Diodorus Siculus, Library 8-40

§ 15.17.4 So great was the slaughter, as the Phoenicians recalled past injuries, that the slain among the Sicilian Greeks were found to number more than fourteen thousand. The survivors, who found safety in the camp, were preserved by the coming of night. After their great victory in a pitched battle the Carthaginians retired to Panormus.

§ 15.17.5 The Carthaginians, bearing their victory as men should, dispatched ambassadors to Dionysius and gave him the opportunity to end the war. The tyrant gladly accepted the proposals, and peace was declared on the terms that both parties should hold what they previously possessed, the only exception being that the Carthaginians received both the city of the Selinuntians and its territory and that of Acragas as far as the river called Halycus. And Dionysius paid the Carthaginians one thousand talents. This was the state of affairs in Sicily.

§ 15.18.1 In Asia Glos, the Persian admiral in the Cyprian War, who had deserted from the King and had called upon both the Lacedemonians and the king of the Egyptians to make war upon the Persians, was assassinated by certain persons and so did not achieve his purpose. After his death Tachos took over his operations. He gathered a force about him and founded on a crag near the sea a city which bears the name of Leuce and contains a sacred shrine of Apollo.

§ 15.18.2 A short time after his death a dispute over this city arose between the inhabitants of Clazomenae and those of Cymae. Now at first the cities undertook to settle the matter by recourse to war, but later someone suggested that the god be asked which one of the two cities should be master of Leuce. The Pythia decided that it should be the one which should first offer sacrifice in Leuce, and that each side should start from his own city at the rising of the sun on a day upon which both should agree.

§ 15.18.3 When the day was set the Cymaeans assumed that they would have the advantage because their city lay the nearer, but the Clazomenians, though they were a greater distance away, devised the following scheme to get the victory. Choosing by lot from their own citizens, they founded near Leuce a city from which they made their start at the rising of the sun and thus forestalled the Cymaeans in performing the sacrifice.

§ 15.18.4 Having become masters Leuce by this scheme, they decided to hold an annual festival to bear its name which they called the Prophthaseia. After these events the rebellions in Asia came of themselves to an end.

§ 15.19.1 After the death of Glos and Tachos the Lacedemonians renounced their undertakings in Asia, but they went on organizing affairs in Greece for their own interest, winning over some of the cities by persuasion and getting others into their hands by force through the return of the exiles. From this point they began openly to bring into their own hands the supremacy of Greece, contrary to the command agreements adopted in the time of Antalcidas after intervention by the King of the Persians.

§ 15.19.2 In Macedonia Amyntas the king had been defeated by the Illyrians and had relinquished his authority; he had furthermore made a grant to the people of the Olynthians of a large part of the borderland because of his abandonment out of political power. At first the people of the Olynthians enjoyed the revenues from the land given them, and when later the king unexpectedly recovered strength and got back his entire kingdom, the Olynthians were not inclined to return the land when he asked for it.

§ 15.19.3 Consequently Amyntas gathered an army from his own people, and forming an alliance with the Lacedemonians persuaded them to send out a general and a strong force against the Olynthians. The Lacedemonians, having decided to extend their control to the regions about Thrace, enrolled soldiers both from their citizens and from their allies, more than ten thousand in all; the army they turned over to Phoebidas the Spartan with orders to join forces with Amyntas and to make war together with him upon the Olynthians. They also sent out another army against the people of Phlius, defeated them in battle, and compelled them to accept the rule of the Lacedemonians.

§ 15.19.4 At this time the kings of the Lacedemonians were at variance with each other on matters of policy. Agesipolis, who was a peaceful and just man and, furthermore, excelled in wisdom, declared that they should abide by their oaths and not enslave the Greeks contrary to the common agreements. He pointed out that Sparta was in ill repute for having surrendered the Greeks of Asia to the Persians and for organizing the cities of Greece in her own interest, although she had sworn in the common agreement that she would preserve their autonomy. But Agesilaus, who was by nature a man of action, was fond of war and yearned for dominance over the Greeks.

§ 15.20.1 When Evander was archon at Athens, the Romans elected six military tribunes with consular power, Quintus Sulpicius, Gaius Fabius, Quintus Servilius, Publius Cornelius. During their term of office, the Lacedemonian took possession of the Cadmeia in Thebes for the following reasons. Seeing that Boeotia had a large number of cities and that her inhabitants were men of outstanding valour, while Thebes, still retaining her renown of ancient times, was, generally speaking, the citadel of Boeotia, they were mindful of the danger that Thebes, if a suitable occasion arose, might claim the leadership of Greece.

