formed less than a twelfth part. But the great reputation which these
men enjoyed made the rest follow them without any formal vote or
decree to do so; for the first and most fundamental law is that which
makes men in need of help follow him who can save them; and even if,
like men sailing on a calm sea or anchored close to port, they
sometimes murmur at and brave their pilot, yet in time of danger and
storm they look up to him and place all their hopes in him, so the
Argives and Eleans and Arcadians would at the council-board dispute
the Theban claims to supremacy, but in war and at critical moments
they of their own accord obeyed the Theban generals. In this campaign,
Arcadia was consolidated into one state; they also separated Messenia,
which had been annexed by the Spartans, and bringing back the
Messenian exiles established them in the old capital, Ithome. On their
homeward march through Kenchreæ they gained a victory over the
Athenians, who attempted to harass them and hinder their march through
the narrow isthmus of Corinth.

XXV. After these exploits all men were full of admiration and wonder
at their courage and success, but at home the envious feelings of
their countrymen and political opponents, which grew along with the
growth of their renown, prepared a most scurvy reception for them. On
their return they were both tried for their lives, on the ground that
whereas the law is that during the first month of the year, which they
call Boukation, the Bœotarchs must lay down their office, they had
held it for four additional months, during which they had been
settling the affairs of Messenia, Laconia, and Arcadia. Pelopidas was
tried first, and so incurred the greater danger, but both were
acquitted.

Epameinondas, who thought that true courage and magnanimity was best