Calliope   

perseverance prevailed- they gained the top of the wall, and, breaking
a breach through it, enabled the Greeks to pour in. The first to enter
here were the Tegeans, and they it was who plundered the tent of
Mardonius; where among other booty the found the manger from which his
horses ate, all made of solid brass, and well worth looking at. This
manger was given by the Tegeans to the temple of Minerva Alea, while
the remainder of their booty was brought into the common stock of
the Greeks. As soon as the wall was broken down, the barbarians no
longer kept together in any array, nor was there one among them who
thought of making further resistance- in good truth, they were all
half dead with fright, huddled as so many thousands were into so
narrow and confined a space. With such tameness did they submit to
be slaughtered by the Greeks, that of the 300,000 men who composed the
army- omitting the 40,000 by whom Artabazus was accompanied in his
flight- no more than 3000 outlived the battle. Of the Lacedaemonians
from Sparta there perished in this combat ninety-one; of the
Tegeans, sixteen; of the Athenians, fifty-two.
On the side of the barbarians, the greatest courage was
manifested, among the foot-soldiers, by the Persians; among the horse,
by the Sacae; while Mardonius himself, as a man, bore off the palm
from the rest. Among the Greeks, the Athenians and the Tegeans
fought well; but the prowess shown by the Lacedaemonians was beyond
either. Of this I have but one proof to offer- since all the three
nations overthrew the force opposed to them- and that is, that the
Lacedaemonians fought and conquered the best troops. The bravest man
by far on that day was, in my judgment, Aristodemus- the same who
alone escaped from the slaughter of the three hundred at
Thermopylae, and who on that account had endured disgrace and
reproach: next to him were Posidonius, Philocyon, and Amompharetus the
Spartan. The Spartans, however, who took part in the fight, when the
question of "who had distinguished himself most," came to be talked
over among them, decided- "that Aristodemus, who, on account of the
blame which attached to him, had manifestly courted death, and had
therefore left his place in the line and behaved like a madman, had
done of a truth very notable deeds; but that Posidonius, who, with
no such desire to lose his life, had quitted himself no less
gallantly, was by so much a braver man than he." Perchance, however,
it was envy that made them speak after this sort. Of those whom I have
named above as slain in this battle, all, save and except Aristodemus,
received public honours: Aristodemus alone had no honours, because
he courted death for the reason which I have mentioned.
These then were the most distinguished of those who fought at
Plataea. As for Callicrates,- the most beautiful man, not among the
Spartans only, but in the whole Greek camp,- he was not killed in
the battle; for it was while Pausanias was still consulting the
victims, that as he sat in his proper place in the line, an arrow
struck him on the side. While his comrades advanced to the fight, he
was borne out of the ranks, very loath to die, as he showed by the
words which he addressed to Arimnestus, one of the Plataeans;- "I
grieve," said he, "not because I have to die for my country, but
because I have not lifted my arm against the enemy, nor done any
deed worthy of me, much as I have desired to achieve something."
The Athenian who is said to have distinguished himself the most
was Sophanes, the son of Eutychides, of the Deceleian canton. The
men of this canton, once upon a time, did a deed, which (as the
Athenians themselves confess) has ever since been serviceable to them.
When the Tyndaridae, in days of yore, invaded Attica with a mighty
army to recover Helen, and, not being able to find out whither she had
been carried, desolated the cantons,- at this time, they say, the
Deceleians (or Decelus himself, according to some), displeased at
the rudeness of Theseus, and fearing that the whole territory would
suffer, discovered everything to the enemy, and even showed them the
way to Aphidnae, which Titacus, a native of the place, betrayed into
their hands. As a reward for this action, Sparta has always, from that