§ 15.20.2 Accordingly the Spartans gave secret instructions to their commanders, if ever they found an opportunity, to take possession of the Cadmeia. Acting under these instructions, Phoebidas the Spartan, who had been assigned to a command and was leading an expeditionary force against Olynthus, seized the Cadmeia. When the Thebans, resenting this act, gathered under arms, he joined battle with them and after defeating them exiled three hundred of the most eminent Thebans. Then after he had terrorized the rest and had stationed a strong garrison in the Cadmeia, he went off on his own business. For this act the Lacedemonians, being now discredited in the eyes of the Greeks, punished Phoebidas with a fine but would not remove the garrison from Thebes.

§ 15.20.3 So the Thebans in this way lost their independence and were compelled to take orders from the Lacedemonians. As the Olynthians continued the war against Amyntas, king of the Macedonians, the Lacedemonians relieved Phoebidas of his command, and installed Phoebidas' brother Eudamidas as general. Giving him three thousand hoplites, they dispatched him to carry on the war against the Olynthians.

§ 15.21.1 Eudamidas struck into the territory of the Olynthians and, in conjunction with Amyntas, continued to wage war upon the Olynthians. Thereupon the Olynthians, who had collected a considerable force, had the better in the field because they had more soldiers than the enemy; but the Lacedemonians, having made ready a considerable force, appointed Teleutias general in charge of it. Teleutias was brother of King Agesilaus and was greatly admired for his valour by his fellow citizens.

§ 15.21.2 He accordingly set out from the Peloponnese with an army and on arriving near the territory of the Olynthians took over the soldiers commanded by Eudamidas. Being now a match for the enemy, he began by plundering the Olynthian territory and dividing among his troops the booty that he had collected; but when the Olynthians and their allies in full force took the field, he gave battle. At first they drew apart after an even contest, but later a stubborn battle was fought in which Teleutias himself fell after a splendid fight and the Lacedemonians lost more than twelve hundred men.

§ 15.21.3 After the Olynthians had met with so remarkable a success, the Lacedemonians, wishing to repair the loss they had sustained, prepared to send out more numerous forces, while the Olynthians, judging that the Spartans would come with larger forces and that the war would last for a long time, prepared large supplies of grain and procured additional soldiers from their allies.

§ 15.22.1 When Demophilus was archon at Athens, the Romans elected as military tribunes military tribune with consular power Publius Cornelius, Lucius Verginius, Lucius Papirius, Marcus Furius, Valerius, Aulus Manlius, Lucius and Postumius.

§ 15.22.2 During their term of office the Lacedemonians appointed as general Agesipolis their king, gave him an adequate army, and voted to make war on the Olynthians.On his arrival in Olynthian territory, he took under his command the soldiers previously encamped there and continued the war against the inhabitants. The Olynthians, however, engaged in no important battle this year, but to the end fought only by exchanges of missiles and short engagements, being in awe of the strength of the king's army.

§ 15.23.1 At the close of the year Pythias was archon at Athens, and at Rome six military tribunes with consular power were elected, Titus Quinctius, Lucius Servilius, Lucius Julius, Aquilius, Lucius Lucretius, and Servius Sulpicius; and in this year the Eleians celebrated the hundredth Olympiad, at which Dionysodorus of Tarentum won the stadium race.

§ 15.23.2 During their term of office Agesipolis, king of the Lacedemonians, died of illness after a reign of fourteen years; Cleombrotus his brother succeeded to the throne and reigned for nine years. The Lacedemonians appointed Polybiadas general and sent him to the war against the Olynthians.

§ 15.23.3 He took over the forces, and, prosecuting the war vigorously and with able generalship, was often superior. With ever-increasing success, after several victories, he reduced the Olynthians to a state of siege. In the end he thoroughly cowed his enemies and forced them to become subjects of the Lacedemonians. With the enrolment of the Olynthians in the Spartan alliance many other states likewise were eager to enlist under the Lacedemonian standard. As a result the Lacedemonians at this particular juncture reached their greatest power and won the overlordship of Greece on both land and sea.

§ 15.23.4 For the Thebans were secured by a garrison; the Corinthians and the Argives were safely humbled as a result of the previous wars; the Athenians, because of their policy of occupying with colonists the lands of those whom they subdued, had a bad reputation with the Greeks; the Lacedemonians, however, had given their constant attention to securing a large population and practice in the use of arms, and so were become an object of terror to all because of the strength of their following.

§ 15.23.5 Consequently the greatest rulers of that time, the Persian King and Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, paid court to the Spartan overlordship and sought alliance with them.

§ 15.24.1 When Nicon was archon at Athens, the Romans elected six military tribunes with consular power, Lucius Papirius, Gaius Servilius, Lucius Quinctius, Lucius Cornelius, Lucius Valerius, and Aulus Manlius. During their term of office the Carthaginians invaded Italy and restored their city to the Hipponiatae who had been exiled from it, and, having gathered together all the refugees, they showed themselves very solicitous of their welfare.

