History of the Peloponnesian War

When the army of the Argives and their allies had given way in this quarter, their line was on the point of being broken in both directions; and at the same time the right wing of the Lacedaemonians and the Tegeates was beginning to encircle the Athenians with the outflanking part of their own line; and so danger beset them on both sides, for they were being surrounded in one quarter and had been already defeated in the other.

And they would have suffered more than any part of the whole army if their cavalry had not been present and proved helpful to them. It happened, too, that Agis, perceiving that the left of his own forces, which was opposed to the Mantineans and the thousand Argives, was in distress, gave orders for the whole army to go to the assistance of the part that was in danger of defeat.

When this was done, the Athenians, as the enemy's force passed on and moved away from them, quietly made their escape, and with them the part of the Argives that had been worsted. The Mantineans and their allies, on the other hand, and the picked men of the Argives, were no longer disposed to press home the attack on their opponents, but seeing their own side defeated and the Lacedaemonians bearing down upon them, turned to flight.

On the part of the Mantineans the losses were more serious, but of the picked men of the Argives the greater part was saved. The flight, however, was not hotly pursued, nor did the retreat extend to any great distance; for the Lacedaemonians fight their battles long and stubbornly, standing their ground until they rout their foes, but when they have routed them their pursuits are brief and only for a little distance.