Ἀρχίδαμος ὁ Ζευξιδάμου βασιλεύσας ἐπιφανῶς Λακεδαιμονίων, κατέλιπεν υἱὸν ἐκ γυναικὸς εὐδοκίμου, Λαμπιδοῦς, Ἆγιν, καί πολὺ νεώτερον ἐξ Εὐπωλίας τῆς Μελησιππίδα θυγατρός, Ἀγησίλαον. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς βασιλείας Ἄγιδι προσηκούσης κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἰδιώτης ἐδόκει βιοτεύσειν ὁ Ἀγησίλαος, ἤχθη τὴν λεγομένην ἀγωγὴν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι, σκληρὰν μὲν οὖσαν τῇ διαίτῃ καί πολύπονον, παιδεύουσαν δὲ τοὺς νέους ἄρχεσθαι.
Archidamus, the son of Zeuxidamas, after an illustrious reign over the Lacedaemonians, left behind him a son, Agis, by Lampido, a woman of honourable family; and a much younger son, Agesilaüs, by Eupolia, the daughter of Melesippidas. The kingdom belonged to Agis by law, and it was thought that Agesilaüs would pass his life in a private station. He was therefore given the so-called agoge, or course of public training in Sparta, which, although austere in its mode of life and full of hardships, educated the youth to obedience.
διὸ καί φασιν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σιμωνίδου τὴν Σπάρτην προσηγορεῦσθαι δαμασίμβροτον, ὡς μάλιστα διὰ τῶν ἐθῶν τοὺς πολίτας τοῖς νόμοις πειθηνίους καὶ χειροήθεις ποιοῦσαν, ὥσπερ ἵππους εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς δαμαζομένους, ταύτης ἀφίησιν ὁ νόμος τῆς ἀνάγκης τοὺς ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ τρεφομένους παῖδας.
For this reason it was, we are told, that Simonides gave Sparta the epithet of man-subduing, since more than in any other state her customs made her citizens obedient to the laws and tractable, like horses that are broken in while yet they are colts. From this compulsory training the law exempts the heirs-apparent to the throne.
Ἀγησιλάῳ δὲ καί τοῦτο ὑπῆρξεν ἴδιον, ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄρχειν μὴ ἀπαίδευτον τοῦ ἄρχεσθαι. διὸ καί πολὺ τῶν βασιλέων εὐαρμοστότατον αὑτὸν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις παρέσχε, τῷ φύσει ἡγεμονικῷ καί βασιλικῷ προσκτησάμενος ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγωγῆς τὸ δημοτικὸν καί φιλάνθρωπον.
But Agesilaüs was singular in this also, that he had been educated to obey before he came to command. For this reason he was much more in harmony with his subjects than any of the kings; to the commanding and kingly traits which were his by nature there had been added by his public training those of popularity and kindliness.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς καλουμέναις ἀγέλαις τῶν συντρεφομένων παίδων Λύσανδρον ἔσχεν ἐραστήν, ἐκπλαγέντα μάλιστα τῷ κοσμίῳ τῆς φύσεως αὐτοῦ. φιλονεικότατος γὰρ ὢν καὶ θυμοειδέστατος ἐν τοῖς νέοις καὶ πάντα πρωτεύειν βουλόμενος, καὶ τὸ σφοδρὸν ἔχων καὶ ῥαγδαῖον ἄμαχον καὶ δυσεκβίαστον, εὐπειθείᾳ πάλιν αὖ καὶ πρᾳότητι τοιοῦτος ἦν οἷος φόβῳ μηδέν, αἰσχύνῃ δὲ πάντα ποιεῖν τὰ προσταττόμενα, καὶ τοῖς ψόγοις ἀλγύνεσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς πόνους βαρύνεσθαι·
While he was among the so-called bands of boys who were reared together, he had as his lover Lysander, who was smitten particularly with his native decorum. For although he was contentious and high-spirited beyond his fellows, wishing to be first in all things, and having a vehemence and fury which none could contend with or overwhelm, on the other hand he had such a readiness to obey and such gentleness, that he did whatever was enjoined upon him, not at all from a sense of fear, but always from a sense of honour, and was more distressed by censure than he was oppressed by hardships.
