§1.67.1κατὰ μὲν δὴ τὸν πρότερον πόλεμον συνεχέως αἰεὶ κακῶς ἀέθλεον πρὸς τοὺς Τεγεήτας, κατὰ δὲ τὸν κατὰ Κροῖσον χρόνον καὶ τὴν Ἀναξανδρίδεώ τε καὶ Ἀρίστωνος βασιληίην ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ἤδη οἱ Σπαρτιῆται κατυπέρτεροι τῷ πολέμῳ ἐγεγόνεσαν, τρόπῳ τοιῷδε γενόμενοι.
During the former war, indeed, they continually fared badly in the contest against the Tegeans, but in the time of Croesus and during the reign of Anaxandrides and Ariston in Lacedaemon, the Spartans had already become superior in the war, having become so in the following manner.
§1.67.2ἐπειδὴ αἰεὶ τῷ πολέμῳ ἑσσοῦντο ὑπὸ Τεγεητέων, πέμψαντες θεοπρόπους ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐπειρώτων τίνα ἂν θεῶν ἱλασάμενοι κατύπερθε τῷ πολέμῳ Τεγεητέων γενοίατο.
When they were continually being defeated in the war by the Tegeans, they sent messengers to Delphi and inquired which of the gods they should appease in order to become superior to the Tegeans in the war.
ἡ δὲ Πυθίη σφι ἔχρησε τὰ Ὀρέστεω τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ὀστέα ἐπαγαγομένους.
And the Pythia declared to them that they must bring home the bones of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon.
§1.67.3ὡς δὲ ἀνευρεῖν οὐκ οἷοί τε ἐγίνοντο τὴν θήκην τοῦ Ὀρέστεω ἔπεμπον αὖτις τὴν ἐς θεὸν ἐπειρησομένους τὸν χῶρον ἐν τῷ κέοιτο Ὀρέστης. εἰρωτῶσι δὲ ταῦτα τοῖσι θεοπρόποισι λέγει ἡ Πυθίη τάδε.
But when they were not able to find the tomb of Orestes, they sent again an embassy to the god to ask the place in which Orestes lay.
§1.67.4"
ἔστι τις Ἀρκαδίης Τεγέη λευρῷ ἐνὶ χώρῳ,
ἔνθʼ ἄνεμοι πνείουσι δύω κρατερῆς ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης,
καὶ τύπος ἀντίτυπος, καὶ πῆμʼ ἐπὶ πήματι κεῖται.
To the messengers asking these things, the Pythia said the following: "There is a certain Tegea of Arcadia in a smooth place, where two winds blow under strong necessity, and stroke is against stroke, and woe lies upon woe.
ἔνθʼ Ἀγαμεμνονίδην κατέχει φυσίζοος αἶα,
τὸν σὺ κομισσάμενος Τεγέης ἐπιτάρροθος ἔσσῃ. "
There the life-giving earth holds the son of Agamemnon; when you bring him home, you will be the master of Tegea.
§1.67.5ὡς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἤκουσαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἀπεῖχον τῆς ἐξευρέσιος οὐδὲν ἔλασσον, πάντα διζήμενοι, ἐς οὗ δὴ Λίχης τῶν ἀγαθοεργῶν καλεομένων Σπαρτιητέων ἀνεῦρε, οἱ δὲ ἀγαθοεργοὶ εἰσὶ τῶν ἀστῶν, ἐξιόντες ἐκ τῶν ἱππέων αἰεὶ οἱ πρεσβύτατοι, πέντε ἔτεος ἑκάστου·
"When the Lacedaemonians heard this too, they were no closer to finding it, though they searched everywhere, until Lichas, one of the Spartans called "agathoergoi," found it.
τοὺς δεῖ τοῦτὸν τὸν ἐνιαυτόν, τὸν ἂν ἐξίωσι ἐκ τῶν ἱππέων, Σπαρτιητέων τῷ κοινῷ διαπεμπομένους μὴ ἐλινύειν ἄλλους ἄλλῃ.
Now, the "agathoergoi" are those of the citizens, the eldest who retire from the knights each year, five in number; whom it behoves during this year, the one in which they retire from the knights, being sent in different directions by the state of the Spartans, not to be idle, but to perform services in various ways.