§ 15.24.2 After this a plague broke out among the inhabitants of Carthage which was so violent and took off so many of the Carthaginians that they risked losing their commanding position. For the Libyans, undervaluing them, seceded, and the Sardinians, thinking they now had an opportunity to oppose the Carthaginians, revolted, and, making common cause, attacked the Carthaginians.

§ 15.24.3 And about the same time a supernatural disaster befell Carthage; for turmoils and fears and panicky disturbances constantly occurred throughout the city defying explanation; and many men rushed from their houses in arms, having the impression that enemies had burst into the city, and they fought constantly with one another as if with enemies, killing some and wounding others. Finally, after having propitiated the deity by sacrifices and with difficulty rid themselves of their misfortunes, they quickly subdued the Libyans and recovered the island of Sardinia.

§ 15.25.1 When Nausinicus was archon at Athens, the Romans elected four military tribunes with consular power, Marcus Cornelius, Quintus Servilius, Marcus Furius, and Lucius Quinctius. During their term of office what is known as the Boeotian War broke out between the Lacedemonians and the Boeotians for the following reasons. When the Lacedemonians maintained a garrison unjustly in the Cadmeia and had exiled many important citizens, the exiles gathered together, secured the support of the Athenians, and returned by night to their native city.

§ 15.25.2 Having first slain in their own houses those who favoured the Lacedemonian cause, whom they surprised while still asleep, they next rallied the citizens to the cause of freedom and obtained the co operation of all the Thebans. When the populace had quickly assembled under arms, at daybreak they attempted to assault the Cadmeia.

§ 15.25.3 The Lacedemonians who formed the garrison of the citadel, numbering with their allies not less than fifteen hundred, sent men to Sparta to announce the insurrection of the Thebans and to urge them to send help as soon as possible. Favoured by their position, they slew many of the attackers and wounded severely no small number.

§ 15.25.4 The Thebans, anticipating the arrival of a large army from Greece to aid the Lacedemonians, dispatched envoys to Athens to remind them that they too once aided in restoring the democracy of the Athenians at the time when the Athenians had been enslaved by the Thirty Tyrants, and to request the Athenians to come with all their forces and assist them in reducing the Cadmeia before the arrival of the Lacedemonians.

§ 15.26.1 The Athenian people heard the ambassadors through to the end and voted to dispatch immediately as large a force as possible for the liberation of Thebes, thus repaying their obligation for the former service and at the same time moved by a desire to win the Boeotians to their side and to have in them a powerful partner in the contest against the superiority of the Lacedemonians. For the Boeotian was reputed to be inferior to none of the Greek nations in the number of its men and in military valour.

§ 15.26.2 Finally Demophon, who had been made general, and had immediately raised a levy of five thousand hoplites and five hundred horse, on the following day at dawn led forth his troops from the city, and pressed on at full speed in an effort to outstrip the Lacedemonians; but the Athenians none the less went on with their preparations for an expedition into Boeotia with all their forces in case of need.3 Demophon by taking cross-country paths appeared unexpectedly before Thebes. And since many soldiers likewise came hurriedly together from the other cities of Boeotia, there was quickly assembled a great army for the support of the Thebans. 4 For not less than twelve thousand hoplites and more than two thousand horse were assembled. And since they were one and all eager for the siege, dividing their forces they kept making their assaults in relays, maintaining a persistent attack at all times both day and night.

§ 15.27.1 The garrison in the Cadmeia under the exhortations of their commanders stoutly defended themselves against their adversaries, expecting that the Lacedemonians would come shortly with a large army. Now as long as they had sufficient food, they held out stubbornly against the attacks and slew and wounded many of their besiegers, supported by the strength of the citadel; but when the scarcity of provisions increased and the Lacedemonians, occupied in mustering forces, were long in coming, dissension spread amongst them.

§ 15.27.2 For the Lacedemonians among them thought they should hold out till death, while their partners in war from the allied cities, who were many times their number, declared themselves for surrendering the Cadmeia. Under such compulsion even the men from Sparta itself, who were but few, joined in the evacuation of the citadel. These therefore capitulated on terms and returned to the Peloponnese;

§ 15.27.3 but the Lacedemonians advanced with a considerable force on Thebes, and, coming just too late, were unsuccessful in their attack. They put on trial the three officers of the garrison, sentenced two to death, and inflicted so heavy a fine upon the third that his estate could not pay it.

§ 15.27.4 Subsequently the Athenians returned home, and the Thebans assailed Thespiae but were unsuccessful in their attack. While these things were taking place in Greece, the Romans dispatched five hundred colonists, who were to be exempt from taxes, to Sardinia.

§ 15.28.1 When Calleas was archon at Athens, the Romans elected as military tribunes with consular power four men, Lucius Papirius, Marcus Publius, Titus Cornelius, and Quintus Lucius. During their term of office, following the failure of the Lacedemonians at Thebes, the Boeotians, uniting boldly, formed an alliance and gathered a considerable army, expecting that the Lacedemonians would arrive in Boeotia in great strength.

