Reginald Walter Macan, Herodotus, The Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth Books with Introduction and Commentary

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ἀγόντων τῶν Σπαρτιητέων. The Spartans brought (led) him, not he them (notwithstanding their wish to make him their ἡγεμόνα τῶν πολέμων c. 33 supra); and as their μάντις he performed that office (ἐμαντεύετο: cp. μαντευόμενος c 35 supra) for the Confederates (τοῖσι Ἕλλησι).

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ἐν τῇ Πλαταιίδι, more correct than ἐν Πλαταιῇσι c. 35 supra; cp. cc. 15, 25 supra.

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καλὰ ἐγίνετο τὰ ἱρά: the imperfect is significant, and is followed by the conditions above stated. The phrase is the best paraphrase of the term καλλιρέειν, cp. c. 19. 5 supra.

ἀμυνομένοισι, ‘if and so long as they acted on the defensive, and refrained from crossing the Asopos, and delivering an attack.’ The participle here is equivalent to a conditional sentence. The Asopos clearly was between the two armies; cp. c. 30 supra. The Hellenic forces had advanced down from the ὑπωρέη, putting themselves in battle-array, into ‘the second position,’ with the object of inducing the Persian forces to cross the Asopos, a manœuvre which they could hardly carry out without some disorder. In their actual position the Greeks were probably not directly exposed to the cavalry; it was with the barbarian foot that they wished to engage. To cross the Asopos would have exposed them to the Persian cavalry, and would probably have been absolutely fatal. Teisamenos understood that well enough.