ἐνταῦθα Διφρίδας οἴκοθεν ἔφορος ὢν ἀπήντησεν αὐτῷ κελεύων εὐθὺς ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν. ὁ δέ, καίπερ ἀπὸ μείζονος παρασκευῆς ὕστερον τοῦτο ποιῆσαι διανοούμενος, οὐδὲν ᾤετο δεῖν ἀπειθεῖν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τε μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ προεῖπεν ἐγγὺς εἶναι τὴν ἡμέραν ἐφʼ ἣν ἐξ Ἀσίας ἥκουσι, καὶ δύο μόρας μετεπέμψατο τῶν περὶ Κόρινθον στρατευομένων·
Here Diphridas, an ephor from Sparta, met him, with orders to invade Boeotia immediately. Therefore, although he was purposing to do this later with a larger armament, he thought it did not behoove him to disobey the magistrates, but said to those who were with him that the day was near for which they had come from Asia. He also sent for two divisions of the army at Corinth.
οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ πόλει Λακεδαιμόνιοι τιμῶντες αὐτὸν ἐκήρυξαν τῶν νέων ἀπογράφεσθαι τὸν βουλόμενον τῷ βασιλεῖ βοηθεῖν. ἀπογραψαμένων δὲ πάντων προθύμως, οἱ ἄρχοντες πεντήκοντα τοὺς ἀκμαιοτάτους καὶ ῥωμαλεωτάτους ἐκλέξαντες ἀπέστειλαν. ὁ δὲ Ἀγησίλαος εἴσω Πυλῶν παρελθὼν καὶ διοδεύσας τὴν Φωκίδα φίλην οὖσαν, ἐπεὶ τῆς Βοιωτίας πρῶτον ἐπέβη καὶ περὶ τὴν Χαιρώνειαν κατεστρατοπέδευσεν, ἅμα μὲν τὸν ἥλιον ἐκλείποντα καὶ γινόμενον μηνοειδῆ κατεῖδεν, ἅμα δὲ ἤκουσε τεθνάναι Πείσανδρον ἡττημένον ναυμαχίᾳ περὶ Κνίδον ὑπὸ Φαρναβάζου καὶ Κόνωνος.
Then the Lacedaemonians at home, wishing to do him honour, made proclamation that any young man who wished might enlist in aid of the king. All enlisted eagerly, and the magistrates chose out the most mature and vigorous of them to the number of fifty, and sent them off. Agesilaüs now marched through the pass of Thermopylae, traversed Phocis, which was friendly to Sparta, entered Boeotia, and encamped near Chaeroneia. Here a partial eclipse of the sun occurred, and at the same time news came to him of the death of Peisander, who was defeated in a naval battle off Cnidus by Pharnabazus and Conon.
ἠχθέσθη μὲν οὖν, ὡς εἰκός, ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ διὰ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ διὰ τὴν πόλιν, ὅπως δὲ μὴ τοῖς στρατιώταις ἐπὶ μάχην βαδίζουσιν ἀθυμία καὶ φόβος ἐμπέσῃ, τἀναντία λέγειν ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἥκοντας, ὅτι νικῶσι τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ· καὶ προελθὼν αὐτὸς ἐστεφανωμένος ἔθυσεν εὐαγγέλια καὶ διέπεμπε μερίδας τοῖς φίλοις ἀπὸ τῶν τεθυμένων.
Agesilaüs was naturally much distressed at these tidings, both because of the man thus lost, and of the city which had lost him; but nevertheless, that his soldiers might not be visited with dejection and fear as they were going into battle, he ordered the messengers from the sea to reverse their tidings and say that the Spartans were victorious in the naval battle. He himself also came forth publicly with a garland on his head, offered sacrifices for glad tidings, and sent portions of the sacrificial victims to his friends.
