Book 7

In the following year ambassadors of the Lacedaemonians and their allies, with full powers, came to Athens to take counsel as to what should be the terms of the alliance between the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians. And while many foreigners and many Athenians said that the alliance ought to be on terms of full equality, Procles the Phliasian made the following speech:

Men of Athens, since you have decided that it is a good thing to make the Lacedaemonians your friends, it seems to me that you ought to consider this point, how the friendship is to endure for the longest possible time. Now it is only by making the compact on such terms as will be most advantageous to each party that we can expect it to be, in all probability, most enduring. The other points, then, have been pretty well agreed upon, but the question of the leadership is at present under discussion. Now it has been proposed by your Senate that the leadership by sea shall belong to you, and the leadership by land to the Lacedaemonians. And I, too, think that this distinction is based, not so much upon human judgment as upon divine arrangement and ordering.

In the first place, you have a position most excellently adapted by nature for supremacy by sea. For most of the states which are dependent upon the sea are situated round about your state, and they are all weaker than yours. In addition to this, you have harbours, without which it is not possible to enjoy naval power. Furthermore, you already possess many triremes, and it is a traditional policy of yours to keep adding ships.

You likewise possess as peculiarly your own all the arts and crafts which have to do with ships. Again, you are far superior to other men in experience of nautical affairs, for most of you get your livelihood from the sea; hence, while attending to your private concerns, you are also at the same time gaining experience for encounters by sea. Here is another point also: there is no port from which more triremes can sail forth at one time than from your city. And this is a matter of no slight importance with reference to leadership, for all men love best to join forces with the power which is first to show itself strong.

Furthermore, it has also been granted you by the gods to be successful in this pursuit. For while you have engaged in very many and very great combats by sea, you have met with an exceedingly small number of misfortunes and have achieved an exceedingly large number of successes. Therefore it is likely that the allies would like best to share in such perils if they were under your leadership.

And that this devotion to the sea is indeed both necessary and proper for you, you must conclude from the following fact: the Lacedaemonians once made war upon you for many years, and though masters of your land could make no progress toward destroying you. But when at length the deity granted them to win the mastery by sea, straightway you fell completely under their power. In these circumstances, therefore, it is plain to be seen that all your safety depends upon the sea.

Such, then, being the situation ordained by nature, how could you be content to allow the Lacedaemonians to be leaders by sea, when, in the first place, they themselves admit that they are less experienced than you are in this work, and when, in the second place, they do not risk as much as you do in contests by sea, but merely the people on board the triremes, whereas you risk wives and children and the entire state.

This is the situation on your side; consider now that of the Lacedaemonians. Firstly, they dwell in the interior; hence, so long as they are masters of the land, they can lead a comfortable existence even if they are shut off from the sea. Therefore, realizing this fact themselves, they carry on their training from their very boyhood with a view to war by land. Furthermore, in that which is of the greatest importance, obedience to their commanders, they are best by land, as you are by sea.

Again, they on their side can set forth by land, as you can with a fleet, in greatest numbers and with greatest speed; therefore it is to them in turn that the armies of the allies would be likely to attach themselves with greatest confidence. Besides, the deity has granted, as to you success by sea, so to them success by land; for while they on their side have engaged in very many combats on the land, they have incurred an exceedingly small number of defeats, and have won an exceedingly large number of victories.

And that this devotion to the land is no less necessary for them than devotion to the sea for you, one may judge from the results. For you made war upon them for many years, and though you defeated them many times by sea, could make no progress toward subduing them. But so soon as they incurred one defeat on the land, immediately their wives and children and their entire state were at stake.

Hence for them, on their side, it would surely be a dreadful thing to allow others to be leaders by land, when they themselves are best at the administration of affairs by land. As for myself, therefore, the course which has been proposed by your Senate is that which I have urged, and which I believe to be most advantageous to both parties; and may you, for your part, be fortunate in reaching the conclusion that is best for us all.

Thus he spoke, and both the Athenians and those Lacedaemonians who were present applauded his speech vigorously. But Cephisodotus came forward and said: Men of Athens, you do not observe that you are being deceived; but if you will listen to me, I will prove it to you very speedily. As the matter now stands, you are to be leaders by sea. And if the Lacedaemonians are your allies, it is clear that the captains, and perhaps the marines whom they send out, will be Lacedaemonians, but it is also clear that the sailors will be either Helots or mercenaries. You, therefore, will be leaders of these people.

When, however, the Lacedaemonians give you the order for a campaign by land, it is clear that you will send your hoplites and your horsemen. By this plan, therefore, they become leaders of your own selves, while you become leaders merely of their slaves and their men of least account. Answer me, he said, Timocrates of Lacedaemon, did you not say a moment ago that you had come with intent to make the alliance on terms of full equality?

I did say that.

Then, said Cephisodotus, is there anything more equal than that each party in turn should be leader of the fleet, and each in turn leader of the army, and that you, if there is any advantage in the leadership by sea, should share therein, and we likewise in the matter of leadership by land?

Upon hearing this the Athenians were led to change their minds, and they voted that each party should hold the leadership in turn for periods of five days.

Now when both peoples and their allies had proceeded to Corinth, it was determined that they should together guard Oneum. Accordingly, while the Thebans and their allies were on the march, they formed their lines and proceeded to keep guard at one point and another of Oneum, but the Lacedaemonians and the Pelleneans at the most assailable point. And the Thebans and their allies, when they were distant thirty stadia from the troops on guard, encamped in the plain. Then, after calculating the time at which they thought they should start in order to finish their journey at dawn, they marched upon the garrison of the Lacedaemonians.

And in fact they did not prove mistaken in the hour, but fell upon the Lacedaemonians and the Pelleneans at the time when the night watches were just coming to an end, and the men were rising from their camp-beds and going wherever each one had to go. Thereupon the Thebans made their attack and laid on their blows — men prepared attacking those unprepared, and men in good order against those in disorder.

And when such as came out of the affair with their lives had made their escape to the nearest hill, although the polemarch of the Lacedaemonians might have got as many hoplites and as many peltasts as he pleased from the forces of the allies and might have held his position — for supplies might have been brought in safety from Cenchreae — he did not do this, but while the Thebans were in great perplexity as to how they were to descend on the side looking toward Sicyon, failing which they would have to go back again, he concluded a truce which, as most people thought, was more to the advantage of the Thebans than to that of his own side, and under these circumstances departed and led away the troops under his command.

The Thebans, then, after descending in safety and effecting a junction with their allies, the Arcadians, Argives, and Eleans, immediately attacked Sicyon and Pellene; they also made an expedition to Epidaurus, and laid waste the whole territory of the Epidaurians. Returning from there in a manner which showed great disdain for all their adversaries, as soon as they came near the city of the Corinthians they rushed at the double toward the gates through which one passes in going to Phlius, with the intention of bursting in if they chanced to be open.

But some light troops sallied forth from the city against them and met the picked men of the Thebans at a distance of not so much as four plethra from the city walls; then they climbed up on burial monuments and elevated spots, killed a very considerable number of the troops in the front ranks by hurling javelins and other missiles, and after putting the rest to flight, pursued them about three or four stadia. When this had taken place the Corinthians dragged the bodies to the wall, and after they had given them back under a truce, set up a trophy. In this way the allies of the Lacedaemonians were renewed in their spirits.

Just after these events had happened, the expedition sent by Dionysius to aid the Lacedaemonians sailed in, numbering more than twenty triremes. And they brought Celts, Iberians, and about fifty horsemen. On the following day the Thebans and the rest, their allies, after forming themselves in detached bodies and filling the plain as far as the sea and as far as the hills adjoining the city, destroyed whatever of value there was in the plain. And the horsemen of the Athenians and of the Corinthians did not approach very near their army, seeing that the enemy were strong and numerous.

But the horsemen sent by Dionysius, few though they were, scattering themselves here and there, would ride along the enemy’s line, charge upon them and throw javelins at them, and when the enemy began to move forth against them, would retreat, and then turn round and throw their javelins again. And while pursuing these tactics they would dismount from their horses and rest. But if anyone charged upon them while they were dismounted, they would leap easily upon their horses and retreat. On the other hand, if any pursued them far from the Theban army, they would press upon these men when they were retiring, and by throwing javelins work havoc with them, and thus they compelled the entire army, according to their own will, either to advance or to fall back.

After this, however, the Thebans remained but a few days and then returned home, and the others likewise to their several homes. Then the troops sent by Dionysius invaded the territory of Sicyon, and they not only defeated the Sicyonians in battle on the plain and killed about seventy of them, but captured by storm the stronghold of Deras. After these exploits the first supporting force sent out by Dionysius sailed back to Syracuse. Up to this time the Thebans and all who had revolted from the Lacedaemonians had been acting and carrying on their campaigns in full accord, under the leadership of the Thebans.

