Plutarch's Lives Volume III Part 11

Lysander was now dead, but Agesilaus found still existing an important conspiracy against himself, which Lysander had set on foot when he returned from Asia. Agesilaus now eagerly undertook to prove what Lysander's true character had been; and having read amongst the papers of the deceased that speech which Kleon of Halikarna.s.sus wrote for him, treating of reforms and alterations of the const.i.tution, which Lysander meant some day to address to the people of Sparta, he wished to make it public. However, one of the senators, after reading the speech, was alarmed at the plausible nature of the argument which it contained, and advised Agesilaus not to dig Lysander out of his grave, but rather to bury the speech with him. This advice caused Agesilaus to desist from his project. He never openly attacked his political enemies, but contrived to get them appointed generals and governors of cities. When they displayed their bad qualities in these posts and were recalled to take their trial he used to come forward as their friend and by his exertions on their behalf make them his active partisans instead of his enemies, so that before long he succeeded in breaking up the party which was opposed to him, and reigned alone without any rival; for the other king, Agesipolis, whose father had been an exile, and who was himself very young, and of a mild and una.s.suming temper, counted for nothing in the state. Agesilaus won over this man also, and made a friend of him; for the two kings dine at the same _phiditium_, or public table, when they are at Sparta.

Knowing Agesipolis, like himself, to be p.r.o.ne to form attachments to young men, he always led the conversation to this subject, and encouraged the young king in doing so; for these love affairs among Lacedaemonians have in them nothing disgraceful, but produce much modest emulation and desire for glory, as has been explained in the Life of Lykurgus.

XXI. Being now the most powerful man in Sparta, Agesilaus obtained the appointment of admiral of the fleet for Teleutias, his half-brother; and thereupon making an expedition against Corinth, he made himself master of the long walls by land, through the a.s.sistance of his brother at sea. Coming thus upon the Argives, who then held Corinth, in the midst of their Isthmian festival, he made them fly just as they had finished the customary sacrifice, and leave all their festive provision behind them. Upon this the Corinthian exiles[184] who were with him begged him to preside over the games, but this he refused to do, ordering them to celebrate the festival, while he took care that they did so without interruption. After he was gone the Argives returned, and celebrated the Isthmian games over again. Some of the winners on the former occasion now won the prize again, while others were defeated. Agesilaus observed that the Argives by this act confessed themselves to be cowards, if they set so high a value on presiding at the games, and yet did not dare to fight for it. With regard to such matters he used to think that a middle course was best, and he always was present at the choruses and games at Sparta, taking great interest in their management, and not even neglecting the races for boys and for girls; but of some other matters in which most men were interested he seemed to be entirely ignorant. For instance Kallipides, who was esteemed the finest tragic actor in Greece, once met him and spoke to him, after which he swaggered along amongst his train, but finding that no notice was taken of him, he at length asked, "Do you not know me, O king?" Agesilaus at this looked carefully at him, and enquired, "Are you not Kallipides the player?"

for so the Lacedaemonians name actors. Again, when he was invited to hear some one imitate the nightingale he answered, "I have heard the original."

Menekrates the physician, after having succeeded in curing some cases of sickness which were thought to be desperate, was given the t.i.tle of Zeus, and used to use this appellation on all occasions in a foolish manner. He even went so far as to write to Agesilaus in the following terms, "Menekrates Zeus wishes King Agesilaus health." To this he answered, "King Agesilaus wishes Menekrates more sense."

XXII. While he was encamped in the temple of Hera, near Corinth, watching the soldiers disposing of the captives which they had taken, amba.s.sadors came from Thebes to treat for peace with him. He always had borne a grudge against that city, and thinking that this would be a good opportunity to indulge his hatred, he pretended neither to see nor to hear them when they addressed him. But he soon paid the penalty of his insolence; for before the Thebans left him news was brought that an entire mora had been cut to pieces by Iphikrates. This was the greatest disaster which had befallen the Spartans for many years; for they lost a large number of brave and well-equipped citizens, all heavy-armed hoplites, and that too at the hands of mere mercenary light troops and peltasts. On hearing this Agesilaus at first leaped up to go to their a.s.sistance; but when he heard that they were completely destroyed, he returned to the temple of Hera, and recalling the Botian amba.s.sadors, bade them deliver their message.

But they now in their turn a.s.sumed a haughty demeanour, and made no mention of peace, but merely demanded leave to proceed to Corinth. At this, Agesilaus in a rage answered, "If you wish to go there to see your friends rejoicing over their success, you will be able to do so in safety to-morrow." On the next day he took the amba.s.sadors with him, and marched, laying waste the country as he went, up to the gates of Corinth, where, having thus proved that the Corinthians dared not come out and resent his conduct, he sent the amba.s.sadors into the city. As for himself, he collected the survivors of the mora, and marched back to Lacedaemon, always starting before daybreak, and encamping after sunset, that he might not be insulted by the Arcadians, who bitterly hated the Lacedaemonians and enjoyed their discomfiture. After this at the instance of the Achaeans he crossed over into Akarnania with them, where he obtained much plunder, and defeated the Akarnanians in battle. The Achaeans now begged him to remain, and so prevent the enemy from sowing their fields in the winter; but he answered that he should do exactly the reverse, because, if the enemy next year had a good prospect of a harvest, they would be much more inclined to keep the peace than if their fields lay fallow. And this opinion of his was justified by the result; for as soon as the Akarnanians heard that another campaign was threatened, they made peace with the Achaeans.

