§8.10.1ἐς Ἀρκαδίαν δὲ τὴν ἄλλην εἰσὶν ἐκ Μαντινείας ὁδοί· ὁπόσα δὲ ἐφʼ ἑκάστης αὐτῶν μάλιστα ἦν θέας ἄξια, ἐπέξειμι καὶ ταῦτα.
From Mantinea there are roads to the rest of Arcadia, and I shall go through what is most worth seeing on each of them.
ἰόντι ἐς Τεγέαν ἐστὶν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τῆς λεωφόρου παρὰ τοῖς Μαντινέων τείχεσι χωρίον ἐς τῶν ἵππων τὸν δρόμον καὶ οὐ πόρρω τούτου στάδιον, ἔνθα ἐπὶ τῷ Ἀντίνῳ τὸν ἀγῶνα τιθέασιν.
For one going to Tegea, there is on the left of the highway near the walls of the Mantineans a place for the horse races, and not far from this a stadium where they hold the games in honor of Antinous.
ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ σταδίου τὸ ὄρος ἐστὶ τὸ Ἀλήσιον, διὰ τὴν ἄλην ὥς φασι καλούμενον τὴν Ῥέας, καὶ Δήμητρος ἄλσος ἐν τῷ ὄρει.
Above the stadium is Mount Alesium, so called, as they say, from the wandering of Rhea, and there is a grove of Demeter on the mountain.
§8.10.2παρὰ δὲ τοῦ ὄρους τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ Ποσειδῶνός ἐστι τοῦ Ἱππίου τὸ ἱερόν, οὐ πρόσω σταδίου Μαντινείας.
Near the ends of the mountain is the sanctuary of Poseidon of the Horse, not far from the stadium of Mantinea.
τὰ δὲ ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο ἐγώ τε ἀκοὴν γράφω καὶ ὅσοι μνήμην ἄλλοι περὶ αὐτοῦ πεποίηνται.
Concerning this sanctuary, I write what I have heard, and what others have recorded about it.
τὸ μὲν δὴ ἱερὸν τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ᾠκοδομήσατο Ἀδριανὸς βασιλεύς, ἐπιστήσας τοῖς ἐργαζομένοις ἐπόπτας ἄνδρας, ὡς μήτε ἐνίδοι τις ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν τὸ ἀρχαῖον μήτε τῶν ἐρειπίων τι αὐτοῦ μετακινοῖτο· πέριξ δὲ ἐκέλευε τὸν ναὸν σφᾶς οἰκοδομεῖσθαι τὸν καινόν.
The sanctuary in our time was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian, who placed overseers over the workmen so that no one might look into the ancient sanctuary nor move any of its ruins; and he ordered them to build the new temple around it.
τὰ δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῷ Ποσειδῶνι τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο Ἀγαμήδης λέγονται καὶ Τροφώνιος ποιῆσαι, δρυῶν ξύλα ἐργασάμενοι καὶ ἁρμόσαντες πρὸς ἄλληλα· §8.10.3ἐσόδου δὲ ἐς αὐτὸ εἴργοντες ἀνθρώπους ἔρυμα μὲν πρὸ τῆς ἐσόδου προεβάλοντο οὐδέν, μίτον δὲ διατείνουσιν ἐρεοῦν, τάχα μέν που τοῖς τότε ἄγουσι τὰ θεῖα ἐν τιμῇ δεῖμα καὶ τοῦτο ἔσεσθαι νομίζοντες, τάχα δʼ ἄν τι μετείη καὶ ἰσχύος τῷ μίτῳ.
This sanctuary from the beginning is said to have been made for Poseidon by Agamedes and Trophonius, who worked oak timbers and fitted them together; and to prevent people from entering it, they put up no barrier in front of the entrance, but stretched a woolen thread across, perhaps thinking that this too would be a source of fear to the people of that time who held divine things in honor, or perhaps there was also some power in the thread.
φαίνεται δὲ καὶ Αἴπυτος ὁ Ἱππόθου μήτε πηδήσας ὑπὲρ τὸν μίτον μήτε ὑποδύς, διακόψας δὲ αὐτὸν ἐσελθὼν ἐς τὸ ἱερόν· καὶ ποιήσας οὐχ ὅσια ἐτυφλώθη τε ἐμπεσόντος ἐς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῷ τοῦ κύματος καὶ αὐτίκα ἐπιλαμβάνει τὸ χρεὼν αὐτόν.
