Agis and Cleomenes

Well, then, the elder Ptolemy[*](Ptolemy III., surnamed Euergetes, died in 220 B.C., and was followed by Ptolemy IV., surnamed Philopator.) died before sending Cleomenes off as he had promised; and since the court at once plunged into excessive wantonness and drunkenness, and women wielded the power, the affairs of Cleomenes were neglected.

For the king himself was so corrupted in spirit by wine and women that, in his soberest and most serious moments, he would celebrate religious rites and act the mountebank in his palace,timbrel in hand, while the most important affairs of the government were managed by Agathocleia, the mistress of the king, and Oenanthe her mother, who was a bawd.

But in spite of all this, at the outset Cleomenes seemed to be of some use. For Ptolemy was afraid of his brother Magas, believing that Magas had a strong following among the soldiers owing to his mother’s influence, and he therefore took Cleomenes into his following and gave him a place in his privy council, all the while plotting to kill his brother. But Cleomenes, although all other counsellors urged the king to take this step, alone advised against it, saying that it were better, were it possible, to get the king more brothers to increase the security and stability of his affairs.