liberty, to withdraw his garrifons from their country, and to fwear that he would always obey the Thebans, and march, at their orders, against all their enemies.

Such a punishment was very gentle. Nor, fays Plutarch, did it appear fufficient to the gods, or proportioned to his crimes; they had referved one for him worthy of a tyrant. Thebé, his wife, who faw with horror and deteftation the cruelty and perfidy of her husband, and had not forgot the leffons and advice which Pelopidas had given her, whilft in prifon, entered into a confpiracy with her three brothers to kill him. The tyrant's whole palace was full of guards, who kept watch in the night; but he placed little confidence in them, and as his life was in fome fort in their hands, he feared them the most of all men. He lay in a high chamber, to which he afcended by a ladder that was drawn up after his entrance. Near this chamber a great dog was chained to guard it. He was exceeding fierce, and knew nobody but his mafter, Thebé, and the flave who fed him.

The time pitched upon for the execution of the plot being arrived, Thebé shut up her brothers, during the day-time, in an apartment near the tyrant's. When he entered it at night, as he was full of meat and wine, he fell into a deep fleep immediately. Thebe went out prefently after, and ordered the flave to take away the dog, that he might not difturb her husband's repofe; and left the ladder fhould make a noife when her brothers came up by it, fhe covered the fteps of it with wool. All things being thus prepared, the made her brothers afcend, armed with daggers; who, when they came to the door, were feized with terror, and would go no further. Thebé, quite out of her wits, threatened to awake the tyrant if they did not proceed immediately, and to difcover the plot to him. Their fhame and fear reanimated them; fhe made them enter, led them to the bed, and held the lamp herself, whilst they killed him with repeated wounds. The news of his death was immediately fpread through the city. His dead body was expofed to all forts of outrages, trampled under foot by the people, and given for a prey to the

I 5

dogs

dogs and vultures; a juft reward for his violent oppreflions and deteftable cruelties.

SECT. VII. Epaminondas is chofen General of the Thebans. His fecond Attempt against Sparta. His celebrated Victory at Mantinea. His Death and Cha• racter.

THE

HE extraordinary prosperity of Thebes was no fmall fubject of alarm to the neighbouring ftates. Every thing was at that time in motion in Greece. A new war had sprung up between the Arcadians and the Eleans, which had occafioned another between the Arcadians themselves. The people of Tegea had called in the Thebans to their aid, and those of Mantinea, the Spartans and Athenians. There were befides several other allies on each fide. The former gave Epaminondas the command of their troops, who immediately entered Arcadia, and encamped at Tegea, with defign to attack the Mantineans, who had quitted their alliance with Thebes, to attach themselves to Sparta.

Being informed that Agefilaus had begun his march with his army, and advanced towards Mantinea,he formed an enterprife, which, he believed, would immortalize his name, and entirely reduce the power of the enemy. He left Tegea in the night with his army, unknown to the Mantineans, and marched directly to Sparta by a different rout from that of Agefilaus. He would undoubtedly have taken the city by furprise, as it had neither walls, defence, nor troops: but, happily for Sparta, a Cretan having made all poffible hafte to apprize Agefilaus of his defign, he immediately dispatched one of his horfe to advife the city of the danger that threaten. ed it, and arrived there foon after in perfon.

He had scarce entered the town, when the Thebans were feen paffing the Eurotas, and coming on against the city. Epaminondas, who perceived that his defign

A. M. 3641. Ant. J. C. 363. Xenoph. 1. vii. p. 642-644. Plut. in Agefil. p. 615. Diod. p. 391, 392.

3

was

was difcovered, thought it incumbent on him not to retire without some attempt. He therefore made his troops advance, and making ufe of valour inftead of ftratagem, he attacked the city at feveral quarters, penetrated as far as the public place, and feized that part of Sparta which lay upon the fide of the river. Agefilaus made head every where, and defended himself with much more valour than could be expected from his years. He faw well, that it was not now a time, as before, to fpare himself, and to act only upon the defenfive, but that he had need of all his courage and daring, and to fight with all the vigour of defpair; means which he had never ufed, nor placed his confidence in before, but which he employed with great fuccefs in the prefent dangerous emergency. For by this happy defpair and prudent audacity, he, in a manner, fnatched the city out of the hands of Epaminondas. His fon Archi damus, at the head of the Spartan youth, behaved with incredible valour wherever the danger was greateft, and with his fmall troop ftopped the enemy, and made head against them on all fides.

