History of the Peloponnesian War

Such was the order of battle and the preparation on both sides. The army of the Lacedaemonians appeared the larger of the two;

but as for stating any number, either of the several divisions on each side, or of their collective force, I could not do it with accuracy. For the number of the Lacedaemonians, on account of the secrecy of their government, was not known; and that of the others, in consequence of men's natural tendency to boasting with regard to their own numbers, was regarded with distrust.

From the following mode of calculating, however, one may see the number of Lacedaemonians that was present on that occasion. There were engaged in the battle seven lochi, exclusive of the Sciritae, who amounted to six hundred; and [*]( The regular complement of the enomotia was twenty-four men, besides its captain: the pentecosty was composed of two enomotiae, and the lochus of two pentecostyes. —Arnold. See his whole note on this passage.) in each lochus there were four pentecpstyes, and in the pentecosty four enomotiae. In the first rank of the enomoty there were four fighting men. [*]( As the number of the ranks must have depended on that of the files, and have been the same throughout the army, if that were, or have differed, because that did; it is evident that any change which the commander-in-chief might have made in the previous dispositions of the several lochagi, must have affected the breadth of the ranks as well as the depth of the files, though the latter only is mentioned, or rather implied, by our author. The supposition of such a change is warranted by the variation in the tenses of the verbs; and is the only way of solving the difficulty noticed by Dobree— that the depth of the line in each lochus appears to be left to the discretion of its commander, even after the number of men in the front rank of all of them has been said to have been uniformly four; though after this had once been settled, the other must, of course, have been no less uniform. See Poppo's note) In depth, though they had not all been drawn up alike, but as each lochagus chose, they took their position on the field uniformly eight deep. And thus, along the whole line, the first rank consisted of four hundred and forty-eight men, besides the Sciritae.

When they were now on the point of engaging, the following admonitions were then severally addressed to them by their own generals. To the Mantineans, that the battle would be fought for their country, and to decide on the question of empire and slavery-that they might not be deprived of the former after tasting it, and might avoid again tasting the latter. To the Argives, that they would fight for their original supremacy, and not to brook being for ever deprived of their former equal share of the Peloponnese; and at the same time to avenge themselves on men who were their enemies, and near ones too, for many acts of injustice. To the Athenians, that fighting as they were in concert with many brave allies, it was a glorious thing for them to show themselves inferior to none; and that by defeating the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese, they would enjoy their empire more securely, and to a greater extent, while no one else would ever march against their country.

To the Argives and their allies such were the admonitions that were addressed. The Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, both individually amongst themselves, and with their national war-songs, exhorted one another, as brave men, to remember what they had learned before; knowing that actual training for a long time previous was of more benefit than a brief verbal exhortation, however well expressed.

After this the conflict commenced: the Argives and their allies advancing with haste and impetuosity; the Lacedaemonians slowly, and to the music of many flute-players, placed amongst them according to custom, not with a religious object, but that they might advance evenly, stepping in time, and so that their line might not be broken, a thing which large armies are apt to do in their approaches to an enemy.