Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/148

 126 HISTORY OF GREECE. On the day named, the entire force was found duly assembled, and the Spartan king Archidamus, on taking the command, ad- dressed to the commanders and principal officers from each city a discourse of solemn warning as well as encouragement. His re- marks were directed chiefly to abate the tone of sanguine over- confidence which .reigned in the army. After adverting to the magnitude of the occasion, the mighty impulse agitating all Greece, and the general good wishes which accompanied them against an enemy so much hated, he admonished them not to let their great superiority of numbers and bravery seduce them into a spirit of rash disorder. " We are about to attack (he said) an enemy admirably equipped in every way, so that we may be very certain that they will come out and fight, 1 even if they be not now actually on the march to meet us at the border, at least when they see us in their territory ravaging and destroying their property. All men exposed to any unusual indignity become incensed, and act more under passion than under calculation, when it is actually brought under their eyes : much more will the Athenians do so, accustomed as they are to empire, and to ravage the territory of others rather than to see their own so treated." Immediately on the army being assembled, Archidamus sent Melesippus as envoy to Athens to announce the coming invasion, being still in hopes that the Athenians would yield. But a reso- lution had been already adopted, at the instance of Perikles, to receive neither herald nor envoy from the Lacedaemonians when once their army was on its march : so that Melesippus was sent back without even being permitted to enter the city. He was ordered to quit the territory before sunset, with guides to accom- pany him and prevent him from addressing a word to any one. On parting from his guides at the border, Melesippus exclaimed, 9 1 Thucyd. ii, 11. tiare XPV Ka ^ xuw ffi.iri&tv 6iH iaxrir livat auTovf, ft IITJ not viiv uoftrjvrat, tv u oviru nupsapev, aMS orav ev ry yy upuoiv f,[iu{ fyovvTuf re *al TUKE'IVUV 0$povraf. These reports of speeches are of great value as preserving a record of the feelings and expectations of actors, apart from the result of everts What Archidamus so confidently anticipated, did not come to pass. ' Thucyd. ii. 12.