XXIII. Konon and Pharnabazus, after their victory in the sea-fight at Knidus, had obtained command of the seas and began to plunder the coast of Laconia, while the Athenian walls likewise were restored, with money supplied by Pharnabazus for that purpose.

These circ.u.mstances disposed the Lacedaemonians to make peace with the king of Persia. They consequently sent Antalkidas to Tiribazus to arrange terms, and most basely and wickedly gave up to the king those Greek cities in Asia on behalf of which Agesilaus had fought.

Antalkidas, indeed, was his enemy, and his great reason for concluding a peace on any terms was, that war was certain to increase the reputation and glory of Agesilaus. Yet when some one reproached Agesilaus, saying that the Lacedaemonians were Medising,[185] he answered, "Nay, say, rather, the Medes (Persians) are Laconising."

By threats of war he compelled those Greek states who were unwilling to do so to accept the terms of the peace, especially the Thebans; for one of the articles of the peace was, that the Thebans should leave the rest of Botia independent, by which of course they were greatly weakened. This was proved by subsequent events. When Phbidas, in defiance of law and decency, seized the Kadmeia, or citadel of Thebes, in time of peace, all Greeks cried shame on him, and the Spartans felt especial annoyance at it. The enemies of Agesilaus now angrily enquired of Phbidas who ordered him to do so, and as his answers hinted at Agesilaus as having suggested the deed, Agesilaus openly declared himself to be on Phbidas's side, and said that the only thing to be considered was, whether it was advantageous to Sparta or not; for it was always lawful to render good service to the state, even impromptu and without previous orders. Yet in his talk Agesilaus always set a high value upon justice, calling it the first of all virtues; for he argued that courage would be useless without justice; while if all men were just, there would be no need of courage. When he was informed, "The pleasure of the great king is so-and-so," he was wont to answer, "How can he be greater than I, unless he be juster?"--thus truly pointing out that justice is the real measure of the greatness of kings. When the king of Persia sent him a letter during the peace, offering to become his guest[186] and friend, he refused to open it, saying that he was satisfied with the friends.h.i.+p existing between the two states, and that while that lasted he required no private bond of union with the king of Persia. However, in his actions he was far from carrying out these professions, but was frequently led into unjust acts by his ambition. In this instance he not only s.h.i.+elded Phbidas from punishment for what he had done at Thebes, but persuaded Sparta to adopt his crime as its own, and continue to hold the Kadmeia, appointing as the chiefs of the garrison Archias and Leontidas,[187] by whose means Phbidas made his way into the citadel.

XXIV. This at once gave rise to a suspicion that Phbidas was merely an agent, and that the whole plot originated with Agesilaus himself, and subsequent events confirmed this view; for as soon as the Thebans drove out the garrison and set free their city, Agesilaus made war upon them to avenge the murder of Archias and Leontidas, who had been nominally polemarchs, but in reality despots of Thebes. At this period Agesipolis was dead, and his successor Kleombrotus was despatched into Botia with an army; for Agesilaus excused himself from serving in that campaign on the ground of age, as it was forty years since he had first borne arms, and he was consequently exempt by law. The real reason was that he was ashamed, having so lately been engaged in a war to restore the exiled popular party at Phlius, to be seen now attacking the Thebans in the cause of despotism.

There was a Lacedaemonium named Sphodrias, one of the faction opposed to Agesilaus, who was established as Spartan governor of the town of Thespiae, a daring and ambitious man, but hot-headed, and p.r.o.ne to act without due calculation. This man, who longed to achieve distinction, and who perceived that Phbidas had made a name throughout Greece by his exploit at Thebes, persuaded himself that it would be a much more glorious deed if he were to make himself master of the Peiraeus, and so by a sudden attack cut off the Athenians from the sea. It is said that this attempt originated with the Botarchs, Pelopidas and Mellon, who sent emissaries to Sphodrias to praise and flatter him, and point out that he alone was capable of conducting so bold an adventure. By this language, and an affectation of sympathy with Lacedaemon, these men at length prevailed on him to attempt a most unrighteous deed, and one which required considerable boldness and good fortune to ensure its success. Daylight, however, overtook Sphodrias before he had crossed the Thriasian plain, near Eleusis. All hope of surprising Peiraeus by a night attack was now gone, and it is said, also, that the soldiers were alarmed and terror-stricken by certain lights which gleamed from the temples at Eleusis. Sphodrias himself, now that his enterprise had so manifestly failed, lost heart, and after hurriedly seizing some unimportant plunder, led his men back to Thespiae. Upon this an emba.s.sy was sent from Athens to Sparta to complain of the acts of Sphodrias; but on the arrival of the amba.s.sadors at Sparta they found that the government there were in no need of encouragement from without to proceed against Sphodrias, for they had already summoned him home to be tried for his life. Sphodrias durst not venture to return to Sparta, for he saw that his fellow-countrymen were angry with him and ashamed of his conduct towards the Athenians, and that they wished rather to be thought fellow-sufferers by his crime than accomplices in it.

