Hellenica

Now it chanced that at this time Pharnabazus had come to visit Tissaphernes, not only because Tissaphernes had been appointed general-in-chief, but also for the purpose of assuring him that he was ready to make war together with him, to be his ally, and to aid him in driving the Greeks out of the territory of the King; for he secretly envied Tissaphernes his position as general for various reasons, but in particular he took it hardly that he had been deprived of Aeolis. Now when Tissaphernes heard his words, he said: First, then, cross over with me into Caria,[*](397 B.C.) and then we will consult about these matters.

But when they were there, they decided to station adequate garrisons in the fortresses and to cross back again to Ionia. And when Dercylidas heard that they had crossed the Maeander again, he told Pharax that he was afraid Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus might overrun and pillage the land, unprotected as it was, and so crossed over himself to Ionia. Now while they were on the march, the army being by no means in battle formation, since they supposed that the enemy had gone on ahead into the territory of the Ephesians, on a sudden they saw scouts on the burial-mounds in front of them;

and when they also sent men to the tops of the mounds and towers in their neighbourhood, they made out an army drawn up in line of battle where their own road ran—Carians with white shields, the entire Persian force which chanced to be at hand, all the Greek troops which each of the two satraps had, and horsemen in great numbers, those of Tissaphernes upon the right wing and those of Pharnabazus upon the left.

When Dercylidas learned of all this, he told the commanders of divisions and the captains to form their men in line, eight deep, as quickly as possible, and to station the peltasts on either wing and likewise the cavalry—all that he chanced to have and such as it was; meanwhile he himself offered sacrifice.

Now all that part of the army which was from Peloponnesus kept quiet and prepared for battle; but as for the men from Priene and Achilleium, from the islands and the Ionian cities, some of them left their arms in the standing grain (for the grain was tall in the plain of the Maeander) and ran away, while all those who did stand showed clearly that they would[*](397 B.C.) not stand very long.

On the other side Pharnabazus, it was reported, was urging an engagement. But Tissaphernes, remembering the way Cyrus’ troops had made war with the Persians and believing that the Greeks were all like them, did not wish to fight, but sent to Dercylidas and said that he wanted to come to a conference with him. And Dercylidas, taking the best-looking of the troops he had, both cavalry and infantry, came forward to meet the messengers and said: For my part I had prepared to fight, as you see; however, since he wishes to come to a conference, I have no objection myself. But if this is to be done, pledges and hostages must be given and received.

When this plan had been decided upon and carried out, the armies went away, the barbarians to Tralles in Caria, and the Greeks to Leucophrys, where there was a very holy shrine of Artemis and a lake more than a stadium in length, with a sandy bottom and an unfailing supply of drinkable, warm water. This, then, was what was done at that time; but on the following day the commanders came to the place agreed upon, and it seemed best to them to learn from one another on what terms each would make peace.

Dercylidas accordingly stated his condition, that the King should leave the Greek cities independent; and Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus stated theirs, that the Greek army should depart from the country and the Lacedaemonian governors from the cities. When they had stated these terms to one another, they concluded a truce, to continue until the proposals should be reported by Dercylidas to Lacedaemon, and by Tissaphernes to the King.

While these things were being done in Asia by[*](399 B.C.) Dercylidas, the Lacedaemonians at the same time were engaged in war at home, against the Eleans. They had long been angry with the Eleans, both because the latter had concluded an alliance with the Athenians, Argives, and Mantineans, and because, alleging that judgment had been rendered against the Lacedaemonians, they had debarred them from both the horse-races and the athletic contests;[*](I.e., at the Olympic games.) and this alone did not suffice them, but furthermore, after Lichas[*](A Lacedaemonian.) had made over his chariot to the Thebans and they were proclaimed victorious, when Lichas came in to put the garland upon his charioteer, they had scourged him, an old man, and driven him out.

And again, at a later time, when Agis was sent to sacrifice to Zeus in accordance with an oracle, the Eleans would not allow him to pray for victory in war, saying that even from ancient times it was an established principle that Greeks should not consult the oracle about a war with Greeks; so that Agis went away without sacrificing.

It was in consequence of all these things that the ephors and the assembly were angry, and they determined to bring the Eleans to their senses. Accordingly, they sent ambassadors to Elis and said that it seemed to the authorities of Lacedaemon to be just that they should leave their outlying towns independent. And when the Eleans replied that they would not do so, for the reason that they held the towns as prizes of war, the ephors called out the ban.[*](φρουρὰν φαίνειν was a Lacedaemonian phrase covering both the declaration of war and the mobilization of the army.) And Agis, at the head of the army, made his entrance into the territory of Elis through Achaea, along the Larisus.