Now, however, there appeared a certain Lycomedes of Mantinea, a man inferior to none in birth, foremost in wealth, and ambitious besides, and filled the Arcadians with self-confidence, saying that it was to them alone that Peloponnesus was a fatherland, since they were the only autochthonous stock that dwelt therein, and that the Arcadian people was the most numerous of all the Greek peoples and had the strongest bodies. He also declared that they were the bravest, offering as evidence the fact that whenever men needed mercenaries, there were none whom they chose in preference to Arcadians. Furthermore, the Lacedaemonians had never, he said, invaded the territory of Athens without their help, nor had the Thebans at present come to Lacedaemon without the help of the Arcadians.

If you are wise, therefore, you will leave off following wherever anyone summons you; for in former days, by following the Lacedaemonians, you made them great, and now, if you follow the Thebans heedlessly and do not make the claim to enjoy the leadership by turns with them, it may be that you will soon find in them another set of Lacedaemonians.

Upon hearing these words the Arcadians were puffed up, and loved Lycomedes beyond measure, and thought that he alone was a man; so that they appointed as their leaders whomsoever he directed them to appoint. But the Arcadians were exalted as a result also of the actual achievements which fell to their lot;

for when the Argives had invaded the country of Epidaurus and their way out had been barred by the mercenaries under Chabrias, and by the Athenians, and the Corinthians, they went to the rescue and released the Argives from an absolute blockade, although they had not only the enemy’s troops but also the character of the country to contend with. They also made an expedition to Asine in Laconia, defeated the garrison of the Lacedaemonians, slew Geranor, the Spartiate who had become polemarch, and plundered the outer city of the Asinaeans. And whenever they wished to take the field, neither night nor storm nor length of journey nor difficult mountains would prevent them; so that at that time they counted themselves altogether the strongest of the Greeks.

For these reasons the Thebans naturally felt somewhat jealous and no longer friendly toward the Arcadians. As for the Eleans, when they demanded back again from the Arcadians the cities of which they had been deprived by the Lacedaemonians and found that the Arcadians gave no heed to their words, but paid the highest regard to the Triphylians and the others who had revolted from them, because these people said they were Arcadians, as a result of this the Eleans in their turn felt unfriendly toward them.

While the several allies were each thus filled with proud confidence in themselves, Philiscus of Abydus came from Ariobarzanes with a large amount of money. And in the first place he brought together at Delphi the Thebans, their allies, and the Lacedaemonians to negotiate in regard to peace. But when they had arrived there, they did not consult the god at all as to how peace should be brought about, but deliberated for themselves. Since, however, the Thebans would not agree that Messene should be subject to the Lacedaemonians, Philiscus set about collecting a large mercenary force in order to make war on the side of the Lacedaemonians.

While these things were going on the second supporting force sent out by Dionysius arrived. And when the Athenians said that it ought to go to Thessaly to oppose the Thebans, while the Lacedaemonians urged that it should go to Laconia, the latter plan carried the day among the allies. Accordingly, after these troops from Dionysius had sailed round to Lacedaemon, Archidamus took them, along with his citizen soldiers, and set out on an expedition. He captured Caryae by storm and put to the sword all whom he took prisoners. From there he marched at once with his united forces against the people of Parrhasia, in Arcadia, and laid waste their land.

But when the Arcadians and Argives came to their assistance, he retired and encamped in the hills above Melea. While he was there Cissidas, the commander of the supporting force from Dionysius, said that the time for which he had been directed to stay had expired. And as soon as he had said this he departed by the road leading to Sparta. But when, as he was marching away, the Messenians tried to cut him off at a narrow place on the road, thereupon he sent to Archidamus and bade him come to his aid. And Archidamus did in fact do so. Then as soon as they all arrived at the branch road leading to the country of the Eutresians, there were the Arcadians and Argives advancing towards Laconia, they also having the intention of shutting off Archidamus from his homeward way. He accordingly, at just the point where there is a level space at the junction of the road leading to the Eutresians and the road to Melea, turned out of his path and formed his troops in line for battle.

It is said that he also went along in front of the battalions and exhorted his men in the following words: Fellow citizens, let us now prove ourselves brave men and thus be able to look people in the face; let us hand on to those who come after us the fatherland as it was when we received it from our fathers; let us cease to feel shame before wives and children and elders and strangers, in whose eyes we used once to be the most highly honoured of all the Greeks.

When these words had been spoken, it is said that from a clear sky there came lightnings and thunderings of favourable omen for him; and it chanced also that on the right wing was a sanctuary and a statue of Heracles. As a result, therefore, of all these things, it is reported that the soldiers were inspired with so much strength and courage that it was a task for their leaders to restrain them as they pushed forward to the front. And when Archidamus led the advance, only a few of the enemy waited till his men came within spear-thrust; these were killed, and the rest were cut down as they fled, many by the horsemen and many by the Celts.

Then as soon as the battle had ended and he had set up a trophy, he immediately sent home Demoteles, the herald, to report the greatness of his victory and the fact that not so much as one of the Lacedaemonians had been slain, while vast numbers of the enemy had fallen. And when the people at Sparta heard this, it is said that all of them wept, beginning with Agesilaus, the senators, and the ephors; so true it is, indeed, that tears belong to joy and sorrow alike. On the other hand, both the Thebans and the Eleans were almost as well pleased as the Lacedaemonians at the misfortune of the Arcadians — so vexed had they become by this time at their presumption.

And now the Thebans, who were continually planning how they might obtain the leadership of Greece, hit upon the idea that if they should send to the King of the Persians, they would gain some advantage in him. Thereupon they immediately summoned their allies, on the pretext that Euthycles, the Lacedaemonian, was also at the King’s court; and there went up thither Pelopidas for the Thebans, Antiochus, the pancratiast, for the Arcadians, and Archidamus for the Eleans; an Argive also went with them. And the Athenians, upon hearing of this, sent up Timagoras and Leon.

When the ambassadors arrived there, Pelopidas enjoyed a great advantage with the Persian. For he was able to say that his people were the only ones among the Greeks who had fought on the side of the King at Plataea, that they had never afterwards undertaken a campaign against the King, and that the Lacedaemonians had made war upon them for precisely the reason that they had declined to go with Agesilaus against him and had refused to permit Agesilaus to sacrifice to Artemis at Aulis, the very spot where Agamemnon, at the time when he was sailing forth to Asia, had sacrificed before he captured Troy.

It also contributed greatly toward the winning of honour for Pelopidas that the Thebans had been victorious in battle at Leuctra, and that they had admittedly ravaged the country of the Lacedaemonians. Pelopidas also said that the Argives and Arcadians had been defeated by the Lacedaemonians when the Thebans were not present with them. And the Athenian, Timagoras, bore witness in his behalf that all these things which he said were true, and so stood second in honour to Pelopidas.

Pelopidas was therefore asked by the King what he desired to have written for him; he replied, that Messene should be independent of the Lacedaemonians and that the Athenians should draw up their ships on the land; that if they refused obedience in these points, the contracting parties were to make an expedition against them; and that if any city refused to join in such expedition, they were to proceed first of all against that city.

When these things had been written and read to the ambassadors, Leon said in the King’s hearing, By Zeus, Athenians, it is time for you, it seems, to be seeking some other friend instead of the King.

And when the secretary had interpreted to the King what the Athenian had said, he again brought out a further writing: And if the Athenians are aware of anything juster than these provisions, let them come to the King and inform him.

Now when the ambassadors had returned to their several homes, Timagoras was put to death by the Athenians on the complaint of Leon that he had refused to share quarters with him and had taken counsel in all matters with Pelopidas. As for the other ambassadors, Archidamus, the Elean, praised the doings of the King, because he had honoured Elis above the Arcadians; but Antiochus, because the Arcadian League was less regarded, did not accept the royal gifts, and reported back to the Ten Thousand that the King had bakers, and cooks, and wine-pourers, and doorkeepers in vast numbers, but as for men who could fight with Greeks, he said that though he sought diligently he could not see any. Besides this, he said that for his part he thought that the King’s wealth of money was also mere pretence, for he said that even the golden plane-tree, that was forever harped upon, was not large enough to afford shade for a grasshopper.

