Diodorus Siculus, Library, Book XV, Chapter 72

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When the reason is asked why a man of such parts was serving as a private soldier in the expedition that was sent to Thessaly, we must give his own plea in defence. In the battle at Corinth Epameinondas, having cut through the guard of the Lacedaemonians on the outwork, though he might have slain many of the enemy, was satisfied with his advantage and desisted from further combat. [2] A serious suspicion arose that he had spared the Lacedaemonians as a personal favour, and those who were jealous of his fame found an opportunity for plausible charges against him. They accordingly brought a charge of treason against him, and the populace, incensed, removed him from the board of boeotarchs, made him a private soldier, and sent him out with the rest. When he had by his achievements wiped out the feeling against him, the people then restored him to his former position of high repute. [3] Shortly after this the Lacedaemonians fought a great battle with the Arcadians and defeated them signally. Indeed since the defeat at Leuctra this was their first stroke of good fortune, and it was a surprising one; for over ten thousand Arcadians fell and not one Lacedaemonian.¹ The priestesses of Dodona² had foretold to them that this war would be a tearless one for the Lacedaemonians. [4] After this battle the Arcadians, fearful of the invasions of the Lacedaemonians, founded in a favourable location the city called Great, Megalopolis, by combining to form it twenty³ villages of the Arcadians known as Maenalians⁴ and Parrhasians.

Such were the events in Greece at this time.

1 For the "tearless battle" see Xen. Hell. 7.1.28-32 and Plut. Agesilaus 33.3 ff.

2 Ancient oracle of Zeus in Epeirus.

3 Paus. 8.27.3-4 names forty villages. Cary, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.91-92, accepts Diodorus' figure but not his date. For the date of founding Paus. 8.27.8 gives 371/0; the Parian Marble 370/69 or 369/8, while Beloch, Griechische Geschichte （2）, 3.1.187, accepts Diodorus.

4 Districts of southern Arcadia. In Maenalia was situated the new foundation, Megalopolis.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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Cross-references to this page (6):
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), ARCA´DICUM FOEDUS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), BOEOTARCHES
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ARCA´DIA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MEGALO´POLIS
- Smith's Bio, Archida'mus Iii.
- Smith's Bio, Epaminondas
Cross-references in notes from this page (4):
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.27.3
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.27.8
- Xenophon, Hellenica, 7.1.28
- Plutarch, Agesilaus, 33.3
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (2):
- LSJ, ἄδακρ-υ^ς
- LSJ, συρρίπτω

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