Those who volunteered themselves, were posted at Erythrae in front of the whole Greek army, and they took with them the archers also. They fought for a long time and the end of the battle was as I will now tell. The cavalry charged by squadrons, and Masistius' horse, being at the head of the rest, was struck in the side by an arrow. Rearing up in pain, it threw Masistius, [2] who when he fell, was straightaway set upon by the Athenians. His horse they took then and there, and he himself was killed fighting. They could not, however, kill him at first, for he was outfitted in the following manner: he wore a purple tunic over a cuirass of golden scales which was within it; thus they accomplished nothing by striking at the cuirass, until someone saw what was happening and stabbed him in the eye. Then he collapsed and died. [3] But as chance would have it, the rest of the horsemen knew nothing of this, for they had not seen him fall from his horse, or die. They wheeled about and rode back without perceiving what was done. As soon as they halted, however, they saw what they were missing since there was no one to give them orders. Then when they perceived what had occurred, they gave each other the word, and all rode together to recover the dead body.