ἐπεὶ δὲ προϊὼν καὶ γενόμενος ἐν Κορωνείᾳ κατεῖδε τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ κατώφθη, παρετάξατο δοὺς Ὀρχομενίοις τὸ εὐώνυμον κέρας, αὐτὸς δὲ τὸ δεξιὸν ἐπῆγεν. οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι τὸ μὲν δεξιὸν εἶχον αὐτοί, τὸ δὲ εὐώνυμον Ἀργεῖοι. λέγει δὲ τὴν μάχην ὁ Ξενοφῶν ἐκείνην οἵαν οὐκ ἄλλην τῶν πώποτε γενέσθαι· καὶ παρῆν αὐτὸς τῷ Ἀγησιλάῳ συναγωνιζόμενος, ἐξ Ἀσίας διαβεβηκώς.
After advancing as far as Coroneia and coming within sight of the enemy, he drew up his army in battle array, giving the left wing to the Orchomenians, while he himself led forward the right. On the other side, the Thebans held the right wing themselves, and the Argives the left. Xenophon says that this battle was unlike any ever fought, and he was present himself and fought on the side of Agesilaüs, having crossed over with him from Asia.
ἡ μὲν οὖν πρώτη σύρραξις οὐκ ἔσχεν ὠθισμὸν οὐδὲ ἀγῶνα πολύν, ἀλλὰ οἵ τε Θηβαῖοι ταχὺ τοὺς Ὀρχομενίους ἐτρέψαντο καὶ τοὺς Ἀργείους ὁ Ἀγησίλαος· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἀμφότεροι τὰ εὐώνυμα πιέζεσθαι καὶ φεύγειν ἀνέστρεψαν, ἐνταῦθα τῆς νίκης ἀκινδύνου παρούσης, εἰ τῆς κατὰ στόμα μάχης ὑφέσθαι τοῖς Θηβαίοις ἠθέλησε καὶ παίειν ἑπόμενος παραλλάξαντας, ὑπὸ θυμοῦ καὶ φιλονεικίας ἐναντίος ἐχώρει τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὤσασθαι κατὰ κράτος βουλόμενος.
The first impact, it is true, did not meet with much resistance, nor was it long contested, but the Thebans speedily routed the Orchomenians, as Agesilaüs did the Argives. Both parties, however, on hearing that their left wings were overwhelmed and in flight, turned back. Then, although the victory might have been his without peril if he had been willing to refrain from attacking the Thebans in front and to smite them in the rear after they had passed by, Agesilaüs was carried away by passion and the ardour of battle and advanced directly upon them, wishing to bear them down by sheer force.
οἱ δὲ οὐχ ἧττον ἐρρωμένως ἐδέξαντο, καὶ μάχη γίνεται διʼ ὅλου μὲν ἰσχυρὰ τοῦ στρατεύματος, ἰσχυροτάτη δὲ κατʼ ἐκεῖνον αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς πεντήκοντα τεταγμένον, ὧν εἰς καιρὸν ἔοικεν ἡ φιλοτιμία τῷ βασιλεῖ γενέσθαι καὶ σωτήριος, ἀγωνιζόμενοι γὰρ ἐκθύμως καὶ προκινδυνεύοντες ἄτρωτον μὲν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐδυνήθησαν φυλάξαι, πολλὰς δὲ διὰ τῶν ὅπλων δεξάμενον εἰς τὸ σῶμα πληγὰς δόρασι καὶ ξίφεσι μόλις ἀνήρπασαν ζῶντα, καὶ συμφράξαντες πρὸ αὐτοῦ πολλοὺς μὲν ἀνῄρουν, πολλοὶ δὲ ἔπιπτον.
But they received him with a vigour that matched his own, and a battle ensued which was fierce at all points in the line, but fiercest where the king himself stood surrounded by his fifty volunteers, whose opportune and emulous valour seems to have saved his life. For they fought with the utmost fury and exposed their lives in his behalf, and though they were not able to keep him from being wounded, but many blows of spears and swords pierced his armour and reached his person, they did succeed in dragging him off alive, and standing in close array in front of him, they slew many foes, while many of their own number fell.