XXV. Sphodrias had a son, named Kleonymus, who was still quite a youth, and who was beloved by Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus. He now a.s.sisted this youth, who was pleading his father's cause as best he might, but he could not do so openly, because Sphodrias belonged to the party which was opposed to Agesilaus. When, however, Kleonymus came to him, and besought him with tears and piteous entreaties to appease Agesilaus, because the party of Sphodrias dreaded him more than any one else, the young man, after two or three days' hesitation, at length, as the day fixed for the trial approached, mustered up courage to speak to his father on the subject, telling him that Kleonymus had begged him to intercede for his father.

Agesilaus was well aware of his son's intimacy with Kleonymus, which he had never discouraged; for Kleonymus promised to become as distinguished a man as any in Sparta. He did not on this occasion, however, hold out to his son any hopes of a satisfactory termination of the affair, but said that he would consider what would be the most fitting and honourable course to pursue. After this reply, Archidamus had not the heart to meet Kleonymus, although he had before been accustomed to see him several times daily. This conduct of his plunged the friends of Sphodrias into yet deeper despair of his cause, until Etymokles, one of the friends of Agesilaus, in a conference with them, explained that what Agesilaus really thought about the matter was, that the action itself deserved the greatest censure; but yet that Sphodrias was a brave energetic man, whom Sparta could not afford to lose.

Agesilaus used this language out of a desire to gratify his son, and from it Kleonymus soon perceived that Archidamus had been true to him in using his interest with his father; while the friends of Sphodrias became much more forward in his defence. Indeed Agesilaus was remarkably fond of children, and an anecdote is related of him, that when his children were very little he was fond of playing with them, and would bestride a reed as if it were a horse for their amus.e.m.e.nt.

When one of his friends found him at this sport, he bade him mention it to no one before he himself became the father of a family.

XXVI. Sphodrias was acquitted by the court; and the Athenians, as soon as they learned this, prepared for war. Agesilaus was now greatly blamed, and was charged with having obstructed the course of justice, and having made Sparta responsible for an outrage upon a friendly Greek state, merely in order to gratify the childish caprice of his son. As he perceived that Kleombrotus was unwilling to attack the Thebans, he himself invaded Botia, disregarding the law under which on a former occasion he had pleaded exemption from military service on account of his age. Here he fought the Thebans with varying success; for once, when he was being borne out of action wounded, Antalkidas observed to him, "A fine return you are getting from the Thebans for having taught them how to fight against their will." Indeed, the military power of the Thebans at that time was at its height, having as it were been exercised and practised by the many campaigns undertaken against them by the Lacedaemonians. This was why Lykurgus of old, in his three celebrated _rhetras_, forbade the Lacedaemonians to fight often with the same people, lest by constant practice they should teach them how to fight. Agesilaus was also disliked by the allies of the Lacedaemonians, because of his hatred of Thebes and his desire to destroy that state, not on any public grounds, but merely on account of his own bitter personal dislike to the Thebans. The allies complained grievously that they, who composed the greater part of the Lacedaemonium force, should every year be led hither and thither, and exposed to great risks and dangers, merely to satisfy one man's personal pique. Hereupon we are told that Agesilaus, desiring to prove that this argument about their composing so large a part of the army was not founded on fact, made use of the following device:--He ordered all the allies to sit down in one body, and made the Lacedaemonians sit down separately. Next he gave orders, first that all the potters should stand up; and when they had risen, he ordered the smiths, carpenters, masons, and all the other tradesmen successively to do so.

When then nearly all the allies had risen to their feet, the Spartans all remained seated, for they were forbidden to learn or to practise any mechanical art. At this Agesilaus smiled, and said, "You see, my men, how many more soldiers we send out than you do."

XXVII. On his return from his campaign against the Thebans, Agesilaus, while pa.s.sing through Megara, was seized with violent pain in his sound leg, just as he was entering the town-hall in the Acropolis of that city. After this it became greatly swelled and full of blood, and seemed to be dangerously inflamed. A Syracusan physician opened a vein near the ankle, which relieved the pain, but the flow of blood was excessive, and could not be checked, so that he fainted away from weakness, and was in a very dangerous condition. At length the bleeding stopped, and he was conveyed home to Lacedaemon, but he remained ill, and unable to serve in the wars for a long time.

During his illness many disasters befel the Spartans both by land and by sea. Of these, the most important was the defeat at Tegyra, where for the first time they wore beaten in a fair fight by the Thebans.

