use them in a mass for any attack, but their courage was weakened by so large an infusion of inferior soldiery; but Pelopidas, after the splendid display of their valour under his own eye at Tegyra, never separated or scattered them, but would stand the brunt of battle, using them as one body. For as horses driven in a chariot go faster than those going loose, not because they more easily cleave the air when galloping in a solid body, but because their rivalry and racing with one another kindles, their spirit, so he imagined that brave men, inciting each other to an emulation in adventure, would prove most useful and forward when acting in one body.

XX. When the Lacedæmonians made peace with all the other Greeks and attacked the Thebans alone, and Kleombrotus, their king, invaded Bœotia with ten thousand hoplites and a thousand cavalry, the danger was not that they should be reduced to their former condition, but absolute destruction plainly threatened their city, and such terror prevailed as never before had been in Bœotia. Pelopidas, when leaving his house, as his wife wept at parting with him and begged him to be careful of his life, answered, "My dear, this is very good advice for private soldiers, but we who are commanders must think about saving the lives of others." When he reached the camp, he found the Bœotarchs differing in opinion, and he at once gave his voice for the plan of Epameinondas, who voted for battle. He was not named Bœotarch, but he was in command of the Sacred Band, and enjoyed great confidence, as was only just a man should who had given such proofs of patriotism.

When, then, they had determined to face the enemy, and taken up a position at Leuktra opposite to the Spartan army, Pelopidas saw a vision in his sleep which greatly disturbed him. In the plain of Leuktra there are the tombs of the daughters of Skedasus, whom they call Leuktridæ because of the place of their burial; for there it was that they were buried after they had been violated by some Spartan strangers. When this base and impious deed was done, their father, as he could get no satisfaction from the Lacedæmonians, invoked curses upon the Spartan race, and slew himself at the tombs of his daughters. Oracles and legends always had warned the Spartans to beware of the vengeance of Leuktra, though most of them did not understand it, and were not clear as to the place, since a small sea-side town in Laconia is also called Leuktron, and there is a place of the same name near Megalopolis in Arcadia, and, also, this crime was committed a long time before the battle.

XXI. So now Pelopidas, when asleep in the camp, seemed to see the maidens weeping over their tombs and invoking curses on the Spartans, and Skedasus, who bade him sacrifice a red virgin to the maidens, if he wished to conquer his enemies. And as this command seemed to him shocking and impious, he started up and consulted the prophets and the generals. Some of them forbade him to neglect or disobey the warning, quoting the famous old instances of Menækeus the son of Kreon and Makaria the daughter of Herakles, and, in later times, Pherekydes the philosopher, who was killed by the Lacedæmonians, and whose skin, according to some oracle, is still kept by their kings, and Leonidas, who following the oracle did in some sort offer himself as a victim on behalf of Greece; and futhermore they spoke of those persons whom Themistokles sacrificed to Dionysus before the sea-fight at Salamis. All these are verified by the success which followed them. And again, Agesilaus when starting from the same place that Agamemnon did to fight the same enemies, was asked by the god, during a vision at Aulis, to give him his daughter as a sacrifice; but he did not give her, but by his softheartedness ruined the expedition, which ingloriously failed. Others spoke on the other side, urging that so barbarous and impious a sacrifice could not be pleasing to any of the powers above, for, they said, it is not the Typhons and giants of legend that rule in heaven, but the father of all gods and men. To believe that there are deities that delight in the blood and slaughter of mankind is probably a foolish fancy; but if there be such, it is our duty to disregard them and treat them as powerless, for these strange and shocking desires can only take their origin and exist in feeble and depraved minds.

XXII. While the chiefs of the army were engaged in this discussion, and Pelopidas especially was at a loss what to do, a filly escaped from some horses at pasture, and running through the ranks stopped opposite them. They admired her coat shining with the brightest red, and the mettled courage of her neigh, but Theokritus the prophet, comprehending what was meant, called to Pelopidas: "Happy man! Here is your victim; let us not expect any other virgin, but take the gift the gods provide you." Hereupon they caught the filly and led it to the tombs of the maidens. Here, after prayer, they hung garlands on the tombs, and made the sacrifice with joy, explaining to the whole army the vision of Pelopidas and their reasons for the sacrifice.

XXIII. In the battle, Epameinondas brought his main body slantingly towards the left, in order that the Spartan right might be drawn as far as possible away from the other Greeks, and that by falling violently on Kleombrotus with his whole force on that wing, he might overpower and crush him. The enemy, perceiving what was being done, began to alter their own formation, extending their right, with the intention of outflanking and enveloping Epameinondas. At this moment Pelopidas charged with the Three Hundred in serried ranks. He caught the Lacedæmonians in a moment of confusion, when they were not standing ready to make an attack, for Kleombrotus had not time either to extend his right, or to bring the troops back again and close up the ranks. Yet the Spartans, skilled as they were to the highest pitch in war, had been specially educated and practised in changing their formation without disorder or confusion; each man used any other as his right-hand or rear-rank man, and wherever danger threatened they would meet it, forming and fighting simultaneously. But now, when the main Theban phalanx under Epameinondas, projecting before all the rest of the line, bore down upon them, and when Pelopidas, by a charge of inconceivable speed and daring was already amongst their ranks, their spirit and discipline was so shaken that the rout and slaughter of the Spartans was such as had never been before. In this victory and success as much glory belonged to Pelopidas, though not one of the generals, and only in command of a few men, as to Epameinondas, who was Bœotarch and leader of the whole force.

XXIV. In the invasion of Peloponnesus they were both Bœotarchs, and they brought over to their side most of the nations there, for they detached from the Lacedæmonian alliance Elis, Argos, the whole of Arcadia, and most part of Laconia itself. It was mid-winter, a few days only remained of the last month, and with the new year the law was that the commands should be delivered up and new generals chosen. Death was the penalty in case of disobedience, and all the other Bœotarchs, fearing this law and wishing to avoid the severe weather, wished to withdraw the army homewards, but Pelopidas first, supported by Epameinondas, encouraged his fellow citizens, and crossed the Eurotas. He took many of their towns and wasted all their country up to the sea-coast, with an army of 70,000 Greeks, of whom the Thebans formed less than a twelfth part. But the great reputation which these men enjoyed made the rest follow them without any formal vote or decree to do so; for the first and most fundamental law is that which makes men in need of help follow him who can save them; and even if, like men