Hellenica

Meanwhile the Mantineans made an expedition against the Orchomenians. And they came off very badly from their attack upon the city wall, and some of them were killed; but when in their retreat they had reached Elymia and, although the Orchomenian hoplites now desisted from following them, Polytropus and his troops were very boldly pressing upon them, then the Mantineans, realizing that if they did not beat them off many of their own number would be struck down by javelins, turned about and charged their assailants.

Polytropus fell fighting where he stood; the rest fled, and very many of them would have been killed had not the Phliasian horsemen arrived, and by riding around to the rear of the Mantineans made them desist from their pursuit. The Mantineans, then, after accomplishing these things, went back home.

Agesilaus heard of this affair and came to the conclusion that the mercenaries from Orchomenus could not now join him; under these circumstances, therefore, he continued his advance. On the first day he took dinner in the territory of Tegea, and on the[*](370 B.C.) following day crossed into the territory of the Mantineans and encamped at the foot of the mountains to the west of Mantinea; there at the same time he laid waste the land and plundered the farms. Meanwhile the Arcadians who had assembled at Asea made their way by night to Tegea.

On the next day Agesilaus encamped at a distance of about twenty stadia from Mantinea. But the Arcadians from Tegea, a very large force of hoplites, made their appearance; they were skirting the mountains between Mantinea and Tegea, desiring to effect a junction with the Mantineans, for the Argives, who came with them, were not in full force. And there were some who tried to persuade Agesilaus to attack these troops separately; he, however, fearing that while he was marching against them the Mantineans might issue forth from their city and attack him in flank and rear, judged it best to allow the two hostile forces to come together and, in case they wished to fight, to conduct the battle in regular fashion and in the open.The Arcadians from Tegea had by now effected a junction with the Mantineans.

On the other hand, the peltasts from Orchomenus, and with them the horsemen of the Phliasians, made their way during the night past Mantinea and appeared as Agesilaus was sacrificing in front of his camp at daybreak; and they caused the Lacedaemonians to fall hurriedly into line and Agesilaus himself to retire to the camp. But when they had been recognized as friends, and Agesilaus had obtained favourable omens, immediately after breakfast he led his army forward. Later, as evening was coming on, he unwittingly encamped in the valley which lies behind the town[*](370 B.C.) of Mantinea; it is surrounded by mountains which are only a short distance away.

On the following day at daybreak he was offering sacrifices in front of the army; and seeing that troops were gathering from the city of the Mantineans on the mountains which were above the rear of his army, he decided that he must lead his men out of the valley with all possible speed. Now he feared that if he led the way himself, the enemy would fall upon his rear; accordingly, while keeping quiet and presenting his front toward the enemy, he ordered the men at the rear to face about to the right and march along behind the phalanx toward him. And in this manner he was at the same time leading them out of the narrow valley and making the phalanx continually stronger.[*]( The scene is a long, narrow valley. The rear (οὐρά) of the Lacedaemonian line is at the head of the valley, while the van, where Agesilaus has his position, is at the opening of the valley into the plain. The enemy are gathering upon the hills on one side of the valley. Agesilaus first faces his troops toward the enemy (τὰ ὅπλα . . . φαίνων). The marching line is thus transformed, technically, into a phalanx, or line of battle. Then, by the ἀναστροφή (see note on ii. 21), the οὐρά, i.e., the original rear of the marching line, is folded back and gradually drawn out, behind the phalanx, to the open end of the valley. The entire army now marches out into the plain. There the process just described is reversed, so bringing the line back to its original form.)

When the phalanx had thus been doubled in depth, he proceeded into the plain with the hoplites in this formation, and then extended the army again into a line nine or ten shields deep. The Mantineans, however, now desisted from coming forth from their city, for the Eleans, who were making the campaign with them, urged them not to fight a battle until the Thebans arrived; and they said they were quite sure that the Thebans would come, for they had borrowed ten talents from the Eleans themselves for the expenses of the expedition to aid them.

The Arcadians, then, upon hearing this, remained quiet in Mantinea; and Agesilaus, even though he was exceedingly desirous[*](370 B.C.) of leading back his army — for it was mid-winter — nevertheless remained there for three days, not far away from the city of the Mantineans, that he might not be thought to be hurrying his departure out of fear. On the fourth day, however, after breakfasting early he began his homeward march, intending to encamp at the place where he had originally made camp on his departure from Eutaea.

But since none of the Arcadians appeared, he continued his march as rapidly as possible to Eutaea, even though it was very late, with the desire of getting his hoplites away before they even saw the enemy’s fires, so that no one could say that he had withdrawn in flight. For he seemed to have brought the state some relief from its former despondency, inasmuch as he had invaded Arcadia and, though he laid waste the land, none had been willing to fight with him. And after he had arrived in Laconia, he let the Spartiatae go home and dismissed the Perioeci to their several cities.

As for the Arcadians, since Agesilaus had departed and they learned that his army had been disbanded, while they themselves were still gathered together, they made an expedition against the Heraeans, not only because they refused to be members of the Arcadian League, but also because they had joined with the Lacedaemonians in invading Arcadia. And after entering the territory of Heraea they proceeded to burn the houses and cut down the trees.It was not until the Thebans with their supporting force were reported to have arrived in Mantinea that the Arcadians departed from Heraea and united with the Thebans.

