Kitap 5
Such was the order and the composition of the two sides. The army of the Lacedaemonians appeared the larger;
but the number, either of the separate contingents or of the total on either side, I could not possibly state accurately. For on account of the secrecy of their polity the number of the Lacedaemonians was unknown; and that claimed for the others, on account of men's tendency to boast with regard to their own numbers, was discredited.
However, from the following mode of computation it is allowable to estimate the number of the Lacedaemonians that were then present. There were engaged in the battle seven battalions, without the Sciritae, who numbered six hundred, and in each battalion were four companies of fifty, in each company four platoons. In the first rank of each company fought four men; in depth, however, they were not all drawn up alike, but as each battalioncommander preferred—on the average eight deep. Along the whole line, then, exclusive of the Sciritae, the first rank consisted of four hundred and forty-eight men.The sum-total of the whole army was 4,184 men (7×4×4×4=448×8=3,584+600=4,184).
When they were on the point of engaging, exhortations were made to the several contingents by their own generals to the following effect: The Mantineans were reminded that the battle would be for fatherland, and, moreover, for dominion or servitude—that they should not be deprived of the one after having made trial of it, and should not again experience the other; the Argives, that the contest would be both for their ancient hegemonyUnder Agamemnon. and for their old equality of influenceBefore the Persian Wars. in the Peloponnese, that they must not brook being deprived of it forever, and at the same time must avenge themselves for many wrongs on men who were enemies and near neighbours at that; the Athenians, that it was glorious, contending along with many and brave allies, to be inferior to none, and that if they should conquer the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese they would have a greater empire and hold it more securely, and no one would ever invade their country again.
Such were the admonitions addressed to the Argives and their allies; the Lacedaemonians, however, exhorted one another man by man, using also their war-songs-as brave men to remember what they had learned, knowing that long-continued actual practice meant more for their salvation than any brief admonition, however well spoken.
After this the conflict commenced, the Argives and their allies advancing eagerly and impetuously, but the Lacedaemonians slowly and to the music of many flute-players placed among them according to custom, not with any religious motive, but in order that they might march up with even step and keeping time without breaking their order, as large armies are apt to do in going into battle.
But while they were still closing, King Agis resolved to make the following manoeuvre. All armies are apt, on coming together, to thrust out their right wing too much; and both sides extend with their right beyond their opponents' left wing, because in their fear each man brings his uncovered side as close as possible to the shield of the man stationed on his right, thinking that the closer the shields are locked together the better is the protection. And it is the first man on the right wing who is primarily responsible for this, since he always wants to withdraw from the enemy his own uncovered side, and the rest, from a like fear, follow his example.
And so on this occasion the Mantineans extended with their right wing far beyond the Sciritae; and the Lacedaemonians and Tegeates further still beyond the Athenians, inasmuch as their army was larger.
So Agis, in fear that his left might be encircled, and thinking that the Mantineans were extending too far beyond it, gave orders to the Sciritae and the soldiers of Brasidas to move out, away from his main body, and make the line equal to that of the Mantineans; then he directed two polemarchs, Hipponoïdas and Aristocles, to cross over with two companies from the right wing, throw themselves in and fill up the gap thus created, thinking that his own right wing would still have more than enough men, and that the line opposed to the Mantineans would be strengthened.
It turned out, then, as he gave this order at the very moment of the attack and on a sudden, that Aristocles and Hipponoïdas refused to move over—for which offence they were afterwards exiled from Sparta, as they were considered to have acted as cowards; and that the enemy were too quick for him in coming to close quarters; and then, when the companies did not move over to replace the Sciritae, and he gave orders to the Sciritae to join the main body again, even these were now no longer able to close up the line.
Yet in the most striking way the Lacedaemonians, although they were in all respects proved inferior in point of tactical skill, did on this occasion show that they were none the less superior in courage.
For when they came to close quarters with the foe, the right wing of the Mantineans routed, it is true, the Sciritae and the Brasideans, and then the Mantineans and their allies and the thousand picked men of the Argives, rushing into the gap that had not been closed, played havoc with the Lacedaemonians; for they surrounded and put them to rout, and drove them in among the wagons, slaying some of the older men stationed there.
In this quarter, then, the Lacedaemonians were worsted; but in the rest of the army, and especially in the centre, where King Agis was, and about him the three hundred who were called knights,Chosen from the flower of the Spartan youth and serving as a royal body-guard, on foot as well as on horseback. they fell upon the older men of the Argives, the so-called five companies, and upon the Cleonaeans, the Orneates, and those of the Athenians that were arrayed with them, and routed them. Most of the enemy did not even wait to come to blows, but when the Lacedaemonians came on gave way at once, some of them being trodden underfoot in their effort to get out of the way before being hemmed in by the Lacedaemonians.
When the army of the Argives and their allies had given way in this quarter, their line was on the point of being broken in both directions; and at the same time the right wing of the Lacedaemonians and the Tegeates was beginning to encircle the Athenians with the outflanking part of their own line; and so danger beset them on both sides, for they were being surrounded in one quarter and had been already defeated in the other.
And they would have suffered more than any part of the whole army if their cavalry had not been present and proved helpful to them. It happened, too, that Agis, perceiving that the left of his own forces, which was opposed to the Mantineans and the thousand Argives, was in distress, gave orders for the whole army to go to the assistance of the part that was in danger of defeat.
When this was done, the Athenians, as the enemy's force passed on and moved away from them, quietly made their escape, and with them the part of the Argives that had been worsted. The Mantineans and their allies, on the other hand, and the picked men of the Argives, were no longer disposed to press home the attack on their opponents, but seeing their own side defeated and the Lacedaemonians bearing down upon them, turned to flight.
