Agesilaus

I know how difficult it is to write an appreciation of Agesilaus that shall be worthy of his virtue and glory. Nevertheless the attempt must be made. For it would not be seemly that so good a man, just because of his perfection, should receive no tributes of praise, however inadequate.

Now concerning his high birth what greater and nobler could be said than this, that even to-day the line of his descent from Heracles[*](Agesilaus was twenty-fifth in line of descent from Heracles (Hdt. 8.131; Plut. Lyc. c. i; Plut. Ages. c. i).) is traced through the roll of his ancestors, and those no simple citizens, but kings and sons of kings?

Nor are they open to the reproach that though they were kings, they ruled over a petty state. On the contrary, as their family is honoured above all in their fatherland, so is their state glorious above all in Greece; thus they are not first in the second rank, but leaders in a community of leaders.

On one account his fatherland and his family are worthy to be praised together, for never at any time has the state been moved by jealousy of their pre-eminence to attempt the overthrow of their government, and never at any time have the kings striven to obtain greater powers than were conferred on them originally at their succession to the throne. For this reason, while no other government — democracy, oligachy, despotism or kingdom — can can lay claim to an unbroken existence, this kingdom alone stands fast continually.

However, there are not wanting signs that even before his reign began Agesilaus was deemed worthy to be king. For on the death of King Agis there was a struggle for the throne between Leotychidas, as the son of Agis, and Agesilaus, as the son of Archidamus. The state decided in favour of Agesilaus, judging him to be the more eligible in point of birth and character alike. Surely to have been pronounced worthy of the highest privilege by the best men in the mightiest state is proof sufficient of his virtue, at least before he began to reign.

I will now give an account of the achievements of his reign, for I believe that his deeds will throw the clearest light on his qualities. Now Agesilaus was still a young man[*](He was over forty; but see the Introduction.) when he gained the throne. He had been but a short time in power when the news leaked out that the king of the Persians was assembling a great navy and army for an attack on the Greeks.

While the Lacedaemonians and their allies were considering the matter, Agesilaus declared, that if they would give him thirty Spartans, two thousand newly enrolled citizens, and a contingent of six thousand allies, he would cross to Asia and try to effect a peace, or, in case the barbarian wanted to fight, would keep him so busy that he would have no time for an attack on the Greeks.

His eagerness to pay back the Persian in his own coin for the former invasion of Greece, his determination to wage an offensive rather than a defensive war, and his wish to make the enemy pay for it rather than the Greeks, were enough to arouse an immediate and widespread enthusiasm for his project. But what appealed most to the imagination was the idea of entering on a struggle not to save Greece, but to subdue Asia.

And what of his strategy after he had received the army and had sailed out? A simple narrative of his actions will assuredly convey the clearest impression of it.

This, then, was his first act in Asia. Tissaphernes had sworn the following oath to Agesilaus: If you will arrange an armistice to last until the return of the messengers whom I will send to the King, I will do my utmost to obtain independence for the Greek cities in Asia; and Agesilaus on his part had sworn to observe the armistice honestly, allowing three months for the transaction. What followed?

Tissaphernes forthwith broke his oath, and instead of arranging a peace, applied to the King for a large army in addition to that which he had before. As for Agesilaus, though well aware of this, he none the less continued to keep the armistice.

I think, therefore, that here we have his first noble achievement. By showing up Tissaphernes as a perjurer, he made him distrusted everywhere; and, contrariwise, by proving himself to be a man of his word and true to his agreements, he encouraged all, Greeks and barbarians alike, to enter into an agreement with him whenever he wished it.

The arrival of the new army emboldened Tissaphernes to send an ultimatum to Agesilaus, threatening was unless he withdrew from Asia; and the allies and the Lacedaemonians present made no concealment of their chagrin, believing that the strength of Agesilaus was weaker than the Persian king’s armament. But Agesilaus with a beaming face bade the envoys of Tissaphernes inform their master that he was profoundly grateful to him for his perjury, by which he had gained the hostility of the gods for himself and had made them allies of the Greeks.

Without a moment’s delay he gave the word to his troops to pack up in preparation for a campaign, and warned the cities that lay on the lines of march to Caria to have their markets ready stocked. He advised by letter the Greeks of Ionia, the Aeolid and the Hellespont, to send their contingents for the campaign to his headquarters at Ephesus.

Now Tissaphernes reflected that Agesilaus was without cavalry, while Caria was a difficult country for mounted men, and he thought that Agesilaus was wroth with him on account of his deceit. Concluding, therefore, that his estate in Caria was the real object of the coming attack, he sent the whole of his infantry across to that district and took his cavalry round into the plain of the Maeander, confident that he could ride down the Greeks before they reached the country where cavalry could not operate.

But instead of marching on Caria, Agesilaus forthwith turned round and made for Phrygia. Picking up the various forces that met him on the route, he proceeded to reduce the cities and captured a vast quantity of booty by sudden attacks.

This achievement also was thought to be a proof of sound generalship, that when war was declared and cozening in consequence became righteous and fair dealing, he showed Tissaphernes to be a child at deception. It was thought, too, that he made shrewd use of this occasion to enrich his friends.

For the accumulation of plunder was so great that things were selling for next to nothing. So he gave his friends the word to buy, saying that he was shortly going down to the coast with his army.[*](Where the goods would be re-sold at a profit.) The auctioneers were ordered to have a schedule made of the prices obtained and to give delivery of the goods. Thus without capital outlay, and without any loss to the treasury, all his friends made a prodigious amount of money.

Further, whenever deserters offered to give information where plunder might be taken, they naturally went to the king. In such a case he took care that the capture should be effected by his friends, so that they might at one and the same time make money and add to their laurels. The immediate result was that he had many ardent suitors for his friendship.

Recognizing that a country plundered and depopulated could not long support an army, whereas an inhabited and cultivated land would yield inexhaustible supplies, he took pains not only to crush his enemies by force, but also to win them over by gentleness.