When the Thebans had called together representatives from all the cities to hear the letter from the King, and the Persian who bore the document, having shown the King’s seal, had read what was written therein, although the Thebans directed those who desired to be friends of the King and themselves to swear to these provisions, the representatives from the cities replied that they had not been sent to give their oaths, but to listen; and if the Thebans had any desire for oaths, they bade them send to the cities. Indeed the Arcadian, Lycomedes, said this besides, that it was not even proper for the congress to be held in Thebes, but rather at the seat of war, wherever it might be. Then, since the Thebans were angry with him and said that he was destroying the compact of alliance, he refused even to occupy a seat at the congress, but took himself off, and with him went all the ambassadors from Arcadia.

Accordingly, inasmuch as those who had come together refused to take the oath at Thebes, the Thebans sent ambassadors to the cities and directed them to swear that they would act in accordance with the King’s letter, believing that each one of the cities taken singly would hesitate to incur the hatred of themselves and the King at the same time. When, however, upon the arrival of the ambassadors at Corinth, their first stopping-place, the Corinthians resisted the proposal, and replied that they had no desire for oaths shared with the King, then other cities also followed suit, giving their answers in the same terms. Thus it was that this attempt on the part of Pelopidas and the Thebans to gain the leadership came to its end.

Epaminondas, on the other hand, wishing to bring over the Achaeans to the side of the Thebans, in order that the Arcadians and the other allies might be more inclined to give heed to them, decided that he must march forth against Achaea. He therefore persuaded Peisias, the Argive, who held the position of general at Argos, to occupy Oneum in advance. And Peisias, after he had learned that the guard over Oneum was being maintained carelessly by Naucles, who commanded the mercenary troops of the Lacedaemonians, and by Timomachus, the Athenian, did indeed seize the hill above Cenchreae by night with two thousand hoplites, having provisions for seven days.

Within this number of days the Thebans arrived and crossed over Oneum, and all the allies thereupon marched against Achaea, under the leadership of Epaminondas. Now upon the urgent entreaty which the aristocrats of Achaea addressed to him, Epaminondas effected through his personal influence an arrangement that their opponents were not to banish the aristocrats or to change the form of government, but after receiving pledges from the Achaeans that in very truth they would be allies and would follow wherever the Thebans led the way, he thereupon returned home.

When, however, the Arcadians and the Achaean opposition brought against him the charge that he had aranged matters in Achaea in the interest of the Lacedaemonians and had then gone away, the Thebans resolved to send governors to the Achaean cities. When they arrived they drove out the aristocrats, with the assistance of the commons, and established democracies in Achaea. But those who had been thus exiled speedily banded themselves together, proceeded against each one of the cities singly, and as they were not few in number, accomplished their restoration and gained possession of the cities. Then, since after their restoration they no longer followed a neutral course, but fought zealously in support of the Lacedaemonians, the Arcadians were hard pressed by the Lacedaemonians on the one side and by the Achaeans on the other.

As for Sicyon, its government up to this time had been in conformity with its ancient laws. But now Euphron, who had been the most powerful of the citizens in his influence with the Lacedaemonians and wished in like manner to stand first with their adversaries also, said to the Argives and to the Arcadians that if the richest men should remain in control of Sicyon, it was manifest that whenever an opportunity offered, the city would go over to the Lacedaemonians again, while if a democracy is established, be well assured, he said, that the city will remain true to you. If, therefore, you will be at hand to support me, I will be the one to call the people together, and I will not only give you in this act a pledge of my good faith, but will make the city steadfast in its alliance with you. This I do, you must understand, he said, because, like yourselves, I have long found the arrogance of the Lacedaemonians hard to endure, and I should be glad to escape from servitude to them.

Accordingly the Arcadians and the Argives, upon hearing these words, gladly presented themselves to support him. Then he immediately called the people together in the market-place in the presence of the Argives and the Arcadians, announcing that the government was to be on terms of full equality. When they had come together, he bade them choose whomsoever they saw fit as generals; and they chose Euphron himself, Hippodamus, Cleander, Acrisius, and Lysander. When this had been done, he also appointed Adeas, his own son, to the command of the mercenary troops, removing Lysimenes, their former commander.

And straightway Euphron made some of these mercenaries faithful to him by treating them generously, and took others into his pay, sparing neither the public nor the sacred funds. He likewise availed himself of the property of all those whom he banished for favouring the Lacedaemonians. Furthermore, he treacherously put to death some of his fellow-officials and banished others, so that he brought everything under his control and was manifestly a tyrant. And he managed to induce his allies to permit these proceedings of his, partly by the use of money, and partly by following with them zealously at the head of his mercenary force wherever they made an expedition.

When these matters had progressed to this point and the Argives had fortified Mount Tricaranum, above the Heraeum, as a base of attack upon Phlius, while the Sicyonians were fortifying Thyamia on its borders, the Phliasians were exceedingly hard pressed and suffered from lack of provisions; nevertheless, they remained steadfast in their alliance. But I will speak further of them; for while all the historians make mention of the large states if they have performed any noble achievement, it seems to me that if a state which is small has accomplished many noble deeds, it is even more fitting to set them forth.

Now the Phliasians had become friends of the Lacedaemonians at a time when they were greatest; and when they had been defeated in the battle at Leuctra, when many of the Perioeci had revolted from them and all the Helots also had revolted, and likewise their allies with the exception of a very few, and when all the Greeks, one might say, were in the field against them, the Phliasians remained steadfastly faithful, and, though they had as enemies the most powerful of the peoples in Peloponnesus — the Arcadians and Argives — nevertheless went to their assistance. Furthermore, when it fell to their lot to cross over to Prasiae last of those who joined in the expedition (and these were the Corinthians, Epidaurians, Troezenians, Hermionians, Halians, Sicyonians, and Pelleneans — for at that time the last mentioned had not yet revolted from the Lacedaemonians), even when the Lacedaemonian leader went off with those who had crossed first and left the Phliasians, even so they did not turn back, but hired a guide from Prasiae, and, although the enemy were in the neighbourhood of Amyclae, slipped through as best they could and reached Sparta. And the Lacedaemonians, besides honouring them in other ways, sent them an ox as a gift of hospitality.

Again, when the enemy had retired from Lacedaemon, and the Argives, in anger at the devotion of the Phliasians toward the Lacedaemonians, had invaded the territory of Phlius in full force and were laying waste their land, even then they did not yield; but when the Argives were withdrawing, after having destroyed as much as they could, the horsemen of the Phliasians sallied forth and followed after them, and, although all the Argive horsemen and the companies posted behind them were employed to guard their rear, the Phliasians nevertheless, who were but sixty in number, attacked these troops and turned to flight the entire rearguard; to be sure they killed but few of them, yet they set up a trophy, with the Argives looking on, precisely as if they had killed them all.

Once again, the Lacedaemonians and their allies were guarding Oneum, and the Thebans were approaching with the intention of crossing over the mountain. At this time, as the Arcadians and Eleans were marching through Nemea in order to effect a junction with the Thebans, exiles of the Phliasians made them an offer that if they would only put in an appearance to help their party, they would capture Phlius; and when this plan had been agreed upon, during the night the exiles and others with them, about six hundred in number, set themselves in ambush close under the wall with scaling ladders. Then as soon as the watchmen signalled from Tricaranum that enemies were approaching, and the city was giving its attention to these last, at this moment those who sought to betray the city signalled to the people in ambush to climb up.

When they had climbed up and found the posts of the guards weakly manned, they pursued the day-guards, who numbered ten (for one out of each squad of five was regularly left behind as a day-guard); and they killed one while he was still asleep and another after he had fled for refuge to the Heraeum. And since the other day-guards in their flight leaped down from the wall on the side looking toward the city, the men who had climbed up were in undisputed possession of the Acropolis.

But when an outcry reached the city and the citizens came to the rescue, at first the enemy issued forth from the Acropolis and fought in the space in front of the gates which lead to the city; afterwards, being beset on all sides by those who came against them, they withdrew again to the Acropolis; and the citizens poured in with them. Now the space within the Acropolis was cleared at once, but the enemy mounted upon the wall and the towers and showered blows and missiles upon the people who were within. Meanwhile the latter defended themselves from the ground and attacked the enemy by the steps which led up to the wall.

When, however, the citizens gained possession of some of the towers on this side and on that, they closed in desperate battle with those who had mounted upon their walls. And the enemy, as they were forced back by them — by their courage as well as by their fighting — were being crowded together into an ever smaller space. At this critical moment the Arcadians and Argives were circling around the city and beginning to dig through the wall of the Acropolis from its upper side; and as for the citizens within, some were dealing blows upon the people on the wall, others upon those who were still climbing up from the outside and were on the ladders, and still others were fighting against those among the enemy who had mounted upon the towers; they also found fire in the tents and began to set the towers ablaze from below, bringing up some sheaves which chanced to have been harvested on the Acropolis itself. Then the people upon the towers, in fear of the flames, jumped off one after another, while those upon the walls, under the blows of their human adversaries, kept falling off.

