted,
they recommended the Thebans to send ambassadors to the several
states. The Arcadian Lycomedes, moreover, added that the congress
ought not to be held at Thebes at all, but at the seat of war,
wherever that might be. This remark brought down the wrath of the
Thebans on the speaker; they exclaimed that he was bent on breaking up
the alliance. Whereupon the Arcadian refused to take a seat in the
congress at all, and got up and betook himself off there and then,
accompanied by all the Arcadian envoys. Since, therefore, the
assembled representatives refused to take the oaths at Thebes, the
Thebans sent to the different states, one by one in turn, urging each
to undertake solemnly to act in accordance with the great king's
rescript. They were persuaded that no individual state would venture
to quarrel with themselves and the Persian monarch at once. As a
matter of fact, however, when they arrived at Corinth--which was the
first stated visted--the Corinthians stood out and gave as their
answer, that they had no desire for any common oath or undertaking
with the king. The rest of the states followed suit, giving answers of
a similar tenor, so that this striving after empire on the part of
Pelopidas and the Thebans melted like a cloud-castle into air.

B.C. 367.[43] But Epaminondas was bent on one more effort. With a view
to forcing the Arcadians and the rest of the allies to pay better heed
to Thebes, he desired first to secure the adhesion of the Achaeans,
and decided to march an army into Achaea. Accordingly, he persuaded
the Argive Peisias, who was at the head of military affairs in Argos,
to seize and occupy Oneion in advance. Persias, having ascertained
that only a sorry guard was maintained over Oneion by Naucles, the
general commanding the Lacedaemonian foreign brigade, and by
Timomachus the Athenian, under cover of night seized and occupied with
two thousand heavy infantry the rising ground above Cenchreae, taking
with him provisions for seven days. Within the interval the Thebans
arrived and surmounted the pass of Oneion; whereupon the allied troops
with Epaminondas at their head, advanced into Achaea. The result of
the campaign was that the better classes of Achaea gave in their
adhesion to him; and on his personal authority Epaminondas insisted
that there should be no driving of the aristocrats into exile, nor any
modification of the constitution. He was content to take a pledge of
fealty from the Achaeans to this effect: "Verily and indeed we will be
your allies, and follow 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 the
opposite faction in Thebes were ready with an indictment against him:
"Epaminondas," they said, "had merely swept and garnished Achaea for
the Lacedaemonians, and then gone off." The Thebans accordingly
resolved to send governors[45] into the states of Achaea; and those
officers on arrival joined with the commonalty and drove out the
better folk, and set up democracies throughout Achaea. On their side,
these exiles coalesced, and, marching upon each separate state in
turn, for they were pretty numerous, speedily won their restoration
and dominated the states. As the party thus reinstated no longer
steered a middle course, but went heart and soul into an alliance with
Lacedaemon, the Arcadians found themselves between the upper and the
nether millstone--that is to say, the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans.

[45] Lit. "harmosts."

At Sicyon, hitherto,[46] the constitution was based on the ancient
laws; but at this date Euphron (who during the Lacedaemonian days had
been the greatest man in Sicyon, and whose ambition it was to hold a
like pre-eminence under their opponents) addressed himself to the
Argives and Arcadians as follows: "If the wealthiest classes should
ever come into power in Sicyon, without a doubt the city would take
the first opportunity of readopting a Laconian policy; whereas, if a
democracy be set 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 will call a meeting of the people; and by that selfsame act I
shall give you a pledge of my good faith and present you with a state
firm in its alliance. All this, be assured," he added, "I do because,
like yourselves, I have long ill brooked the pride of Lacedaemon, and
shall be 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, in the
market-place, in the presence of the two powers concerned,[47]
proceeded to convene the Demos, as if there were to be a new
constitution, based on the principle of equality.[48] When the
convention met, he bade them appoint generals: they might choose whom
they liked. Whereupon they elected Euphron himself, Hippodamus,
Cleander, Acrisius, and Lysander. When these matters were arranged he
appointed Adeas, his own son, over the foreign brigade, in place of
the former commander, Lysimenes, whom he removed. His next step was
promptly to secure the fidelity of the foreign mercenaries by various
acts of kindness, and to attach others; and he spared neither the
public nor the sacred moneys for this object. He had, to aid him,
further, the property of all the citizens whom he exiled on the ground
of Laconism, and of this without scruple he in every case availed
himself. As for his colleagues in office, some he treacherously put to
death, others he exiled, by which means he got everything under his
own power, and was now a tyrant without disguise. The method by which
he got the allies to connive at his doings was twofold. Partly he
worked on them by pecuniary aid, partly by the readiness with which he
lent the support of his foreign 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 already
fortified the Trikaranon above the Heraion as an outpost to threaten
Phlius, while the Sicyonians were engaged in fortifying Thyamia[1] on
their frontier; and between the two the Phliasians were severely
pinched. They began to suffer from dearth of necessaries; but, in
spite of all, remained unshaken in their alliance. It is the habit of
historians, I know, to record with admiration each noble achievement
of the larger powers, but to me it seems a still more worthy task to
bring to light the great exploits of even a little state found
faithful in the performance 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 at
the 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,
more than that, the allies, save only quite a few, forsook her;[2] and
when united Hellas, so to speak, was marching on her--these Phliasians
remained stanch in their allegiance; and, in spite of the hostility of
the most powerful states of the Peloponnese, to wit the Arcardians and
the Argives, they insisted on coming to her aid. It fell to their lot
to cross into Prasiae as the rearguard of the reinforcements, which
consisted of the men of Corinth, of Epidaurus and of Troezen, of
Hermione, Halieis, and Sicyon and Pellene, in the days before any of
these had revolted.[3] Not even when the commander of the foreign
brigade, picking up the divisions already across, left them behind and
was gone--not even so did they flinch or turn back, but hired a guide
from Prasiae, and though the enemy was massed round Amyclae, slipped
through his ranks, as best they could, and so reached Sparta. It was
then 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, the
Argives, ill brooking so much zeal for Lacedaemon on the part of
Phlius, marched in full force against the little state, and fell to
ravaging their territory. Even then they remained undaunted; and when
the enemy turned to retire, destroying all that he could lay hands
upon, out dashed the cavalry of the Phliasians and dogged his retreat.
And notwithstanding that the Argive's rear consisted of the whole of
his cavalry, with some companies of infantry to support them, they
attacked him, sixty in number, and routed his whole rearguard. They
slew, indeed, but a few of them; but, having so slain that handful,
they paused and erected a trophy in full sight of the Argive army with
as little concern as 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 and Eleians[5] were moving forwards through Nemea to effect
a junction with the Thebans, when a hint was conveyed to them by some
Phliasian exiles, "Only show yourselves before Phlius and the town is
yours." An agreement was made, and in the dead of night a party
consisting of the exiles themselves and others with them, about six
hundred in number, planted themselves close under the walls with
scaling-ladders. Presently the scouts from the Trikaranon signalled to
the city that the enemy was advancing. The citizens were all
attention; their eyes fixed upon their scouts. Meanwhile the traitors
within were likewise signalling to those seated under lee of the walls
"to scale"; and these, scaling up, seized the arms of the guards,
which they found abandoned, and fell to pursuing the day sentinels,
ten in number (one out of each squad of five being always left on day
duty).[6] One of these was put to the sword as he lay asleep, and a
second as he was escaping to the Heraion; but the other eight day-
pickets leapt down the wall on the side towards the city, one after
another. The scaling party now found themselves in undisputed
possession of the citadel. But the shouting had reached the city
below: the citizens rallied to the rescue; and the enemy began by
sallying forth from the citadel, and did battle in the forefront of
the gate leading down to the city. By and by, being strongly
beleaguered by the ever-increasing reinforcements of the citizens,
they retired, falling back upon the citadel; and the citizens along
with the enemy forced their way in. The centre of the citadel was
speedily deserted; for the enemy scaled the walls and towers, and
showered blows and missiles upon the citizens below. These defended
themselves from the ground, or pressed the encounter home by climbing
the ladders which led to the walls. Once masters of certain towers on
this side and the other of the invaders, the citizens came to close
quarters with them with reckless desperation. The invaders, pushed and
pommelled by dint of such audacity and hard hitting, were cooped up
like sheep into narrower and narrower space. But at that critical
moment the Arcadians and the Argives were circling round the city, and
had begun to dig through the walls of the citadel from its upper
side.[7] Of the citizens inside some were beating down their
assailants on the wall;[8] others, those of them who were climbing up
from outside and were still on the scaling-ladders, whilst a third set
were delivering battle against those who had mounted the towers. These
last had found fire in the men's quarters, and were engaged in setting
the towers and all ablaze, bringing up sheaves of corn and grass--an
ample harvesting, as luck would have it, garnered off the citadel
itself. Thereupon the occupants of the towers, in terror of the
flames, leapt down one by one, while those on the walls, under the
blows of the defenders, tumbled off with similar expedition; and as
soon as they had once begun to yield, the whole citadel, in almost
less time than it takes to tell, was cleared of the enemy. In an
instant out dashed the cavalry, and the enemy, seeing them, beat a
hasty retreat, leaving behind scaling-ladders and dead, besides some
comrades hopelessly maimed. In fact, the enemy, what between 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 the brave men
grasp one another by the hand and pledge each other on their
preservation, whilst the women brought them drink and cried for joy.
Not one there present but in very sooth was overcome by laughter mixed
with tears.[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 the
Arcadians. The reason of this perpetually-renewed attack on Phlius is
not far to seek: partly it was the result of spleen, partly the little
township stood midway between them, and they cherished the hope that
through 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 the crossing of the river.[11] They made it so hot for the
enemy that for the 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 a friendly people on the flat below.

