§35.29.1luce orta Cretensium levis armatura et Tarentini equites super torrentem proelium commiserunt; Telemnastus Cretensis popularibus suis, equitibus Lycortas Megalopolitanus praeerat;
At daybreak, the Cretan light infantry and the Tarentine cavalry engaged in battle above the torrent; Telemnastus the Cretan was in command of his fellow countrymen, and Lycortas of Megalopolis commanded the cavalry.
§35.29.2Cretenses et hostium auxiliares, equitumque idem genus, Tarentini, praesidio aquatoribus erant.
The Cretans and the enemy's auxiliaries, and the same kind of cavalry, the Tarentines, served as a guard for the water-carriers.
aliquamdiu dubium proelium fuit ut eodem ex parte utraque hominum genere et armis paribus;
For some time the battle was undecided, as it was between the same kind of men on both sides and with equal arms.
§35.29.3procedente certamine et numero vicere tyranni auxiliares, et quia ita praeceptum a Philopoemene praefectis erat, ut modico edito proelio in fugam inclinarent hostemque ad locum insidiarum pertraherent.
As the contest proceeded, the tyrant's auxiliaries prevailed in numbers, and also because instructions had been given by Philopoemen to the officers that, after engaging in a moderate combat, they should turn to flight and draw the enemy to the place of ambush.
effuse secuti fugientes per convallem plerique et vulnerati et interfecti sunt, priusquam occultum hostem viderent.
Pursuing the fugitives in disorder through the valley, most of them were wounded or killed before they could see the hidden enemy.
§35.29.4caetrati ita, quantum latitudo vallis patiebatur, instructi sederant, ut facile per intervalla ordinum fugientes suos acciperent.
The targeteers had sat down drawn up in this way, as far as the width of the valley allowed, so that they might easily receive their fleeing comrades through the intervals of their ranks.
§35.29.5consurgunt deinde ipsi integri, recentes, instructi; in hostes inordinatos, effusos, labore etiam et vulneribus fessos impetum faciunt.
Then they themselves arose, unharmed, fresh, and in formation; they made a charge against the disorganized, scattered enemy, who were also exhausted by labor and wounds.
§35.29.6nec dubia victoria fuit: extemplo terga dedit tyranni miles et haud paulo concitatiore cursu, quam secutus erat, fugiens in castra est compulsus.
Nor was the victory doubtful: immediately the tyrant's soldiers turned their backs, and fleeing at a run not a little faster than that with which they had pursued, they were driven back into their camp.
§35.29.7multi caesi captique in ea fuga sunt; et in castris quoque foret trepidatum, ni Philopoemen receptui cani iussisset loca magis confragosa et, quacumque temere processisset, iniqua quam hostem metuens.
Many were slain and captured in that flight; and there would have been panic in the camp as well, if Philopoemen had not ordered the retreat to be sounded, fearing the rougher and, wherever he might advance rashly, disadvantageous ground rather than the enemy.
§35.29.8inde et ex fortuna pugnae et ex ingenio ducis coniectans, in quo tum is pavore esset, unum de auxiliaribus specie transfugae mittit ad eum, §35.29.9qui pro comperto adferret Achaeos statuisse postero die ad Eurotan amnem, qui prope ipsis adfluit moenibus, progredi, ut intercluderent iter, ne aut tyrannus, cum vellet, §35.29.10receptum ad urbem haberet, aut commeatus ad urbe in castra portarentur, simul et temptaturos, si quorum animi sollicitari ad defectionem a tyranno possent.
Conjecturing from this, and both from the outcome of the battle and from the character of the commander, in how great a panic he must then be, he sent one of the auxiliaries to him under the guise of a deserter, who was to report as a certainty that the Achaeans had decided to advance on the following day to the river Eurotas, which flows close to their very walls, so that they might block the road, lest the tyrant, when should have a retreat to the city, or provisions should be carried from the city to the camp; and at the same time to try if the minds of any of them could be solicited to desert the tyrant.
§35.29.11non tam fidem dictis perfuga fecit, quam perculso metu relinquendi castra causam probabilem praebuit.
The deserter did not so much gain credit for his words as offer a plausible reason for leaving the camp to a man stricken with fear.
§35.29.12postero die Pythagoram cum auxiliaribus et equitatu stationem agere pro vallo iussit; ipse tamquam in aciem cum robore exercitus egressus signa ocius ferri ad urbem iussit.
On the following day, he ordered Pythagoras with the auxiliaries and the cavalry to keep guard in front of the rampart; he himself, having gone out with the main body of the army as if into a line of battle, ordered the standards to be carried more rapidly to the city.