τὴν δὲ τοῦ σκέλους πήρωσιν ἥ τε ὥρα τοῦ σώματος ἀνθοῦντος ἐπέκρυπτε, καὶ τὸ ῥᾳδίως φέρειν καὶ ἱλαρῶς τὸ τοιοῦτο, παίζοντα καὶ σκώπτοντα πρῶτον ἑαυτόν, οὐ μικρὸν ἦν ἐπανόρθωμα τοῦ πάθους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ἐκδηλοτέραν ἐποίει, πρὸς μηδένα πόνον μηδὲ πρᾶξιν ἀπαγορεύοντος αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν χωλότητα, τῆς δὲ μορφῆς εἰκόνα μὲν οὐκ ἔχομεν αὐτὸς γὰρ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποθνήσκων ἀπεῖπε μήτε πλαστὰν μήτε μιμηλάν τινα ποιήσασθαι τοῦ σώματος εἰκόνα, λέγεται δὲ μικρός τε γενέσθαι καὶ τὴν ὄψιν εὐκαταφρόνητος·
As for his deformity, the beauty of his person in its youthful prime covered this from sight, while the ease and gaiety with which he bore such a misfortune, being first to jest and joke about himself, went far towards rectifying it. Indeed, his lameness brought his ambition into clearer light, since it led him to decline no hardship and no enterprise whatever. We have no likeness of him (for he himself would not consent to one, and even when he lay dying forbade the making of either statue or picture of his person), but he is said to have been a little man of unimposing presence.
ἡ δὲ ἱλαρότης καὶ τὸ εὔθυμον ἐν ἅπαντι καιρῷ καὶ παιγνιῶδες, ἀχθεινὸν δὲ καὶ τραχὺ μηδέποτε μήτε φωνῇ μήτε ὄψει, τῶν καλῶν καὶ ὡραίων ἐρασμιώτερον αὐτὸν ἄχρι γήρως παρεῖχεν. ὡς δὲ Θεόφραστος ἱστορεῖ, τὸν Ἀρχίδαμον ἐζημίωσαν οἱ ἔφοροι γήμαντα γυναῖκα μικράν· οὐ γὰρ βασιλεῖς ἔφασαν, ἄμμιν, ἀλλὰ βασιλείδια γεννάσει.
And yet his gaiety and good spirits in every crisis, and his raillery, which was never offensive or harsh either in word or look, made him more lovable, down to his old age, than the young and beautiful. But according to Theophrastus, Archidamus was fined by the ephors for marrying a little woman, For she will bear us, they said, not kings, but kinglets.
βασιλεύοντος δὲ Ἄγιδος ἧκεν Ἀλκιβιάδης ἐκ Σικελίας φυγὰς εἰς Λακεδαίμονα· καὶ χρόνον οὔπω πολὺν ἐν τῇ πόλει διάγων, αἰ,τίαν ἔσχε τῇ γυναικὶ τὸν βασιλέως, Τιμαίᾳ, συνεῖναι. καὶ τὸ γεννηθὲν ἐξ αὐτῆς παιδάριον οὐκ ἔφη γινώσκειν ὁ Ἆγις, ἀλλʼ ἐξ Ἀλκιβιάδου γεγονέναι. τοῦτο δὲ οὐ πάνυ δυσκόλως τὴν Τιμαίαν ἐνεγκεῖν φησι Δοῦρις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψιθυρίζουσαν οἴκοι πρὸς τὰς εἱλωτίδας Ἀλκιβιάδην τὸ παιδίον, οὐ Λεωτυχίδην, καλεῖν·
It was during the reign of Agis that Alcibiades came from Sicily as an exile to Sparta, and he had not been long in the city when he incurred the charge of illicit intercourse with Timaea, the wife of the king. The child, too, that was born of her, Agis refused to recognize as his own, declaring that Alcibiades was its father. Duris says that Timaea was not very much disturbed at this, but in whispers to her Helot maids at home actually called the child Alcibiades, not Leotychides;
καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὸν Ἀλκιβιάδην αὐτὸν οὐ πρὸς ὕβριν τῇ Τιμαίᾳ φάναι πλησιάζειν, ἀλλὰ φιλοτιμούμενον βασιλεύεσθαι Σπαρτιάτας ὑπὸ τῶν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ γεγονότων. διὰ ταῦτα μὲν τῆς Λακεδαίμονος Ἀλκιβιάδης ὑπεξῆλθε, φοβηθεὶς τὸν Ἆγιν ὁ δὲ παῖς τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον ὕποπτος ἦν τῷ Ἄγιδι, καὶ γνησίου τιμὴν οὐκ εἶχε παρʼ αὐτῷ, νοσοῦντι δὲ προσπεσὼν καὶ δακρύων ἔπεισεν υἱὸν ἀποφῆναι πολλῶν ἐναντίον.