[10] B.C. 368 (or 367).

[11] The Asopus.

Again another time[12] the Theban commander in Sicyon marched out
against Phlius, taking with him the garrison under his personal
command, with the Sicyonians and Pellenians (for at the date of the
incident these states followed in the wake of Thebes). Euphron was
there also with his mercenaries, about two thousand in number, to
share the fortunes of the field. The mass of the troops began their
descent on the Heraion by the Trikaranon, intending to ravage the flat
bottom below. At the gate leading to Corinth the Theban general left
his Sicyonians and Pellenians on the height, to prevent the Phliasians
getting behind him at this point and so over the heads of his troops
as they lay at the Heraion beneath.[13] As soon as the citizens of
Phlius found that hostile troops were advancing on their corn-land,
out dashed the cavalry with the chosen band of the Phliasians and gave
battle, not suffering the enemy to penetrate into the plain. The best
part of the day was spent in taking long shots at one another on that
field; Euphron pushing his attack down to the point where cavalry
could operate, the citizens retaliating as far as the Heraion.
Presently the time to withdraw had come, and the enemy began to
retire, following the circle of the Trikaranon; the short cut to reach
the Pellenians being barred by the ravine which runs in front of the
walls. The Phliasians escorted their retreating foes a little way up
the steep, and then turning off dashed along the road beside the
walls, making for the Pellenians and those with them; whereupon the
Theban, perceiving the haste of the Phliasians, began racing with his
infantry to outspeed them and bring succour to the Pellenians. The
cavalry, however, arrived first and fell to attacking the Pellenians,
who received and withstood the shock, and the cavalry drew back. A
second time they charged, and were supported by some infantry
detachments, which had now come up. It ended in a hand-to-hand fight;
and eventually the enemy gave way. On the field lay dead some
Sicyonians, and of the Pellenians many a good man. In record of the
feat the Phliasians began to raise a trophy, as well they might; and
loud and clear the paean rang. As to the Theban and Euphron, they and
all their men stood by and stared at the proceedings, like men who had
raced to see a sight. After all was over the one party retired to
Sicyon and the other 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
the Pellenian Proxenus prisoner and, although suffering from scarcity
at the time, sent him back without a ransom. "As generous as brave,"
such is their well-earned title who were capable of such performance.