The Lacedaemonians were now eager to make peace with all the Greek cities, and amba.s.sadors from all parts of Greece met at Sparta to arrange terms. Among them was Epameinondas, a man who was renowned for his culture and learning, but who had not hitherto given any proof of his great military genius. This man, perceiving that all the other amba.s.sadors were sedulously paying their court to Agesilaus, a.s.sumed an independent att.i.tude, and in a speech delivered before the congress declared that nothing kept the war alive except the unjust pretensions of Sparta, who gained strength from the sufferings of the other states, and that no peace could be durable unless such pretensions were laid aside, and Sparta reduced to the equality with the rest of the cities of Greece.

XXVIII. Agesilaus, observing that all the representatives of the Greek states were filled with admiration at this language, and manifested strong sympathy with the speaker, enquired whether he thought it right and just that the cities of Botia[188] should be left independent.

Epameinondas quickly and boldly enquired in answer, whether he thought it right to leave each of the towns in Laconia independent. At this Agesilaus leaped to his feet in a rage, and asked him to state clearly whether he meant to leave Botia independent. As Epameinondas in reply merely repeated his question, as to whether Agesilaus meant to leave Laconia independent, Agesilaus became furious, eagerly seized the opportunity to strike the name of Thebes out of the roll of cities with whom peace was being made, and declared war against it. He ratified a treaty of peace with the other Greek cities, and bade their representatives begone, with the remark, that such of their disputes as admitted of settlement must be arranged by peaceful negotiation, and such as could not must be decided by war; but that it was too much trouble for him to act as arbitrator between them in their manifold quarrels and disagreements.

Kleombrotus, the other Spartan king, was at this time in the Phokian territory at the head of an army. The Ephors now at once sent orders to him to cross the Theban frontier, while they a.s.sembled a force from all the allied cities, who were most reluctant to serve, and objected strongly to the war, yet dared not express their discontent or disobey the Lacedaemonians. Many sinister omens were observed, which we have spoken of in the life of Epameinondas, and Prothous the Laconian openly opposed the whole campaign; yet Agesilaus would not desist, but urged on the war against Thebes, imagining that now, when all the other states were standing aloof, and Thebes was entirely isolated, he had a more favourable opportunity than might ever occur again for destroying that city. The dates of this war seem to prove that it was begun more out of ill-temper than as a consequent of any definite plan; for the peace was ratified in Lacedaemon with the other cities on the fourteenth of the month Skirophorion; and on the fifth of the next month, Hekatombaeon, only twenty days afterwards, the Spartans were defeated at Leuktra. A thousand Lacedaemonians perished, among them Kleombrotus the king, and with him the flower of the best families in Sparta. There fell also the handsome son of Sphodrias, Kleonymus, who fought before the king, and was thrice struck to the ground and rose again before he was slain by the Thebans.

XXIX. In spite of the unparalleled disaster which had befallen the Lacedaemonians, for the Theban victory was the most complete ever won by one Greek state over another, the courage of the vanquished is nevertheless as much to be admired as that of the victors. Xenophon remarks that the conversation of good and brave men, even when jesting or sitting at table, is always worth remembering, and it is much more valuable to observe how n.o.bly all really brave and worthy men bear themselves when in sorrow and misfortune. When the news of the defeat at Leuktra arrived at Sparta, the city was celebrating the festival of the Gymnopaedia, and the chorus of grown men was going through its usual solemnity in the theatre. The Ephors, although the news clearly proved that all was lost and the state utterly ruined, yet would not permit the chorus to abridge its performance, and forbade the city to throw off its festal appearance. They privately communicated the names of the slain to their relatives, but they themselves calmly continued to preside over the contest of the choruses in the theatre, and brought the festival to a close as though nothing unusual had occurred. Next morning, when all men knew who had fallen and who had survived, one might see those whose relations had been slain, walking about in public with bright and cheerful countenances: but of those whose relatives survived, scarce one showed himself in public, but they sat at home with the women, as if mourning for the dead; or if any one of them was forced to come forth, he looked mournful and humbled, and walked with cast-down eyes. Yet more admirable was the conduct of the women, for one might see mothers receiving their sons who had survived the battle with silence and sorrow, while those whose children had fallen proceeded to the temples to return thanks to the G.o.ds, and walked about the city with a proud and cheerful demeanour.