§ 15.28.2 The Athenians sent their most respected citizens as ambassadors to the city which were subject to the Lacedemonians, urging them to adhere to the common cause of liberty. For the Lacedemonians, relying on the size of the force at their disposal, ruled their subject peoples inconsiderately and severely, and consequently many of those who belonged to the Spartan sphere of influence fell away to the Athenians.

§ 15.28.3 The first to respond to the plea to secede were the peoples of Chios and Byzantium; they were followed by the peoples of Rhodes and Mytilene and certain others of the islanders; and as the movement steadily gathered force throughout Greece, many cities attached themselves to the Athenians. The democracy, elated by the loyalty of the cities, established a common council of all the allies and appointed representatives of each state.

§ 15.28.4 It was agreed by common consent that, while the council should hold its sessions in Athens, every city great and small should be on an equal basis and enjoy but one vote, and that all should continue independent, accepting the Athenians as leaders. The Lacedemonians, aware that the movement of their cities to secede could not be checked, nevertheless strove earnestly by means of diplomatic missions, friendly words and promises of benefits to win back the peoples who had become estranged.

§ 15.28.5 Likewise they devoted themselves assiduously to their preparations for war, for they expected the Boeotian War to be a hard and tedious affair for them, since the Athenians and the rest of the Greeks who participated in the council were allied with the Thebans.

§ 15.29.1 While these things were going on, Acoris, the king of the Egyptians, being on unfriendly terms with the Persian King, collected a large mercenary force; for by offering high pay to those who enrolled and doing favours to many of them, he quickly induced many of the Greeks to take service with him for the campaign.

§ 15.29.2 But having no capable general, he sent for Chabrias the Athenian, a man distinguished both for his prudence as general and his shrewdness in the art of war, who had also won great repute for personal prowess. Now Chabrias, without first securing the permission of the Athenian people, accepted the appointment and took command of the forces in Egypt and with great dispatch made preparations to fight the Persians.

§ 15.29.3 But Pharnabazus, who had been appointed by the King general of the Persian armies, prepared large supplies of war material, and also sent ambassadors to Athens, first to denounce Chabrias, who by becoming general of the Egyptians was alienating, so he said, the King's affection from the people of Athens, and, secondly, to urge them to give him Iphicrates as general.

§ 15.29.4 The Athenians, being eager to gain the favour of the Persian King and to incline Pharnabazus to themselves, quickly recalled Chabrias from Egypt and dispatched Iphicrates as general to act in alliance with the Persians. The truce which the Lacedemonians and Athenians had concluded in the earlier period remained unshaken up to this time. But now Sphodriades the Spartan, who had been placed in command and was by nature flighty and precipitate, was prevailed upon by Cleombrotus, the king of the Lacedemonians, without the consent of the ephors to occupy the Peiraeus. 6 Sphodriades with more than ten thousand soldiers attempted to occupy the Peiraeus at night, but he was detected by the Athenians and, failing in the attempt, returned without accomplishing anything. He was then denounced before the council of the Spartans, but since he had the kings to support him, he got off by a miscarriage of justice. 7 As a result the Athenians, much vexed at the occurrence, voted that the truce had been broken by the Lacedemonians. They then decided to make war on them and chose three of their most distinguished citizens as generals, Timotheus, Chabrias, and Callistratus. They voted to levy twenty thousand hoplites and five hundred cavalry, and to man two hundred ships. They likewise admitted the Thebans into the common council on terms equal in all respects. 8 They voted also to restore the land settled by cleruchs to its former owners and passed a law that no Athenian should cultivate lands outside of Attica. By this generous act they recovered the goodwill of the Greeks and made their own leadership more secure.

§ 15.30.1 Now many of the other cities for the aforesaid reason were prompted to fall away to Athens; and the first to join in the alliance and the most eager were the cities of Euboea excepting Hestiaea; for Hestiaea, having been treated most generously by the Lacedemonians while she had suffered terribly in war with the Athenians, had very good reason for maintaining unabated her enmity to Athens and force continuing to observe inviolate her pledge of the Sparta.

§ 15.30.2 Nevertheless seventy cities eventually entered into alliance with the Athenians and participated on equal footing in the common council. So with the constant increase in the strength of the Athenians and the diminution of that of the Lacedemonians the two states were now well matched. The Athenians, seeing affairs proceeding to their liking, dispatched a force to Euboea to serve at once as a protection for their allies and to subdued the opposition.

§ 15.30.3 In Euboea a short time before this a certain Neogenes with the assistance of Jason of Pherae had gathered soldiers and occupied the citadel of Hestiaea, and so appointed himself tyrant of this country and of the city of Oreitans. Because of his violent and arrogant rule the Lacedemonians had then dispatched Theripides against him.