The heroic resolution with which these men maintained their loyalty to
their friends is manifest. When excluded from the fruits of their own
soil, they contrived to live, partly by helping themselves from the
enemy's territory, partly by purchasing from Corinth, though to reach
that market they must run the gauntlet of a thousand risks; and having
reached it their troubles began afresh. There were difficulties in
providing the requisite sum, difficulties in arranging with the
purveyors, and it was barely possible to find sureties for the very
beasts which should carry home their marketing. They had reached the
depth of despair, and were absolutely at a loss what to do, when they
arranged with Chares to escort their convoy. Once safe inside Phlius,
they begged him to help them to convey their useless and sick folk to
Pellene.[14] These they left at that place; and after making purchases
and packing as many beasts of burthen as they could, they set off to
return in the night, not in ignorance that they would be laid in wait
for by the enemy, but persuaded that the want of provisions was a
worse evil 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
on the 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
to Chares to bring up his aid. In short, the victory was theirs; and
the enemy was driven off the road; and so they got themselves and
their supplies safely home. The long night-watching superinduced sleep
which lasted well into the next day. But Chares was no sooner out of
bed then he was accosted by the cavalry and the pick of the heavy
infantry with the following appeal: "Chares, to-day you have it in
your power to perform the noblest deed of arms. The Sicyonians are
fortifying an outpost on our borders, they have plenty of stone-masons
but a mere handful of hoplites. We the knights of Phlius and we the
flower of our infantry force will lead the way; and you shall follow
after with your mercenaries. Perhaps when you appear on the scene you
will find the whole 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 gods will 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 have established an outpost on the enemy's frontier;
you will have saved from perdition a friendly city; you will win
eternal glory in your own fatherland; and among friends and foes alike
no name will be heralded with louder praise than that of Chares."

Chares was persuaded, and proceeded to offer sacrifice. Meanwhile the
Phliasian cavalry were donning their breastplates and bridling their
horses, and the heavy infantry made every preparation for the march.
Then they took their arms, fell into line, and tramped off to the
place of sacrifice. Chares with the soothsayer stepped forward to meet
them, announcing that the victims were favourable. "Only wait for us,"
they exclaimed; "we will sally forth with you at once." The heralds'
cry "To arms!" was sounded, and with a zeal which was almost
miraculous the mercenaries themselves rushed out. As soon as Chares
began the march, the Phliasian cavalry and infantry got in front of
him. At first they led off at a smart pace; presently they began to
bowl[15] along more quickly, and finally the cavalry were tearing over
the ground might and main, whilst the infantry, at the greatest pace
compatible with keeping their ranks, tore after them; and behind them,
again, came Chares zealously following up in their rear. There only
remained a brief interval of daylight before the sun went down, and
they came upon the enemy in the fortress, some washing, some cooking a
savoury meal, others kneading their bread, others making their beds.
These, when they saw the vehemence of the attack, at once, in utter
panic, took to flight, leaving behind all their provisions for the
brave fellows who took their place. They, as their reward, made a fine
supper off these stores and others which had come from home, pouring
out libations for their good fortune and chanting the battle-hymn;
after which they posted pickets for the night and slumbered well. The
messenger with the news of their success at Thyamia arrived at Corinth
in the night. The citizens of that state with hearty friendship at
once ordered out by herald all the oxen and beasts of burthen, which
they loaded with food and brought to Phlius; and all the while the
fortress was building day by day these convoys of food were duly
despatched.

[15] See "Anab." VII. iii. 46.

III

But on this topic enough, perhaps, has been said to demonstrate the
loyalty of the men of Phlius to their friends, their bravery in war,
and, lastly, their steadfastness in maintaining their alliance in
spite of famine.

B.C. 367-366. It seems to have been somewhere about this date that
Aeneas the Stymphalian,[1] who had become general of the Arcadians,
finding that the state of affairs in Sicyon was intolerable, marched
up with his army into the acropolis. Here he summoned a meeting of the
Sicyonian aristocrats already within the walls, and sent to fetch
those others who had been banished without a decree of the people.[2]
Euphron, taking fright at these proceedings, fled for safety to the
harbour-town of Sicyon. Hither he summoned Pasimelus from Corinth, and
by his instrumentality handed over the harbour to the Lacedaemonians.
Once more reappearing in his old character, he began to pose as an
ally of Sparta. He asserted that his fidelity to Lacedaemon had never
been interrupted; for when the votes were given in the city whether
Sicyon should give up her allegiance to Lacedaemon, "I, with one or
two others," said he, "voted against the measure; but afterwards these
people betrayed me, and in my desire to avenge myself on them I set up
a democracy. At present all traitors to yourselves are banished--I
have seen to that. If only I could get the power into my own hands, I
would go 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 what Euphron 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 its close.

[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 classes
and the people, when Euphron, getting a body of foreign troops from
Athens, once more obtained his restoration. The city, with the help of
the commons, he was master of, but the Theban governor held the
citadel. Euphron, perceiving that he would never be able to dominate
the state whilst the Thebans held the acropolis, collected money and
set off to Thebes, intending to persuade the Thebans to expel the
aristocrats and once 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, set off themselves to Thebes in front of him.[3] When,
however, they saw the terms of intimacy on which he associated with
the Theban authorities, in terror of his succeeding in his mission
some of them staked 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, and spoke 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 to fall into two classes: there are the wise and temperate,[4]
who are incapable of any wrong and unhallowed deed; and there are the
base, the bad, who do indeed such things, but try to escape the notice
of their fellows. The men before you are exceptional. They have so far
exceeded all the rest of men in audacity and foul villiany that, in
the very presence of the magistrates and of yourselves, who alone have
the power of life and death, they have taken the law into their own
hands,[5] and have slain this man. But they stand now before the bar
of justice, and they must needs pay the extreme penalty; for, if you
spare them, what visitor will have courage to approach the city? Nay,
what will become of the city itself, if license is to be given to any
one who chooses to murder those who come here, before they have even
explained the object of their visit? It is our part, then, to
prosecute these men as arch-villains and miscreants, whose contempt
for law and justice is only matched by the supreme indifference with
which they treat this city. It is your part, now that you have heard
the charges, to impose upon them that 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,
all save one denied immediate participation in the act. It was not
their hands that had dealt the blow. This one not only confessed the
deed, but made a defence in words somewhat as follows:

"As to treating you with indifference, men of Thebes, that is not
possible for a man who knows that with you lies the power to deal with
him as you list. Ask rather on what I based my confidence when I slew
the man; and be well assured that, in the first place, I based it on
the conviction that I was doing right; next, that your verdict will
also be right and just. I knew assuredly how you dealt with Archias[6]
and Hypates and that company whom you detected in conduct similar to
that of Euphron: you did not stay for formal voting, but at the first
opportunity within your reach you guided the sword of vengeance,
believing that by the verdict of mankind a sentence of death had
already been passed against the conspicuously profane person, the
manifest traitor, 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 was a conspicuously profane person, who took into his
keeping temples rich in votive offerings of gold and silver, and swept
them bare of their sacred treasures; he was an arrant traitor--for
what treason could be more manifest than Euphron's? First he was the
bosom friend of Lacedaemon, but presently chose you in their stead;
and, after exchange of solemn pledges between yourselves and him, once
more turned round and played 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 into exile, or robbed of their wealth and
property, not malefactors, note you, but the mere victims of his whim
and fancy; and these were ever the better folk. Once again restored by
the help of your sworn foes and antagonists, the Athenians, to his
native town of Sicyon, the first thing he did was to take up arms
against the governor from Thebes; but, finding himself powerless to
drive him from the acropolis, he collected money and betook himself
hither. Now, if it were proved that he had mustered armed bands to
attack you, I venture to say, you would have thanked me that I slew
him. What then, when he came furnished with vile moneys, to corrupt
you therewith, to bribe you to make him once more lord 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 implies injury
certainly, but of the body only: the defeated man is not proved to be
dishonest by his loss of victory. But he who is corrupted by filthy
lucre, contrary to the standard of what is best,[7] is at once injured
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
to death in your presence: but why, I should like to ask, should the
man who betrayed you be less your enemy than mine? 'Ah, but,' I hear
some one retort, 'he came of his own accord.' I presume, sir, you mean
that had 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 that he came back here to work mischief on the top of mischief,
'he had the right to live'![8] In what part of Hellas, tell me, sir,
do Hellenes keep a truce with traitors, double-dyed deserters, and
tyrants? Moreover, I must remind you that you passed a resolution--if
I mistake not, it stands recorded in your parliamentary minutes--that
'renegades are liable to be apprehended[9] in any of the allied
cities.' Now, here is a renegade restoring himself without any common
decree of the allied states: will any one tell me on what ground this
person did not deserve to die? What I maintain, sirs, is that if you
put me to death, by so doing you will be aiding and abetting your
bitterest foe; while, by a verdict sanctioning the justice of my
conduct, you will prove your willingness to protect the interests not
of yourselves only, but of the whole 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 only
suffered the fate which he deserved. His own countrymen, however,
conveyed away the body with the honours due to a brave and good man,
and buried him in the market-place, where they still pay pious
reverence to his memory as "a founder of the state." So strictly, it
would seem, do the mass of mankind confine the term brave and good to
those who are the benefactors of themselves.

IV

B.C. 366. And so ends the history of Euphron. I return to the point
reached at the commencement of this digression.[1] The Phliasians were
still fortifying Thyamia, and Chares was still with them, when
Oropus[2] was seized by the banished citizens of that place. The
Athenians in consequence despatched an expedition in full force to the
point of danger, and recalled Chares from Thyamia; whereupon the
Sicyonians and the Arcadians seized the opportunity to recapture the
harbour of Sicyon. Meanwhile the Athenians, forced to act single-
handed, with none of their allies to assist them, retired from Oropus,
leaving that town in the hands of the Thebans as a deposit till the
case at issue could be formally 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 a
grievance against her allies, as follows:--They felt it hard that,
while Athens was put to vast trouble on their account, yet in her need
not a man among them stepped forward to render help. Accordingly he
persuaded the assembly of Ten Thousand to open negotiations with
Athens for the purpose of forming an alliance.[4] At first some of the
Athenians were vexed that they, being friends of Lacedaemon, should
become allied to her opponents; but on further reflection they
discovered it was no less desirable for the Lacedaemonians than for
themselves that the Arcadians should become independent of Thebes.
That being so, they were quite ready to accept an Arcadian alliance.
Lycomedes himself was still engaged on this transaction when, taking
his departure from Athens, he died, 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 liked
best, and by the terms of contract was entitled to land at any point
he might desire; but for some reason, selected the exact spot where a
body of Mantinean exiles lay. Thus he died; but the alliance on which
he had set 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 his
mind was an excellent thing, but arguing that the generals should be
instructed to see that Corinth was kept safe for the Athenian people.
The Corinthians, hearing this, lost no time in despatching garrisons
of their own large enough to take the place of the Athenian garrisons
at any point where they might have them, with orders to these latter
to retire: "We have no further need of foreign garrisons," they said.
The garrisons 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 city
of Corinth, the Corinthian authorities caused proclamation to be made
inviting all Athenians who felt themselves wronged to enter their
names and cases upon a list, and they would recover their dues. While
things were in this state, Chares arrived at Cenchreae with a fleet.
Learning what had been done, he told them that he had heard there were
designs against the state of Corinth, and had come to render
assistance. The authorities, while thanking him politely for his zeal,
were not any the more ready to admit the vessels into the harbour, but
bade him sail away; and after rendering justice to the infantry
troops, they sent them away likewise. Thus the Athenians were quit of
Corinth. To the Arcadians, to be sure, they were forced by the terms
of their alliance to send an auxiliary force of cavalry, "in case of
any foreign attack upon Arcadia." At the same time they were careful
not to set foot on Laconian soil for the purposes of war.

The Corinthians had begun to realise on how slender a thread their
political 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, both infantry and horse. At the head of these they were able
at once to guard their state and to inflict much injury on their
neighbouring foes. To Thebes, indeed, they sent ambassadors to
ascertain whether they would have any prospect of peace if they came
to seek it. The Thebans bade them come: "Peace they should have."
Whereupon the Corinthians asked that they might be allowed to visit
their allies; in making peace they would like to share it with those
who cared for it, and would leave those 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 we
persist in warlike courses, we beg that you will show it us; but if
you 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 one with whom we would more gladly share our safety than with
you; if, on the 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 we be destroyed, plainly we shall never at any time be
serviceable again."

The Lacedaemonians, on hearing these proposals, counselled the
Corinthians to arrange a peace on their own account; and as for the
rest of their allies, they permitted any who did not care to continue
the war along with them to take a respite and recruit themselves. "As
for ourselves," they said, "we will go on fighting and accept whatever
Heaven has in store for us,"--adding, "never will we submit to be
deprived of our territory of Messene, which we received as an heirloom
from 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 quest
of peace. The Thebans, indeed, asked them to agree on oath, not to
peace only but an alliance; to which they answered: "An alliance
meant, not peace, but merely an exchange of war. If they liked, they
were ready there and then," they repeated, "to establish a just and
equitable peace." And the Thebans, admiring the manner in which,
albeit in danger, they refused to undertake war against their
benefactors, conceded to them and the Phliasians and the rest who came
with them to Thebes, peace on the principle that each should hold
their own territory. On these terms the oaths were taken.