ὡς δὲ μέγα ἔργον ἦν ὤσασθαι προτροπάδην τοὺς Θηβαίους, ἠναγκάσθησαν ὅπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὐκ ἐβούλοντο ποιῆσαι. διέστησαν γὰρ αὐτοῖς τὴν φάλαγγα καὶ διέσχον, εἶτα ἀτακτότερον ἤδη πορευομένους, ὡς διεξέπεσον, ἀκολουθοῦντες καὶ παραθέοντες ἐκ πλαγίων ἔπαιον. οὐ μὴν ἐτρέψαντό γε, ἀλλʼ ἀπεχώρησαν οἱ Θηβαῖοι πρὸς τὸν Ἑλικῶνα, μέγα τῇ μάχῃ φρονοῦντες, ὡς ἀήττητοι καθʼ αὑτοὺς γεγονότες.
But since it proved too hard a task to break the Theban front, they were forced to do what at the outset they were loth to do. They opened their ranks and let the enemy pass through, and then, when these had got clear, and were already marching in looser array, the Spartans followed on the run and smote them on the flanks. They could not, however, put them to rout, but the Thebans withdrew to Mount Helicon, greatly elated over the battle, in which, as they reasoned, their own contingent had been undefeated.
Ἀγησίλαος δέ, καίπερ ὑπὸ τραυμάτων πολλῶν κακῶς τὸ σῶμα διακείμενος, οὐ πρότερον ἐπὶ σκηνὴν ἀπῆλθεν ἢ φοράδην ἐνεχθῆναι πρὸς τήν φάλαγγα καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς ἰδεῖν ἐντὸς τῶν ὅπλων συγκεκομισμένους, ὅσοι μέντοι τῶν πολεμίων εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν κατέφυγον, πάντας ἐκέλευσεν ἀφεθῆναι.
But Agesilaüs, although he was weakened by many wounds, would not retire to his tent until he had first been carried to his troops and seen that the dead were collected within the encampment. Moreover, he ordered that all of the enemy who had taken refuge in the sanctuary should be dismissed.
πλησίον γὰρ ὁ νεώς ἐστιν ὁ τῆς Ἰτωνίας Ἀθηνᾶς, καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ τρόπαιον ἕστηκεν, ὃ πάλαι Βοιωτοὶ Σπάρτωνος στρατηγοῦντος ἐνταῦθα νικήσαντες Ἀθηναίους καὶ Τολμίδην ἀποκτείναντες ἔστησαν, ἅμα δʼ ἡμέρᾳ βουλόμενος ἐξελέγξαι τοὺς Θηβαίους ὁ Ἀγησίλαος, εἰ διαμαχοῦνται, στεφανοῦσθαι μὲν ἐκέλευσε τοὺς στρατιώτας, αὐλεῖν δὲ τοὺς αὐλητάς, ἱστάναι δὲ καὶ κοσμεῖν τρόπαιον ὡς νενικηκότας.
For the temple of Athena Itonia was near at hand, and a trophy stood in front of it, which the Boeotians had long ago erected, when, under the command of Sparto, they had defeated the Athenians there and slain Tolmides their general. Early next morning, Agesilaüs, wishing to try the Thebans and see whether they would give him battle, ordered his soldiers to wreath their heads and his pipers to play their pipes, while a trophy was set up and adorned in token of their victory.
ὡς δὲ ἔπεμψαν οἱ πολέμιοι νεκρῶν ἀναίρεσιν αἰτοῦντες, ἐσπείσατο, καὶ τήν νίκην οὕτως ἐκβεβαιωσάμενος εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀπεκομίσθη, Πυθίων ἀγομένων, καὶ τήν τε πομπὴν ἐπετέλει τῷ θεῷ καὶ τήν δεκάτην ἀπέθυε τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας λαφύρων ἑκατὸν ταλάντων γενομένην.
