τοῖς δὲ ἐν Κρεύσιδι, ἐπινείῳ τῷ Θεσπιέων, οἰκοῦσιν ἐν κοινῷ μέν ἐστιν οὐδέν, ἐν ἰδιώτου δὲ ἀνδρὸς ἄγαλμα ἦν Διονύσου γύψου πεποιημένον καὶ ἐπικεκοσμημένον γραφῇ. πλοῦς δὲ ἐς Κρεῦσίν ἐστιν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου σκολιός τε καὶ ἄλλως οὐκ εὔδιος· ἄκραι τε γὰρ ἀνέχουσιν ὡς μὴ κατʼ εὐθὺ τῆς θαλάσσης περαιοῦσθαι καὶ ἅμα ἐκ τῶν ὀρῶν καταπνέουσιν ἄνεμοι βίαιοι.
πλέοντι δὲ ἐκ Κρεύσιδος οὐκ ἄνω, παρὰ δὲ αὐτὴν Βοιωτίαν, πόλις ἐστὶν ἐν δεξιᾷ Θίσβη. πρῶτα μὲν ὄρος ἐστὶ πρὸς θαλάσσῃ, τοῦτο δὲ ὑπερβαλόντα πεδίον σε ἐκδέξεται καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἄλλο ὄρος· ἐν δὲ ταῖς ὑπωρείαις ἐστὶν ἡ πόλις. Ἡρακλέους δὲ ἱερὸν καὶ ἄγαλμα ὀρθὸν ἐνταῦθά ἐστι λίθου, καὶ Ἡράκλεια ἑορτὴν ἄγουσι.
τὸ δὲ πεδίον τὸ μεταξὺ τῶν ὀρῶν ἐκώλυεν οὐδὲν ἂν λίμνην ὑπὸ πλήθους εἶναι τοῦ ὕδατος, εἰ μὴ διὰ μέσου χῶμά σφισιν ἐπεποίητο ἰσχυρόν· καὶ οὕτω παρὰ ἔτος ἐς μὲν τὰ ἐπέκεινα τοῦ χώματος ἐκτρέπουσι τὸ ὕδωρ, τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ ἕτερα αὐτοῦ γεωργοῦσι. Θίσβην δὲ λέγουσιν ἐπιχώριον εἶναι νύμφην, ἀφʼ ἧς ἡ πόλις τὸ ὄνομα ἔσχηκεν.
παραπλέοντι δὲ αὐτόθεν πόλισμά ἐστιν οὐ μέγα ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ Τίφα· Ἡρακλεῖόν τε Τιφαιεῦσίν ἐστι καὶ ἑορτὴν ἄγουσιν ἐπέτειον. οὗτοι Βοιωτῶν μάλιστα ἐκ παλαιοῦ τὰ θαλάσσια ἐθέλουσιν εἶναι σοφοί, Τῖφυν ἄνδρα μνημονεύοντες ἐπιχώριον ὡς προκριθείη γενέσθαι τῆς Ἀργοῦς κυβερνήτης· ἀποφαίνουσι δὲ καὶ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἔνθα ἐκ Κόλχων ὀπίσω κομιζομένην ὁρμίσασθαι τὴν Ἀργὼ λέγουσιν.
ἀπὸ δὲ Θεσπίας ἰόντι ἄνω πρὸς ἤπειρον ἔστιν Ἁλίαρτος. ὅστις δὲ Ἁλιάρτου γέγονε καὶ Κορωνείας οἰκιστής, οὔ με ἀπὸ τῶν ἐς Ὀρχομενίους ἐχόντων εἰκὸς ἦν χωρίζειν· κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐπιστρατείαν τοῦ Μήδου φρονήσασιν Ἁλιαρτίοις τὰ Ἑλλήνων μοῖρα τῆς Ξέρξου στρατιᾶς γῆν τέ σφισιν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐπεξῆλθε καίουσα. ἐν Ἁλιάρτῳ δέ ἐστι Λυσάνδρου τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου μνῆμα· προσβαλὼν γὰρ τῷ Ἁλιάρτῳ πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος στρατιᾶς ἔκ τε Θηβῶν ἐνούσης ἔνδον καὶ ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν καὶ ἐπεξελθόντων τῶν πολεμίων ἔπεσεν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ.
