Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/466

 444 HISTORY OF GREECE. Though some were Akanthians, some Chalkidians, some Helots. he designates all by the honorable title of " Peloponnesians." Reassuring them against the desertion of their allies, as well aa against the superior numbers of the advancing enemy, he invokes their native, homebred courage. 1 " Te do not require the presence of allies to inspire you with bravery, nor do ye fear superior numbers of an enemy ; for ye belong not to those polit- ical communities in which the larger number governs the smaller, but to those in which a few men rule subjects more numerous than themselves, having acquired their power by no other means than by superiority in battle." Next, Brasidas tried to dissipate the prestige of the Illyrian name ; his army had already vanquished the Lynkestae, and these other barbarians were noway better. A nearer acquaintance would soon show that they were only formi- dable from the noise, the gestures, the clashing of arms, and the accompaniments of their onset; and that they were incapable of sustaining the reality of close combat, hand to hand. " They have no regular order (said he) such as to impress them with shame for deserting their post : flight and attack are with them in equally honorable esteem, so that there is nothirg to test the really courageous man : their battle, wherein every man fights as he chooses, is just the thing to furnish each with a decent pretence for running away." " Repel ye their onset whenever it comes ; and so soon as opportunity offers, resume your retreat in rank and order. Ye will soon arrive in a place of safety ; and ye will be convinced that such crowds, when their enemy has stood to defy the first onset, keep aloof with empty menace and a parade of courage which never strikes ; while if their enemy gives way, they show themselves smart and bold in running after him where there is no daner." 2 1 Thucyd. iv, 126. 'Ayatfoif jap elvai Vftlv irpoa^KEt rd iroleuia, ov fv/i(ia.%uv Trapovaiav fKuiTore, uTJM 61' oiKeiav apETrjv, Kal [iTjd 7re0o/3J7<7i9vyf) avruv Kal rj e^odof loi]v Covers <56fav rov Kakoi Kal rb uvfipeloi* ?xi' av'OKpaTup de p.u.X'n pufaar' 1 uv Kilt IT (.a rov aafraftai (sc snnvcr) n,i irpenovTuc TroplffEie.
 * Thucyd. iv, 126. OVTE yap TU%IV e^oiref ala^vvdelcv uv hnretv TIV<I