And when the enemy sent to him and asked permission to take up their dead, he made a truce with them, and having thus assured to himself the victory, proceeded to Delphi, where the Pythian games were in progress. There he celebrated the customary procession in honour of the god, and offered up the tenth of the spoils which he had brought from Asia, amounting to a hundred talents.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπενόστησεν οἴκαδε, προσφιλὴς μὲν ἦν εὐθὺς τοῖς πολίταις καὶ περίβλεπτος ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς διαίτης· οὐ γάρ, ὥσπερ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν στρατηγῶν, καινὸς ἐπανῆλθεν ἀπὸ τῆς ξένης καὶ κεκινημένος ὑπʼ ἀλλοτρίων ἐθῶν, καὶ δυσκολαίνων πρὸς τὰ οἴκοι καὶ ζυγομαχῶν, ἀλλὰ ὁμοίως τοῖς μηδεπώποτε τὸν Εὐρώταν διαβεβηκόσι τὰ παρόντα τιμῶν καὶ στέργων
Then he went back home, where his life and conduct brought him at once the affection and admiration of his fellow-citizens. For, unlike most of their generals, he came back from foreign parts unchanged and unaffected by alien customs; he showed no dislike towards home fashions, nor was he restive under them, but honoured and loved what he found there just as much as those did who had never crossed the Eurotas; he made no change in his table, or his baths, or the attendance on his wife,
οὐ δεῖπνον ἤλλαξεν, οὐ λουτρόν, οὐ θεραπείαν γυναικός, οὐχ ὅπλων κόσμον, οὐκ οἰκίας κατασκευήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς θύρας ἀφῆκεν οὕτως οὔσας σφόδρα παλαιάς, ὡς δοκεῖν εἶναι, ταύτας ἐκείνας ἃς ἐπέθηκεν Ἀριστόδημος, καὶ τὸ κάνναθρόν, φησιν ὁ Ξενοφῶν οὐδέν τι σεμνότερον εἶναι τῆς ἐκείνου θυγατρὸς ἢ τῶν ἄλλων. κάνναθρα δὲ καλοῦσιν εἴδωλα γρυπῶν ξύλινα καὶ τραγελάφων ἐν οἷς κομίζουσι τὰς παῖδας ἐν ταῖς πομπαῖς.
or the decoration of his armour, or the furniture of his house, nay, he actually let its doors remain although they were very old,—one might say they were the very doors which Aristodemus had set up. His daughter’s kannathron, as Xenophon tells us, was no more elaborate than that of any other maid (kannathra is the name they give to the wooden figures of griffins or goat-stags in which their young girls are carried at the sacred processions).
ὁ μὲν οὖν Ξενοφῶν ὄνομα τῆς Ἀγησιλάου θυγατρὸς οὐ γέγραφε, καὶ ὁ Δικαίαρχος ἐπηγανάκτησεν ὡς μήτε τήν Ἀγησιλάου θυγατέρα μήτε τήν Ἐπαμινώνδου μητέρα γινωσκόντων ἡμῶν ἡμεῖς δὲ εὕρομεν ἐν ταῖς Λακωνικαῖς ἀναγραφαῖς ὀνομαζομένην γυναῖκα μὲν Ἀγησιλάου Κλεόραν, θυγατέρας δὲ Εὐπωλίαν καὶ Πρόαυγαν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ λόγχην ἰδεῖν αὐτοῦ κειμένην ἄχρι νῦν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι, μηδὲν τῶν ἄλλων διαφέρουσαν.
Xenophon, it is true, has not recorded the name of the daughter of Agesilaüs, and Dicacarchus expressed great indignation that neither her name nor that of the mother of Epaminondas was known to us; but we have found in the Lacedaemonian records that the wife of Agesilaüs was named Cleora, and his daughters Eupolia and Proauga. And one can see his spear also, which is still preserved at Sparta, and which is not at all different from that of other men.
Cite This Text