Hellenica

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[*](369 B.C.) 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[*](368 B.C.) proud confidence in themselves, Philiscus of Abydus came from Ariobarzanes[*](cp. v. i. 28.) 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,[*]( See note on VI. v. 32.) 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[*](368 B.C.) 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.[*]( The circumstance was of good omen because Heracles was the traditional ancestor of the Spartan kings.) 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;[*](368 B.C.) 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[*](367 B.C.) 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,[*]( The παγκράτιον a regular event in the Greek national games, was a combination of boxing and wrestling.) 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[*](367 B.C.) 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[*]( See III. v. 5.) and had refused to permit Agesilaus to sacrifice to Artemis at Aulis,[*]( This incident is described in III. iv. 3-4.) 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[*](367 B.C.) 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[*]( i.e., the Arcadian assembly.) 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[*](367 B.C.) 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[*]( A mountain range, south-east of Corinth, over which the road from Northern Greece into Peloponnesus passed.) 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[*](367 B.C.) 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.