And when they had once begun to give way, speedily the whole Acropolis had become bare of the enemy. Thereupon the horsemen straightway sallied forth from the city; and the enemy upon seeing them retired, leaving behind their ladders, their dead, and likewise some of the living who had been badly lamed. And the number of the enemy who were killed, both in the fighting within and by leaping down without, was not less than eighty. Then one might have beheld the men congratulating one another with handclasps on their preservation, and the women bringing them drink and at the same time crying for joy. Indeed, laughter mingled with tears did on that occasion really possess all who were present.

In the following year likewise the Argives and all the Arcadians invaded the territory of Phlius. The reason for their continually besetting the Phliasians was partly that they were angry with them, and partly that they had the country of the Phliasians between them, and were always in hope that through want of provisions they would bring them to terms. But on this invasion also the horsemen and the picked troops of the Phliasians, along with the horsemen of the Athenians who were present, attacked them at the crossing of the river; and having won the victory, they made the enemy retire under the heights for the rest of the day, just as if they were keeping carefully away from the corn in the plain as the property of friends, so as not to trample it down.

On another occasion the Theban governor at Sicyon marched upon Phlius at the head of the garrison which he had under his own command, and of the Sicyonians and Pelleneans — for at that time they were already following the Thebans; and Euphron also took part in the expedition with his mercenaries, about two thousand in number. Now the main body of the troops descended along Tricaranum toward the Heraeum with the intention of laying waste the plain; but the commander left the Sicyonians and Pelleneans behind upon the height over against the gates leading to Corinth, so that the Phliasians should not go around by that way and get above his men at the Heraeum.

When, however, the people in the city perceived that the enemy had set out for the plain, the horsemen and the picked troops of the Phliasians sallied forth against them, gave battle, and did not allow them to make their way to the plain. And they spent most of the day there in fighting at long range, the troops of Euphron pursuing up to the point where the country was suited for cavalry, and the men from the city as far as the Heraeum.

When, however, it seemed to be the proper time, the enemy retired by a circuitous route over Tricaranum, for the ravine in front of the wall prevented them from reaching the Pelleneans by the direct way. Then the Phliasians, after following them a little way up the hill, turned back and charged along the road which leads past the wall, against the Pelleneans and those with them.

And the troops of the Theban general, upon perceiving the haste of the Phliasians, began racing with them in order to reach the Pelleneans first and give them aid. The horsemen, however, arrived first, and attacked the Pelleneans. And when at the outset they withstood the attack, the Phliasians fell back, but then attacked again in company with such of the foot-soldiers as had come up, and fought hand-to-hand. At this the enemy gave way, and some of the Sicyonians fell and very many of the Pelleneans, and brave men, too.

When these things had taken place the Phliasians set up a trophy, sounding their paean loudly, as was natural; and the troops of the Theban general and Euphron allowed all this to go on, just as if they had made their race to see a spectacle. Then, after these proceedings were finished, the one party departed for Sicyon and the other returned to the city.

Another noble deed which the Phliasians performed was this: when they had made a prisoner of Proxenus, the Pellenean, even though they were in want of everything, they let him go without a ransom. How could one help saying that men who performed such deeds were noble and valiant?

Furthermore, that it was only by stout endurance that they maintained their fidelity to their friends is clearly manifest; for when they were shut off from the products of their land, they lived partly by what they could get from the enemy’s territory, and partly by buying from Corinth; they went to the market through the midst of many dangers, with difficulty provided the price of supplies, with difficulty brought through the enemy’s lines the people who fetched these supplies, and were hard put to it to find men who would guarantee the safety of the beasts of burden which were to convey them.

At length, when they were in desperate straits, they arranged that Chares should escort their supply train. Upon his arrival at Phlius they begged him to help them also to convoy their non-combatants to Pellene. Accordingly they left these people at Pellene, and after making their purchases and packing as many beasts of burden as they could, they set off during the night, not unaware that they would be ambushed by the enemy, but thinking that to be without provisions was a more grievous thing than fighting.

Now the Phliasians, together with Chares, went on ahead, and when they came upon the enemy they immediately set to work, and, cheering one another on, pressed their attack, while at the same time they shouted to Chares to come to their aid. And when victory had been achieved and the enemy driven out of the road, in this wise they brought home in safety both themselves and the supplies they were conveying. Now inasmuch as the Phliasians had passed the night without sleep, they slept until far on in the day.

But when Chares arose, the horsemen and the best of the hoplites came to him and said: Chares, it is within your power to-day to accomplish a splendid deed. For the Sicyonians are fortifying a place upon our borders, and they have many builders but not very many hoplites. Now therefore we, the horsemen and the stoutest of the hoplites, will lead the way; and if you will follow us with your mercenary force, perhaps you will find the business already settled for you, and perhaps your appearance will turn the scale, as happened at Pellene. But if anything in what we propose is unacceptable to you, consult the gods by sacrifices; for we think that the gods will bid you do this even more urgently than we do. And this, Chares, you should well understand, that if you accomplish these things you will have secured a stronghold as a base of attack upon the enemy and have preserved a friendly city, and you will win the fairest of fame in your fatherland and be most renowned among both allies and enemies.

Chares accordingly was persuaded and offered sacrifice, while on the Phliasian side the horsemen straightway put on their breastplates and bridled their horses, and the hoplites made all the preparations necessary for infantry. When they had taken up their arms and were proceeding to the place where he was sacrificing, Chares and the seer met them and said that the sacrifices were favourable. Wait for us, they said, for we, too, will set forth at once.

And as soon as word had been given by the herald, Chares’ mercenaries also speedily rushed out with a kind of heaven-sent eagerness.

Now when Chares had begun to march, the cavalry and infantry of the Phliasians went on ahead of him; and at first they led the way rapidly, and then they began to run; finally, the horsemen were riding at the top of their speed and the foot-soldiers were running as fast as it is possible for men in line to go, while after them came Chares, following in haste. The time was a little before sunset, and they found the enemy at the fortress, some bathing, some cooking, some kneading, and some making their beds.

Now so soon as the enemy saw the vehemence of the onset they straightway fled in terror, leaving all their provisions behind for these brave men. The latter accordingly made their dinner off these provisions and more which came from home, and after pouring libations in honour of their good fortune, singing a paean, and posting guards, they went to sleep. And the Corinthians, after news had reached them during the night in regard to Thyamia, in a most friendly way ordered out by proclamation all their teams and pack-animals, loaded them with corn, and convoyed them to Phlius; and so long as the fortifications were building, convoys continued to be sent out every day.

The story of the Phliasians, then, how they proved themselves faithful to their friends and continued valiant in the war, and how, though in want of everything, they remained steadfast in their alliance, has been told. At about this time Aeneas the Stymphalian, who had become general of the Arcadians, thinking that conditions in Sicyon were not to be endured, went up to the Acropolis with his own army, called together the aristocrats among the Sicyonians who were in the city, and sent after those who had been exiled therefrom without a decree of the people.

And Euphron, seized with fear at these proceedings, fled for refuge to the port of the Sicyonians, and after summoning Pasimelus to come from Corinth, through him handed over the port to the Lacedaemonians and appeared once more in their alliance, saying that he had all the time remained faithful to the Lacedaemonians. For he said that at the same time when a vote was taken in the city as to whether the Sicyonians should decide to revolt from them, he, with a few others, voted against it;

and that afterwards he had set up a democracy out of his desire to avenge himself on those who had betrayed him. And at this moment, he said, all who were traitors to you are in exile by my act. Now if I had found myself able, I should have gone over to you with the entire city. As it is, I have given over to you the port, over which alone I had gained control.

Those who heard him say these words were many, but how many believed him is by no means clear.

However, since I have begun it, I desire to finish the story of Euphron. When the aristocrats and the commons at Sicyon had fallen into strife, Euphron obtained a force of mercenaries from Athens and came back again. And with the help of the commons he was master of the town; a Theban governor, however, held the Acropolis, and since Euphron realized that with the Thebans holding the Acropolis he could not possibly be master of the state, he got together money and set out with the intention of persuading the Thebans, by means of this money, to banish the aristocrats and give the state over to him again.

