Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/364

 342 HISTORY OF GREECE. reserving only a sufficient number to man the walls of Pylus. Altogether, there could not have been less than ten thousand troops employed in the attack of the island, men of all arms : eight hundred hoplites, eight hundred peltasts, eight hundred bowmen ; the rest armed with javelins, slings, and stones. De- mosthenes kept his hoplites in one compact body, but distributed the light-armed into separate companies of about two hundred men each, with orders to occupy the rising grounds all round, and harass the flanks and rear of the Lacedaemonians. 1 To resist this large force, the Lacedaemonian commander Epitadas had only three hundred and sixty hoplites around him ; for his advanced guard of thirty men had been slain, and as many more must have been held in reserve to guard the rocky station in his rear : of the Helots who were with him, Thucy- dides says nothing, during the whole course of the action. As soon as he saw the numbers and disposition of his enemies, Epi tadas placed his men in battle array, and advanced to encounter the main body of hoplites whom he saw before him. But the Spartan march was habitually slow : 2 moreover, the ground was rough and uneven, obstructed with stumps, and overlaid with dust and ashes, from the recently burnt wood, so that a march at once rapid and orderly was hardly possible : and he had to trav- erse the whole intermediate space, since the Athenian hoplites remained immovable in their position. No sooner had his march commenced, than he found himself assailed both in rear and flanks, especially in the right or unshielded flank, by the numerous companies of light-armed. 3 Notwithstanding their ex- traordinary superiority of number, these men were at first awe- stricken at finding themselves in actual contest with Lacedaemo- nian hoplites : 4 still, they began the fight, poured in their missile weapons, and so annoyed the march that the hoplites were obliged to halt, while Epitadas ordered the most active among them to spring out of their ranks and repel the assailants. But pursuers with spear and shield had little chance of overtaking men lightly clad and armed, who always retired, in whatevei 1 Thucyd. iv, 32. * Tlracyd. v, 71. 3 Thucyd. iv, 33. 4 Thucyd. ir, 33. uo-xep ore trpurov uirepaivov ry yv b/ty (5f<5ovA fievoi <if ^T* AaKf6aifioviov(, etc.