moreover that Alcibiades himself also declared that he had not approached Timaea out of wanton passion, but because he was ambitious to have the Spartans reigned over by his descendants. On this account Alcibiades withdrew from Sparta, being in fear of Agis; and the boy was always an object of suspicion to Agis, and was not honoured by him as legitimate. But when the king lay sick, the supplications and tears of Leotychides prevailed upon him to declare him his son in the presence of many witnesses.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ Ἄγιδος ὁ Λύσανδρος, ἤδη κατανεναυμαχηκὼς Ἀθηναίους καὶ μέγιστον ἐν Σπάρτῃ δυνάμενος, τὸν Ἀγησίλαον ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν προῆγεν, ὡς οὐ προσήκουσαν ὄντι νόθῳ τῷ Λεωτυχίδῃ. πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν, διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ Ἀγησιλάου καὶ τὸ συντετράφθαι καὶ μετεσχηκέναι τῆς ἀγωγῆς, ἐφιλοτιμοῦντο καὶ συνέπραττον αὐτῷ προθύμως. ἦν δὲ Διοπείθης ἀνὴρ χρησμολόγος ἐν Σπάρτῃ, μαντειῶν τε παλαιῶν ὑπόπλεως καὶ δοκῶν περὶ τὰ θεῖα σοφὸς εἶναι καὶ περιττός.
Notwithstanding this, after the death of Agis, Lysander, who by this time had subdued the Athenians at sea and was a man of the greatest influence in Sparta, tried to advance Agesilaüs to the throne, on the plea that Leotychides was a bastard and had no claim upon it. Many of the other citizens also, owing to the excellence of Agesilaüs and the fact that he had been reared with them under the common restraints of the public training, warmly espoused the plan of Lysander and co-operated with him. But there was a diviner in Sparta, named Diopeithes, who was well supplied with ancient prophecies, and was thought to be eminently wise in religious matters.
οὗτος οὐκ ἔφη θεμιτὸν εἶναι χωλὸν γενέσθαι τῆς Λακεδαίμονος βασιλέα, καὶ χρησμὸν ἐν τῇ δίκῃ; τοιοῦτον ἀνεγίνωσκε· φράζεο δή, Σπάρτη, καίπερ μεγάλαυχος ἐοῦσα, / μὴ σέθεν ἀρτίποδος βλάστῃ χωλὴ βασιλεία / δηρὸν γὰρ νοῦσοί σε κατασχήσουσιν ἄελπτοι / φθισιβρότου τʼ ἐπὶ κῦμα κυλινδόμενον πολέμοιο. /
This man declared it contrary to the will of Heaven that a lame man should be king of Sparta, and cited at the trial of the case the following oracle:—Bethink thee now, O Sparta, though thou art very glorious, lest from thee, sound of foot, there spring a maimed royalty; for long will unexpected toils oppress thee, and onward-rolling billows of man-destroying war. /
πρὸς ταῦτα Λύσανδρος ἔλεγεν ὡς, εἰ πάνυ φοβοῖντο τὸν χρησμὸν οἱ Σπαρτιᾶται, φυλακτέον αὐτοῖς εἴη τὸν Λεωτυχίδην οὐ γὰρ εἰ προσπταίσας τις τὸν πόδα βασιλεύοι, τῷ θεῷ διαφέρειν, ἀλλʼ εἰ μὴ γνήσιος ὢν μηδὲ Ἡρακλείδης, τοῦτο τὴν χωλὴν εἶναι βασιλείαν. ὁ δὲ Ἀγησίλαος ἔφη καὶ τὸν Ποσειδῶ καταμαρτυρεῖν τοῦ Λεωτυχίδου τὴν νοθείαν, ἐκβαλόντα σεισμῷ τοῦ θαλάμου τὸν Ἆγιν ἀπʼ ἐκείνου δὲ πλέον ἢ δέκα μηνῶν διελθόντων γενέσθαι τὸν Λεωτυχίδην.