When, however, the former exiles learned of his journey and his plans, they likewise proceeded to Thebes. And as they saw him in familiar association with the Theban officials, they were seized with fear that he might accomplish what he wanted, and some of them took the risk and slew Euphron upon the Acropolis while the officials and the senate were in session there. But the officials brought those who had done the deed before the senate and spoke as follows:

Fellow citizens, we arraign on the capital charge these men who have slain Euphron, seeing, as we do, that while right-minded men commit no unjust or unrighteous deed, and the wicked, although they commit them, strive to do them in secret, these persons have so far surpassed all mankind in hardihood and villainy that in the presence of the very magistrates and in the presence of you, who alone have authority to decide who shall die and who shall not, they took decision into their own hands and slew the man. Therefore if these men do not suffer the extreme penalty, who will ever have the courage to visit our city? And what will become of the city if any one who so desires is to be allowed to slay a man before he has made known for what purpose he has come here? We, then, arraign these men as utterly unrighteous, unjust, and lawless, and as having shown the utmost contempt for our city. It is for you, after you have heard, to inflict upon them such penalty as they seem to you to deserve.

Such were the words of the officials; as for those who had slain Euphron, all except one denied that they had been the perpetrators of the deed; but one had admitted it, and began his defence in some such words as these: Surely, Thebans, to feel contempt for you is not possible for a man if he knows that you have authority to do with him as you will; in what, then, did I trust when I here slew the man? Be well assured that it was first of all in the belief that I was doing a just deed, and secondly in the thought that you would decide rightly; for I knew that you likewise, in dealing with the party of Archias and Hypates, whom you found to have performed acts like those of Euphron, did not wait for a vote, but punished them as soon as you found yourselves able to do so, believing that those who are manifestly unrighteous and those who are plainly traitors and attempting to be tyrants are already condemned to death by all mankind.

Was not Euphron also, I ask, guilty under all these heads? In the first place, he found the shrines full of offerings both of silver and of gold, and left them empty of all these treasures. Again, who could be more manifestly a traitor than Euphron, who was the closest of friends to the Lacedaemonians and then chose you in their stead, and after he had given you pledges and received pledges from you, betrayed you again and handed over the port to your adversaries? Once again, was he not beyond question a tyrant, when he made slaves not only free men but even citizens, and put to death and banished and robbed of property, not the people who were guilty of wrong-doing, but those whom it suited him to treat thus? And these were the better classes.

Then after he had returned again to the city in company with your bitter adversaries, the Athenians, he set himself in arms against your governor; but since he found himself unable to expel him from the Acropolis, he got together money and came hither. Now if he had been shown to have gathered armed forces with which to attack you, you would even feel grateful to me for slaying him; but when he provided himself with money instead, and came with the purpose of corrupting you by means of this money and persuading you to make him lord of the city again, how can I justly be put to death by you for inflicting upon the man his due punishment? For whereas those who are constrained by arms suffer damage, yet they are not thereby shown to be wicked at any rate; but those who are corrupted by money in violation of the right not only suffer damage, but at the same time incur shame.

To be sure, if he had been an enemy of mine but a friend of yours, I admit myself that it would not have been seemly for me to slay this man in your city; but wherein was he, who was a traitor to you, more of an enemy to me than to you? But, by Zeus, someone might say, he came of his own free will.

So, then, if anyone had slain him while he was keeping away from your city, he would have obtained praise; but as it is, when he came again to do you more wrong in addition to what he had done before, does one say that he has not been slain justly? Where can such a one show that a truce exists between Greeks and traitors, or double-deserters, or tyrants?

Besides all this, remember also that you voted, and properly, that exiles should be subject to extradition from all the cities of the alliance. But as for an exile who returns without a general resolution of the allies, can anyone explain why it is unjust for such a one to be put to death? I maintain, gentlemen, that if you put me to death, you will have avenged a man who was the worst of all your enemies, but if you decide that I have done what was right, you will be found to have taken vengeance both for your own selves and for all the allies.

The Thebans, after hearing these words, decided that Euphron had met his deserts; his own citizens, however, esteeming him a good man, brought him home, buried him in their market-place, and pay him pious honours as the founder of their city. So true it is, as it seems, that most people define as good men their own benefactors.

The story of Euphron has been told, and I return to the point from which I digressed to this subject. While, namely, the Phliasians were still fortifying Thyamia and Chares was still with them, Oropus was seized by those who had been exiled therefrom. When, however, the Athenians had set out in full force against the city and had summoned Chares from Thyamia, the port of the Sicyonians in its turn was recaptured by the citizens of Sicyon themselves and the Arcadians; as for the Athenians, none of their allies came to their assistance, and they retired and left Oropus in the possession of the Thebans pending a judicial decision.

And now Lycomedes, upon learning that the Athenians were finding fault with their allies because, while they were themselves suffering many troubles on their account, none gave them any assistance in return, persuaded the Ten Thousand to negotiate for an alliance with the Athenians. At first, indeed, some of the Athenians took it ill that, when they were friends of the Lacedaemonians, they should become allies of their adversaries; but when upon consideration they found that it was no less advantageous to the Lacedaemonians than to themselves that the Arcadians should not require the support of the Thebans, under these circumstances they accepted the alliance with the Arcadians.

While Lycomedes was engaged in these negotiations, upon his departure from Athens he met his death by what was quite manifestly a divine interposition. For there were very many ships available and he selected from them the one he wanted and made an agreement with the sailors to land him wherever he should himself direct; and he chose to land at the very spot where the Arcadian exiles chanced to be. He, then, met his death in this way, but the alliance was really accomplished.

Meantime Demotion said in the Assembly of the Athenians that while it seemed to him a good thing to be negotiating this friendship with the Arcadians, they ought, he said, to give instructions to their generals to see to it that Corinth also should be kept safe for the Athenian people; and on hearing of this the Corinthians speedily sent adequate garrisons of their own to every place where Athenians were on guard and told the latter to depart, saying that they no longer had any need of garrisons. The men accordingly obeyed. And as soon as the Athenians had come together from their guard-stations to the city of Corinth, the Corinthians made proclamation that if any of the Athenians had been wronged, they were to register their names, in the assurance that they would receive their just dues.

While these matters were in this state, Chares arrived at Cenchreae with a fleet. And when he learned what had been done, he said that he had heard there was plotting against the state and had come to give aid. The Corinthians, however, while they thanked him, were none the more disposed to admit his ships into their harbour, but bade him sail away; and they likewise sent away the hoplites after rendering them their just dues. It was in this way, then, that the Athenians departed from Corinth.

On the other hand, they were bound by the terms of their alliance to send their cavalry to the aid of the Arcadians in case anyone took the field against Arcadia; but they did not set foot upon Laconia for the purpose of war. And now the Corinthians, in the thought that it would be difficult for them to come off safe, since even before this time they had been overmastered by land and now the Athenians had been added to the number of those who were unfriendly to them, resolved to collect mercenaries, both infantry and cavalry. Once in command of these troops, they not only guarded their city but likewise inflicted much harm upon their enemies near home; but to Thebes they sent messengers to ask whether they could obtain peace if they came for it.

And when the Thebans bade them come, saying that peace would be granted, the Corinthians requested that they should allow them to go to their allies also, to the end that they might conclude the peace in company with those who desired peace, and leave those who preferred war to continue war. The Thebans having permitted them to do this likewise, the Corinthians went to Lacedaemon and said:

Men of Lacedaemon, we have come to you as your friends, and we ask that in case you see any safety for us if we persist in the war, you make it known to us; but in case you judge our situation to be hopeless, that you join with us in concluding peace if it is to your advantage also; for there is no one in the world along with whom we should more gladly gain safety than with you; if, however, you consider that it is to your advantage to continue the war, we beg you to allow us to conclude peace. For if we are saved, we might perhaps make ourselves useful to you again at some future time; whereas if we are now destroyed, it is plain that we shall never be of service in the future.

Upon hearing these words the Lacedaemonians not only advised the Corinthians to conclude the peace, but gave permission to such of their other allies as preferred not to continue the war in company with them, to cease; as for themselves, however, they said that they would fight on and accept whatever fortune it pleased the deity to send, and that they would never submit to be deprived of what they had received from their fathers — Messene.

So the Corinthians, upon hearing these words, proceeded to Thebes to make the peace. The Thebans, however, wanted them to bind themselves to an alliance as well; but they replied that an alliance was not peace but an exchange of war, and they said that they had come to conclude a real peace, if the Thebans so pleased. And the Thebans, seized with admiration for them because, even though they were in peril, they refused to be involved in war with their benefactors, granted peace to them, to the Phliasians, and to those who had come with them to Thebes, with the condition that each party should keep its own territory. And on these terms the oaths were taken.

