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Agesilaus II, or Agesilaos II (444–360
BCE) was a Eurypontid king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, ruling
from approximately 400 to 360, during most of which time he was, in Plutarch's
words, "as good as thought commander and king of all Greece," and was
for the whole of it greatly identified with his country's deeds and fortunes.
Small in stature and lame from birth, Agesilaus became ruler somewhat
unexpectedly in his mid-forties. His early reign saw successful military
incursions into various states in what is now Turkey, although several
diplomatic decisions resulted in Sparta becoming increasingly isolated prior to
his death at the age of 84 in Cyrenaica (part of modern Libya).
Agesilaus was the son of Archidamus II and his second wife, Eupoleia, brother
to Cynisca (the first woman in ancient history to achieve an Olympic victory),
and younger half-brother of Agis II. The is little surviving detail on the
youth of Agesilaus. Lame from birth, he was not expected to succeed to the
throne after his brother king Agis II, especially because the latter had a son
(Leotychidas). Therefore, Agesilaus was trained in the traditional curriculum
of Sparta, the agoge. However, Leotychidas was ultimately set aside as
illegitimate (contemporary rumors representing him as the son of Alcibiades)
and Agesilaus became king around 401, at the age of about forty. In addition to
questions of his nephew's paternity, Agesilaus' succession was largely due to
the intervention of his Spartan general, Lysander, who hoped to find in him a
willing tool for the furtherance of his political designs. Lysander and the
young Agesilaus came to maintain an intimate relation as was common of the
period. Their unique relationship would serve an important role during
Agesilaus' later campaigns in Asia Minor.
Early reign:
Agesilaus is first recorded as king during the suppression of the conspiracy of
Cinadon, shortly after 398. Then, in 396, Agesilaus crossed into Asia with a
force of 2,000 neodamodes (freed helots) and 6,000 allies (including 30
Spartiates) to liberate Greek cities from Persian dominion. On the eve of
sailing from Aulis he attempted to offer a sacrifice, as Agamemnon had done
before the Trojan expedition, but the Thebans intervened to prevent it, an
insult for which he never forgave them. On his arrival at Ephesus a three
months' truce was concluded with Tissaphernes, the satrap of Lydia and Caria,
but negotiations conducted during that time proved fruitless, and on its
termination Agesilaus raided Phrygia, where he easily won immense booty from
the satrap Pharnabazus;
Tissaphernes could
offer no assistance, as he had concentrated his troops in Caria. In these
campaigns Agesilaus also benefited from the aid of the Ten Thousand (a
mercenary army), who marched through miles of Persian territory to reach the
Black Sea. After spending the winter organizing a cavalry force (hippeis), he
made a successful incursion into Lydia in the spring of 395 BC. Tithraustes was
sent to replace Tissaphernes, who paid with his life for his continued failure.
An armistice was concluded between Tithraustes and Agesilaus, who left the
southern satrapy and again invaded Phrygia, which he ravaged until the
following spring. He then came to an agreement with Pharnabazus and once more
turned southward. During these campaigns, Lysander attempted to
manipulate Agesilaus into ceding his authority. Agesilaus, the former passive
lover of Lysander, would have nothing of this, and reminded Lysander (who was
only a Spartan general) who was king. He had Lysander sent away to assist the
naval campaigns in the Aegean. This dominating move by Agesilaus earned the
respect of his men-at-arms and of Lysander himself, who remained emotionally
close with Agesilaus. In 394, while encamped on the plain of Thebe, he was
planning a campaign in the interior, or even an attack on
Artaxerxes II
himself, when he was recalled to Greece owing to the war between Sparta and
the combined forces of Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Argos and several minor states.
A rapid march through Thrace and Macedonia brought him to Thessaly, where he
repulsed the Thessalian cavalry who tried to impede him. Reinforced by Phocian
and Orchomenian troops and a Spartan army, he met the confederate forces at
Coronea in Boeotia and in a hotly contested battle was technically victorious.
However, the Spartan baggage train was ransacked and Agesilaus himself was
injured during the fighting, resulting in a subsequent retreat by way of Delphi
to the Peloponnese. Shortly before this battle the Spartan navy, of which he
had received the supreme command, was totally defeated off Cnidus by a powerful
Persian fleet under Conon and
Pharnabazus. During these conflicts in mainland Greece, Lysander perished while
attacking the walls of Thebes. Pausanias, the second king of Sparta supposed to
provide Lysander with reinforcements as they marched into Boeotia, yet failed
to arrive in time to assist Lysander, likely because Pausanias disliked him for
his brash and arrogant attitude towards the Spartan royalty and government.
Pausanias failed to fight for the bodies of the dead, and because he retrieved
the bodies under truce (a sign of defeat), he was disgraced and banished from
Sparta. In 393, Agesilaus engaged in a ravaging invasion of Argolis. In 392 he
took a prominent part in the
Corinthian War,
making several successful expeditions into Corinthian territory and capturing
Lechaeum and Piraeus. The loss, however, of a battalion (mora), destroyed by Iphicrates, neutralized
these successes, and Agesilaus returned to Sparta. In 389 he conducted a
campaign in Acarnania, but two years later the Peace of Antalcidas, warmly
supported by Agesilaus, put an end to hostilities. In this interval, Agesilaus
declined command over Sparta's aggression on Mantineia, and justified
Phoebidas' seizure of the Theban Cadmea so long as the outcome provided glory
to Sparta.