x.x.x. Yet, when their allies deserted them, and when the victorious Epameinondas, excited by his success, was expected to invade Peloponnesus, many Spartans remembered the oracle about the lameness of Agesilaus, and were greatly disheartened and cast down, fearing that they had incurred the anger of Heaven, and that the misfortunes of the city were due to their own conduct in having excluded the sound man from the throne, and chosen the lame one; the very thing which the oracle had bidden them beware of doing. Nevertheless, Agesilaus was so powerful in the state, and so renowned for wisdom and courage, that they gladly made use of him as their leader in the war, and also employed him to settle a certain const.i.tutional difficulty which arose about the political rights of the survivors of the battle. They were unwilling to disfranchise all these men, who were so numerous and powerful, because they feared that if so they would raise a revolution in the city. For the usual rule at Sparta about those who survive a defeat is, that they are incapable of holding any office in the state; nor will any one give them his daughter in marriage; but all who meet them strike them, and treat them with contempt. They hang about the city in a squalid and degraded condition, wearing a cloak patched with pieces of a different colour, and they shave one half of their beards, and let the other half grow. Now, at the present crisis it was thought that to reduce so many citizens to this condition, especially when the state sorely required soldiers, would be an absurd proceeding; and consequently, Agesilaus was appointed lawgiver, to decide upon what was to be done. He neither altered the laws, nor proposed any new ones, but laid down his office of lawgiver at once, with the remark, that the laws must be allowed to sleep for that one day, and afterwards resume their force. By this means he both preserved the laws, retained the services of the citizens for the state, and saved them from infamy. With the intention of cheering up the young men, and enabling them to shake off their excessive despondency, he led an army into Arcadia. He was careful to avoid a battle, but captured a small fort belonging to the people of Mantinea, and overran their territory; thus greatly raising the spirits of the Spartans, who began to pluck up courage, and regard their city as not altogether ruined.

x.x.xI. After this, Epameinondas invaded Laconia with the army of the Thebans and their allies, amounting in all to no less than forty thousand heavy-armed soldiers. Many light troops and marauders accompanied this body, so that the whole force which entered Laconia amounted in all to seventy thousand men. This took place not less than six hundred years after the Dorians had settled in Lacedaemon; and through all that time these were the first enemies which the country had seen; for no one before this had dared to invade it. Now, however, the Thebans ravaged the whole district with fire and sword, and no one came out to resist them, for Agesilaus would not allow the Lacedaemonians to fight against what Theopompus calls 'such a heady torrent of war,' but contented himself with guarding the most important parts of the city itself, disregarding the boastful threats of the Thebans, who called upon him by name to come out and fight for his country, since he was the cause of all its misfortunes, because he had begun the war.

Agesilaus was also distracted by the disorderly and excited state of the city itself, for the old men were in an agony of grief, resentment, and wounded honour, while the women could not be kept quiet, but were wrought to frenzy, by hearing the cries of the enemy, and seeing the fires which they lighted. He also suffered much at the thought of his own dishonour; for when he had ascended the throne, Sparta was the greatest and most powerful city in Greece, and now he beheld her shorn of all her glories, and his favourite boast, that no Laconian woman had ever seen the smoke of an enemy's fire rendered signally untrue. We are told that when some Athenian was disputing with Antalkidas about the bravery of their respective nations, and saying, "We have often chased you away from the Kephissus," Antalkidas answered, "Yes, but we have never had to chase you away from the Eurotas." This is like the answer made by some Spartan of less distinction to an Argive, who said, "Many of you Spartans lie buried in Argive soil," to which he replied, "But none of you are buried in Laconia."

x.x.xII. We are told at this time Antalkidas was one of the Ephors, and became so much alarmed that he sent his family away to the island of Kythera. Agesilaus, when the enemy attempted to cross the river and force their way into the city, abandoned most part of it, and drew up his forces on the high hills in the centre. At that time the river Eurotas was in high flood, as much snow had fallen, and the excessive cold of the water, as well as the strength of the stream, rendered it hard for the Thebans to cross. Epameinondas marched first, in the front rank of the phalanx; and some of those who were present pointed him out to Agesilaus, who is said to have gazed long at him, saying merely, "O thou man of great deeds."

Epameinondas was eager to a.s.sault the city itself, and to place a trophy of victory in its streets; but as he could not draw Agesilaus into a battle, he drew off his forces, and again laid waste the country. Meanwhile, in Lacedaemon itself, a body of two hundred men, of doubtful fidelity, seized the Issorium, where the temple of Artemis stands, which is a strong and easily defensible post. The Lacedaemonians at once wished to attack them, but Agesilaus, fearing that some deep-laid conspiracy might break out, ordered them to remain quiet. He himself, dressed simply in his cloak, unarmed, and attended only by one slave, went up to the two hundred, and, in a loud voice, told them that they had mistaken their orders; that they had not been ordered to go thither, nor yet to go all together in a body, but that some were to be posted _there_, pointing to some other place, and the rest elsewhere in the city. They, hearing his commands, were delighted, imagining that their treason was undiscovered, and immediately marched to the places which he indicated. Agesilaus at once occupied the Issorium with troops which he could trust, and in the ensuing night seized and put to death fifteen of the leaders of the two hundred. Another more important conspiracy was betrayed to him, whose members, full Spartan citizens, were met together in one house to arrange revolutionary schemes. At such a crisis it was equally impossible to bring these men to a regular trial, and to allow them to carry on their intrigues. Agesilaus therefore, after taking the Ephors into his confidence, put them all to death untried, though before that time no Spartan had ever been executed without a trial.

