" Struck with admiration and fear at his daring, the king
bade him pass through as a friend. On reaching the country of
Thessaly, he found the Thessalians in alliance with the enemies of
Sparta, and laid waste their lands. He sent however Xenokles and
Skythes to Larissa, the chief town in Thessaly, to arrange terms of
peace. These men were seized upon by the Thessalians and cast into
prison, at which the army was greatly excited, thinking that Agesilaus
could do no less than besiege and take Larissa. He, on the other hand,
said that he valued the lives of either of these two men more than all
Thessaly, and obtained their release by negotiation. This ought not to
surprise us in Agesilaus, for when he heard of the great battle at
Corinth where so many distinguished men fell, and where though many of
the enemy perished the Spartan loss was very small, he showed no signs
of exultation, but sighed heavily, and said, "Alas for Greece, that
she should by her own fault have lost so many men, who if they were
alive could conquer all the barbarians in the world."
The Thessalian tribe of the Pharsalians[181] now attacked his army,
upon which he charged them with five hundred horse, and having routed
them erected a trophy near Mount Narthakius. Agesilaus took great
pride in this victory, because in it he had defeated the Thessalian
horsemen, supposed to be the best in Greece, with cavalry disciplined
by himself in Asia.
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