Thereupon the Phliasians, in obedience to the compact, at once retired
from Thyamia; but the Argives, who had taken the oath of peace on
precisely the same terms, finding that they were unable to procure the
continuance of the Phliasian exiles in the Trikaranon as a point held
within the limits of Argos,[7] took over and garrisoned the place,
asserting now that this land was theirs--land which only a little
while before they were ravaging as hostile territory. Further, they
refused to submit the case to arbitration in answer to the challenge
of the Phliasians.

[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] (his
father, Dionysius the first, being already dead) sent a reinforcement
to Lacedaemon of twelve triremes under Timocrates, who on his arrival
helped the Lacedaemonians to recover Sellasia, and after that exploit
sailed 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] a
place which in old days was theirs, but at present was attached to the
Arcadian 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, and again
their Four Hundred.[10] The Eleians lay encamped during the day face
to face with the invader, but on a somewhat more level position. The
Arcadians were thereby induced under cover of night to mount on to the
summit of the hill overhanging the Eleians, and at day-dawn they began
their descent upon the enemy. The Eleians soon caught sight of the
enemy advancing from the vantage ground above them, many times their
number; but a sense of shame forbade retreat at such a distance.
Presently they came to close quarters; there was a hand-to-hand
encounter; the Eleians turned and fled; and in retiring down the
difficult 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
cities of the Acroreia,[11] which, with the exception of Thraustus,
they captured, and so reached Olympia. There they made an entrenched
camp on the hill of Kronos, established a garrison, and held control
over the Olympian hill-country. Margana also, by help of a party
inside who gave it 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 the
Eleians, and threw them altogether into despair. Meanwhile the
Arcadians were steadily advancing upon their capital.[12] At length
they arrived, and penetrated into the market-place. Here, however, the
cavalry and the rest 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 a
state of disruption. The party of Charopus, Thrasonidas and Argeius
were 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 a
democratic 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 not hesitate, but at once marched up and dislodged them;
with the result that about four hundred citizens, with Argeius and
Charopus, were banished. Not long afterwards these exiles, with the
help of some Arcadians, seized and occupied Pylus;[14] where many of
the commons withdrew from the capital to join them, attracted not only
by the beauty of the position, but by the great power of the
Arcadians, in alliance with 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
Eleians on the part of the Arcadians, who were influenced by the
representations of the exiles that the city would come over to them.
But the attempt proved abortive. The Achaeans, who had now become
friends with the Eleians, kept firm guard on the capital, so that the
Arcadians had to retire without further exploit than that of ravaging
the country. Immediately, however, on marching out of Eleian territory
they were informed that the men of Pellene were in Elis; whereupon
they executed a marvellously long night march and seized the Pellenian
township of Olurus[15] (the Pellenians at the date in question having
already reverted to their old alliance with Lacedaemon). And now the
men of Pellene, 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 of Pellene; after which there was nothing for it but to carry
on war with the Arcadians in Olurus and the whole body of their own
commons; and in spite of their small numbers they did not cease till
they had reduced Olurus 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 campaign
against Elis. While they were encamped between Cyllene[17] and the
capital the Eleians attacked them, but the Arcadians made a stand and
won the battle. Andromachus, the Eleian cavalry general, who was
regarded as responsible for the engagement, made an end of himself;
and the rest withdrew into the city. This battle cost the life also of
another there present--the Spartan Socleides; since, it will be
understood, the Lacedaemonians had by this time become allies of the
Eleians. Consequently the Eleians, being sore pressed on their own
territory, sent an embassy and begged the Lacedaemonians to organise
an expedition against the Arcadians. They were persuaded that in this
way they would best arrest the progress of the Arcadians, who would
thus be placed between the two foes. In accordance with this
suggestion Archidamus marched out with a body of the city troops and
seized Cromnus.[18] Here he left a garrison--three out of the twelve
regiments[19]--and so withdrew homewards. The Arcadians had just ended
their Eleian campaign, and, without disbanding their levies, hastened
to the rescue, surrounded Cromnus with a double line of trenches, and
having so secured their position, proceeded to lay seige to those
inside the place. The city of Lacedaemon, annoyed at the siege of
their citizens, sent out an army, again under Archidamus, who, when he
had come, set about 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. The Arcadians, for all that, were not one whit the
more to be stirred: they seemed 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 Arcadians
had drawn their outer line of circumvallation, Archidamus proposed to
himself to take it. If he were once in command of that knoll, the
besiegers at its foot would be forced to retire. Accordingly he set
about leading a body of troops round to the point in question, and
during 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 an
attempt to enforce their attack simultaneously. The Arcadians did not
swerve: in compact order they waited impassively. The Lacedaemonians
charged a second time: a second time they swerved not, but on the
contrary began advancing. Then, as the hoarse roar and shouting
deepened, Archidamus himself advanced in support of his troops. To do
so he turned aside along the carriage-road leading to Cromnus, and
moved onward in column two abreast,[21] which was his natural order.
When they came into close proximity to one another--Archidamus's
troops in column, seeing they were marching along a road; the
Arcadians in compact order with shields interlinked--at this
conjuncture the Lacedaemonians were not able to hold out for any
length of time against the numbers of the Arcadians. Before long
Archidamus had received a wound which pierced through his thigh,
whilst death was busy with those who fought in front of him,
Polyaenidas and Chilon, who was wedded to the sister of Archidamus,
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 the
Lacedaemonians got themselves into battle order, facing the foe. The
Arcadians, without altering their position, stood in compact line, and
though falling short in actual numbers, were in far better heart--the
moral result of an attack on a retreating enemy and the severe loss
inflicted on him. The Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, were sorely
down-hearted: Archidamus lay wounded before their eyes; in their ears
rang the names of those who had died, the fallen being not only brave
men, but, one may say, the flower of Spartan chivalry. The two armies
were now close together, when one of the older men lifted up his voice
and cried: "Why need we fight, sirs? Why not rather make truce and
part friends?" Joyously the words fell on the ears of either host, and
they made a truce. The Lacedaemonians picked up their dead and
retired; the Arcadians 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
that place, who had been beaten back from Thalamae.[22] Galloping
along the road, the cavalry of the Eleians, when they caught sight of
them, did not 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 the Eleian infantry arrived, and succeeded in dislodging this
remnant on the hillock also; some they slew, and others, nearly two
hundred in number, they took alive, all of whom where either sold, if
foreigners, or, if Eleian exiles, put to death. After this the Eleians
captured the men of Pylus and the place itself, as no one came to
their rescue, and recovered 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
night attack, 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, and who took time by the forelock. The rest were not quick
enough; a strong Arcadian reinforcement cut them off, and they
remained shut up inside, and were eventually taken prisoners and
distributed. One portion of them fell to the lot of the Argives, one
to the Thebans,[23] one to the Arcadians, and one to the Messenians.
The whole number taken, whether true-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 to keep Olympia still more strongly garrisoned. In anticipation of
the approaching Olympic year,[24] they began preparations to celebrate
the Olympian games in conjunction with the men of Pisa, who claim to
be the original presidents of the Temple.[25] Now, when the month of
the Olympic Festival--and not the month only, but the very days,
during which the solemn assembly is wont to meet, were come, the
Eleians, in pursuance of preparations and invitations to the Achaeans,
of which they made no secret, at length proceeded to march along the
road to Olympia. The Arcadians had never imagined that they would
really attack them; and they were themselves just now engaged with the
men of Pisa in carrying out the details of the solemn assembly. They
had already completed the chariot-race, and the foot-race of the
pentathlon.[26] The competitors entitled to enter for the wrestling
match had left the racecourse, and were getting through their bouts in
the space between the racecourse and the 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
at hand within the sacred enclosure.[27] The Arcadians, without
advancing farther to meet them, drew up their troops on the river
Cladaus, which flows past the Altis and discharges itself into the
Alpheus. Their allies, consisting of two hundred Argive hoplites and
about four hundred Athenian cavalry, were there to support them.
Presently the Eleians formed into line on the opposite side of the
stream, and, having sacrificed, at once began advancing. Though
heretofore in matters of war despised by Arcadians and Argives, by
Achaeans and Athenians alike, still on this day they led the van of
the allied force like the bravest of the brave. Coming into collision
with the Arcadians first, they at once put them to flight, and next
receiving the attack of the Argive supports, mastered these also. Then
having pursued them into the space between the senate-house, the
temple of Hestia, and the theatre thereto adjoining, they still kept
up the fighting as fiercely as ever, pushing the retreating foe
towards the great altar. But now being exposed to missiles from the
porticoes and the senate-house and the great temple,[28] while
battling with their opponents on the level, some of the Eleians were
slain, and amongst others the commander of the Three Hundred himself,
Stratolas. At this state of the proceedings they retired 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 of
the coming day that they gave themselves neither respite nor repose
that night, but fell to chopping up the carefully-compacted booths and
constructing them into palisades; so that when the Eleians did again
advance the next day and saw the strength of the barriers and the
number mounted on the temples, they withdrew to their city. They had
proved themselves to be warriors of such mettle as a god indeed by the
breath of his spirit may raise up and bring to perfection in a single
day, but into which it were impossible for mortal men to convert a
coward even in a lifetime.