As many of the Periki and helots who had been entrusted with arms escaped out of the city and deserted to the enemy, which greatly disheartened the Spartans, he ordered his servants to visit the quarters of these soldiers at daybreak every morning, and wherever any one was gone, to hide his arms, so that the number of deserters might not be known.

We are told by some historians that the Thebans left Laconia because the weather became stormy, and their Arcadian allies began to melt away from them. Others say that they spent three entire months in the country, and laid nearly all of it waste. Theopompus relates that when the Botarchs had decided to leave the country, Phrixus, a Spartan, came from Agesilaus and offered them ten talents to be gone, thus paying them for doing what they had long before determined to do of their own accord.

x.x.xIII. I cannot tell, however, how it was that Theopompus discovered this fact, and that no other historian mentions it. All writers agree, nevertheless, in declaring that at this crisis Sparta was saved by Agesilaus, who proved himself superior to party-spirit and desire of personal distinction, and steadily refused to risk an engagement. Yet he never was able to restore the city to the glorious and powerful condition which it had previously held, for Sparta, like an athlete who has been carefully trained throughout his life, suddenly broke down, and never recovered her former strength and prosperity. It is very natural that this should have happened, for the Spartan const.i.tution was an excellent one for promoting courage, good order, and peace within the city itself; but when Sparta became the head of a great empire to be maintained by the sword, which Lykurgus would have thought a totally useless appendage to a well-governed and prosperous city, it utterly failed.

Agesilaus was now too old for active service in the field, but his son, Archidamus, with some Sicilian mercenary troops which had been sent to the aid of the Spartans by the despot Dionysius, defeated the Arcadians in what was known as the 'Tearless Battle,' where he did not lose one of his own men, but slew many of the enemy. This battle strikingly proved the weakness of the city, for in former times the Spartans used to regard it as such a natural and commonplace event for them to conquer their enemies, that they only sacrificed a c.o.c.k to the G.o.ds, while those who had won a victory never boasted of it, and those who heard of it expressed no extravagant delight at the news. When the Ephors heard of the battle at Mantinea, which is mentioned by Thucydides in his history, they gave the messenger who brought the tidings a piece of meat from the public dining-table, as a present for his good news, and nothing more. But now, when the news of this battle reached Sparta, and Archidamus marched triumphantly into the town, all their accustomed reserve broke down. His father was the first to meet him, weeping for joy. After him came the senate, and the elders and women flocked down to the river side, holding up their hands to heaven and giving thanks to the G.o.ds for having put away the undeserved reproach of Sparta, and having once more allowed her to raise her head. It is said, indeed, that the Spartans before this battle were so much ashamed of themselves, that they dared not even look their wives in the face.

x.x.xIV. The independence of Messenia had been restored by Epameinondas, and its former citizens collected together from all quarters of Greece. The Lacedaemonians dared not openly attack these men, but they felt angry with Agesilaus, because during his reign they had lost so fine a country, as large as Laconia itself, and as fertile as any part of Greece, after having enjoyed the possession of it for so many years. For this reason Agesilaus refused to accept the terms of peace offered by the Thebans. He was so unwilling to give up his nominal claim to Messenia, although he had practically lost that country, that instead of recovering it he very nearly lost Sparta as well, as he was out-manuvred by Epameinondas. This happened in the following manner.

The people of Mantinea revolted from the Thebans, and solicited aid from the Lacedaemonians. When Epameinondas heard that Agesilaus was marching thither at the head of an army, he eluded the Mantineans by a night march from Tegea, invaded the Lacedaemonium territory, and very nearly succeeded in avoiding the army of Agesilaus and catching Sparta defenceless. However, Euthynus of Thespiae, according to Kallisthenes, or, according to Xenophon, a certain Cretan warned Agesilaus of his danger, upon which he at once sent a mounted messenger to the city with the news, and shortly afterwards marched thither himself. Soon the Thebans appeared, crossed the Eurotas, and a.s.saulted the city with great fury, while Agesilaus, old as he was, defended it with all the spirit and energy of youth. He did not, as on the former occasion, consider that caution would be of any service, but perceived that reckless daring alone could save Sparta. And by incredible daring he did then s.n.a.t.c.h the city from the grasp of Epameinondas, and set up a trophy of victory, having afforded to the women and children the glorious spectacle of the men of Lacedaemon doing their duty on behalf of the country which reared them. There, too, might Archidamus be seen in the thick of the fight, displaying the courage of a man, and the swiftness of a youth, as he ran to each point where the Spartans seemed likely to give way, and everywhere with a few followers resisted a mult.i.tude of the enemy. I think, however, that Isidas, the son of Phbidas, must have been most admired both by his own countrymen and even by the enemy. He was remarkably tall and handsome, and was just of the age when boyhood merges into manhood. Naked, without either clothes or armour, having just been anointing himself at home, he rushed out of his house, with a sword in one hand and a spear in the other, ran through the front ranks, and plunged among the enemy, striking down all who opposed him. He received not a single wound, either because the G.o.ds admired his bravery and protected him, or else because he appeared to his foes to be something more than man.

