98
and the Greeks were incensed at this, and the Plataeans brought suit on behalf of the allies against the Lacedaemonians before the AmphictyonsThese were the members of the council of Greek states meeting at Delphi. for one thousand talents, and compelled them to erase the distich and to inscribe the names of all the states which had had a part in the work. This act more than any other drew upon the Plataeans the hatred of the Lacedaemonians and their royal house.
98
For the moment the Lacedaemonians had no means of dealing with them, but about fifty years later Archidamus, son of Zeuxidamus, king of the Lacedaemonians, undertook in time of peace to seize their city.
99
He did this from Thebes, through the agency of Eurymachus, the son of Leontiadas, the Boeotarch,This title was given to the high officials at Thebes. The story of the attack on Plataea is told in detail in Thuc. 2.2 ff. The date was 428 B.C. and the gates were opened at night by Naucleides and some accomplices of his, who had been won over by bribes. The Plataeans, discovering that the Thebans had got within the gates in the night and that their city had been suddenly seized in time of peace, ran to bear aid and arrayed themselves for battle. When day dawned, and they saw that the Thebans were few in number, and that only their first ranks had entered—a heavy rain which had fallen in the night prevented them from all getting in; for the river Asopus was flowing full and was not easy to cross especially in the night;—