B.C. 363. The employment of the sacred treasures of the temple by the
Arcadian magistrates[29] as a means of maintaining the Eparitoi[30]
aroused protest. The Mantineans were the first to pass a resolution
forbidding such use of the sacred property. They set the example
themselves of providing the necessary quota for the Troop in question
from their state exchequer, and this sum they sent to the federal
government. The latter, affirming that the Mantineans were undermining
the Arcadian league, retaliated by citing their leading statesmen to
appear before the assembly of Ten Thousand; and on their refusal to
obey the summons, passed sentence upon them, and sent the Eparitoi to
apprehend them as convicted persons. The Mantineans, however, closed
their gates, and would not admit the Troop within their walls. Their
example was speedily followed: others among the Ten Thousand began to
protest against the enormity of so applying the sacred treasures; it
was doubly wrong to leave as a perpetual heirloom to their children
the imputation of a crime so heinous against the gods. But no sooner
was a resolution passed in the general assembly[31] forbidding the use
of the sacred moneys for profane purposes than those (members of the
league) who could not have afforded to serve as Eparitoi without pay
began speedily to melt away; while those of more independent means,
with mutual encouragement, began to enrol themselves in the ranks of
the Eparitoi--the feeling being that they ought not to be a mere tool
in the hands of the corps, but rather that the corps itself should be
their instrument. Those members of the government who had manipulated
the sacred money soon saw that when they came to render an account of
their stewardship, in all likelihood they would lose their heads. They
therefore sent an embassy to Thebes, with instructions to the Theban
authorities warning them that, if they did not open a campaign, the
Arcadians 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 a
campaign, but the party who consulted the best interests of
Peloponnese[32] persuaded the general assembly of the Arcadians to
send an embassy and tell the Thebans not to advance with an army into
Arcadia, unless they sent for them; and whilst this was the language
they addressed to Thebes, they reasoned among themselves that they
could dispense with war altogether. The presidency over the temple of
Zeus, they were persuaded, they might easily dispense with; indeed, it
would at once be a more upright and a holier proceeding on their parts
to give it back, and with such conduct the god, they thought, might be
better pleased. As these were also the views and wishes of the
Eleians, both parties agreed to make 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 them
were included not only the parties immediately concerned, but the men
of Tegea, and the Theban general himself, who was inside Tegea with
three hundred heavy infantry of the Boeotians. Under these
circumstances the Arcadians in Tegea remained behind feasting and
keeping holy day, with outpouring of libations and songs of victory,
to celebrate the establishment of peace. Here was an opportunity for
the Theban and those of the government who regarded the forthcoming
inquiry with apprehension. Aided by the Boeotians and those of the
Eparitoi who shared their sentiments, they first closed the gates of
the fortress of Tegea, and then set about sending to the various
quarters to apprehend those of the better class. But, inasmuch as
there were Arcadians present from all the cities, and there was a
general desire for peace, those apprehended must needs be many. So
much so, that the prison-house was eventually full to overflowing, and
the town-hall was full also. Besides the number lodged in prison, a
number had escaped by leaping down the walls, and there were others
who were suffered to pass through the gates (a laxity easily
explained, since no one, excepting those who were anticipating their
own downfall, cherished any wrathful feeling against anybody). But
what was a source of still graver perplexity to the Theban commander
and those acting with him--of the Mantineans, the very people whom
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
learned what had happened, they immediately sent and forewarned the
other Arcadian states to be ready in arms, and to guard the passes;
and they set the example themselves by so doing. They sent at the same
time to Tegea and demanded the release of all Mantineans there
detained. With regard to the rest of the Arcadians they further
claimed that no one should be imprisoned or put to death without
trial. If any one had any accusation to bring against any, than by the
mouth of their messengers there present they gave notice that the
state of Mantinea was ready to offer bail, "Verily and indeed to
produce before the general assembly of the Arcadians all who might be
summoned into court." The Theban accordingly, on hearing this, was at
a loss what to make of the affair, and released his prisoners. Next
day, summoning a congress of all the Arcadians who chose to come, he
explained, with some show of apology, that he had been altogether
deceived; he had heard, he said, that "the Lacedaemonians were under
arms on the frontier, and that some of the Arcadians were about to
betray Tegea into their hands." His auditors acquitted him for the
moment, albeit they knew that as touching themselves he was lying.
They sent, however, an embassy to Thebes and there accused him as
deserving of death. Epaminondas (who was at that time the general at
the head of the war department) is reported to have maintained that
the Theban commander had acted far more rightly when he seized 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 our advice or
opinion asked, make peace on your own account; would it not be
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
have undertaken."

