Book 3
2.22
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.
2.23
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.
2.24
Now when the399 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.