To this Lysander answered that, in case the Spartans stood in great fear of the oracle, they must be on their guard against Leotychides; for it mattered not to the god that one who halted in his gait should be king, but if one who was not lawfully begotten, nor even a descendant of Heracles, should be king, this was what the god meant by the maimed royalty. And Agesilaüs declared that Poseidon also had borne witness to the bastardy of Leotychides, for he had cast Agis forth from his bed-chamber by an earthquake, and after this more than ten months elapsed before Leotychides was born.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα βασιλεὺς ἀποδειχθεὶς ὁ Ἀγησίλαος εὐθὺς εἶχε καὶ τὰ χρήματα τοῦ Ἄγιδος, ὡς νόθον ἀπελάσας τὸν Λεωτυχίδην. ὁρῶν δέ τοὺς ἀπὸ μητρὸς οἰκείους ἐπιεικεῖς μὲν ὄντας, ἰσχυρῶς δέ πενομένους, ἀπένειμεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ἡμίσεα τῶν χρημάτων, εὔνοιαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ δόξαν ἀντὶ φθόνου καὶ δυσμενείας ἐπὶ τῇ κληρονομίᾳ κατασκευαζόμενος. ὃ δέ φησιν ὁ Ξενοφῶν, ὅτι πάντα τῇ πατρίδι πειθόμενος ἴσχυε πλεῖστον, ὥστε ποιεῖν ὃ βούλοιτο, τοιοῦτόν ἐστι.
In this way, and for these reasons, Agesilaüs was appointed king, and straightway enjoyed possession of the estates of Agis as well as his throne, after expelling Leotychides as a bastard. But seeing that his kinsmen on his mother’s side, though worthy folk, were excessively poor, he distributed among them the half of his estates, thereby making his inheritance yield him good-will and reputation instead of envy and hatred. As for Xenophon’s statement that by obeying his country in everything he won very great power, so that he did what he pleased, the case is as follows.
τῶν ἐφόρων ἦν τότε καὶ τῶν γερόντων τὸ μέγιστον ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ κράτος, ὧν οἱ μὲν ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρχουσι μόνον, οἱ δὲ γέροντες διὰ βίου ταύτην ἔχουσι τὴν τιμήν, ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ πάντα τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἐξεῖναι συνταχθέντες, ὡς ἐν τοῖς περὶ Λυκούργου γέγραπται· διὸ καὶ πατρικήν τινα πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ παλαιοῦ διετέλουν εὐθὺς οἱ βασιλεῖς φιλονεικίαν καὶ διαφορὰν παραλαμβάνοντες.
At that time the ephors and the senators had the greatest power in the state, of whom the former hold office for a year only, while the senators enjoy their dignity for life, their offices having been instituted to restrain the power of the kings, as I have said in my Life of Lycurgus. Therefore from the outset, and from generation to generation, the kings were traditionally at feud and variance with them.
ὁ δὲ Ἀγησίλαος ἐπὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν ὁδὸν ἦλθε, καὶ τὸ πολεμεῖν καὶ τὸ προσκρούειν αὐτοῖς ἐάσας ἐθεράπευε, πάσης μὲν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων πράξεως ἀρχόμενος, εἰ δὲ κληθείη, θᾶττον ἢ βάδην ἐπειγόμενος, ὁσάκις δὲ τύχοι καθήμενος ἐν τῷ βασιλικῷ θώκῳ καὶ χρηματίζων, ἐπιοῦσι τοῖς ἐφόροις ὑπεξανίστατο, τῶν δʼ εἰς τὴν γερουσίαν ἀεὶ καταταττομένων ἑκάστῳ χλαῖναν ἔπεμπε καὶ βοῦν ἀριστεῖον.
But Agesilaüs took the opposite course. Instead of colliding and fighting with them, he courted their favour, winning their support before setting out on any undertaking; and whenever he was invited to meet them, hastening to them on the run. If ever the ephors visited him when he was seated in his royal chair and administering justice, he rose in their honour; and as men were from time to time made members of the senate, he would send each one a cloak and an ox as a mark of honour.
ἐκ δὲ τούτων τιμᾶν δοκῶν καὶ μεγαλύνειν τὸ ἀξίωμα τῆς ἐκείνων ἀρχῆς, ἐλάνθανεν αὔξων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ προστιθέμενος μέγεθος ἐκ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίας συγχωρούμενον.
