these:
that within a few days he would be forced to retire, as the period of
the campaign was drawing to a close; if it ended in his leaving in the
lurch those allies whom he came out to assist, they would be besieged
by their antagonists. What a blow would that be to his own fair fame,
already somewhat tarnished! Had he not been defeated in Lacedaemon, with
a large body of heavy infantry, by a handful of men? defeated again at
Mantinea, in the cavalry engagement, and himself the main cause
finally of a coalition between five great powers--that is to say,
the Lacedaemonians, the Arcadians, the Achaeans, the Eleians, and the
Athenians? On all grounds it seemed to him impossible to steal past
without a battle. And the more so as he computed the alternatives of
victory or death. If the former were his fortune, it would resolve all
his perplexities; if death, his end would be noble. How glorious a thing
to die in the endeavour to leave behind him, as his last legacy to his
fatherland, the empire of Peloponnesus! That such thoughts should pass
through his brain strikes me as by no means wonderful, as these are
thoughts distinctive to all men of high ambition. Far more wonderful to
my mind was the pitch of perfection to which he had brought his army.
There was no labour which his troops would shrink from, either by night
or by day; there was no danger they would flinch from; and, with the
scantiest provisions, their discipline never failed them.

And so, when he gave his last orders to them to prepare for impending
battle, they obeyed with alacrity. He gave the word; the cavalry fell
to whitening their helmets, the heavy infantry of the Arcadians began
inscribing their clubs as the crest on their shields, (12) as though
they were Thebans, and all were engaged in sharpening their lances and
swords and polishing their heavy shields. When the preparations were
complete and he had led them out, his next movement is worthy of
attention. First, as was natural, he paid heed to their formation, and
in so doing seemed to give clear evidence that he intended battle; but
no sooner was the army drawn up in the formation which he preferred,
than he advanced, not by the shortest route to meet the enemy, but
towards the westward-lying mountains which face Tegea, and by this
movement created in the enemy an expectation that he would not do battle
on that day. In keeping with this expectation, as soon as he arrived at
the mountain-region, he