But Aepytus, the son of Hippothous, appears neither to have leapt over the thread nor to have crept under it, but to have cut it and entered the sanctuary; and having done what was impious, he was blinded, a wave falling upon his eyes, and immediately his fate overtook him.
§8.10.4θαλάσσης δὲ ἀναφαίνεσθαι κῦμα ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ λόγος ἐστὶν ἀρχαῖος· ἐοικότα δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσιν ἐς τὸ κῦμα τὸ ἐν ἀκροπόλει καὶ Καρῶν οἱ Μύλασα ἔχοντες ἐς τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἱερόν, ὃν φωνῇ τῇ ἐπιχωρίᾳ καλοῦσιν Ὀσογῶα.
There is an ancient story that a wave of the sea appears in the sanctuary; and the Athenians say similar things about the wave on the Acropolis, and the Carians who hold Mylasa about the sanctuary of the god whom they call Osogoa in their native tongue.
Ἀθηναίοις μὲν δὴ σταδίους μάλιστα εἴκοσιν ἀφέστηκε τῆς πόλεως ἡ πρὸς Φαληρῷ θάλασσα, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Μυλασεῦσιν ἐπίνειον σταδίους ὀγδοήκοντα ἀπέχον ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως· Μαντινεῦσι δὲ ἐκ μακροτάτων τε ἡ θάλασσα ἄνεισι καὶ ἐκφανέστατα δὴ κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ γνώμην.
To the Athenians indeed, the sea at Phalerum is about twenty stadia distant from the city, and likewise for the Mylasens their port is eighty stadia distant from the city; but for the Mantineans the sea rises from the greatest distance, and most clearly by the will of the god.
§8.10.5πέραν δὲ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος τρόπαιόν ἐστι λίθου πεποιημένον ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ Ἄγιδος· λέγεται δὲ καὶ ὁ τρόπος τῆς μάχης.
Beyond the sanctuary of Poseidon is a trophy made of stone, raised for the victory over the Lacedaemonians and Agis; and the manner of the battle is also told.
τὸ μὲν δεξιὸν εἶχον οἱ Μαντινεῖς αὐτοί, στρατιάν τε ἀπὸ πάσης ἡλικίας καὶ στρατηγὸν παρεχόμενοι Ποδάρην ἀπόγονον τρίτον Ποδάρου τοῦ Θηβαίοις ἐναντία ἀγωνισαμένου, παρῆν δέ σφισι καὶ μάντις Ἠλεῖος Θρασύβουλος Αἰνέου τῶν Ἰαμιδῶν—οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ νίκην τε τοῖς Μαντινεῦσι προηγόρευσε καὶ αὐτός σφισι τοῦ ἔργου μετέσχεν—· §8.10.6ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ εὐωνύμῳ πᾶν τὸ ἄλλο Ἀρκαδικὸν ἐτάσσοντο, ἄρχοντες δὲ κατὰ πόλεις τε ἦσαν καὶ Μεγαλοπολιτῶν Λυδιάδης καὶ Λεωκύδης· Ἀράτῳ δὲ ἐπετέτραπτο καὶ Σικυωνίοις τε καὶ Ἀχαιοῖς τὸ μέσον. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ καὶ Ἆγις ἐπεξέτειναν τὴν φάλαγγα, ὡς τῶν ἐναντίων τῷ στρατεύματι ἀντιπαρήκοιεν· τὸ μέσον δὲ Ἆγις καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν βασιλέα εἶχον.
The right wing was held by the Mantineans themselves, who provided a force from every age and as general Podares, a descendant in the third generation of that Podares who fought against the Thebans; and they also had with them an Elean prophet, Thrasybulus the son of Aeneas, of the Iamidae, who foretold victory to the Mantineans and himself took part in the action; on the left wing was stationed all the rest of the Arcadian force, and there were commanders for each city, and of the Megalopolitans Lydiades and Leocydes; and the center was entrusted to Aratus and the Sicyonians and Achaeans. The Lacedaemonians and Agis extended their phalanx, so that they might equal the front of the enemy's army; and the center was held by Agis and those around the king.
§8.10.7Ἄρατος δὲ ἀπὸ συγκειμένου πρὸς τοὺς Ἀρκάδας ὑπέφευγεν αὐτός τε καὶ ὁ σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸς οἷα δὴ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων σφίσιν ἐγκειμένων· ὑποφεύγοντες δὲ ἅμα τὸ σύνταγμα σφῶν ἠρέμα ἐποίουν μηνοειδές.