Consequently, while he was thought to be honouring and exalting the dignity of their office, he was unawares increasing his own influence and adding to the power of the king a greatness which was conceded out of good-will towards him.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους πολίτας ὁμιλίαις ἐχθρὸς ἦν ἀμεμπτότερος ἢ φίλος, τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἐχθροὺς ἀδίκως οὐκ ἔβλαπτε, τοῖς δὲ φίλοις καὶ τὰ μὴ δίκαια συνέπραττε. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐχθροὺς ᾐσχύνετο μὴ τιμᾶν κατορθοῦντας, τοὺς δὲ φίλους οὐκ ἐδύνατο ψέγειν ἁμαρτάνοντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ βοηθῶν ἠγάλλετο καὶ συνεξαμαρτάνων αὐτοῖς· οὐδὲν γὰρ ᾤετο τῶν φιλικῶν ὑπουργημάτων αἰσχρὸν εἶναι.
In his dealings with the rest of the citizens he was less blame-worthy as an enemy than as a friend; for he would not injure his enemies without just cause, but joined his friends even in their unjust practices. And whereas he was ashamed not to honour his enemies when they did well, he could not bring himself to censure his friends when they did amiss, but actually prided himself on aiding them and sharing in their misdeeds. For he thought no aid disgraceful that was given to a friend.
τοῖς δʼ αὖ διαφόροις πταίσασι πρῶτος συναχθόμενος καὶ δεηθεῖσι συμπράττων προθύμως ἐδημαγώγει καὶ προσήγετο πάντας. ὁρῶντες οὖν οἱ ἔφοροι ταῦτα καὶ φοβούμενοι τὴν δύναμιν ἐζημίωσαν αὐτόν, αἰτίαν ὑπειπόντες ὅτι τοὺς κοινοὺς πολίτας ἰδίους κτᾶται.
But if, on the other hand, his adversaries stumbled and fell, he was first to sympathize with them and give them zealous aid if they desired it, and so won the hearts and the allegiance of all. The ephors, accordingly, seeing this, and fearing his power, laid a fine upon him, alleging as a reason that he made the citizens his own, who should be the common property of the state.
καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ φυσικοὶ τὸ νεῖκος οἴονταί καὶ τὴν ἔριν, εἰ τῶν ὅλων ἐξαιρεθείη, στῆναι μὲν ἂν τὰ οὐράνια, παύσασθαι δὲ πάντων τὴν γένεσιν καὶ κίνησιν ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς πάντα πάντων ἁρμονίας, οὕτως ἔοικεν ὁ Λακωνικὸς νομοθέτης ὑπέκκαυμα τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν τὸ φιλότιμον καὶ φιλόνεικον, ἀεί τινα τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς διαφορὰν καὶ ἅμιλλαν εἶναι πρὸς ἀλλήλους βουλόμενος, τὴν δὲ ἀνθυπείκουσαν τῷ ἀνελέγκτῳ χάριν ἀργὴν καὶ ἀναγώνιστον οὖσαν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ὁμόνοιαν λέγεσθαι.
Natural philosophers are of the opinion that, if strife and discord should be banished from the universe, the heavenly bodies would stand still, and all generation and motion would cease in consequence of the general harmony. And so the Spartan law-giver seems to have introduced the spirit of ambition and contention into his civil polity as an incentive to virtue, desiring that good citizens should always be somewhat at variance and in conflict with one another, and deeming that complaisance which weakly yields without debate, which knows no effort and no struggle, to be wrongly called concord.
τοῦτο δὲ ἀμέλει συνεωρακέναι καὶ τὸν Ὅμηρον οἴονταί τινες· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα ποιῆσαι χαίροντα τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως καὶ τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως εἰς λοιδορίαν προαχθέντων ἐκπάγλοις ἐπέεσσιν, εἰ μὴ μέγα τοῖς κοινοῖς ἀγαθὸν ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι τὸν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ζῆλον καὶ τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν ἀρίστων, ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἂν οὕτως τις ἁπλῶς συγχωρήσειεν αἱ γὰρ ὑπερβολαὶ τῶν φιλονεικιῶν χαλεπαὶ ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ μεγάλους κινδύνους ἔχουσι.
And some think that Homer also was clearly of this mind; for he would not have represented Agamemnon as pleased when Odysseus and Achilles were carried away into abuse of one another with frightful words, if he had not thought the general interests likely to profit by the mutual rivalry and quarrelling of the chieftains. This principle, however, must not be accepted without some reservations; for excessive rivalries are injurious to states, and productive of great perils.
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