IV

The Argives thought themselves bound to abide by the conditions of the

truce, though made without their consent; but shortly after the retreat

of Agis, an Athenian force of a thousand hoplites and three hundred

cavalry arrived at Argos, and Alcibiades, who was present in the

character of ambassador, strongly urged the renewal of the campaign.

His proposal was warmly supported by the Mantineans and Eleans, and

they and the Athenians marched forthwith against Orchomenus in Arcadia,

which was in alliance with Sparta; and the Argives, who had wavered at

first, soon afterwards joined them. Orchomenus was gained over with

little trouble, and then the Eleans were eager to proceed against

Lepreum, a town in their alliance which had gone over to Sparta. But

the Argives, Athenians, and Mantineans, insisted on attacking Tegea,

where there was a party opposed to Sparta, by whose means they hoped to

bring this powerful city, the ancient rival of Mantinea, to their side.

Thereupon the Eleans abandoned the expedition, and went home in a rage,

but the rest of the allies took up their quarters at Mantinea, and

prepared to make an attack on Tegea.

The Spartans were in high anger against Agis for his unsoldier-like

conduct in the recent campaign, and when they heard of the capitulation

of Orchomenus their resentment rose to such a pitch that it was

proposed to inflict on him a heavy fine, and raze his house to the

ground. At his earnest entreaty they consented to reserve the sentence,

and give him an opportunity of wiping out the stain on his honour; but

as a mark of diminished confidence they appointed ten commissioners,

without whose consent he was not allowed to lead an army out of the

city.

They had just come to this decision when an urgent message arrived from

Tegea, bidding them to bring help with all speed, or the town would be

lost. The imminent peril startled the Spartans from their wonted

apathy, and they set out at once in full force to the relief of Tegea.

On reaching the borders of Arcadia they sent back the elder and younger

men, amounting to a sixth part of the army, to serve as a garrison in

Sparta; and at the same time couriers were despatched to summon their

allies in Arcadia and central Greece. The Arcadians arrived in time to

take part in the battle, but the Boeotians, Corinthians, and others,

though they hastened to obey the order, were delayed by a long and

difficult march, through the hostile territory of Argos.

Passing by Tegea, Agis entered the district of Mantinea, and having

pitched his camp began to lay waste the country. Informed of his

approach, the Argives and their allies marched out to meet him, and

choosing a position on the slope of a hill, defended in front by rugged

and broken ground, they drew up in order of battle. The Spartans,

incited, doubtless, by the example of their king, who was eager to

redeem his reputation, rushed impetuously to the assault; and they were

already within a stone's-throw of the enemy when a Spartan veteran

cried out to Agis: "Heal not ill with ill!" His meaning was that in

Argos Agis had been too cold, and now he was too hot. Agis heard the

warning voice, and his own good sense must have shown him how rashly he

was acting; accordingly, at the very moment of encounter, he gave the

word to retreat, and fell back to the neighbourhood of Tegea. At this

place there was a copious head of water, which, when properly

regulated, served to irrigate the fields of Tegea and Mantinea. The

disposal of the water-supply was a constant source of dispute between

the two rival cities; and Agis now prepared to turn the whole volume of

the fountain towards Mantinea, expecting that the Mantineans, when they

saw their fields threatened with inundation, would come down into the

plain to hinder the mischief.

The Argives and their allies were dumb-foundered by the sudden

disappearance of the Spartans; and when they had recovered from their

astonishment, they waited impatiently for the order to pursue the

runaways. As no such order was given, cries of "Treason!" arose in the

ranks, and the generals were openly accused of having sold themselves

to the enemy. The Spartans, it was asserted, had been allowed to

escape, when they were fairly caught under the walls of Argos; and now

the confederates had been betrayed a second time by their officers.

Amid the general clamour the Argive commanders stood for a moment

confounded and amazed; then recovering themselves they gave the word to

advance, and led their forces down into the plain. Here they passed the

night in the open field, and early next morning they stood to their

arms, and prepared for an immediate attack.

Agis was not aware that the Argive generals had taken up a new

position, and thinking that the confederates were still stationed on

the hill, he gave up his scheme of diverting the water, and directed

his march towards the place where he had first encamped. As they

proceeded thus in marching order, and quite unprepared for any hostile

movement, the Spartans suddenly found themselves face to face with the

whole Argive army, drawn up in order of battle. For one instant it

seemed as if a panic were about to spread through the Spartan ranks;

then their wonderful discipline prevailed, and with all promptitude,

but without flurry or confusion, the necessary orders were passed from

the King to the commanders of divisions, from these again to the

colonels, from the colonels to the captains, and from the captains down

to the sergeants, [Footnote: I have thought it best to give the English

titles, which of course have only a general correspondence with the

Greek Polemarch, Lochagus, etc.] who in their turn had to see that the

required movement was executed by the men under their command: for such

was the regular gradation of authority and responsibility in the

Spartan army. Thanks to this perfect organization, in a very few

minutes every man was in his place and ready for battle.