V

B.C. 362. This answer was duly reported to the general assembly of the
Arcadians, and throughout the several states of the league.
Consequently the Mantineans, along with those of the Arcadians who had
the interests of Peloponnesus at heart, as also the Eleians and the
Achaeans, came to the conclusion that the policy of the Thebans was
plain. They wished Peloponnesus to be reduced to such an extremity of
weakness that it might 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 we may tear each other to pieces, and both sides be
driven to look to them for support? or why, when we tell them that we
have no need of them at present, do they insist on preparing for a
foreign campaign? Is it not plain that these preparations are for an
expedition which will do us some mischief?"

In this mood they sent to Athens,[1] calling on the Athenians for
military aid. Ambassadors also went to Lacedaemon on behalf of the
Eparitoi, summoning the Lacedaemonians, if they wished to give a
helping hand, to put a stop to the proceedings of any power
approaching to enslave Peloponnesus. As regards the headship, they
came to an arrangement at once, on the principle that each of the
allied states should 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 his
march at the head of all the Boeotians, with the Euboeans, and a large
body of Thessalians, furnished both by Alexander[2] and by his
opponents. The Phocians were not represented. Their special agreement
only 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 they might count upon the Argives and the Messenians, with that
section of the Arcadians which shared their views. These latter were
the men of Tegea and Megalopolis, of Asea and Pallantium, with any
townships which owing to their small size or their position in the
midst of these larger cities 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 he
slackened speed, hoping to catch the Athenians as they passed, and
reflecting on the magnitude of such an achievement, whether in
stimulating the courage of his own allies, or in plunging his foes
into despondency; since, to state the matter concisely, any blow to
Athens would be a gain to Thebes. But during his pause at Nemea those
who shared the opposite policy had time to converge on Mantinea.
Presently the news reached Epaminondas that the Athenians had
abandoned the idea of marching by land, and were preparing to bring
their supports to Arcadia by sea through Lacedaemon. This being so, he
abandoned his base of Nemea and pushed on to Tegea.

That the strategy of the Theban general was fortunate I will not
pretend to assert, but in the particular combination of prudence and
daring which stamps these exploits, I look upon him as consummate. In
the first place, I cannot but admire the sagacity which led him to
form his camp within the walls of Tegea, where he was in greater
security that he would have been if entrenched outside, and where his
future movements were more completely concealed from the enemy. Again,
the means to collect material and furnish himself with other
necessaries were readier to his hand inside the city; while, thirdly,
he was able to keep an eye on the movements of his opponents marching
outside, and to watch their successful dispositions as well as their
mistakes. More than this: in spite of his sense of superiority to his
antagonists, over and over again, when he saw them gaining some
advantage in position, he refused to be drawn out to attack them. It
was only when he saw plainly that no city 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, he had nothing to expect save a
vast ingloriousness, in place of his former fame.[3] He had
ascertained that his antagonists held a strong position round
Mantinea, and that they had sent to fetch Agesilaus and the whole
Lacedaemonian army. He was further aware that Agesilaus had commenced
his advance and was already at Pellene.[4] Accordingly he passed the
word of command[5] to his troops to take their evening meal, put
himself at their head and advanced straight upon Sparta. Had it not
been for the arrival (by some providential chance) of a Cretan, who
brought the news to Agesilaus of the enemy's advance, he would have
captured the city of Sparta like a nest of young birds absolutely
bereft of its natural defenders. As it was, Agesilaus, being
forewarned, had time to return to the city before the Thebans came,
and here the Spartans made distribution of their scanty force and
maintained watch and ward, albeit few enough in numbers, since the
whole of their cavalry were away in Arcadia, and so was their foreign
brigade, and so were three out of their 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 from
gaining an entry at a point where his troops would have to fight on
level ground and under attack from the houses above; where also their
large numbers would give them no superiority over the small numbers of
the foemen. But, singling out a position which he conceived would give
him the advantage, he occupied it and began his advance against the
city upon 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 explanations
suggest themselves: either it was miraculous, or it may be maintained
that there is no resisting the fury of desperation. Archidamus,
advancing at the head of but a hundred men, and crossing the one thing
which might have been expected to form an obstacle to the enemy,[8]
began marching uphill against his antagonists. At this crisis these
fire-breathing warriors, these victorious heroes of Leuctra,[9] with
their superiority at every point, aided, moreover, by the advantage of
their position, did not withstand the attack of Archidamus and those
with 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
their pursuit beyond the right point, they in turn were cut down--so
plainly was the demarking line of victory drawn by the finger of God.
So then Archidamus set up a trophy to note the limit of his success,
and gave back those who had there fallen of the enemy under a truce.
Epaminondas, on his side, reflecting that the Arcadians must already
be hastening to the relief of Lacedaemon, and being unwilling to
engage them in conjunction with the whole of the Lacedaemonian force,
especially now that the star of Sparta's fortune shone, whilst theirs
had suffered some eclipse, turned and marched back the way he came
with all speed possible into Tegea. There he gave his heavy infantry
pause and refreshment, but his cavalry he sent on to Mantinea; he
begged them to "have courage and hold on," instructing them that in
all likelihood they would find the flocks and herds of the Mantineans
and the entire population itself outside their walls, especially as it
was the moment for carrying the corn. So they set off.