§ 15.30.4 Theripides at first endeavoured to prevail upon the tyrant by reasoning with him to leave the citadel; but when the tyrant paid no heed to him, he rallied the people of the district to the cause of freedom, took the place by storm, and restored their freedom to the people of Oreus. For this reason the people who inhabit what is known as the country of the Hestiaeans continued to be loyal to the Spartans and preserved intact their friendship.

§ 15.30.5 Chabrias, in command of the force dispatched by the Athenians, left aside Hestiaeotis, and, fortifying its Metropolis, as it is called, which is situated on a naturally steep hill, left a garrison in it, and then sailed to the Cyclades and won over Peparethos and Sciathos and some other islands which had been subject to the Lacedemonians.

§ 15.31.1 The Spartans, perceiving that the impulse of their allies to secede was not to be checked, put an end to their former severity and began to treat the cities humanely. By this sort of treatment and by benefactions they rendered all their allies more loyal. And now that they saw that the war was becoming more serious and required strict attention, they set ambitiously to work on their various preparations for it, and in particular brought to greater perfection the organization and distribution of their soldiers and the services.

§ 15.31.2 In fact they divided the cities and the soldiers that were levied for the war into ten parts. The first part included the Lacedemonians, the second and third the Arcadians, the fourth the Eleians, the fifth the Achaeans. Corinthians and Megarians supplied the sixth, the seventh the Sicyonians and Phliasians and the inhabitants of the promontory called Acte, the eighth the Acarnanians, the ninth the Phocians and Locrians, and the last of all the Olynthians and the allies who lived in Thrace. They reckoned one hoplite to two light-armed, and one horseman as equivalent to four hoplites.

§ 15.31.3 Such was the organization, and King Agesilaus was put in command of the campaign. He was renowned for courage and shrewdness in the art of war and had been all but invincible in the former periods. For in all his wars he won admiration and especially when the Lacedemonians were fighting the Persians. For he gave battle and won the victory over a force of many times his own number; then he overran a large part of Asia, mastering the open country, and finally would probably have succeeded, had not the Spartans recalled him because of political affairs, in reducing the whole Persian empire to the direst straits.

§ 15.31.4 For he was a man of energy, daring but highly intelligent, engaging in hazardous actions. Accordingly the Spartans, seeing that the magnitude of the war called for a first-rate leader, again appointed him commander of the whole war.

§ 15.32.1 Agesilaus led forth his army and reached Boeotia accompanied by all the soldiers, amounting to more than eighteen thousand, in which were the five divisions of Lacedemonians. Each division contained five hundred men. The company known as Sciritae amongst the Spartans is not drawn up with the rest, but has its own station with the king and it goes to the support of the sections that from time to time are in distress; and since it is composed of picked men, it is an important factor in turning the scale in pitched battles, and generally determines the victory. Agesilaus also had fifteen hundred cavalry.

§ 15.32.2 Passing on then to the city of Thespiae, which was garrisoned by the Lacedemonians, he encamped near it and for several days rested his men from the hardships of the march. The Athenians, having become aware of the arrival of the Lacedemonians in Boeotia, immediately went to the assistance of Thebes with five thousand foot-soldiers and two hundred cavalry.

§ 15.32.3 When these forces had assembled, the Thebans occupied an oblong crest about twenty stades from the city and, having transformed the obstacle into a bastion, awaited the attack of the enemy; for the reputation of Agesilaus so overawed them that they were too timid to await his attack on equal terms in the level country.

§ 15.32.4 As for Agesilaus, he led out his army in battle array against the Boeotians, and, when he had drawn near, in the first place launched his light-armed troops against his opponents, thus testing their disposition to fight him. But when the Thebans had easily from their higher position thrust his men back, he led the whole army against them closely arrayed to strike them with terror.

§ 15.32.5 Chabrias the Athenian, however, leading his mercenary troops, ordered his men to receive the enemy with a show of contempt, maintaining all the while their battle lines, and, leaning their shields against their knees, to wait with upraised spear.

§ 15.32.6 Since they did what they were ordered as at a single word of command, Agesilaus, marvelling at the fine discipline of the enemy and their posture of contempt, judged it inadvisable to force a way against the higher ground and compel his opponents to show their valour in a hand-to hand contest, and, having learned by trial that they would dare, if forced, to dispute the victory, he challenged them in the plain. But when the Thebans would not come down to meet him, he withdrew the phalanx of infantry, dispatched the cavalry and light-armed ranks to plunder the countryside unhampered, and so took a great quantity of spoil.

§ 15.33.1 The Spartan advisers, who accompanied Agesilaus, and his officers expressed to him their surprise that Agesilaus, who reputedly was a man of energy and had the larger and more powerful force, should have avoided a decisive contest with the enemy. To them Agesilaus made answer that, as it was, the Lacedemonians had won the victory without the risk; for when the countryside was being sacked, the Boeotians had not dared to rally to its defence; but if, when the enemy themselves had conceded the victory, he had forced them to endure the risks of battle, perhaps through the uncertainty of fortune the Lacedemonians might even have come to grief in the contest.

