Page:History of Greece Vol X.djvu/359

ALACRITY OF THE ARMY. 337 full of enthusiastic alacrity when he at last proclaimed his inten- tion. He had kept them within the walls of Tegea, thus not only giving them better quarters and fuller repose, but also concealing his proceedings from the enemy ; who on their side were encamped on the border of the Mantinean territory. Rejoicing in the pros- pect of going forth to battle, the horsemen and hoplites of Epami- nondas all put themselves in their best equipment. The horsemen whitened their helmets, the hoplites burnished up their shields, and sharpened their spears and swords. Even the rustic and half- armed Arcadian villagers, who had nothing but clubs in place of sword or spear, were eager to share the dangers of the Thebans, and inscribed upon their shields (probably nothing but miserable squares of wood) the Theban ensign. 1 The best spirit and confi- dence animated all the allies, as they quitted the gates of Tegea, and disposed themselves in the order of march commanded by Epaminondas. The lofty Mantinico-Tegeatic plain, two thousand feet above the level of the sea (now known as the plain of Tripolitza) " is the greatest of that cluster of valleys in the centre of Peloponnesus. each of which is so closely shut in by the intersecting mountains that no outlet is afforded to the waters except through the moun- 1 Xen. Hellen. vii, 5, 20. Upofivfiuf [lev tTievnovvro oi Imrels rd Kp KE^evovTOf EKELVOV eTreypu^ovTO 6e KCU TUV 'ApKaSav OTivlmu, panada Z Tf, &f Qyfialoi ovTEf TTUVTCC 6e T/KOVUVTO KO! 7i6y%a<; teal fj.a%alpas, Kal e irpiivovro ruq aairidai;. There seems a sort of sneer in these latter words, both at the Arcadians and Thebans. The Arcadian club-men are called dnhirai ; and are repre- sented as passing themselves off to be as good as Thebans. Sievers (Geschicht. p. 342) and Dr. Thirlwall (Hist. Gr. c. 40, p. 200) fol- low Eckhel in translating this passage to mean that " the Arcadian hoplites inscribed upon their shields the figure of a club, that being the ensign of the Thebans/' I cannot think this interpretation is the best, at least until some evidence is produced, that the Theban symbol on the shield was a club. Xenophon does not disdain on other occasions to speak sneeringly of the Theban hoplites, see vii, 5, 12. The mention of Aoy^af /cat /J.a%a ipaf, immediately afterwards, sustains the belief that pcnra^a exovrsf, imme- diately before, means " men armed with clubs " ; the natural sense of the words. The horsemen are said to have " whitened their helmets (or head-pi-jces).' Hence I presume that these head-pieces were not made of metal, b'at ol wood or wicker-work. Compare Xen. Hellen. ii, 4, 25. VOL. x. 15 22oc.