Now when the[*](399 B.C.) army had but just arrived in the enemy’s country and the land was being laid waste, an earthquake took place. Then Agis, thinking that this was a heaven-sent sign, departed again from the country and disbanded his army. As a result of this the Eleans were much bolder, and sent around embassies to all the states which they knew to be unfriendly to the Lacedaemonians.

In the course of the year, however, the ephors again called out the ban against Elis, and with the exception of the Boeotians and the Corinthians all the allies, including the Athenians, took part with Agis in the campaign. Now when Agis entered Elis by way of Aulon, the Lepreans at once revolted from the Eleans and came over to him, the Macistians likewise at once, and after them the Epitalians. And while he was crossing the river, the Letrinians, Amphidolians, and Marganians came over to him.

Thereupon he went to Olympia and offered sacrifices[*](398 B.C.) to Olympian Zeus, and this time no one undertook to prevent him. After his sacrifices he marched upon the city of Elis, laying the land waste with axe and fire as he went, and vast numbers of cattle and vast numbers of slaves were captured in the country; insomuch that many more of the Arcadians and Achaeans, on hearing the news, came of their own accord to join the expedition and shared in the plunder. In fact this campaign proved to be a harvest, as it were, for Peloponnesus.

When Agis reached the city he did some harm to the suburbs and the gymnasia, which were beautiful, but as for the city itself (for it was unwalled) the Lacedaemonians thought that he was unwilling, rather than unable, to capture it. Now while the country was being ravaged and[*](398 B.C.) the Lacedaemonian army was in the neighbourhood of Cyllene, the party of Xenias—the man of whom it was said that he measured out with a bushel measure the money he received from his father—wishing to have their city go over to the Lacedaemonians and to receive the credit for this, rushed out of a house, armed with swords, and began a slaughter; and having killed, among others, a man who resembled Thrasydaeus, the leader of the commons, they supposed that they had killed Thrasydaeus himself, so that the commons lost heart entirely and kept quiet,

while the men engaged in the slaughter supposed that everything was already accomplished and their sympathizers gathered under arms in the market-place. But it chanced that Thrasydaeus was still asleep at the very place where he had become drunk. And when the commons learned that he was not dead, they gathered round his house on all sides, as a swarm of bees around its leader.

And when Thrasydaeus put himself at their head and led the way, a battle took place in which the commons were victorious, and those who had undertaken the slaughter were forced to flee to the Lacedaemonians. As for Agis, when he departed and crossed the Alpheus again, after leaving a garrison in Epitalium near the Alpheus, with Lysippus as governor, and also leaving there the exiles from Elis, he disbanded his army and returned home himself.

During the rest of the summer and the ensuing winter the country of the Eleans was plundered by Lysippus and the men with him. But in the course[*](397 B.C.) of the following summer Thrasydaeus sent to Lacedaemon and agreed to tear down the walls of Phea and Cyllene, to leave the Triphylian towns of Phrixa[*](397 B.C.) and Epitalium independent, likewise the Letrinians, Amphidolians, and Marganians, and besides these the Acrorians and the town of Lasion, which was claimed by the Arcadians. The Eleans, however, claimed the right to hold Epeum, the town between Heraea and Macistus; for they said that they had bought the whole territory for thirty talents from the people to whom the town at that time belonged, and had paid the money.

But the Lacedaemonians, deciding that it was no more just to get property from the weaker by a forced purchase than by a forcible seizure, compelled them to leave this town also independent; they did not, however, dispossess them of the presidency of the shrine of Olympian Zeus, even though it did not belong to the Eleans in ancient times, for they thought that the rival claimants[*](The Pisatans, who had had charge of the Olympic shrine and games up to 580 B.C.) were country people and not competent to hold the presidency. When these things had been agreed upon, a peace and an alliance were concluded between the Eleans and the Lacedaemonians. And so the war between the Lacedaemonians and the Eleans ended.

After this Agis, having gone to Delphi and offered to the god the appointed tithe of his booty, on his way back fell sick at Heraea, being now an old man, and although he was still living when brought home to Lacedaemon, once there he very soon died; and he received a burial more splendid than belongs to man. When the prescribed days of mourning had been religiously observed and it was necessary to appoint a king, Leotychides, who claimed to be a son of Agis, and Agesilaus, a brother of Agis, contended for the kingship.