§ 15.33.2 Now at the time he was thought in this reply of his to have estimated the possible outcome fairly well, but later in the light of events he was believed to have uttered no mere human saying but a divinely inspired oracle. For the Lacedemonians, having taken the field against the Thebans with a mighty army and having compelled them to fight for their freedom, met with a great disaster.

§ 15.33.3 They were defeated, namely, at Leuctra first, where they lost many of their citizen soldiers and their king Cleombrotus fell; and later, when they fought at Mantineia, they were utterly routed and hopelessly lost their supremacy. For fortune has a knack, when men vaunt themselves too highly, of laying them unexpectedly low and so teaching them to hope for nothing in excess. At any rate Agesilaus, prudently satisfied with his first success, brought his army through unharmed.

§ 15.33.4 After this Agesilaus returned with his army to the Peloponnese, while the Thebans, saved by the generalship of Chabrias, though he had performed many gallant deeds in war, was particularly proud of this bit of strategy and he caused the statues which had been granted to him by his people to be erected to display that posture.

§ 15.33.5 The Thebans after the departure of Agesilaus, leading an expedition against Thespiae, destroyed the advance outpost consisting of two hundred men, but after making repeated assaults on the city itself and accomplishing nothing worthy of mention, led their army back to Thebes.

§ 15.33.6 Phoebidas, the Lacedemonian, who had a considerable garrison in Thespiae, sallied forth from the city, fell rashly upon the retreating Thebans, and lost more than five hundred soldiers, while he himself, fighting brilliantly, after receiving many wounds in front, met a hero's death.

§ 15.34.1 Not long after this the Lacedemonians again took the field against Thebes in the same strength as before, but the Thebans, by occupying certain new obstacles, prevented the enemy from devastating the country, though they did not venture to offer battle in the plains face to face against the whole army of the enemy.

§ 15.34.2 As Agesilaus advanced to the attack, they came out to met him gradually. A bitter battle raged for a long time, in which at first Agesilaus' men prevailed, but later, as the Thebans poured forth in full force from the city, Agesilaus, behold the multitude of men streaming down upon him, summoned his soldiers by trumpet to withdraw from the battle. The Thebans, who found themselves now for the first time not inferior to the Lacedemonians, erected a trophy of victory and thereafter faced the army of the Spartans with confidence.

§ 15.34.3 With regard to the fighting of the land forces, such was the issue. At sea about the same time occurred a great naval battle between Naxos and Paros, of which the cause was as follows. Pollis, the admiral of the Lacedemonians, learning that a large shipment of grain was on its way to Athens in freighters, lay in wait watching for the grain fleet as it put in to port, intending to attack the freighters. The Athenian people, being informed of this, sent out a convoy to guard the grain in transit, which in fact brought it safe to the Peiraeus.

§ 15.34.4 Later Chabrias, the Athenian admiral, with the whole navy sailed to Naxos and laid it under siege. Bringing his siege-engines to bear against the walls, when he had shaken them, he then bent every effort to take the city by storm. While these things were going on, Pollis, the admiral of the Lacedemonians, sailed into port to assist the Naxians. In eager rivalry both sides engaged in a sea-battle, and forming in line of battle charged each other.

§ 15.34.5 Pollis had sixty-five triremes; Chabrias eighty-three. As the ships bore down on one another, Pollis, leading the right wing, was first to attack the opposing triremes on the left wing, which Cedon the Athenian commanded. In a brilliant contest he slew Cedon himself and sank his ship; and, in similar fashion engaging the other ships of Cedon and tearing them open with the beaks of his ships, he destroyed some and others he forced to flee.

§ 15.34.6 When Chabrias beheld what was happening, he dispatched a squadron of the ships under his command and brought support to the men who were hard pressed and so retrieved the defeat of his own side. He himself with the strongest part of the fleet in a valiant struggle destroyed many triremes and took a large number captive.

§ 15.35.1 Although he had thus won the upper hand and forced all the enemies' ships to flee, he abstained altogether from pursuit. For he recalled the battle of Arginusae and that the assembly of the people, in return for the great service performed by victorious generals, condemned them to death on the charge that they had failed to bury the men who had perished in the fight; consequently he was afraid, since the circumstances were much the same, that he might run the risk of a similar fate. Accordingly, refraining from pursuit, he gathered up the bodies of his fellow citizens which were afloat, saved those who still lived, and buried the dead. Had he not engaged in this task he would easily have destroyed the whole enemy fleet.

