[3] See "Hell." IV. ii. 7.

[4] Lit. "mora."

I am not going to maintain that he ventured on the engagement in spite
of having far fewer and inferior forces. Such an assertion would only
reveal the senselessness of the general[5] and the folly of the writer
who should select as praiseworthy the reckless imperilling of mighty
interests. On the contrary, what I admire is the fact that he had
taken care to provide himself with an army not inferior to that of his
enemy, and had so equipped them that his cohorts literally gleamed
with purple and bronze.[6] He had taken pains to enable his soldiers
to undergo the fatigue of war, he had filled their breasts with a
proud consciousness that they were equal to do battle with any
combatants in the world, and what was more, he had infused a wholesome
rivalry in those about him to prove themselves each better than the
rest. He had filled all hearts with sanguine expectation of great
blessings to descend on all, if they proved themselves good men. Such
incentives, he thought, were best calculated to arouse enthusiasm in
men's souls to engage in battle with the enemy. And in this
expectation he was not deceived.

[5] Lit. "Agesilaus."

[6] See "Cyrop." VI. iv. 1.

I proceed to describe the battle, for in certain distinctive features
it differed from all the battles of our day. The contending forces met
on the plain of Coronea, Agesilaus and his troops approaching from the