After this exploit we are told that the Ephors crowned him for his bravery, and fined him a thousand drachmas for having fought without his s.h.i.+eld.

x.x.xV. A few days afterwards was fought the battle of Mantinea, where, just as Epameinondas was carrying all before him and urging his troops to pursue, Antikrates the Lacedaemonium met him and wounded him, according to Dioskorides with a spear, while the Lacedaemonians to this day call the descendants of Antikrates Machairones, that is, children of the sword, as though he struck him with a sword. Indeed, they regarded Antikrates with such a love and admiration, because of the terror which Epameinondas had struck into their hearts while he was alive, that they decreed especial honours and presents to be bestowed upon him, and granted to his descendants an immunity from taxes and public burdens which is enjoyed at the present day by Kallikrates, one of the descendants of Antikrates.

After this battle and the death of Epameinondas the Greek states made peace between one another. When, however, all the other states were swearing to observe the peace, Agesilaus objected to the Messenians, men, he said, without a city, swearing any such oath. The rest, however, raised no objections to the oath of the Messenians, and the Lacedaemonians upon this refused to take any part in the proceedings, so that they alone remained at war, because they hoped to recover the territory of Messenia. Agesilaus was thought an obstinate and headlong man, and insatiable of war, because he took such pains to undermine the general peace, and to keep Sparta at war at a time when he was in such distress for money to carry it on, that he was obliged to borrow from his personal friends and to get up subscriptions among the citizens, and when he had much better have allowed the state some repose and watched for a suitable opportunity to regain the country; instead of which, although he had lost so great an empire by sea and land, he yet insisted on continuing his frantic and fruitless efforts to reconquer the paltry territory of Messenia.

x.x.xVI. He still further tarnished his glory by taking service under the Egyptian Tachos. It was thought unworthy of a man who had proved himself the bravest and best soldier in Greece, and who had filled all the inhabited world with his fame, to hire himself out to a barbarian rebel, and make a profit of his great name and military reputation, just like any vulgar captain of mercenaries. If, when more than eighty years old, and almost crippled by honourable wounds, he had again placed himself at the head of a glorious crusade against the Persian on behalf of the liberties of Greece, all men would have admired his spirit, but even then would not entirely have approved of the undertaking; for to make an action n.o.ble, time and place must be fitting, since it is this alone that decides whether an action be good or bad. Agesilaus, however, cared nothing for his reputation, and considered that no service undertaken for the good of his country would be dishonourable or unworthy of him, but thought it much more unworthy and dishonourable to sit uselessly waiting for death at home.

He raised a body of mercenary troops with the money furnished by Tachos, and set sail, accompanied, as in his former expedition, by thirty Spartan counsellors.

When he landed in Egypt, the chief generals and ministers of King Tachos at once came to pay their court to him. The other Egyptians also eagerly crowded to see Agesilaus, of whom they had heard so much.

When, however, they saw only a little deformed old man, in mean attire, sitting on the gra.s.s, they began to ridicule him, and contemptuously to allude to the proverb of the mountain in labour, which brought forth a mouse. They were even more astonished when, of the presents offered to him, he accepted flour, calves, and geese, but refused to receive dried fruits, pastry, and perfumes. When greatly pressed to accept of these things, he ordered them to be given to the helots. Yet we are told by Theophrastes that he was much pleased with the flowering papyrus, of which garlands are made, because of its neat and clean appearance, and he begged for and received some of this plant from the king when he left Egypt.

x.x.xVII. When he joined Tachos, who was engaged in preparing his forces for a campaign, he was disappointed in not receiving the chief command, but being merely appointed to lead the mercenary troops, while Chabrias the Athenian was in command of the fleet, Tachos himself acting as commander-in-chief. This was the first vexatious circ.u.mstance which occurred to Agesilaus; and soon he began to feel great annoyance at the vainglorious swaggering tone of the Egyptian king, which nevertheless he was obliged to endure throughout the whole of a naval expedition which they undertook against the Phnicians, during which he suppressed his feelings of disgust as well as he could until at last he had an opportunity of showing them. Nektanebis, the cousin of Tachos, and the commander of a large portion of his force, revolted, and caused himself to be proclaimed King of Egypt. He at once sent to Agesilaus begging for his a.s.sistance, and he also made the same proposals to Chabrias, offering them great rewards if they would join him.

Tachos, hearing of this, also began to supplicate them to stand by him, and Chabrias besought Agesilaus to remain in the service of Tachos, and to act as his friend. To this, however, Agesilaus answered, "You, Chabrias, have come here on your own responsibility, and are able to act as you please. I was given by Sparta to the Egyptians as their general. It would not become me, therefore, to make war against those whom I was sent to aid, unless my country orders me to do so." After expressing himself thus, he sent messengers to Sparta, with instructions to depreciate Tachos, and to praise Nektanebis. Both these princes also sent emba.s.sies to the Lacedaemonians, the one begging for aid as their old friend and ally, the other making large promises of future good-will towards them.

