s came
in from Corinth, consisting of allies of the Spartans, gathered from
the northern part of the Peloponnesus. The arrival of these troops in
the city filled the Spartans with joy, and entirely dispelled their
fears. They considered themselves as now entirely safe. The old men
and the women, considering that their places were now abundantly
supplied, thenceforth withdrew from all active participation in the
contest, and retired to their respective homes, to rest and refresh
themselves after their toils.

Notwithstanding this, however, Pyrrhus was not yet prepared to give up
the contest. The immediate effect, in fact, of the arrival of the
re-enforcements was to arouse his spirit anew, and to stimulate him to
a fresh determination that he would not be defeated in his purpose,
but that he would conquer the city at all hazards. He accordingly made
several more desperate attempts, but they were wholly unsuccessful;
and at length, after a series of losses and defeats, he was obliged to
give up the contest and withdraw. He retired, accordingly, to some
little distance from Sparta, where he established a permanent camp,
subsisting his soldiers by plundering the surrounding country. He was
vexed and irritated by the mortifications and disappointments which he
had endured, and waited impatiently for an opportunity to seek
revenge.

While he was thus pondering his situation, uncertain what to do next,
he received one day a message from Argos, a city in the northern part
of the Peloponnesus, asking him to come and take part in a contest
which had been opened there. It seems that a civil war had broken out
in that city, and one of the leaders, knowing the character of
Pyrrhus, and his readiness to engage in any quarrel which was offered
to him, had concluded to apply for his aid. Pyrrhus was, as usual,
very ready to yield to this request. It afforded him, as similar
proposals had so often done before, a plausible excuse for abandoning
an enterprise in which he began to despair of being able to succeed.
He immediately commenced his march to the northward. The Spartans,
however, were by no means disposed to allow him to go off unmolested.
They advanced with all the force they could command, and, though they
were not powerful enough to engage him in a general battle, they
harassed him and embarrassed his march in a very vexatious manner.
They laid ambushes in the narrow defiles through which he had to pass;
they cut off his det