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