The agreement which some moderns(1210) have found between the Greek chorus and the lochus is not a mere creation of the fancy; the large chorus was a pentecostys in number, which was divided into enomoties (hemichoria); it advanced in certain divisions, like an army, and had corresponding evolutions.(1211) Both the dance and the battle were the object of the Pyrrhic, which was particularly practised in Sparta and Crete.(1212) In early times it was a preparation for battle, an use of it which was neglected in a later age; in the soldier heavy-armed for the battle was also seen the practised dancer of the Pyrrhic. The same connexion is alluded to by Homer, where Æneas hopes to overthrow Meriones of Crete, however good a dancer he may be:(1213) thus also the Thessalians called the soldiers of the front ranks “principal dancers;” and said of a good fighter, that “he had danced well.”(1214) For the same reason Homer calls hoplitæ by the name πρυλέες(1215) the war-dance having been called πρύλις by the Cretans.(1216) Now this latter expression is used by Homer in the passages in which both Greeks and Trojans give up the usual method of fighting, and the heroes descend from their chariots and form themselves into a body on foot; and therefore of that very mode of battle which became prevalent in Greece through the influence of the Dorians. For the same reason the Spartans sacrificed to the Muses before an action,(1217) these goddesses being expected to produce regularity and order in battle; as they sacrificed on the same occasion in Crete to the god of love, as the confirmer of mutual esteem and shame.(1218) The whole existence of the Spartans in the camp appears to have been easy and tranquil; and therefore resembled the mode of living in Sparta, as that city was to a certain degree always a camp.(1219) The bodily exercises were regularly continued, and repeated twice in each day;(1220) but with less severity than at home;(1221) and the discipline in general was less strict. The Persian spy found the Spartans in the evening before the battle of Thermopylæ employed, some in gymnastic exercises, and some in arranging their hair,(1222) which they always wore long after their entrance into manhood. Every man put on a crown(1223) when the band of flute-players gave the signal for attack; all the shields of the line glittered with their high polish,(1224) and mingled their splendour with the dark red of the purple mantles,(1225) which were meant both to adorn the combatant, and to conceal the blood of the wounded; to fall well and decorously being an incentive the more to the most heroic valour. BOOK IV. DOMESTIC INSTITUTIONS, ARTS, AND LITERATURE OF THE DORIANS. Chapter I. § 1. Subjects of the present book. § 2. Simplicity of the dwellings of the Dorians. § 3. Achæan style of buildings. § 4. Character of the Doric architecture.