Mantinea is about 12 stades from this fountain. Mantineus, the son of Lycaon, seems to have built the town of Mantinea, (which name the Arcadians still use), on another site, from which it was transferred to its present site by Antinoe, the daughter of Cepheus the son of Aleus, who according to an oracle made a serpent (what kind of serpent they do not record) her guide. And that is why the river which flows by the town got its name Ophis (serpent). And if we may form a judgment from the Iliad of Homer this serpent was probably a dragon. For when in the Catalogue of the Ships Homer describes the Greeks leaving Philoctetes behind in Lemnos suffering from his ulcer,[24] he did not give the title serpent to the watersnake, but he did give that title to the dragon whom the eagle dropped among the Trojans.[25] So it seems probable that Antinoe was led by a dragon.
The Mantineans did not fight against the Lacedæmonians at Dipæa with the other Arcadians, but in the Peloponnesian war they joined the people of Elis against the Lacedæmonians, and fought against them, with some reinforcements from the Athenians, and also took part in the expedition to Sicily out of friendship to the Athenians. And some time afterwards a Lacedæmonian force under King Agesipolis, the son of Pausanias, invaded the territory of Mantinea. And Agesipolis was victorious in the battle, and shut the Mantineans up in their fortress, and captured Mantinea in no long time, not by storm, but by turning the river Ophis into the city through the walls which were built of unbaked brick. As to battering rams brick walls hold out better even than those made of stone, for the stones get broken and come out of position, so that brick walls suffer less, but unbaked brick is melted by water just as wax by the sun. This stratagem which Agesipolis employed against the walls of Mantinea was formerly employed by Cimon, the son of Miltiades, when he was besieging Boges the Mede and the Persians at Eion on the Strymon. So Agesipolis merely imitated what he had heard sung of by the Greeks. And when he took Mantinea, he left part of it habitable, but most of it he rased to the ground, and distributed the inhabitants in the various villages. The Thebans after the battle of Leuctra intended to restore the Mantineans from these villages to Mantinea. But though thus restored they were not at all faithful to the Thebans. For when they were besieged by the Lacedæmonians they made private overtures to them for peace, without acting in concert with the other Arcadians, and from fear of the Thebans openly entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with the Lacedæmonians, and in the battle fought on Mantinean territory between the Thebans under Epaminondas and the Lacedæmonians they ranged themselves with the Lacedæmonians. But after this the Mantineans and Lacedæmonians were at variance, and the former joined the Achæan League. And when Agis, the son of Eudamidas, was king of Sparta they defeated him in self defence by the help of an Achæan force under Aratus. They also joined the Achæans in the action against Cleomenes, and helped them in breaking down the power of the Lacedæmonians. And when Antigonus in Macedonia was Regent for Philip, the father of Perseus, who was still a boy, and was on most friendly terms with the Achæans, the Mantineans did several other things in his honour, and changed the name of their city to Antigonea. And long afterwards, when Augustus was about to fight the sea fight off the promontory of Apollo at Actium, the Mantineans fought on his side, though the rest of the Arcadians took part with Antony, for no other reason I think than that the Lacedæmonians were on the side of Augustus. And ten generations afterwards when Adrian was Emperor, he took away from the Mantineans the imported name of Antigonea and restored the old name of Mantinea.
[24] Iliad, ii. 721-723.
[25] Iliad, xii. 200-208.
CHAPTER IX.
And the Mantinæans have a double temple divided in the middle by a wall of partition, on one side is the statue of Æsculapius by Alcamenes, on the other is the temple of Leto and her children. Praxiteles made statues the third generation after Alcamenes. In the basement are the Muse and Marsyas with his pipe. There also on a pillar is Polybius the son of Lycortas, whom we shall mention hereafter. The Mantineans have also several other temples, as one to Zeus Soter, and another to Zeus surnamed Bountiful because he gives all good things to mankind, also one to Castor and Pollux, and in another part of the city one to Demeter and Proserpine. And they keep a fire continually burning here, taking great care that it does not go out through inadvertence. I also saw a temple of Hera near the theatre: the statues are by Praxiteles, Hera is seated on a throne, and standing by her are Athene and Hebe the daughter of Hera. And near the altar of Hera is the tomb of Arcas, the son of Callisto: his remains were brought from Mænalus in accordance with the oracle at Delphi.
“Cold is Mæenalia, where Arcas lies
Who gave his name to all Arcadians.
Go there I bid you, and with kindly mind
Remove his body to the pleasant city,