When they had joined forces, the[*](370 B.C.) Thebans thought that matters stood well with them, inasmuch as they had come to bring aid and there was no longer an enemy to be seen in the land; they accordingly made their preparations for going back. But the Arcadians, Argives, and Eleans urged them to lead the way with all speed into Laconia, pointing out the number of their own troops[*]( The Theban army according to Plutarch (Ages. 31) numbered 40,000 hoplites, while Diodorus (xv. 62) puts the combined forces at more than 70,000 men.) and praising beyond measure the army of the Thebans. For all the Boeotians were now training themselves in the craft of arms, glorying in their victory at Leuctra; and they were reinforced by the Phocians, who had become their subjects, the Euboeans from all their cities, both the Locrian peoples,[*](cp. iv. ii. 17.) the Acarnanians, the Heracleots, and the Malians; they were also reinforced by horsemen and peltasts from Thessaly. The Arcadians, then, seeing all this and describing the dearth of men in Lacedaemon, begged them by no means to turn back before invading the country of the Lacedaemonians.

But while the Thebans listened to this request, they took into account, on the other hand, the fact that Laconia was said to be exceedingly difficult to enter, and that they believed garrisons were posted at the points of easiest access. For Ischolaus was at Oeum, in Sciritis, commanding a garrison composed of emancipated Helots and about four hundred of the youngest of the Tegean exiles; and there was another garrison also at Leuctrum, above Maleatis. The Thebans likewise weighed this consideration, that the force of the Lacedaemonians would gather quickly and that they would fight nowhere better[*](370 B.C.) than in their own country. Therefore, taking into account all these things, they were by no means eager to proceed into Lacedaemon.

But when people had come from Caryae telling of the dearth of men, promising that they would themselves act as guides, and bidding the Thebans slay them if they were found to be practising any deception, and when, further, some of the Perioeci appeared, asking the Thebans to come to their aid, engaging to revolt if only they would show themselves in the land, and saying also that even now the Perioeci when summoned by the Spartiatae were refusing to go and help them — as a result, then, of hearing all these reports, in which all agreed, the Thebans were won over, and pushed in with their own forces by way of Caryae, while the Arcadians went by way of Oeum, in Sciritis.

Now if Ischolaus had advanced to the difficult part of the pass and had made his stand there, no one, by all accounts, could have accomplished the ascent by that route at least; but in fact, since he wished to employ the Oeans as allies, he remained in the village, and the Arcadians ascended the pass in very great numbers. There, in the face-to-face fighting, the troops with Ischolaus were victorious; but when the enemy showered blows and missiles upon them from the rear, on the flank, and from the houses upon which they mounted, then Ischolaus was killed and all the rest as well, unless one or another slipped through unrecognized.

After achieving this deed the Arcadians marched to join the Thebans at Caryae; and when the Thebans heard what had been accomplished by the Arcadians, they proceeded to make the descent with far greater boldness. Coming[*](370 B.C.) to Sellasia, they at once burned and pillaged it; but when they arrived in the plain, they encamped there, in the sacred precinct of Apollo. The next day they marched on.Now they did not even make the attempt to cross over by the bridge against Sparta, for in the sanctuary of Athena Alea the hoplites were to be seen, ready to oppose them; but keeping the Eurotas on their right they passed along, burning and plundering houses full of many valuable things.

As for the people in the city, the women could not even endure the sight of the smoke, since they had never seen an enemy; but the Spartiatae, their city being without walls, were posted at intervals, one here, another there, and so kept guard, thought they were, and were seen to be, very few in number. It was also determined by the authorities to make proclamation to the Helots that if any wished to take up arms and be assigned to a place in the ranks, they should be given a promise that all should be free who took part in the war.

And it was said that at first more than six thousand enrolled themselves, so that they in their turn occasioned fear when they were marshalled together, and were thought to be all too numerous; but when the mercenaries from Orchomenus remained true, and the Lacedaemonians received aid from the Phliasians, Corinthians, Epidaurians, Pelleneans, and likewise some of the other states, then the Spartiatae were less fearful of those who had been enrolled.

Now when, in its onward march, the army of the enemy came opposite Amyclae, at this point they crossed the Eurotas. And wherever the Thebans encamped they at once threw down in front of their lines the greatest possible quantity of the trees which[*](370 B.C.) they cut down, and in this way guarded themselves; the Arcadians, however, did nothing of this sort, but left their camp behind them and turned their attention to plundering the houses. After this, on the third or fourth day of the invasion, the horsemen advanced to the race-course in the sanctuary of Poseidon Gaeaochus by divisions, the Thebans in full force, the Eleans, and all the horsemen who were there of the Phocians, Thessalians, or Locrians.

And the horsemen of the Lacedaemonians, seemingly very few in number, were formed in line against them. Meanwhile the Lacedaemonians had set an ambush of the younger hoplites, about three hundred in number, in the house of the Tyndaridae,[*]( See note on iii. 6.) and at the same moment these men rushed forth and their horsemen charged. The enemy, however, did not await their attack, but gave way. And on seeing this, many of the foot-soldiers also took to flight. But when the pursuers stopped and the army of the Thebans stood firm, the enemy encamped again.

It now seemed somewhat more certain that they would make no further attempt upon the city; and in fact their army departed thence and took the road toward Helos and Gytheium. And they burned such of the towns as were unwalled and made a three days’ attack upon Gytheium, where the Lacedaemonians had their dockyards. There were some of the Perioeci also who not only joined in this attack, but did regular service with the troops that followed the Thebans.[*]( A most striking indication of Xenophon’s pro-Spartan feeling (see Introd. p. x) is found in the fact that he here omits all reference to the greatest of the humiliations which Sparta suffered at this time: (1) the re-establishment by Epaminondas, the Theban general, of the independence of Messenia, which for centuries had been subject to the Spartans; and (2) the founding of the great city, Megalopolis, as the capital of an independent Arcadia. Nevertheless, Xenophon alludes several times in the following book to the accomplished fact of Messenian independence and to Megalopolis.)