After hearing both sides, the Spartans publicly answered the Egyptians, that Agesilaus would decide between them, and they sent him a private despatch, bidding him to do what was best for Sparta.

Hereupon Agesilaus and the mercenaries left Tachos, and joined Nektanebis, making the interests of his country the pretext for his extraordinary conduct, which we can hardly call anything better than treachery. However, the Lacedaemonians regard that course as the most honourable which is the most advantageous to their country, and know nothing of right or wrong, but only how to make Sparta great.

x.x.xVIII. Tachos, deserted by the mercenaries, now fled for his life; but another claimant of the throne arose in the district of Mendes, and made war against Nektanebis with an army of one hundred thousand men. Nektanebis, in his talk with Agesilaus, spoke very confidently about this force, saying that they were indeed very numerous, but a mere mixed mult.i.tude of rustic recruits, whom he could afford to despise. To these remarks Agesilaus answered, "It is not their numbers, but their ignorance which I fear, lest we should be unable to deceive them. Stratagems in war consist in unexpectedly falling upon men who are expecting an attack from some other quarter, but a man who expects nothing gives his enemy no opportunity to take him unawares, just as in wrestling one cannot throw one's adversary if he stands still."

The Mendesian soon began to intrigue with Agesilaus, and Nektanebis feared much that he might succeed in detaching him from himself.

Consequently, when Agesilaus advised him to fight as soon as possible, and not prolong the war against men who were indeed inexperienced in battle, but who were able, from their enormous numbers, to raise vast entrenchments and surround him on every side, he took the exactly opposite course, and retired to a strongly fortified city, of great extent, viewing Agesilaus with suspicion and fear. Agesilaus was grieved at this, but, feeling ashamed to change sides a second time and so completely fail in his mission, he followed Nektanebis into his fortress.

x.x.xIX. When the enemy advanced and began to build a wall round the city, Nektanebis, fearing the consequences of a siege, was eager to fight, as were also the Greeks, for they were very short of provisions. Agesilaus, however, opposed this design, for which he was heartily abused by the Egyptians, who called him a traitor and the betrayer of their king. He paid but little attention to their slanders, but watched for an opportunity to effect the project which he had conceived. This was as follows:--The enemy were digging a trench round the city, with the intention of completely isolating the garrison and starving it out. When then the two ends of this trench, which was to surround the city, had nearly met, Agesilaus towards evening ordered the Greeks to get under arms, and, proceeding to Nektanebis, said, "Young man, this is our opportunity. I would not say anything about it before, lest the secret should be divulged. But now the enemy themselves have secured our position by digging this enormous trench; for the part of it which is completed will keep off their superior numbers from us, while upon the ground which still remains unbroken we can fight them on equal terms. Come now, prove yourself a man of courage, charge bravely with us, and save both yourself and your army. Those of the enemy whom we first attack will not be able to resist our onset, and the rest will not be able to reach us because of the trench."

Nektanebis was surprised at the ingenuity of Agesilaus, placed himself in the midst of the Greeks, and charging with them gained an easy victory. Having once established an ascendancy over the mind of Nektanebis, Agesilaus now proceeded to use the same trick again with the enemy. By alternately retreating and advancing he led them on until he had enticed them into a place between two deep ca.n.a.ls. Here he at once formed his troops on a front equal to the s.p.a.ce between the ca.n.a.ls, and charged the enemy, who were unable to use their numbers to outflank and surround him. After a short resistance they fled. Many were slain, and the rest completely dispersed.

XL. This victory secured the throne of Egypt for Nektanebis. He now showed great esteem for Agesilaus, and begged him to remain in Egypt during the winter. Agesilaus, however, was anxious to return home and a.s.sist in the war which was going on there, as he knew that Sparta was in great want of money, and was paying a force of mercenary troops.

Nektanebis escorted him out of the country with great honour, giving him many presents, and the sum of two hundred and thirty talents of silver to be used in meeting the expenses of the war. As it was winter, and stormy weather, Agesilaus did not venture to cross the open sea, but coasted along the sh.o.r.es of Libya, as far as a desert spot known as the Harbour of Menelaus, where he died, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and having been king of Sparta for forty-one years, during thirty of which he was the greatest and most powerful man in Greece, having been looked upon as all but the king of the whole country, up to the time of the battle of Leuktra.

It was the Spartan custom, in the case of citizens who died in foreign countries, to pay them the last rites wherever they might be, but to take home the remains of their kings. Consequently the Spartan counsellors enveloped the body in melted wax, as they could not obtain honey, and took it home to Lacedaemon.

Archidamus, the son of Agesilaus, succeeded him on the throne, and his posterity continued to reign until Agis, the fifth in descent from Agesilaus, was murdered by Leonidas, because he endeavoured to restore the ancient discipline of Sparta.