Quinctius, when all his preparations were now sufficiently made, decamped; and, on the second day, came to Sellasia, on the river Oenus, on the spot where it is said Antigonus, king of Macedonia, fought a pitched battle with Cleomenes, tyrant of Lacedaemon.

Being told that the ascent from thence was difficult, and the passes narrow, he made a short circuit by the mountains, sending forward a party to make a road, and came, by a tolerably broad and open passage, to the river Eurotas, where it flows almost immediately under the walls of the city.

Here, the tyrant's auxiliary troops attacked the Romans, while they were forming their camp, together with Quinctius himself, (who, with a division of cavalry and light troops, had advanced beyond the rest,) and threw them into a state of alarm and confusion; not expecting any thing of the kind, as no one had opposed them throughout their whole march, and they had passed, as it were, through a friendly territory.

The disorder lasted a considerable time, the infantry calling for aid on the cavalry, and the cavalry on the infantry, each having but little confidence in himself.

At length, the foremost ranks of the legions came up; and no sooner had the cohorts of the vanguard taken part in the fight, than those who had lately been an object of dread were driven back in terror into the city.