ARISTIDES. 295
tious of the oracle of Apollo." And that the god replied, they were utterly mistaken, for that the places spoken of by the oracle were within the bounds of Platsea, and if they sought there they should find them. This manifest vision having appeared to Arimnestus, when he awoke he sent for the most aged and experienced of his coun- trymen, with whom communicating and examining the matter, he found that near HysiaB, at the foot of Mount Cithajron, there was a very ancient temple called the temple of Ceres Eleusiuia and Proserpine. He there- fore forthwith took Aristides to the place, which was very convenient for drawing up an army of foot, because the slopes at the bottom of the mountain Cithaeron rendered the plain, where it comes up to the temple, unfit for the movements of cavalry. Also, in the same place, there was the fane of Androcrates, environed with a thick shady grove. And that the oracle might be accomplished in all particulars for the hojie of victory, Arimnestus pro- posed, and the Platasans decreed, that the frontiers of their country towards Attica should be removed, and the land given to the Athenians, that they might fight in de- fence of Greece in their own proper territory. This zeal and liberality of the Plataeans became so famous, that Alexander, many years after, when he had obtained the dominion of all Asia, upon erecting the walls of Pla- tsea, caused proclamation to be made by the herald at the Olympic games, that the king did the Plateaus this favor in consideration of their nobleness and magnanimity, be- cause, in the war with the Medes, they freely gave up their land and zealously fought with the Greeks. The Tegeatans, contesting the post of honor with the Athenians, demanded, that, according to custom, the Lace- daemonians being ranged on the right wing of the battle, they might have the left, alleging several matters in com- mendation of their ancestors. The Athenians being