Passage 4.11.4
ἀκόντια δὲ ἕκαστος πολλά, οἱ δὲ καὶ λόγχας αὐτῶν ἔφερον. καὶ οὗτοι μὲν ἐλόχων τῆς Ἰθώμης ἔνθα ἔμελλον ἥκιστα ἔσεσθαι σύνοπτοι· οἱ δὲ ὁπλῖται τῶν Μεσσηνίων καὶ συμμάχων τήν τε ἔφοδον τὴν πρώτην τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ὑπέμειναν καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἦσαν ἤδη καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀνδρεῖοι. ἀριθμῷ μὲν δὴ τῶν ἐναντίων ἀπελείποντο, λογάδες δὲ ὄντες ἐμάχοντο πρὸς δῆμον καὶ οὐχ ὁμοίως πρὸς κρείττους, ᾗ καὶ μᾶλλον τῇ τε ἄλλῃ προθυμίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἐμπειρίαις ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀντεῖχον.
Each carried many javelins, and some bore spears also. These men lay in ambush on Ithome, where they would least likely be spotted. Meanwhile, the Messenian hoplites and their allies met the first charge of the Lacedaemonians, and thereafter too showed notable bravery. Certainly they were inferior in numbers to their opponents, yet being chosen men, they fought against the common soldiers and not equally against their betters, which accounted largely for how long they resisted, aided further by their zeal and experience.