This they did as a recompense for our valour
and devotion in our country's service. But ye, in direct violation of
that oath, have made common cause with our worst enemies, the Thebans,
and have come hither to enslave us. In the name of the gods who
witnessed that covenant, in the name of every power worshipped alike
at Plataea and at Sparta, we adjure you not to commit this sacrilege,
but to leave us in peaceful possession of the privileges vouchsafed to
us on that memorable day."
Such were the words of the Plataeans, to which Archidamus replied as
follows: "Ye say well, men of Plataea, if ye act in the spirit of the
compact to which ye have appealed. The oath which Pausanias swore was
taken in defence of the common liberties of Greece. Against those
liberties a new enemy has arisen, Athens, who holds half our nation in
bondage, and threatens to lay her yoke upon us all. To put down that
tyranny has this great coalition been called together, and if ye are
true men, ye will enlist in the same cause, and take up arms for the
relief of your distressed countrymen. Or at least, if ye cannot do
this, then stand apart from this conflict, helping neither one side
nor the other; and with this we shall be satisfied."
Having heard the answer of Archidamus, the Plataean envoys went back,
and reported his words to their fellow-townsmen.
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