§11.81.1τοῦ δʼ ἐνιαυσίου χρόνου διεληλυθότος Ἀθήνησι μὲν ἦρχε Μνησιθείδης, ἐν Ῥώμῃ δʼ ὕπατοι κατεστάθησαν Λούκιος Λουκράτιος καὶ Τίτος Οὐετούριος Κιχωρῖνος.
And when the year had run its course, Mnesitheides was archon in Athens, and in Rome Lucius Lucretius and Titus Veturius Cicurinus were established as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Θηβαῖοι μὲν τεταπεινωμένοι διὰ τὴν πρὸς Ξέρξην αὐτοῖς γενομένην συμμαχίαν, ἐζήτουν διʼ οὗ τρόπου δύναιντʼ ἂν ἀναλαβεῖν τὴν πάτριον ἰσχύν τε καὶ δόξαν.
Under these, the Thebans, who had been humbled because of the alliance they had made with Xerxes, were seeking by what means they might recover their ancestral power and glory.
§11.81.2διὸ καὶ τῶν Βοιωτῶν ἁπάντων καταφρονούντων καὶ μηκέτι προσεχόντων τοῖς Θηβαίοις, ἠξίουν τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους τῇ πόλει συμπεριποιῆσαι τὴν ὅλην ἡγεμονίαν τῆς Βοιωτίας· ἐπηγγέλλοντο δʼ αὐτοῖς ἀντὶ ταύτης τῆς χάριτος ἰδίᾳ πολεμήσειν τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, ὥστε μηδεμίαν ἀνάγκην εἶναι τοῖς Σπαρτιάταις ἐκτὸς τῆς Πελοποννήσου δύναμιν ἐξαγαγεῖν πεζήν.
For this reason, since all the Boeotians held them in contempt and no longer paid heed to the Thebans, they requested the Lacedaemonians to help them acquire for their city the entire hegemony over Boeotia; and they promised them that, in return for this favor, they would wage war against the Athenians on their own, so that there would be no necessity for the Spartans to lead an infantry force outside the Peloponnesus.
§11.81.3οἱ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι κρίναντες συμφέροντα λέγειν αὐτούς, καὶ νομίζοντες τὰς Θήβας, ἐὰν αὐξήσωσιν, ἔσεσθαι τῆς τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὥσπερ ἀντίπαλόν τινα· διόπερ ἔχοντες τότε περὶ Τάναγραν ἕτοιμον καὶ μέγα στρατόπεδον, τῆς μὲν τῶν Θηβαίων πόλεως μείζονα τὸν περίβολον κατεσκεύασαν, τὰς δʼ ἐν Βοιωτίᾳ πόλεις ἠνάγκασαν ὑποτάττεσθαι τοῖς Θηβαίοις.
And the Lacedaemonians, judging that their proposal was advantageous, and believing that Thebes, if they strengthened it, would serve as a kind of counterweight to the power of the Athenians—for this reason, having at that time a large army ready around Tanagra, they constructed a larger circuit for the city of the Thebans, and forced the cities in Boeotia to subject themselves to the Thebans.
§11.81.4οἱ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι τὴν ἐπιβολὴν τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων διακόψαι σπεύδοντες, δύναμιν ἀξιόλογον συνεστήσαντο, καὶ στρατηγὸν εἵλοντο Μυρωνίδην τὸν Καλλίου.
The Athenians, eager to disrupt the plan of the Lacedaemonians, organized a noteworthy force and chose Myronides, the son of Callias, as general.
οὗτος δὲ καταλέξας τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς ἱκανοὺς παρήγγειλεν αὐτοῖς, ἐκθέμενος ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ τὴν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἀνάζευξιν ἤμελλε ποιεῖσθαι.
He, having enrolled those of the citizens who were capable, gave them orders, setting a day on which he was to make the departure from the city.
§11.81.5ἐπεὶ δʼ ὁ συντεταγμένος καιρὸς ἧκε, καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τινες οὐ κατήντησαν πρὸς τὴν ὡρισμένην ἀφορμήν, ἀναλαβὼν τοὺς προσεληλυθότας προῆγεν εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν.
But when the appointed time arrived and some of the soldiers failed to appear at the designated starting point, he took those who had arrived and advanced into Boeotia.
τῶν δὲ ἡγεμόνων τινὲς καὶ τῶν φίλων ἔφασαν δεῖν ἀναμένειν τοὺς καθυστεροῦντας, ὁ δὲ Μυρωνίδης, συνετὸς ὢν ἅμα καὶ δραστικὸς στρατηγός, οὐκ ἔφησεν ἀναμενεῖν· ἀπεφαίνετο γὰρ τοὺς μὲν ἑκουσίως καθυστεροῦντας τῆς ἐξόδου καὶ κατὰ τὴν μάχην ἀγεννῶς καὶ δειλῶς ἕξειν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος κινδύνους ὑποστήσεσθαι, τοὺς δʼ ἑτοίμους κατὰ τὴν συντεταγμένην ἡμέραν παραγενηθέντας φανεροὺς εἶναι διότι καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τάξιν οὐ καταλείψουσιν·
Though some of the officers and his friends said that they ought to wait for the stragglers, Myronides, who was at once a prudent and active general, refused to wait; for he declared that those who voluntarily lagged behind the departure would also behave ignobly and cowardly in battle, and for this reason would not even undergo dangers on behalf of their country, whereas those who had presented themselves ready on the appointed day made it clear that they would not desert their post in war.
ὅπερ καὶ συνέβη γενέσθαι.
And this is exactly what came to pass.
§11.81.6ὀλίγους γὰρ προάγων στρατιώτας, καὶ τούτους ἀρίστους ταῖς ἀνδραγαθίαις, παρετάξατο κατὰ τὴν Βοιωτίαν πρὸς πολλαπλασίους, καὶ κατὰ κράτος περιεγένετο τῶν ἀντιταχθέντων.
For leading forward only a few soldiers, but these the very best in courage, he drew them up in Boeotia against forces many times their number, and completely overcame those opposed to him.