§ 15.35.2 In the battle eighteen triremes on the Athenian side were destroyed; on the Lacedemonian twenty-four were destroyed and eight captured with their crews. Chabrias then, having won a notable victory, sailed back laden with spoils to the Peiraeus and met with an enthusiastic reception from his fellow citizens. Since the Peloponnesian War this was the first naval battle the Athenians had won. For they had not fought the battle of Cnidus with a fleet of their own, but had got the use of the King's fleet and won a victory.

§ 15.35.3 While these things were going on, in Italy Marcus Manlius, who aspired to a tyranny in Rome, was overpowered and slain.

§ 15.36.1 When Charisander was archon at Athens, the Romans elected four military tribunes with consular power, Servius Sulpicius, Lucius Papirius, Titus Quinctius; and the Eleians celebrated the one hundred first Olympiad, in which Damon of Thurii won the stadium race. During their term of office, in Thrace the Triballians, suffering from a famine, moved in full force into territory beyond their borders and obtained food from the land not their own.

§ 15.36.2 More than thirty thousand invaded the adjacent part of Thrace and ravaged with impunity the territory of Abdera; and after seizing a large quantity of booty they were making their way homeward in a contemptuous and disorderly fashion when the inhabitants of Abdera took the field in full force against them and slew more than two thousand of them as they straggled in disorder homewards.

§ 15.36.3 The barbarians then, enraged at what had happened and wishing to avenge themselves upon the Abderites, again invaded their land. The victors in the earlier conflict, being elated by their success and aided by the presence of the Thracians of the neighbouring region, who had sent out a body of men to assist them, drew up their lines opposite to the barbarians.

§ 15.36.4 A stubborn battle took place, and since the Thracians suddenly changed sides, the Abderites, now left to fight alone and surrounded by the superior number of the barbarians, were butchered almost to a man, as many as took part in the fight. But just after the Abderites had suffered so great a disaster and were on the point of being besieged, Chabrias the Athenian suddenly appeared with troops and snatched them out of their perils. He drove the barbarians from the country, and, after leaving a considerable garrison in the city, was himself assassinated by certain persons.

§ 15.36.5 Timotheus succeeded him as admiral, sailed to Cephallenia, won over the cities there, and likewise persuaded the cities of Acarnania to come over to Athens. After he had made a friend of Alcetas, king of the Molossians, and, speaking generally, had won over the areas belonging to the cities of those regions, he defeated the Lacedemonians in a naval battle off Leuctra.

§ 15.36.6 All this he accomplished quickly and easily, not only persuading men by his eloquence, but also winning battles by courage and good generalship. Consequently he won great acclaim, not only among his own fellow citizens but also among the Greeks at large. Thus stood the fortunes of Timotheus.

§ 15.37.1 While these things were going on, the Thebans made an expedition against Orchomenus with five hundred picked men and performed a memorable action. For as the Lacedemonians maintained a garrison of many soldiers in Orchomenus and had drawn up their forces against the Thebans, a stiff battle took place in which the Thebans, attacking twice their number, defeated the Lacedemonians. Never indeed had such a thing occurred before; it had seemed enough if they won with many against few.

§ 15.37.2 The result was that the Thebans swelled with pride, became more and more renowned for their valour, and had manifestly put themselves in a position to compete for the supremacy of Greece.

§ 15.37.3 Of the historians, Hermeias of Methymne brought to a close with this year his narrative of Sicilian affairs, having composed ten books, or, as some divide the work, twelve.

§ 15.38.1 When Hippodamas was archon at Athens, the Romans elected four military tribunes with consular power, Lucius Valerius, Lucius Manlius, Servius Sulpicius, and Lucretius. During their term of office Artaxerxes, King of the Persians, intending to make war on the Egyptians and being busily engaged in organizing a considerable mercenary army, decided to effect a settlement of the wars going on in Greece. For by this means he particularly hoped that the Greeks, once released from their domestic wars, would be more ready to accept mercenary service. Accordingly he sent ambassadors to Greece to urge the cities to enter into a general peace by agreement.

§ 15.38.2 The Greeks welcomed his proposal because they wearied of the uninterrupted series of wars, and all agreed to make peace on the condition that all the cities should be independent and free from foreign garrisons. Accordingly the Greeks appointed agents who, going from city to city, proceeded to evacuate all the garrisons. But the Thebans alone would not agree that the ratification of the peace should be made city by city, but insisted that all Boeotia should be listed as subject to the confederacy of the Thebans.

§ 15.38.3 When the Athenians opposed this in the most contentious manner, Callistratus, their popular leader, reciting their reasons, while, on behalf of the Thebans, Epameinondas delivered the address before the general assembly with marvellous effect, the result was that though the terms of the peace were harmoniously concluded for all the other Greek states, the Thebans alone were refused participation in them; and, through the influence of Epameinondas, who by his own personal merits inspired his fellow citizens with patriotic spirit, they were emboldened to make a stand against the decision of all the rest.

