SPEECH  OF  ARCHIDAMUS.                 lOl

B.C. 431. US : she Is friendly and would have us succeed because II.
^' ^' she hates the Athenians. Now although some among
you, surveying this great host, may think that there is
very little risk of the enemy meeting us In the field,
we ought not on that account to advance heedlessly;
but the general and the soldier of every state should be
always expecting that his own division of the army will
be the one first in danger. War is carried on in the
dark ; attacks are generally sudden and furious, and often
the smaller army, animated by a proper fear, has been
more than a match for a larger force which, disdaining
their opponent, were taken unprepared by him. When
invading an enemy's country, men should always be
confident In spirit, but they should fear too, and take
measures of precaution ; and thus they will be at once
most valorous in attack and impregnable in defence.

^ And the city which we are attacking is not so utterly For they are
powerless, but Is in the best possible state of preparation, prepared,^
and for this reason our enemies may be quite expected fe^st^llkeiy
to meet us in the field.    Even if they have no such in- ofaUmen

•^                     ^              _        to sit idly

tentlon beforehand, yet as soon as they see us in Attica, by while we

,     ,              .         ,^    .                   ,        ,\             -11             waste their

wasting and destroying their property, they will cer- lands.
talnly change their mind. For all men are angry when
they not only suffer but see, and some strange form of
calamity strikes full upon the eye; the less they reflect
the more ready they are to fight; above all men the
Athenians, who claim imperial power, and are more
disposed to invade and waste their neighbour's land than
to look on while their own is being wasted. Remem¬
bering how great this city is which you are attacking,
and what a fame you will bring on your ancestors and
yourselves for good or evil according to the result,
follow whithersoever you are led ; maintain discipline and
caution above all things, and be on the alert to obey
the word of command. A great army is most assured of
glory and safety when visibly animated by one spirit.*

Having thus spoken, Archidamus dismissed the as-       12.
sembly.    His first step was to send Melesippus, the son -^rchida-

''                                 ^                                           1 i      ^                   jimg sends