Then the Phliasians, inasmuch as the compact had been concluded on this basis, at once withdrew from Thyamia; but the Argives, who had sworn to make peace on these same terms, when they found themselves unable to bring it about that the Phliasian exiles should remain at Tricaranum on the ground that they would be within their own state, took over the place and kept it garrisoned, claiming now that this territory, which a little while before they had been laying waste as though it were an enemy’s, was theirs; and although the Phliasians proposed a judicial decision, they refused to grant the requust.

At about this time, the first Dionysius being now dead, his son sent to the aid of the Lacedaemonians twelve triremes and Timocrates as their commander. And upon his arrival he helped them to capture Sellasia; and after accomplishing this deed he sailed back home. Not long after this the Eleans seized Lasion, which in ancient times had been theirs, but at present belonged to the Arcadian League.

The Arcadians, however, did not let the matter pass, but at once called out their troops and went to the rescue. And on the side of the Eleans the Three Hundred and likewise the Four Hundred came out to meet them. Now after the Eleans had lain encamped on a somewhat level spot opposite the enemy throughout the day, the Arcadians climbed up by night to the summit of the mountain which was above the Eleans; and at daybreak they proceeded to descend upon the Eleans. Then the latter, seeing that the Arcadians were not only approaching from higher ground but were also many times their number, were yet ashamed to retreat while still at a distance, but advanced to meet the enemy, and took to flight only after letting them come to close quarters; and they lost many men and many arms, since they retreated over difficult ground.

When the Arcadians had accomplished these things, they proceeded against the cities of the Acrorians. And having captured them, with the exception of Thraustus, they arrived at Olympia, and after building a stockade around the hill of Cronus, kept guard there and were masters of the Olympian mountain; they likewise gained possession of Margana, which was betrayed to them by some of its citizens. When matters had progressed to this point, the Eleans fell back into complete despondency, while the Arcadians proceeded against their capital. And they advanced as far as the marketplace; there, however, the horsemen and the rest of the Eleans made a stand, and they drove the Arcadians out, killed some of them, and set up a trophy.

Now there had been dissension in Elis even before this time. For the party of Charopus, Thrasonidas, and Argeius were trying to convert the state into a democracy, and the party of Eualcas, Hippias, and Stratolas into an oligarchy. But when the Arcadians with a large force seemed to be allies of those who wished to have a democracy, thereupon the party of Charopus were bolder, and after making arrangements with the Arcadians to aid them, seized the Acropolis.

The horsemen, however, and the Three Hundred made no delay, but at once marched up and ejected them, so that about four hundred of the citizens, with Argeius and Charopus, were banished. Not long afterwards these exiles enlisted the aid of some of the Arcadians and seized Pylus. And many of the democrats withdrew from the capital and joined them, inasmuch as they were in possession of a good stronghold and had a large force — that of the Arcadians — to support them. Afterwards the Arcadians invaded the territory of the Eleans again, being persuaded by the exiles that the city would come over to them.

But on that occasion the Achaeans, who had become friends of the Eleans, defended their city successfully, so that the Arcadians retired without accomplishing anything more than the laying waste of the land of the Eleans. At the moment, however, when they were departing from the Elean territory, they learned that the Pelleneans were in Elis, and after making an exceedingly long march by night seized their town of Olurus; for by this time the Pelleneans had come back again to their alliance with the Lacedaemonians.

Now when the Pelleneans learned the news in regard to Olurus, they in their turn made a roundabout march and as best they could got into their own city, Pellene. And after this they carried on war not only with the Arcadians at Olurus, but also with the entire body of the democrats of their own state, although they were themselves very few in number; but nevertheless they did not cease until they had captured Olurus by siege.

The Arcadians on their side made yet another expedition into Elis. And while they were encamped between Cyllene and the capital, the Eleans made an attack upon them, but the Arcadians stood their ground and defeated them. Then Andromachus, the Elean commander of horse, the man who was thought to be responsible for having joined battle, killed himself; but the rest retired to the city. Among those who perished in this battle was also Socleides the Spartiate, who had meanwhile arrived; for by this time the Lacedaemonians were allies of the Eleans.

And now the Eleans, being hard pressed in their own land, sent ambassadors and asked the Lacedaemonians also to take the field against the Arcadians, believing that the Arcadians would be most likely to give up the struggle in this event, that is, if they were beset by war from both sides. As a result of this request Archidamus took the field with the citizen troops and seized Cromnus. And after leaving in the town as a garrison three of the twelve battalions, he then returned homewards.

But the Arcadians, gathered together as they were in consequence of their expedition into Elis, came to the rescue and surrounded Cromnus with a double stockade, and, being thus in a safe position, besieged the people in Cromnus. Then the city of Lacedaemon, distressed at the besieging of its citizens, sent out an army. And on this occasion also Archidamus was in command. When he had come, he laid waste as much as he could both of Arcadia and of Sciritis, and did everything in order, if possible, to draw off the besiegers. The Arcadians, however, were not any more disposed to stir than before, but disregarded all these doings.

Then Archidamus, espying a hill over which the Arcadians had carried their outer stockade, came to the conclusion that he could capture it, and that if he became master of this hill, the besiegers at its foot would not be able to hold their position. Now while he was leading the way to this place by a roundabout route, as soon as the peltasts who were running on ahead of Archidamus caught sight of the Epariti outside the stockade, they attacked them, and the cavalry endeavoured to join in the attack. The enemy, however, did not give way, but forming themselves into a compact body, remained quiet. Then the Lacedaemonians attacked again. The enemy did not give way even then, but on the contrary proceeded to advance, and by this time there was a deal of shouting; Archidamus himself thereupon came to the rescue, turning off along the wagon road which runs to Cromnus and leading his men in double file, just as he chanced to have them formed.

Now as soon as the two forces had come near to one another, the troops of Archidamus in column, since they were marching along a road, and the Arcadians massed together in close order, at this juncture the Lacedaemonians were no longer able to hold out against the superior weight of the Arcadians, but Archidamus speedily received a wound straight through his thigh and speedily those who fought in front of him kept falling, among them Polyaenidas and Chilon, who was married to the sister of Archidamus; and the whole number of them who fell at that time was not less than thirty.

But when the Lacedaemonians as they retired along the road came out into open ground, they immediately formed themselves in line of battle against the enemy. The Arcadians on their side stood in close order, just as they were, and while inferior in numbers, they were in better spirits by far, since they had attacked a foe who retreated and had killed men. The Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, were exceedingly despondent, for they saw that Archidamus was wounded and they had heard the names of the dead, who were not only brave men but well nigh their most distinguished.

But when, the Arcadians being now close at hand, one of the older men shouted out and said: Why, sirs, should we fight, and not rather make a truce and become reconciled?

both sides heard him gladly and made a truce. Accordingly the Lacedaemonians took up their dead and departed, while the Arcadians returned to the place where they had originally begun to advance, and there set up a trophy.

While the Arcadians were occupied about Cromnus, the Eleans in the capital proceeded in the first place against Pylus, and fell in with the Pylians after the latter had been driven out of Thalamae. And when the horsemen of the Eleans, as they rode along, caught sight of the Pylians, they did not delay, but attacked at once, and they killed some of them, while others fled for refuge to a hill; but as soon as the infantry came up they dislodged those upon the hill also, and killed some of them on the spot and took captive others, nearly two hundred in number. Thereupon they sold all among the prisoners who were foreigners and put to the sword all who were Elean exiles. After this the Eleans not only captured the Pylians, along with their stronghold, inasmuch as no one came to their aid, but also recovered Margana.

As for the Lacedaemonians, they afterwards went against Cromnus again by night, made themselves masters of the stockade which was opposite the Argives, and immediately proceeded to call forth the Lacedaemonians who were besieged there. Now all who chanced to be nearest at hand and seized the opportunity promptly, came forth; but such as were forestalled by a large body of the Arcadians which came to the rescue, were shut off inside the stockade, captured, and distributed. And the Argives received one portion, the Thebans one, the Arcadians one, and the Messenians one. And the whole number who were captured of the Spartiatae and the Perioeci came to more than one hundred.

When the Arcadians were no longer occupied with Cromnus, they occupied themselves again with the Eleans, and they not only kept Olympia more strongly garrisoned, but also, since an Olympic year was coming on, prepared to celebrate the Olympic games in company with the Pisatans, who say that they were the first to have charge of the sanctuary. But when the month came in which the Olympic games take place and the days on which the festal assembly gathers, at this time the Eleans, after making their preparations openly and summoning the Achaeans to their aid, proceeded to march along the road leading to Olympia.