A young Spartan, named Ifadas, diftinguished himself particularly in this action. He was very handfome in the face, perfectly well fhaped, of an advantageous star ture, and in the flower of his youth. He had neither armour nor clothes upon his body, which fhone with oil, and held a spear in one hand and a sword in the other. In this condition he quitted his houfe with the utmost eagerness, and breaking through the prefs of the Spartans that fought, he threw himfelf upon the enemy, gave mortal wounds at every blow, and laid all at his feet who oppofed him, without receiving any hurt himself. Whether the enemy were dismayed at fo aftonifhing a fight, or, fays Plutarch, the gods took pleasure in preferving him upon account of his extraordinary valour. It is faid, the Ephori decreed him a crown after the battle in honour of his exploits, but afterwards fined him a thousand drachmas, for having expofed himfelf to fo great a danger without arms.

Polyb. I. ix. p. 546.

Five hundred livres.

Epaminondas,

Epaminondas, having failed of his aim, foreseeing that the Arcadians would certainly haften to the relief of Sparta, and not being willing to have them with all the Lacedæmonian forces upon his hands at the fame time, he returned with expedition to Tegea. The Lacedæmonians and Athenians, with their allies, followed him clofe in the rear.

8 The general, confidering his command was upon the point of expiring, that if he did not fight, his reputation might fuffer extremely, and that, immediately after his retreat, the enemy would fall upon the Theban allies, and entirely ruin them, he gave orders to his troops to hold themselves in readiness for battle.

The Greeks had never fought amongst themselves with more numerous armies. The Lacedæmonians confifted of more than twenty thousand foot and twe thousand horfe; the Thebans of thirty thousand foot and three thousand horse. Upon the right wing of the former, the Mantineans, Arcadians, and Lacedæmonians, were pofted in one line; the Eleans and Achæans, who were the weakest of their troops, had the centre, and the Athenians alone compofed the left wing. In the other army, the Thebans and Arcadians were on the left, the Argives on the right, and the other allies in the centre. The cavalry on each fide were disposed in the wings.

The Theban general marched in the fame order of battle, in which he intended to fight, that he might not be obliged, when he came up with the enemy, to lofe, in the difpofition of his army, a time which cannot be too much faved in great enterprises.

He did not march directly, and with his front to the enemy, but in a column upon the hills with his left wing foremost, as if he did not intend to fight that day. When he was over against them, at a quarter of a league's distance, he made his troops halt and lay down their arms, as if he defigned to encamp there. The enemy, in effect, were deceived by that stand, and rec

• Xenoph, 1, vii. p. 645–647.

koning

koning no longer upon a battle, they quitted their arms, difperfed themfelves about the camp, and fuffered that ardour to extinguifh, which the near approach of a battle is wont to kindle in the hearts of the foldiers.

Epaminondas, however, by fuddenly wheeling his troops to the right, having changed his column into a line, and having drawn out the choice troops, whom he had exprefsly pofted in front upon his march, he made them double their files upon the front of his left wing, to add to its strength, and to put it into a condition to attack in a point the Lacedæmonian phalanx, which, by the movement he had made, faced it directly. He ordered the centre and right wing of his army to move very flow, and to halt before they came up with the enemy, that he might not hazard the event of the battle upon troops, of which he had no great opinion.

He expected to decide the victory by that body of chofen troops, which he commanded in perfon, and which he had formed in a column to attack the enemy in a point like a galley, fays Xenophon. He affured himfelf, that if he could penetrate the Lacedæmonian phalanx, in which the enemy's principal force confifted, he fhould not find it difficult to rout the rest of their army, by charging upon the right and left with his victorious troops.

But that he might prevent the Athenians in the left wing from coming to the fupport of their right against his intended attack, he made a detachment of his horfe and foot advance out of the line, and pafted them upon the rifing ground, in a readiness to flank the Athenians, as well to cover his right, as to alarm them, and give them reafon to apprehend being taken in flank and rear themselves, if they advanced to fuftain their right.

After having difpofed his whole army in this manner, he moved on to charge the enemy with the whole weight of his column. They were ftrangely surprised when they faw Epaminondas advance towards them in this order, and refumed their arms, bridled their 'horses, and made all the hafte they could to their ranks.

Whilft