On the part of the Mantineans the losses were more serious, but of the picked men of the Argives the greater part was saved. The flight, however, was not hotly pursued, nor did the retreat extend to any great distance; for the Lacedaemonians fight their battles long and stubbornly, standing their ground until they rout their foes, but when they have routed them their pursuits are brief and only for a little distance.
Such, then, was the battle—or as like as possible to this description—being the greatest that had occurred within a very long time between Hellenic forces, and fought by the most famous states.
The Lacedaemonians, halting in front of their enemies' dead, straightway set up a trophy and stripped the slain, then took up their own dead and withdrew to Tegea, where they buried them, giving up under truce those of the enemy.
There were slain, of the Argives, Orneates and Cleonaeans seven hundred, of the Mantineans two hundred, of the Athenians, together with the Aeginetans,Athenian colonists settled in Aegina; cf. 2.27.1. two hundred, and both their generals. On the side of the Lacedaemonians, the allies did not suffer so that any number worth mentioning was missing; about themselves it was difficult to learn the truth, but near three hundred were said to have been killed.
As the battle was about to take place, Pleistoanax, the other king, set out with the older and younger mencf. 5.64.3. to bring succour, and got as far as Tegea; but learning there of the victory he returned.
The allies, too, from Corinth and from outside the Isthmuscf. 5.64.4. were turned back by messengers sent by the Lacedaemonians, who then likewise withdrew and, dismissing their allies, celebrated the festival of the Carneia; for it happenedAug. 418 B.C. to fall
at that time. And the charge brought against them at that time by the Hellenes, both of cowardice because of the calamity on the island of Sphacteria, and of general bad judgment and dilatoriness, they had wiped out by
this one action; they were thought to have incurred disgrace through ill-luck, but to be still the same in spirit. The day before this battle it happened also that the Epidaurians in full force invaded the territory of Argos, thinking to find it now undefended, and slew many of those who had been left behind as guards when the main body of the Argives had
taken the field. And now, since three thousand Elean hoplites had come to the aid of the Mantineans after the battle, and also one thousand Athenians in addition to their former contingent, all these allies marched at once against Epidaurus, while the Lacedaemonians were celebrating the Carneia, and proceeded to build a wall round the city, dividing
up the work. The rest indeed left off, but the Athenians soon finished the fortification of the promontory on which stood the Heraeum, which was the part that had been assigned to them. In this part of the fortification they left a garrison, to which all contributed, and then withdrew to their several cities. And so the summer ended.
At the very beginning of the following winter, the Lacedaemonians led out an army and came to Tegea, whence they sent on to Argos proposals for peace.
There had been before this partisans of theirs at Argos who wished to put down the democracy there, and after the battle had been fought they were far better able to persuade the people to come to an agreement with Sparta. They wished, after they had first made a treaty with the Lacedaemonians, to conclude later an alliance also, and having done so to attack the democracy.
And now there arrived at Argos Lichas son of Arcesilaus, proxenus of the Argives, bringing from the Lacedaemonians two proposals: the one stating on what conditions they should make war, if they wished that; the other, how they should keep the peace, if they preferred that. And after much opposition—for Alcibiades chanced to be present— the men who were working for the Lacedaemonians, venturing now to act openly, persuaded the Argives to accept the proposal for peace, which was as follows:
"It seems good to the assembly of the Lacedaemonians to make an agreement with the Argives on the following terms: 1. "The Argives shall restore to the Orchomenianscf. 5.61.5. their children and to the Maenalianscf. 5.61.4, though the Maenalians are not expressly mentioned there. their men, and to the Lacedaemonianscf. 5.61.5. the men they deposited at Mantinea. 2.
"They shall evacuate Epidaurus and demolish the fortification there. And if the Athenians do not withdraw from Epidaurus, they shall be enemies to the Argives and Lacedaemonians, and to the allies of the Lacedaemonians and to the allies of the Argives. 3.
"If the Lacedaemonians have in custody any children, they shall restore these in all cases to their cities. 4.
"As to the offering to the god,Apollo Pythaeus; cf. ch. liii. if they wish they shall impose an oath upon the Epidaurians;
but if not, they shall swear it themselves. 5. "The cities in the Peloponnesus, both small and great, shall all be independent according to their hereditary usages. 6.
"If anyone from outside the Peloponnesus comes against Peloponnesian territory with evil intent, they shall repel the invader, taking counsel together, in whatever way shall seem to the Peloponnesians most just. 7.
"Such states as are allies of the Lacedaemonians outside of the Peloponnesus shall be on the same footing as are the other allies of the Lacedaemonians and of the Argives, all retaining their own territory. 8.
“They shall communicate this agreement to their allies and make terms with them, if it seem best. But if the allies prefer, they may send the treaty home for consideration.”ie. may refer it back to the states for their decision.
The Argives accepted this proposal at first, and the army of the Lacedaemonians returned home from Tegea. But not long after this, when there was now intercourse between them, the same men again brought it about that the Argives renounced the alliance with the Mantineans, Eleans, and Athenians and concluded a treaty and an alliance with the Lacedaemonians to this effect:
"It has seemed good to the Lacedaemonians and the Argives to conclude a treaty and an alliance for fifty years on the following terms: 1. "They shall offer settlements by law under conditions that are fair and impartial, according to hereditary usage. The rest of the cities in the Peloponnesus shall share in the treaty and alliance, being independent and self-governed, retaining their own territory, and offering settlements by law that are fair and impartial according to hereditary usage. 2.
"Such states as are allies of the Lacedaemonians outside of the Peloponnesus shall stand upon the same footing as the Lacedaemonians; and the allies of the Argives shall be upon the same footing as the Argives, all retaining their own territory. 3.