Lacedæmonian army in Thessaly, and when it was in his power to have reduced the whole country to subjection, he accepted a large sum of money as a bribe; and being caught in the very act, sitting there in the camp on a sleeve full of silver, he was banished from Sparta, having been brought before a court of justice. His house was rased, and he fled to Tegea, where he died. These events happened some time after. 73. When Cleomenes had succeeded in his design against Demaratus, he immediately took Leutychides with him, and went against the Æginetæ, bearing a deep grudge against them on account of the insult he had received. The Æginetæ accordingly thought proper to make no further resistance; as both kings were coming against them, they therefore, having selected ten of the Æginetæ, the most eminent both in wealth and birth, and amongst them Crius, son of Polycritus, and Casambus, son of Aristocrates, who had the chief authority, and having carried them away to Attica, they delivered them as a pledge to the Athenians, the greatest enemies of the Egineta. 74. After this, fear of the Spartans seized upon Cleomenes, when discovered to have employed wicked artifices against Demaratus, and he withdrew secretly to Thessaly; and from thence passing into Arcadia, he began to form new designs, rousing the Arcadians against Sparta, and engaging them both by other oaths to follow him wherever he should lead them; and, moreover, he was desirous of leading the chief men of the Arcadians to the city of Nonacris, to make them swear by the water of the Styx, for in that city the water of the Styx is by the Arcadians said to be. And it is of the following description: a small quantity of water is seen and drops from a rock into a hollow, and a fence of masonry surrounds the hollow. Nonacris, in which this fountain happens to be, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneum. 75. The Lacedæmonians, being informed that Cleomenes was acting thus, through fear, restored him to Sparta on the same terms as those on which he had reigned before. But as soon as he had returned, madness seized him, though he was before somewhat crazed; for whenever he met any one of the Spartans, he used to thrust the sceptre into his face. When he was found to do this, and to be clearly out of his mind, his relations confined him in wooden fetters: but he being so confined, and seeing a single guard left alone by the rest, asked for a knife; and when the guard at first refused to give it, he threatened what he would do to him hereafter; till at last the guard, fearing his threats, for he was one of his Helots, gave him a knife. Then Cleomenes, having got hold of the blade, began to mutilate himself from the legs, for having cut the flesh lengthwise, he proceeded from the legs to the thighs; and from the thighs to the hips and loins; at last he came to the belly, and having gashed this, in that manner he died: most of the Grecians say, because he persuaded the Pythian to say what she did concerning Demaratus; but as the Athenians alone say, because when he invaded Eleusis he cut down the grove of the goddesses;5 but as the Argives say, because he, having called out those Argives who had fled from battle, from their sacred precinct of Argus, he massacred them, and holding the grove itself in contempt, set it on fire. as 76. For when Cleomenes consulted the oracle at Delphi, an answer was given him that he should take Argos. When therefore, leading the Spartans, he arrived at the river Erasinus, which is said to flow from the Stymphalian lake, for that this lake, discharging itself into an unseen chasm, reappears in Argos, and from that place this water is, by the Argives, called Erasinus: Cleomenes therefore, having arrived at this river, offered sacrifice to it; but as the victims by no means gave a favourable omen for his passing over, he said, that he admired the Erasinus for not betraying its people, yet the Argives should not even thus escape with impunity. After this, having retired, he marched his forces to Thyrea; and having sacrificed a bull to the sea, he conveyed them in ships to the Tirynthian territory and Nauplia. 77. The Argives, being informed of this, went out to meet them on the coast: and when they were near Tiryns, at that place to which the name of Sepia is given, they encamped opposite the Lacedæmonians, leaving no great space between the two armies. There, then, they were not afraid of coming to a pitched battle, but lest they should be taken by stratagem; for it was to this event the oracle had reference, which the Pythian pronounced in common to them and the Milesians,6 running thus: "When the female, having conquered the male, shall drive him out, and obtain 5 Ceres and Proserpine. 6 For the part of the oracle relating to the Milesians, see chap. 19. glory among the Argives, then shall she make many of the Argive women rend their garments; so that one of future generations shall say, a terrible triple-coiled serpent has perished, overcome by the spear." All these things concurring, spread alarm among the Argives, therefore they resolved to avail themselves of the herald of the enemy; and having so resolved, they did as follows: when the Spartan herald gave any signal to the Lacedæmonians, the Argives did the same. 78. Cleomenes, having observed that the Argives did whatever his herald gave the signal for, ordered his troops, when the herald should give the signal for going to dinner, then to seize their arms, and advance against the Argives. This, accordingly, was accomplished by the Lacedæmonians, for they fell upon the Argives as they were taking their dinner, according to the herald's signal; and they killed many of them, and a far greater number, who had taken refuge in the grove of Argus, they surrounded and kept watch over. 79. Cleomenes then adopted the following course: having some deserters with him, and having received information from them, he sent a herald and called them