On the left wing of the Spartan army were posted the Sciritae, hardy

mountaineers from southern Arcadia; next to them stood the enfranchised

Helots, who had served under Brasidas in Thrace, and others of the same

race who had received the Spartan citizenship in reward for public

service; then came the main body of the Spartans themselves, and after

them the rest of the Arcadian allies; while the right wing was assigned

by immemorial privilege to the Tegeans, with whom were a few picked

Spartans. The cavalry, never a very strong part of the Spartan army,

were posted on either flank.

On the other side the Mantineans held the place of honour on the right

wing, because the engagement was fought in their territory; next in

order were the Arcadian allies of Argos, and after them, more towards

the centre, stood a picked troop of a thousand Argives, trained and

equipped at the public expense; then followed the main body of the

Argive troops, with the rest of their allies, the Athenians occupying

the extreme left. As to the numbers engaged, nothing certain is known.

Some time was lost by the Argive army in delivering the customary

harangues addressed by the generals of the several contingents to their

men, and this enabled the Spartans to steady their ranks before the

fighting began. They, on their side, men of war from their youth, had

no need of set speeches to remind them of their duty; but pithy words

of exhortation passed from man to man, and high and clear rose their

national war-songs, thrilling them with the memories of their heroic

past. Then the signal was given on both sides to charge, and the

Argives and their allies rushed impetuously to the onset, while the

Spartans advanced to meet them with even and deliberate pace, timed to

the music of numerous pipers, who were stationed at regular intervals

in their ranks.

The regular equipment of the Greek infantry soldier consisted, besides

his helmet and body-armour, of shield and lance, and in advancing to

battle he had always a tendency to diverge towards the right, from a

natural wish to keep his shielded side towards the enemy. This

divergence from the forward direction was begun by the man posted on

the extreme right; his comrade on the left followed his example, and

the deflection was continued along the whole line. The consequence was

that when two armies came into action, the left wing on either side was

greatly outflanked by the opponents' right; and the battle of Mantinea

affords no exception to this rule, for not even Spartan discipline was

able to counteract the overpowering instinct of self-preservation.

Seeing that his left wing was on the point of being outflanked by the

Mantineans, Agis signalled to the Sciritae and Brasideans to draw off

in a lateral direction towards the left, in order to present an equal

line to the right wing of the enemy. The order was executed, and to

fill up the gap thus produced on the left of his own centre, Agis

ordered the Spartan officers commanding on his right wing to bring up

their men and occupy the vacant space. They, however, flatly refused to

obey the order, and consequently the Sciritae and Brasideans were

assailed in front and on both flanks by overwhelming numbers, and

driven back with great loss to their camp.

So completely were the Spartans out-manoeuvred and worsted in tactics,

through the blunders of their general, and the cowardice of his

subordinates. But in this terrible crisis they showed what native

valour, aided by life-long discipline, can do. Leaving a victorious

enemy in their rear, they advanced without flinching against the

opposing centre, where the main body of the Argives were posted, with

the troops of Orneae and Cleonaea supporting them on the left. Then it

was seen that neither the courage of the Spartans, nor the terror of

their name, had diminished with the lapse of time; for when the

confederate troops found themselves face to face with the renowned

warrior of the Eurotas, they turned and fled, almost without striking a

blow, and trampling their comrades under foot, in their haste to avoid

the thrust of the Spartan lances. The Athenians on the left wing were

now in great danger; for the charge of the troops of Agis had cut them

off from the centre, and they were attacked on the other flank by the

Tegeans and Spartans. They were saved from immediate destruction by the

exertions of their own cavalry, and presently found themselves at

liberty to retire from the field; for Agis, having completed the rout

of the main body, called off his men, and went to the relief of his own

left. The Mantineans and the Argive Thousand made no effort to retrieve

the fortunes of the day, but gave way before the first onset of the

Spartans, and joined the flight of their comrades. The Mantineans

suffered severely in their retreat, but of the Argives only a few were

slain.

Such was the battle of Mantinea, which completely restored the military

fame of the Spartans, and blotted out the reproach of cowardice and

sloth which for some years past had rested on their name.