The Athenian cavalry, started from Eleusis, had made their evening
meal at the Isthmus, and passing through Cleonae, as chance befell,
had arrived at Mantinea and had encamped within the walls in the
houses. As soon as the enemy were seen galloping up with evidently
hostile intent, the Mantineans fell to praying the Athenian knights to
lend them all the succour they could, and they showed them all their
cattle outside, and all their labourers, and among them were many
children and graybeards who were free-born citizens. The Athenians
were touched by this appeal, and, though they had not yet broken fast,
neither the men themselves nor their horses, went out eagerly to the
rescue. And here we must needs pause to admire the valour of these men
also. The enemy whom they had to cope with far outnumbered them, as
was plain to see, and the former misadventure of the cavalry in
Corinth was not forgotten.[10] But none of these things entered into
their calculations now--nor yet the fact that they were on the point
of engaging Thebans and Thessalians, the finest cavalry in the world
by all repute. The only thing they thought of was the shame and the
dishonour, if, being there, they did not lend a helping hand to their
allies. In this mood, so soon as they caught sight of the enemy, they
fell with a crash upon him in passionate longing to recover the old
ancestral glory. Nor did they fight in vain--the blows they struck
enabled the Mantineans to recover all their property outside, but
among those who dealt them died some brave heroes;[11] brave heroes
also, it is evident, were those whom they slew, since on either side
the weapons wielded were not so short but that they could lunge at one
another with effect. The dead bodies of their own men they refused to
abandon; and there were some of the enemy's slain whom they restored
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 of the campaign was drawing to a close; if it ended in his
leaving in the lurch those allies whom he came out to assist, they
would be besieged by their antagonists. What a blow would that be to
his own fair fame, already somewhat tarnished! Had he not been
defeated in Lacedaemon, with a large body of heavy infantry, by a
handful of men? defeated again at Mantinea, in the cavalry engagement,
and himself the main cause finally of a coalition between five great
powers--that is to say, the Lacedaemonians, the Arcadians, the
Achaeans, the Eleians, and the Athenians? On all grounds it seemed to
him impossible to steal past without a battle. And the more so as he
computed the alternatives of victory or death. If the former were his
fortune, it would resolve all his perplexities; if death, his end
would be noble. How glorious a thing to die in the endeavour to leave
behind him, as his last legacy to his fatherland, the empire of
Peloponnesus! That such thoughts should pass through his brain strikes
me as by no means wonderful, as these are thoughts distinctive to all
men of high ambition. Far more wonderful to my 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 night or by day; there was no
danger they would flinch from; and, with the scantiest provisions,
their discipline never failed them.

And so, when he gave his last orders to them to prepare for impending
battle, they obeyed with alacrity. He gave the word; the cavalry fell
to whitening their helmets, the heavy infantry of the Arcadians began
inscribing their clubs as the crest on their shields,[12] as though
they were Thebans, and all were engaged in sharpening their lances and
swords and polishing their heavy shields. When the preparations were
complete and he had led them out, his next movement is worthy of
attention. First, as was natural, he paid heed to their formation, and
in so doing seemed to give clear evidence that he intended battle; but
no sooner was the army drawn up in the formation which he preferred,
than he advanced, not by the shortest route to meet the enemy, but
towards the westward-lying mountains which face Tegea, and by this
movement created in the enemy an expectation that he would not do
battle on that day. In keeping with this expectation, as soon as he
arrived at the mountain-region, he extended his phalanx in long line
and piled arms under the high cliffs; and to all appearance he was
there encamping. The effect of this manouvre on the enemy in general
was to relax the prepared bent of their souls for battle, and to
weaken their tactical arrangements. Presently, however, wheeling his
regiments (which were marching in column) to the front, with the
effect of strengthening the beak-like[13] attack which he proposed to
lead himself, at the same instant 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 them
was able to maintain tranquility: some began running to their
divisions, some fell into line, some might be seen bitting and
bridling their horses, some donning their cuirasses, and one and all
were like men about to receive rather than to inflict a blow. He, the
while, with steady impetus pushed forward his armament, like a ship-
of-war prow forward. Wherever he brought his solid wedge to bear, he
meant to cleave through the opposing mass, and crumble his adversary's
host to pieces. With this design he prepared to throw the brunt of the
fighting on the strongest half of his army, while he kept the weaker
portion of it in the background, knowing certainly that if worsted it
would only cause discouragement to his own division and add force to
the foe. The cavalry on the side of his opponents were disposed like
an ordinary phalanx of heavy infantry, regular in depth and
unsupported by foot-soldiers interspersed among the horses.[14]
Epaminondas again differed in strengthening the attacking point of his
cavalry, besides which he interspersed footmen between their lines in
the belief that, when he had once cut through the cavalry, he would
have wrested victory from the antagonist along his whole line; so hard
is it to find troops who will care to keep their own ground when once
they see any of their own side flying. Lastly, to prevent any attempt
on the part of the Athenians, who were on the enemy's left wing, to
bring up their reliefs in support of the portion next them, he posted
bodies of cavalry and heavy infantry on certain hillocks in front of
them, intending to create in their minds an apprehension that, in case
they offered such assistance, they would be attacked on their own rear
by these detachments. Such was the plan of encounter 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 the whole 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 able
any longer to turn their victory rightly to account. Though the main
battle line of their opponents had given way, not a single man
afterwards did the victorious hoplites slay, not an inch forward did
they advance from the ground on which the collision took place. Though
the cavalry had fled before them, there was no pursuit; not a man,
horseman or hoplite, did the conquering cavalry cut down; but, like
men who have suffered a defeat, as if panic-stricken[15] they slipped
back through the ranks of the fleeing foemen. Only the footmen
fighting amongst the cavalry and the light infantry, who had together
shared in the victory of the cavalry, found their way round to the
left wing as masters of the field, but it cost them dear; here they
encountered the Athenians, and most of them were cut down.

[15] Or, "they timorously slipped back."

The effective result of these achievements was the very opposite of
that which the world at large anticipated. Here, where well-nigh the
whole of Hellas was met together in one field, and the combatants
stood rank against rank confronted, there was no one doubted that, in
the event of battle, the conquerors would this day rule; and that
those who lost would be their subjects. But God so ordered it that
both belligerents alike set up trophies as claiming victory, and
neither interfered with the other in the act. Both parties alike gave
back their enemy's dead under 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 won the day, neither could show that he
had thereby gained any accession of territory, or state, or empire, or
was better situated than before the battle. Uncertainty and confusion,
indeed, had gained ground, being tenfold greater throughout the length
and breadth of Hellas after the battle than before.

At this point I lay aside my pen: the sequel of the story may haply
commend itself[16] to another.

[16] Or, "win the attention of some other writer."

End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Hellenica by Xenophon