Now the Arcadians had never imagined that the Eleans would come against them, and were themselves directing the festal meeting in company with the Pisatans. They had already finished the horse-race, and the events of the pentathlon held in the race-course. And the competitors who had reached the wrestling were no longer in the race-course, but were wrestling in the space between the race-course and the altar. For the Eleans, under arms, had by this time reached the sacred precinct. Then the Arcadians, without advancing to meet them, formed in line of battle on the river Cladaus, which flows past the Altis and empties into the Alpheus. They had allies also to support them, about two thousand hoplites of the Argives and about four hundred horsemen of the Athenians.

And the Eleans formed in line on the opposite side of the river, and, after offering sacrifice, immediately advanced. And although in former time they had been despised in matters of war by the Arcadians and Argives, and despised by the Achaeans and Athenians, nevertheless on that day they led their allies forward, as men who were unexcelled in valour, and they not only routed the Arcadians at once — for it was these whom they encountered first — but withstood the attack of the Argives when they came to the rescue, and won the victory over them also.

When, however, they had pursued the enemy to the space between the senate house and the temple of Hestia and the theatre which adjoins these buildings, although they fought no less stoutly and kept pushing the enemy towards the altar, still, since they were pelted from the roofs of the porticoes, the senate house, and the great temple, and were themselves fighting on the ground-level, some of the Eleans were killed, among them Stratolas himself, the leader of the Three Hundred. When this happened, they retired to their own camp.

But the Arcadians and those with them were so fearful for the coming day that they did not so much as go to rest during the night, being engaged in cutting down the carefully constructed booths and building a stockade. As for the Eleans, when they returned on the next day and saw that the stockade was a strong one and that many men had climbed up on the temples, they withdrew to their city, having shown themselves such men in point of valour as a god no doubt could produce by his inspiration even in a day, but human creatures could not make even in a long time out of those who were not valiant.

Now while the leaders of the Arcadians were using the sacred treasures, and therefrom maintaining the Epariti, the Mantineans were the first to pass a vote not to make use of the sacred treasures. For themselves, they collected in their city the amount which fell to their share towards the payment of the Epariti and sent it off to the leaders. The leaders, however, said that they were doing harm to the Arcadian League, and summoned their rulers before the Ten Thousand; and when they refused to heed the summons, they passed sentence upon them and sent the Epariti to bring those who had been thus condemned. Then the Mantineans shut their gates and would not admit the Epariti within their walls.

As a result of this some others likewise were soon saying in the meeting of the Ten Thousand that they ought not to use the sacred treasures, or to leave to their children for all time such an offence in the eyes of the gods. When, accordingly, a vote had been passed in the Arcadian assembly not to make use of the sacred treasures any longer, those who could not belong to the Epariti without pay speedily began to melt away, while those who could, spurred on one another and began to enroll themselves in the Epariti, in order that they might not be in the power of that body, but rather that it might be in their power. Then such of the Arcadian leaders as had handled the sacred treasures, realizing that, if they had to render an account, they would be in danger of being put to death, sent to Thebes and explained to the Thebans that if they did not take the field, the Arcadians would be likely to go over to the Lacedaemonians again.

The Thebans accordingly prepared to take the field; but those who sought the best interests of Peloponnesus persuaded the general assembly of the Arcadians to send ambassadors and tell the Thebans not to come under arms to Arcadia unless they sent them a summons. And while they said this to the Thebans, at the same time they reasoned that they had no desire for war. For they held that they had no desire for the presidency of the shrine of Zeus, but that they would be acting more justly as well as more righteously if they gave it back, and that in this way, as they supposed, they would please the god better. Now since the Eleans also were desirous of this course, both parties resolved to make peace; and a truce was concluded.

After the oaths had been taken and, besides all the rest, the Tegeans had sworn and the Theban governor himself, who chanced to be in Tegea with three hundred hoplites of the Boeotians, then, while the bulk of the Arcadians, still remaining there in Tegea, feasted and made merry, poured libations and sang paeans over the conclusion of peace, the Theban and such of the Arcadian leaders as were fearful about their accounts, after closing the gates in the wall of Tegea with the help of the Boeotians and their partisans among the Epariti, sent to the feasters and proceeded to seize the aristocrats. But inasmuch as the Arcadians of all the cities were present and all of them were desirous of having peace, those who were seized were necessarily many, so that their prison was speedily full, and the city hall likewise.

Since, however, there were many who had been imprisoned, and many who had leaped down outside the wall, and some also who had been let out through the gates (for no one, unless he expected to be put to death, felt resentment against anyone else), it was a cause of the greatest embarrassment to the Theban governor and those who were acting with him in this matter that of the Mantineans, whom they most wanted to capture, they had but a very few; for because their city was near by, almost all of them had gone home.

Now when day came and the Mantineans learned what had been done, they straightway sent to the other Arcadian cities and gave them word to hold themselves under arms and to guard the passes. The Mantineans likewise followed this course themselves, and at the same time, sending to Tegea, demanded back all the men of Mantinea whom they were holding there; and they said that they demanded in the case of the other Arcadians also that no one of them should be kept in prison or put to death without a trial. And if anyone had any charges to bring against these men, they gave assurances that the city of Mantinea pledged itself in very truth to produce before the general assembly of the Arcadians all whom anyone might summon to trial.

The Theban accordingly, on hearing this, was at a loss to know how he should deal with the matter, and released all the men. Then on the following day he called together as many of the Arcadians as chose to gather and said in his defence that he had been deceived. For he had heard, he said, that the Lacedaemonians were on the borders under arms and that some of the Arcadians were going to betray Tegea to them. Upon hearing this they acquitted him, although they knew that he was speaking falsely about them, but they sent ambassadors to Thebes and brought charges against him, saying that he ought to be put to death.

It was said, however, that Epaminondas (for he chanced to be general at that time) urged that he had acted far more rightly when he seized the men than when he released them. For, he said to the ambassadors, it was on your account that we entered upon war, and you concluded peace without our approval; should we not, therefore, be justified in charging you with treason for this act? But be well assured, said he, that we shall make an expedition to Arcadia and shall wage war in company with those who hold to our side.

When these things were reported back to the general assembly of the Arcadians and to the several cities, the Mantineans and such of the other Arcadians as were concerned for Peloponnesus inferred therefrom, as did likewise the Eleans and the Achaeans, that the Thebans manifestly wanted Peloponnesus to be as weak as possible so that they might as easily as possible reduce it to slavery.

For why in the world, they said, do they wish us to make war unless it is in order that we may do harm to one another and consequently may both feel the need of them? Or why, when we say that we do not at present need them, are they preparing to march forth? Is it not clear that it is for the purpose of working some harm upon us that they are preparing to take the field?

And they sent to Athens also, bidding the Athenians come to their aid, while ambassadors from the Epariti proceeded to Lacedaemon as well, to invite the help of the Lacedaemonians in case they wanted to join in checking any who might come to enslave Peloponnesus. As for the matter of the leadership, they arranged at once that each people should hold it while within its own territory.

While these things were being done, Epaminondas was on his outward march at the head of all the Boeotians, the Euboeans, and many of the Thessalians, who came both from Alexander and from his opponents. The Phocians, however, declined to join the expedition, saying that their agreement was to lend aid in case anyone went against Thebes, but that to take the field against others was not in the agreement.

Epaminondas reflected, however, that his people had supporters in Peloponnesus also — the Argives, the Messenians, and such of the Arcadians as held to their side. These were the Tegeans, the Megalopolitans, the Aseans, the Pallantians, and whatever cities were constrained to adopt this course for the reason that they were small and surrounded by these others.

Epaminondas accordingly pushed forth with speed; but when he arrived at Nemea he delayed there, hoping to catch the Athenians as they passed by, and estimating that this would be a great achievement, not only in the view of his people’s allies, so as to encourage them, but also in that of their opponents, so that they would fall into despondency — in a word, that every loss the Athenians suffered was a gain for the Thebans.

And during this delay on his part all those who held the same views were gathering together at Mantinea. But when Epaminondas heard that the Athenians had given up the plan of proceeding by land and were preparing to go by sea, with the intention of marching through Lacedaemon to the aid of the Arcadians, under these circumstances he set forth from Nemea and arrived at Tegea.

Now I for my part could not say that his campaign proved fortunate; yet of all possible deeds of forethought and daring the man seems to me to have left not one undone. For, in the first place, I commend his pitching his camp within the wall of Tegea, where he was in greater safety than if he had been encamped outside, and where whatever was being done was more entirely concealed from the enemy. Furthermore, it was easier for him, being in the city, to provide himself with whatever he needed. Since the enemy, on the other hand, was encamped outside, it was possible to see whether they were doing things rightly or were making mistakes. Again, while he believed that he was stronger than his adversaries, he could never be induced to attack them when he saw that they held the advantage in position.

