|
As for Amompharetus, at first he did not believe that Pausanias
would really dare to leave him behind; he therefore remained firm in
his resolve to keep his men at their post; when, however, Pausanias
and his troops were now some way off, Amompharetus, thinking himself
forsaken in good earnest, ordered his band to take their arms, and led
them at a walk towards the main army. Now the army was waiting for
them at a distance of about ten furlongs, having halted upon the river
Moloeis at a place called Argiopius, where stands a temple dedicated
to Eleusinian Ceres. They had stopped here, that, in case
Amompharetus and his band should refuse to quit the spot where they
were drawn up, and should really not stir from it, they might have it
in their power to move back and lend them assistance. Amompharetus,
however, and his companions rejoined the main body; and at the same
time the whole mass of the barbarian cavalry arrived and began to press
hard upon them. The horsemen had followed their usual practice and
ridden up to the Greek camp, when they discovered that the place where
the Greeks had been posted hitherto was deserted. Hereupon they
pushed forward without stopping, and, as soon as they overtook the
enemy, pressed heavily on them.
|
|