Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/336

 3M HISTORY OF GREECE. ferred the more honorable victory of a conflict face to .'ace. Such is the coloring which his panegyrist, Xenophon, 1 puts upon hia manoeuvre. Yet we may remark that if he had let the Thebans pass, be could not have pursued them far, seeing that their own comrades were at hand to sustain them, and also that having never yet fought against the Thebans, he had probably no ade- quate appreciation of their prowess. The crash which now took place was something terrific beyond all Grecian military experience, 2 leaving an indelible impression upon Xenophon, who was personally engaged in it. The hoplites on both sides came to the fiercest and closest bodily struggle, pushing shields against each other, with all the weight of the in- cumbent mass behind impelling forward the foremost ranks, especially in the deep order of the Thebans. The shields of the foremost combatants were thus stove in, their spears broken, and each man was engaged in such close embrace with his enemy, that the dagger was the only weapon which he could use. There was no systematic shout, such as usually marked the charge of a Gre- cian army ; the silence was only broken by a medley of furious exclamations and murmurs. 3 Agesilaus himself, who was among the front ranks, and whose size and strength were by no means on a level with his personal courage, had his body covered with wounds from different weapons, 4 was trodden down, and only escaped by the devoted courage of those fifty Spartan volun- teers who formed his body-guard. Partly from his wounds, partly from the irresistible courage and stronger pressure of the Thebans, the Spartans were at length compelled to give way, so far as to afford a free passage to the former, who were thus enabled tc 1 Xen. Hellen. iv, 3, 19; Xcn. Agesil. ii, 12. AJ7yj?<70jUat 6e Kal TTJV puxr/v not yap kyivero ola owe uAAj? TUV y" ty t]p,uv. 3 Xen. Hellen. iv, 3, 19 ; Xen. Agesil. ii, 12. Ka< avftpahovTEC rufucmidaf IU&OVVTO, iuuxovro, UTTCKTIIVOV, uKidvyaKov Kat Kpavyi) [lev ovdepta Trap^r, ov fi^v oMe aiyfi Quvtj <5e T fy Totawrj/, olav opyr] re teal fiuxrj Trapdo^otr' uv. 4 Xen. Agesil. ii, 13. 'O de, na'nrep ffoX/ti rpciipara Ifuv nuvroit nal icavToioif oTr/lotf. etc. Plutarch, Agesil. c. 18.
 * Xen. Hellen. iv, 3, 16 ; Xen. Agesil. ii, 9.