Λύσανδρον δὲ τὰ μὲν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἐπαινέσαι, τὰ δὲ καὶ πικρῶς ἔστι μέμψασθαι. σοφίαν μέν γε τοιαύτην ἐπεδείξατο· ἡγούμενος Πελοποννησίων ταῖς τριήρεσιν Ἀντίοχον κυβερνήτην ὄντα Ἀλκιβιάδου, φυλάξας Ἀλκιβιάδην ἀπόντα τοῦ ναυτικοῦ, τηνικαῦτα τὸν Ἀντίοχον ἐπηγάγετο ἐς ἐλπίδα ὡς ὄντα ἀξιόμαχον ναυμαχῆσαι Λακεδαιμονίοις, καὶ ἀναγαγόμενον ὑπὸ θράσους τε καὶ ἀλαζονίας ἐνίκησεν αὐτὸν οὐ πόρρω τοῦ Κολοφωνίων ἄστεως.
ὡς δὲ καὶ δεύτερα ὁ Λύσανδρος ἐπὶ τὰς τριήρεις ἀφίκετο ἐκ Σπάρτης, ἡμερώσατο μὲν οὕτω Κῦρον ὡς χρήματα, ὁπότε ἐς τὸ ναυτικὸν αἰτοίη, παρεῖναί οἱ κατὰ καιρόν τε καὶ ἄφθονα· ὁρμούντων δὲ ναυσὶν ἑκατὸν ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς Ἀθηναίων, εἷλεν αὐτῶν τὰ πλοῖα, ἐσκεδασμένους ἐπί τε ὕδωρ τοὺς ναύτας καὶ ἐπὶ ἀγορὰν φυλάξας. παρέσχετο δὲ καὶ ἔργον τοιόνδε ἐς δικαιοσύνην.
Αὐτολύκῳ τῷ παγκρατιάσαντι, οὗ δὴ καὶ εἰκόνα ἰδὼν οἶδα ἐν πρυτανείῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων, τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐς ἀμφισβήτησιν ὅτου δὴ κτήματος Ἐτεόνικος ἦλθεν ὁ Σπαρτιάτης· ὡς δὲ ἄρα λέγων ἡλίσκετο οὐ δίκαια—ἦν γὰρ δὴ τηνικαῦτα Ἀθηναίοις τῶν τριάκοντα ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ παρῆν ἔτι ὁ Λύσανδρος—τούτων ἕνεκα Ἐτεόνικος πληγῶν τε ἄρχειν ἐπήρθη καὶ ἀμυνάμενον τὸν Αὐτόλυκον ἦγεν ἐπὶ Λύσανδρον, παντάπασιν ἐκεῖνον ἐς χάριν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δικάσειν ἐλπίζων· Λύσανδρος δὲ ἀδικεῖν Ἐτεόνικον κατέγνω καὶ ἀπέπεμψεν ἀτιμάσας τῷ λόγῳ.
τάδε μὲν Λυσάνδρῳ τὰ ἐς δόξαν ὑπάρχοντα ἦν, ἄλλα δὲ τοσάδε ὀνείδη. Φιλοκλέα γὰρ Ἀθηναῖον ἐν Αἰγὸς ποταμοῖς καὶ αὐτὸν στρατηγοῦντα καὶ Ἀθηναίων τῶν ἄλλων ὅσον τετρακισχιλίους αἰχμαλώτους ὄντας ἀπέκτεινεν ὁ Λύσανδρος καί σφισιν οὐδὲ ἀποθανοῦσιν ἐπήνεγκε γῆν, ὃ καὶ Μήδων τοῖς ἀποβᾶσιν ἐς Μαραθῶνα ὑπῆρξε παρὰ Ἀθηναίων καὶ αὐτῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τοῖς πεσοῦσιν ἐν Θερμοπύλαις ἐκ βασιλέως Ξέρξου. μείζονα δὲ ἔτι Λακεδαιμονίοις ὀνείδη γενέσθαι παρεσκεύασεν ὁ Λύσανδρος ἐπί τε δεκαδαρχίαις ἃς κατέστησε ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς Λάκωσιν ἁρμοσταῖς.
Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ χρήματα οὐ νομιζόντων κτᾶσθαι κατὰ δή τι μάντευμα, ὡς ἡ φιλοχρηματία μόνη γένοιτο ἂν ἀπώλεια τῇ Σπάρτῃ, ὁ δὲ καὶ χρημάτων πόθον σφίσιν ἐνεποίησεν ἰσχυρόν. ἐγὼ μὲν δὴ Πέρσαις τε ἑπόμενος καὶ δικάζων νόμῳ γε τῷ ἐκείνων βλάβος κρίνω Λακεδαιμονίοις μᾶλλον ἢ ὠφέλειαν γενέσθαι Λύσανδρον·
At Creusis, the port of Thespiae, there is no public monument, but in the house of a private man there was an image of Dionysus made of gypsum and painted. The voyage from Peloponnese to Creusis is tortuous and stormy, for headlands jut out so that you cannot steer straight across, and besides, squalls come sweeping down from the mountains.
Sailing from Creusis and standing, not out to sea, but along the Boeotian coast, you reach on the right a city Thisbe. First there is a mountain on the coast: crossing over the mountain you will come to a plain, and then to another mountain, at the skirts of which lies the city. There is a sanctuary of Hercules here with a standing image of stone, and they hold a festival of Hercules. Water is here so plentiful that the plain between the mountains must inevitably have been a lake, were it not that they have constructed a strong dyke right across it; and thus every second year they divert the water to the farther side of the dyke and till the land on the other. They say that Thisbe was a local nymph from whom the city took its name.
Coasting along from Thisbe we come to a small town Tipha on the coast. There is a sanctuary of Hercules at Tipha, and they hold an annual festival. The Tiphaeans claim to have been from antiquity the best sailors in Boeotia: they tell how a townsman of theirs, Tiphys, was chosen pilot of the Argo; and they point out the place off the city where they say the Argo anchored on her return voyage from Colchis.
Going inland from Thespiae we come to Haliartus. Who founded Haliartus and Coronea is a topic which cannot naturally be severed from the history of Orchomenus. In the invasion of the Medes the Haliartians took the side of Greece, so a division of Xerxes’ army attacked and burned their land and city. In Haliartus there is the tomb of Lysander the Lacedaemonian. He had made an assault on the walls of Haliartus, which was garrisoned by troops from Thebes and Athens: the enemy made a sortie, and he fell in the battle.
In some respects Lysander deserves the highest praise, but in others severe censure. Of ability he certainly gave proof. For being in command of the Peloponnesian galleys he took advantage of the absence of Alcibiades from the fleet to cajole Alcibiades’ pilot, Antiochus, into the belief that he was a match for the Lacedaemonians at sea; and when Antiochus, in a spirit of bravado, rashly put to sea, Lysander defeated him not far from the city of Colophon. When he was despatched a second time from Sparta to take command of the fleet, he so captivated Cyrus that he had only to ask for money for the fleet and it flowed in promptly and abundantly. Again, when an Athenian fleet of a hundred sail was anchored at Aegospotami, he watched for the moment when the sailors were dispersed to fetch water and procure provisions, and then captured their vessels. The following act is a proof of his justice. Autolycus, the pancratiast, whose statue I have seen in the Athenian Prytaneum, had a dispute about some piece of property with Eteonicus the Spartan. The latter was convicted of putting forward an unjust plea; but as the government of Athens was at that time in the hands of the Thirty, and as Lysander had not yet quitted the city, Eteonicus was encouraged to have recourse to blows, and when Autolycus stood on his defence, Eteonicus haled him before Lysander, making quite certain that the latter would give judgment in his favour. But Lysander decided that Eteonicus was in the wrong, and dismissed him with a rebuke. 6. But if these acts were honourable to Lysander, the following were disgraceful to him. He put to the sword Philocles the Athenian general at Aegospotami, together with about four thousand Athenian prisoners, and did not even accord them burial, —a favour which the Athenians granted to the Medes who landed at Marathon, and which King Xerxes vouchsafed to the Lacedaemonians themselves who fell at Thermopylae. But he brought a still greater reproach on his country by the decemvirates which he established in the cities, and by the Laconian governors. And whereas, warned by an oracle that avarice alone would prove the bane of Sparta, the Lacedaemonians were not accustomed to amass wealth, Lysander imbued them with a keen desire for it. For my part, adopting the Persian standard, and judging by the Persian law, I am of opinion that Lysander did more harm than good to Lacedaemon.
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