§ 15.38.4 For the Lacedemonians and Athenians, who had constantly been rivals for the hegemony, now yielded one to the other, the one being judged worthy on land, the other on the sea. They were consequently annoyed by the claims to leadership advanced by a third contender and sought to sever the Boeotian cities from the Theban confederation.

§ 15.39.1 The Thebans, who excelled in bodily strength and prowess and had already conquered the Lacedemonians in numerous battles, were elated in spirit and eager to dispute the supremacy on land. Nor were they cheated of their hope, both for the aforesaid reasons and because they had more good commanders and generals during the period under consideration.

§ 15.39.2 Most famous were Pelopidas, Gorgidas, and Epameinondas. Epameinondas, indeed, far excelled not merely those of his own race but even all Greeks in valour and shrewdness in the art of war. He had a broad general education, being particularly interested in the philosophy of Pythagoras. Besides this, being well endowed with physical advantages, it is natural that he contributed very distinguished achievements. Hence even when compelled with a very few citizen soldiers to fight against all the armies of the Lacedemonians and their allies, he was so far superior to these heretofore invincible warriors that he slew the Spartan king Cleombrotus, and almost completely annihilated the multitude of his opponents.

§ 15.39.3 Such were the remarkable deeds which he unexpectedly performed because of his astuteness and the moral excellence he had derived from his education. However, we shall somewhat later explain these matters more fully in a special chapter; at present we shall turn to the thread of our narrative.

§ 15.40.1 After autonomy had been conceded to the various peoples, the cities fell into great disturbances and internal strife, particularly in the Peloponnese. Having been used to oligarchic institutions and now taking foolish advantage of the liberties which democracy allows itself, they exiled many of their good citizens, and, trumping up charges against them, condemned them. Thus falling into internal strife they had recourse to exilings and confiscations of property, particularly against those who during the Spartan hegemony had been leaders of their native cities.

§ 15.40.2 Indeed in those times the oligarchs had exercised authoritative control over their fellow citizens, and later as the democratic mob recovered is freedom it harboured a grudge. First, however, the exiles of Phialeia, rallying their forces, recovered Heraea, as it is called, a stronghold. And setting out from there, they swooped down upon Phialeia, and at a time when, as it happened, the festival of Dionysus was being celebrated, they fell unexpectedly upon the spectators in the theatre, killed many, persuaded not a few to participate in their folly, and retreated to Sparta.

§ 15.40.3 And the exiles from Corinth, who, many in number, were living among the Argives, attempted to return, but though admitted into the city by some of their relatives and friends, they were denounced and surrounded, and, as they were about to be apprehended, fearful of the maltreatment their capture would entail, they slew one another. The Corinthians, having charged many of their citizens with assisting the exiles in the attack, put some to death and exiled others.

§ 15.40.4 Again, in the city of the Megarians, when some persons endeavoured to overturn the government and overpowered by the democracy, many were slain and not a few driven into exile. Likewise among the Sicyonians as well a number who tried to effect a revolution but failed were killed.

§ 15.40.5 Among the Phliasians, when many who were in exile had seized a stronghold in the country and gathered a considerable number of mercenaries, a battle was fought against the city party, and, when the exiles won the victory, over three hundred of the Phliasians were slain. Later, as the sentinels betrayed the exiles, the Phliasians got the upper hand and executed more than six hundred exiles, while they drove the rest out of the country and compelled them to take refuge in Argos. Such were the disasters that afflicted the Peloponnesian cities.

§ 15.41.1 When Socratides was archon at Athens, the Romans elected four military tribunes with consular power, Quintus Servilius, Servius Cornelius, and Spurius Papirius. During their term of office King Artaxerxes sent an expedition against the Egyptians, who had revolted from Persia. The leaders of the army were Pharnabazus, commanding the barbarian contingent, and Iphicrates the Athenian, commanding the mercenaries, who numbered twenty thousand. Iphicrates, who had been summoned for the campaign by the King, was given the assignment because of his strategic skill.

§ 15.41.2 After Pharnabazus had wasted several years making his preparations, Iphicrates perceiving that though in talk he was clever, he was sluggish in action, frankly told him that he marvelled that anyone so quick in speech could be so dilatory in action. Pharnabazus replied that it was because he was master of his words but the King was master of his actions.

§ 15.41.3 When the Persian army had assembled at the city of Ace it numbered two hundred thousand barbarians under the command of Pharnabazus and twenty thousand Greek mercenaries led by Iphicrates. The triremes numbered three hundred and the thirty-oared vessels two hundred. The number of those conveying food and other supplies was great.

§ 15.41.4 At the beginning of the summer the King's generals broke camp with the entire army, and accompanied by the fleet sailing along the coast proceeded to Egypt. When they came near the Nile they found that the Egyptians had manifestly completed their preparations for the war.