Decline:
When war broke out afresh with Thebes Agesilaus twice invaded Boeotia (in 378
and 377), although he spent the next five years largely out of action due to an
unspecified but apparently grave illness. In the congress of 371 an altercation
is recorded between him and the Theban general Epaminondas, and due to his influence Thebes was
peremptorily excluded from the peace, and orders given for Cleombrotus to march
against Thebes in 371.
Cleombrotus was defeated at
Leuctra and the
Spartan supremacy overthrown. In 370 Agesilaus was engaged in an embassy to
Mantineia, and reassured the Spartans with an invasion of Arcadia. He preserved
an un-walled Sparta against the revolts and conspiracies of helots, perioeci
and even other Spartans; and against external enemies, with four different
armies led by Epaminondas penetrating Laconia that same year. Again, in 362,
Epaminondas almost succeeded in seizing the city bwith a rapid and unexpected
march. The Battle of Mantinea, in which Agesilaus took no part, was followed by
a general peace: Sparta, however, stood aloof, hoping even yet to recover her
supremacy. According to Xenophon, Agesilaus, in order to gain money for
prosecuting the war, supported the satrap Ariobarzanes II in his revolt against
Artaxerxes II in 364 (Revolt of the Satraps), and in 361 he went to Egypt at
the head of a mercenary force to aid the king Nectanebo I and his regent Teos
against Persia. He soon transferred his services to Teos's cousin and rival
Nectanebo II, who, in return for his help, gave him a sum of over 200 talents.
On his way home Agesilaus died in Cyrenaica, around the age of 84, after a
reign of some 41 years. His body was embalmed in wax, and buried at Sparta.
Legacy:
Agesilaus was of small stature and unimpressive appearance, and was lame from
birth. These facts were used as an argument against his succession, an oracle
having warned Sparta against a "lame reign." Most ancient writers
considered him a highly successful leader in guerrilla warfare, alert and
quick, yet cautious—a man, moreover, whose personal bravery was rarely
questioned in his own time. Of his courage, temperance, and hardiness, many
instances are cited: and to these were added the less Spartan qualities of
kindliness and tenderness as a father and a friend. As examples: there is the
story of his riding across a stick (horse made of stick) with his children and
upon being discovered by a friend desiring that he not mention till he himself
were the father of children; and because of the affection of his son
Archidamus' for Cleonymus, he saved Sphodrias, Cleonymus' father, from
execution for his incursion into the Piraeus, and dishonorable retreat, in 378.
Modern writers tend to be slightly more critical of Agesilaus' reputation and
achievements, reckoning him an excellent soldier, but one who had a poor
understanding of sea power and siegecraft. As a statesman he won himself both
enthusiastic adherents and bitter enemies. Agesilaus was most successful in the
opening and closing periods of his reign: commencing but then surrendering a
glorious career in Asia; and in extreme age, maintaining his prostrate country.
Other writers acknowledge his extremely high popularity at home, but suggest
his occasionally rigid and arguably irrational political loyalties and
convictions contributed greatly to Spartan decline, notably his unremitting
hatred of Thebes, which led to Sparta's humiliation at the Battle of Leuctra
and thus the end of Spartan hegemony.[2] Other historical accounts paint
Agesilaus as a prototype for the ideal leader. His awareness, thoughtfulness,
and wisdom were all traits to be emulated diplomatically, while his bravery and
shrewdness in battle epitomized the heroic Greek commander. These historians
point towards the unstable oligarchies established by Lysander in the former
Athenian Empire and the failures of Spartan leaders (such as Pausanias and
Kleombrotos) for the eventually suppression of Spartan power. The ancient
historian Xenophon was a huge admirer and served under Agesilaus during the
campaigns into Asia Minor.
Plutarch includes among his 78 essays and speeches comprising the apophthegmata
Agesilaus' letter to the ephors on his recall: We have reduced most of Asia,
driven back the barbarians, made arms abundant in Ionia. But since you bid me,
according to the decree, come home, I shall follow my letter, may perhaps be
even before it. For my command is not mine, but my country's and her allies'.
And a commander then commands truly according to right when he sees his own
commander in the laws and ephors, or others holding office in the state. And
when asked whether he wanted a memorial erected in his honor: If I have done
any noble action, that is a sufficient memorial; if I have done nothing noble,
all the statues in the world will not preserve my memory. He lived in the most
frugal style alike at home and in the field, and though his campaigns were
undertaken largely to secure booty, he was content to enrich the state and his
friends and to return as poor as he had set forth. He was succeeded by his son
Archidamus III. Selected quotesEdit When someone was praising an orator for his
ability to magnify small points, he said, "In my opinion it's not a good
cobbler who fits large shoes on small feet." Another time he watched a
mouse being pulled from its hole by a small boy. When the mouse turned around,
bit the hand of its captor and escaped, he pointed this out to those present
and said, "When the tiniest creature defends itself like this against
aggressors, what ought men to do, do you reckon?" Certainly when somebody
asked what gain the laws of Lycurgus had brought Sparta, he answered,
"Contempt for pleasures." Asked once how far Sparta's boundaries
stretched, he brandished his spear and said, "As far as this can
reach." On noticing a house in Asia roofed with square beams, he asked the
owner whether timber grew square in that area. When told no, it grew round, he
said, "What then? If it were square, would you make it round?" As he
was dying on the voyage back from Egypt, he gave instructions to those close to
him that they should not be responsible for making any image of his person, be
it modeled or painted or copied, "For if I have accomplished any glorious
feat, that will be my memorial. But if I have not, not even all the statues in
the world—the products of vulgar, worthless men—would make any
difference." Invited to hear an actor who could perfectly imitate the
nightingale, Agesilaus declined, saying he had heard the nightingale itself.
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