out, summoning by name those Argives who were shut up in the sacred precinct; and he called them out, saying that he had received their ransom; but the ransom among the Peloponnesians is a fixed sum of two mine to be paid for each prisoner. Cleomenes therefore, having called them out severally, put to death about fifty of the Argives; and somehow this went on unknown to the rest who were within the precinct; for as the grove was thick, those within did not see those without, or what they were doing, until at last one of them getting up into a tree, saw what was being done. They therefore no more went out when called for. 80. Thereupon Cleomenes ordered all the Helots to heap up wood around the grove, and when they had executed his orders, he set fire to the grove. When all was in a flame, he asked one of the deserters to which of the gods the grove belonged; he said that it belonged to Argus. Cleomenes, when he heard this, uttering a deep groan, said, "O prophetic Apollo! thou hast indeed greatly deceived me, in saying that I should take Argos. I conjecture thy prophecy is accomplished." 81. After this, Cleomenes sent away the greater part of his army to Sparta ; and he himself, taking a thousand chosen men with him, went to offer sacrifice at the temple of Juno. But when he wished himself to offer sacrifice on the altar, the priest forbad him, saying that it was not lawful for a stranger to offer sacrifice there; upon which Cleomenes commanded the Helots to drag the priest from the altar and scourge him, while he himself sacrificed; and having done this, he went away to Sparta. 82. On his return, his enemies accused him before the Ephori, alleging that he had been bribed not to take Argos, when he might easily have taken it. He said to them, whether speaking falsely or truly I am unable to say for certain; he affirmed, however, "that when he had taken the sacred precinct of Argus, he thought that the oracle of the god was accomplished, and therefore he did not think it right to attempt the city, before he had had recourse to victims, and ascertained whether the god would favour or obstruct him; and that whilst he was sacrificing favourably in the temple of Juno, a flame of fire shone forth from the breast of the image; and thus he learnt for certain that he should not take Argos: for if it had shone forth from the head of the image, he should have taken the city completely; but as it shone forth from the breast, he thought that every thing had been done by him which the deity wished to happen." In saying this, he appeared to the Spartans to say what was credible and reasonable, and was acquitted by a large majority. 83. Argos however was left so destitute of men, that their slaves had the management of affairs, ruling and administering them, until the sons of those who had been killed grew up. Then they, having recovered Argos, expelled the slaves; and the slaves, being driven out, took Tiryns by assault. For a time concord subsisted between them, but then there came to the slaves one Cleander, a prophet, who was by birth a Phigalean of Arcadia; he persuaded the slaves to attack their masters. From this circumstance there was war between them for a long time, till at last the Argives with difficulty got the upper hand. 84. Now the Argives say, that on this account Cleomenes became mad and perished miserably. But the Spartans themselves say, that Cleomenes became mad from no divine influence, but that by associating with the Scythians he became a drinker of unmixed wine, and from that cause became mad. For that the Scythian nomades, since Darius had invaded their country, were afterwards desirous to take venge ance on him, and having sent to Sparta to make an alliance, and agree that the Scythians themselves should endeavour to make an irruption into Media near the river Phasis, and to urge the Spartans to set out from Ephesus, and march upwards; and then for both armies to meet at the same place. They say, that Cleomenes, when the Scythians came for this purpose, associated with them too intimately; and being more intimate with them than was proper, contracted from them a habit of drinking unmixed wine; and the Spartans think that he became mad from this cause. And from that time, as they themselves say, when they wish to drink stronger drink, they say, "Pour out like a Scythian." Thus, then, the Spartans speak concerning Cleomenes. But Cleomenes appears to me to have suffered this retribution on account of Demaratus. 85. When the Egineta were informed of the death of Cleomenes, they sent ambassadors to Sparta to complain loudly against Leutychides, on account of the hostages detained at Athens: and the Lacedæmonians, having assembled a court of judicature, determined that the Æginetæ had been very much injured by Leutychides, and condemned him to be delivered up and taken to Ægina, in the place of the men who were detained at Athens. But when the Ægineta were about to take Leutychides away, Theasides, son of Leoprepes, an eminent man in Sparta, said to them, "Men of Ægina, what are you going to do, to take away the king of the Spartans, who has been delivered into your hands by the citizens? If the Spartans, yielding to anger, have so decided, take care lest, if you do these things, they hereafter pour into your country a calamity which will utterly destroy you." The Æginetæ having heard this, refrained from taking him away; and came to this agreement, that Leutychides should accompany them to Athens, and restore the men to the Ægineta. 86. When Leutychides, on his arrival at Athens, demanded back the pledges, the Athenians had recourse to evasions, not wishing to give them up; and said, that two kings had deposited them, and it would not be right to deliver them up to one without the other. When the Athenians refused to give them up, Leutychides addressed them as follows: "O Athenians, do whichever you yourselves wish; for if you deliver them up, you will do what is just, |