Aratus, by agreement with the Arcadians, feigned flight himself and the army with him, as though the Lacedaemonians were pressing hard upon them; and as they retreated, they gradually formed their formation into a crescent shape.
Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ καὶ Ἆγις νίκην τε ἤλπιζον καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἄρατον ἐνέκειντο ἀθρόοι μᾶλλον· ἐπηκολούθουν δέ σφισι καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν κεράτων, Ἄρατον καὶ τὴν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατιὰν τρέψασθαι μέγα ἀγώνισμα ἡγούμενοι.
The Lacedaemonians and Agis expected victory and pressed upon those around Aratus more in a mass; and those from the wings also followed them, thinking it a great achievement to rout Aratus and the army with him.
§8.10.8ἔλαθόν τε δὴ κατὰ νώτου γενόμενοί σφισιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες καὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι κυκλωθέντες τῆς τε ἄλλης στρατιᾶς τὸ πολὺ ἀποβάλλουσι καὶ βασιλεὺς ἔπεσεν Ἆγις Εὐδαμίδου.
And they did not notice that the Arcadians had got behind their back, and the Lacedaemonians, being surrounded, lost the greater part of their other army, and King Agis the son of Eudamidas fell.
φανῆναι δὲ καὶ τὸν Ποσειδῶνα ἀμύνοντά σφισιν ἔφασαν οἱ Μαντινεῖς, καὶ τοῦδε ἕνεκα τρόπαιον ἐποιήσαντο ἀνάθημα τῷ Ποσειδῶνι.
And the Mantineans said that Poseidon also appeared helping them, and for this reason they made the trophy as an offering to Poseidon.
§8.10.9πολέμῳ δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπων φόνοις παρεῖναι θεοὺς ἐποίησαν μὲν ὅσοις τὰ ἡρώων ἐμέλησεν ἐν Ἰλίῳ παθήματα, ᾄδεται δὲ ὑπὸ Ἀθηναίων ὡς θεοί σφισιν ἐν Μαραθῶνι καὶ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι τοῦ ἔργου μετάσχοιεν· ἐκδηλότατα δὲ ὁ Γαλατῶν στρατὸς ἀπώλετο ἐν Δελφοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐναργῶς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων.
That gods are present in war and slaughter of men was represented by all those who cared for the sufferings of the heroes at Ilium, and it is sung by the Athenians how the gods took part in the action for them at Marathon and at Salamis; and most clearly the army of the Gauls was destroyed at Delphi by the god and visibly by divine spirits.
οὕτω καὶ Μαντινεῦσιν ἕπεται οὐκ ἄνευ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος τὸ κράτος γενέσθαι σφίσι.
So too for the Mantineans it follows that their victory did not happen without Poseidon.
§8.10.10Λεωκύδους δὲ τοῦ Μεγαλοπολιτῶν ὁμοῦ Λυδιάδῃ στρατηγήσαντος πρόγονον ἔνατον Ἀρκεσίλαον οἰκοῦντα ἐν Λυκοσούρᾳ λέγουσιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες ὡς ἴδοι τὴν ἱερὰν τῆς καλουμένης Δεσποίνης ἔλαφον πεπονηκυῖαν ὑπὸ γήρως· τῇ δὲ ἐλάφῳ ταύτῃ ψάλιόν τε εἶναι περὶ τὸν τράχηλον καὶ γράμματα ἐπὶ τῷ ψαλίῳ,
"
νεβρὸς ἐὼν ἑάλων, ὅτʼ ἐς Ἴλιον ἦν Ἀγαπήνωρ.
And of Leocydes, who was general of the Megalopolitans along with Lydiades, the Arcadians say that his ancestor in the ninth generation, Arcesilaus, who lived in Lycosura, saw the sacred hind of her who is called Despoina, worn out by old age; and this hind had a collar around its neck, and letters on the collar: "Captured when I was a fawn, when Agapenor went to Ilium.
"
οὗτος μὲν δὴ ἐπιδείκνυσιν ὁ λόγος ἔλαφον εἶναι πολλῷ καὶ ἐλέφαντος μακροβιώτερον θηρίον·
"This story indeed shows that the hind is a beast much longer-lived even than the elephant.