However, when he perceived that no city was coming over to him and that time was passing on, he decided that some action must be taken; otherwise, in place of his former fame, he must expect deep disgrace. When he became aware, therefore, that his adversaries had taken up a strong position in the neighbourhood of Mantinea and were sending after Agesilaus and all the Lacedaemonians, and learned, further, that Agesilaus had marched forth and was already at Pellene, he gave orders to his men to get their dinner and led his army straight upon Sparta.

And had not a Cretan by a kind of providential chance come and reported to Agesilaus that the army was advancing, he would have captured the city, like a nest entirely empty of its defenders. But when Agesilaus, having received word of this in time, had got back to the city ahead of the enemy, the Spartiatae posted themselves at various points and kept guard, although they were extremely few. For all their horsemen were away in Arcadia and likewise the mercenary force and three of the battalions, which numbered twelve.

Now when Epaminondas had arrived within the city of the Spartiatae, he did not attempt to enter at the point where his troops would be likely to have to fight on the ground-level and be pelted from the house-tops, nor where they would fight with no advantage over the few, although they were many; but after gaining the precise position from which he believed that he would enjoy an advantage, he undertook to descend (instead of ascending) into the city.

As for what happened thereupon, one may either hold the deity responsible, or one may say that nobody could withstand desperate men. For when Archidamus led the advance with not so much as a hundred men and, after crossing the very thing which seemed to present an obstacle, marched uphill against the adversary, at that moment the fire-breathers, the men who had defeated the Lacedaemonians, the men who were altogether superior in numbers and were occupying higher ground besides, did not withstand the attack of the troops under Archidamus, but gave way.

And those in the van of Epaminondas’ army were slain, but when the troops from within the city, exulting in their victory, pursued farther than was fitting, they in their turn were slain; for, as it seems, the line had been drawn by the deity indicating how far victory had been granted them. Archidamus accordingly set up a trophy at the spot where he had won the victory, and gave back under a truce those of the enemy who had fallen there.

Epaminondas, on the other hand, reflecting that the Arcadians would be coming to Lacedaemon to bring aid, had no desire to fight against them and against all the Lacedaemonians after they had come together, especially since they had met with success and his men with disaster; so he marched back as rapidly as he could to Tegea, and allowed his hoplites to rest there, but sent his horsemen on to Mantinea, begging them to endure this additional effort and explaining to them that probably all the cattle of the Mantineans were outside the city and likewise all the people, particularly as it was harvest time.

They then set forth; but the Athenian horsemen, setting out from Eleusis, had taken dinner at the Isthmus and, after having passed through Cleonae also, chanced to be approaching Mantinea or to be already quartered within the wall in the houses. And when the enemy were seen riding toward the city, the Mantineans begged the Athenian horsemen to help them, if in any way they could; for outside the wall were all their cattle and the labourers, and likewise many children and older men of the free citizens. When the Athenians heard this they sallied forth to the rescue, although they were still without breakfast, they and their horses as well.

Here, again, who would not admire the valour of these men also? For although they saw that the enemy were far more numerous, and although a misfortune had befallen the horsemen at Corinth, they took no account of this, nor of the fact that they were about to fight with the Thebans and the Thessalians, who were thought to be the best of horsemen, but rather, being ashamed to be at hand and yet render no service to their allies, just as soon as they saw the enemy they crashed upon them, eagerly desiring to win back their ancestral repute.

And by engaging in the battle they did indeed prove the means of saving for the Mantineans everything that was outside the wall, but there fell brave men among them; and those also whom they slew were manifestly of a like sort; for neither side had any weapon so short that they did not reach one another therewith. And the Athenians did not abandon their own dead, and they gave back some of the enemy’s under a truce.

As for Epaminondas, on the other hand, when he considered that within a few days it would be necessary for him to depart, because the time fixed for the campaign had expired, and that if he should leave behind him unprotected the people to whom he had come as an ally, they would be besieged by their adversaries, while he himself would have completely tarnished his own reputation, — for with a large force of hoplites he had been defeated at Lacedaemon by a few, and defeated likewise in a cavalry battle at Mantinea, and through his expedition to Peloponnesus had made himself the cause of the union of the Lacedaemonians, the Arcadians, the Achaeans, the Eleans, and the Athenians, — he thought for these reasons that it was not possible for him to pass by the enemy without a battle, since he reasoned that if he were victorious, he would make up for all these things, while if he were slain, he deemed that such an end would be honourable for one who was striving to leave to his fatherland dominion over Peloponnesus.

Now the fact that Epaminondas himself entertained such thoughts, seems to me to be in no wise remarkable, — for such thoughts are natural to ambitious men; but that he had brought his army to such a point that the troops flinched from no toil, whether by night or by day, and shrank from no peril, and although the provisions they had were scanty, were nevertheless willing to be obedient, this seems to me to be more remarkable.

For at the time when he gave them the last order to make ready, saying that there would be a battle, the horsemen eagerly whitened their helmets at his command, the hoplites of the Arcadians painted clubs upon their shields, as though they were Thebans, and all alike sharpened their spears and daggers and burnished their shields.

But when he had led them forth, thus made ready, it is worth while again to note what he did. In the first place, as was natural, he formed them in line of battle. And by doing this he seemed to make it clear that he was preparing for an engagement; but when his army had been drawn up as he wished it to be, he did not advance by the shortest route towards the enemy, but led the way towards the mountains which lie to the westward and over against Tegea, so that he gave the enemy the impression that he would not join battle on that day.

For as soon as he had arrived at the mountain, and when his battle line had been extended to its full length, he grounded arms at the foot of the heights, so that he seemed like one who was encamping. And by so doing he caused among most of the enemy a relaxation of their mental readiness for fighting, and likewise a relaxation of their readiness as regards their array for battle. It was not until he had moved along successive companies to the wing where he was stationed, and had wheeled them into line thus strengthening the mass formation of this wing, that he gave the order to take up arms and led the advance; and his troops followed. Now as soon as the enemy saw them unexpectedly approaching, no one among them was able to keep quiet, but some began running to their posts, others forming into line, others bridling horses, and others putting on breast-plates, while all were like men who were about to suffer, rather than to inflict, harm.

Meanwhile Epaminondas led forward his army prow on, like a trireme, believing that if he could strike and cut through anywhere, he would destroy the entire army of his adversaries. For he was preparing to make the contest with the strongest part of his force, and the weakest part he had stationed far back, knowing that if defeated it would cause discouragement to the troops who were with him and give courage to the enemy. Again, while the enemy had formed their horsemen like a phalanx of hoplites, — six deep and without intermingled foot soldiers, —

Epaminondas on the other hand had made a strong column of his cavalry, also, and had mingled foot soldiers among them, believing that when he cut through the enemy’s cavalry, he would have defeated the entire opposing army; for it is very hard to find men who will stand firm when they see any of their own side in flight. And in order to prevent the Athenians on the left wing from coming to the aid of those who were posted next to them, he stationed both horsemen and hoplites upon some hills over against them, desiring to create in them the fear that if they proceeded to give aid, these troops would fall upon them from behind. Thus, then, he made his attack, and he was not disappointed of his hope; for by gaining the mastery at the point where he struck, he caused the entire army of his adversaries to flee.

When, however, he had himself fallen, those who were left proved unable to take full advantage thereafter even of the victory; but although the opposing phalanx had fled before them, their hoplites did not kill a single man or advance beyond the spot where the collision had taken place; and although the cavalry also had fled before them, their cavalry in like manner did not pursue and kill either horsemen or hoplites, but slipped back timorously, like beaten men, through the lines of the flying enemy. Furthermore, while the intermingled footmen and the peltasts, who had shared in the victory of the cavalry, did make their way like victors to the region of the enemy’s left wing, most of them were there slain by the Athenians.

When these things had taken place, the opposite of what all men believed would happen was brought to pass. For since well-nigh all the people of Greece had come together and formed themselves in opposing lines, there was no one who did not suppose that if a battle were fought, those who proved victorious would be the rulers and those who were defeated would be their subjects; but the deity so ordered it that both parties set up a trophy as though victorious and neither tried to hinder those who set them up, that both gave back the dead under a truce as though victorious, and both received back their dead under a truce as though defeated, and that while each party claimed to be victorious, neither was found to be any better off, as regards either additional territory, or city, or sway, than before the battle took place; but there was even more confusion and disorder in Greece after the battle than before. Thus far be it written by me; the events after these will perhaps be the concern of another.