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It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops who departed,
because he tendered their safety, but thought it unseemly that either
he or his Spartans should quit the post which they had been especially
sent to guard. For my own part, I incline to think that Leonidas
gave the order, because he perceived the allies to be out of heart and
unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own mind was made up.
He therefore commanded them to retreat, but said that he himself could
not draw back with honour; knowing that, if he stayed, glory awaited
him, and that Sparta in that case would not lose her prosperity. For
when the Spartans, at the very beginning of the war, sent to consult
the oracle concerning it, the answer which they received from the
Pythoness was "that either Sparta must be overthrown by the
barbarians, or one of her kings must perish." The prophecy was
delivered in hexameter verse, and ran thus:
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O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon!
Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus,
Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country
Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.
He cannot be withstood by the courage of bulls nor of lions,
Strive as they may; he is mighty as Jove; there is nought that shall
stay him,
Till he have got for his prey your king, or your glorious city.
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The remembrance of this answer, I think, and the wish to secure the
whole glory for the Spartans, caused Leonidas to send the allies
away. This is more likely than that they quarrelled with him, and
took their departure in such unruly fashion.
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