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At last the ambassadors got an answer, and the troops marched forth
from Sparta, under the following circumstances. The last audience
had been fixed for the ambassadors, when, the very day before it was
to be given, a certain Tegean, named Chileus, a man who had more
influence at Sparta than any other foreigner, learning from the
Ephors exactly what the Athenians had said, addressed these words to
them - "The case stands thus, O ye Ephors! If the Athenians are
not our friends, but league themselves with the barbarians, however
strong our wall across the Isthmus may be, there will be doors
enough, and wide enough open too, by which the Persian may gain
entrance to the Peloponnese. Grant their request then, before they
make any fresh resolve, which may bring Greece to ruin."
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