οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ διαπραξάμενος ὁ Ἆγις ἔφορον γενέσθαι τὸν Λύσανδρον, εὐθὺς εἰσέφερε διʼ αὐτοῦ ῥήτραν εἰς τοὺς γέροντας, ἧς ἦν κεφάλαια χρεῶν μὲν ἀφεθῆναι τοὺς ὀφείλοντας, τῆς δὲ γῆς ἀναδασθείσης τὴν μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ Πελλήνην χαράδρου πρὸς τὸ Ταΰγετον καὶ Μαλέαν καὶ Σελασίαν κλήρους γενέσθαι τετρακισχιλίους πεντακοσίους, τὴν δʼ ἔξω μυρίους πεντακισχιλίους·
However, Agis procured Lysander’s election as ephor, and at once employed him to introduce a bill into the senate, the chief provisions of which were that debtors should be relieved of their debts, and that the land should be divided up, that which lay between the water-course at Pellene and Taÿgetus, Malea, and Sellasia, into forty-five hundred lots, and that which lay outside this into fifteen thousand;
καὶ ταύτην μὲν τοῖς ὅπλα φέρειν δυναμένοις τῶν περιοίκων μερισθῆναι, τὴν δὲ ἐντὸς αὐτοῖς Σπαρτιάταις· ἀναπληρωθῆναι δὲ τούτους ἔκ τε περιοίκων καὶ ξένων, ὅσοι τροφῆς μετεσχηκότες ἐλευθερίου καὶ χαρίεντες ἄλλως τοῖς σώμασι καὶ καθʼ ἡλικίαν ἀκμάζοντες εἶεν σύνταξιν δὲ τούτων εἰς πεντεκαίδεκα γενέσθαι φιδίτια κατὰ τετρακοσίους καὶ διακοσίους, καὶ δίαιταν ἣν εἶχον οἱ πρόγονοι διαιτᾶσθαι.
that this larger land should be apportioned among those of the provincials who were capable of bearing arms, and the smaller among the genuine Spartans; that the number of these Spartans should be filled up from the provincials and foreigners who had received the rearing of freemen and were, besides, of vigorous bodies and in the prime of life; and that these should be formed into fifteen public messes by four hundreds and two hundreds, and should practise the mode of life which the ancient Spartans had followed.
γραφείσης δὲ τῆς ῥήτρας, καὶ τῶν γερόντων εἰς ταὐτὸ ταῖς γνώμαις οὐ συμφερομένων, ἐκκλησίαν συναγαγὼν ὁ Λύσανδρος αὐτός τε διελέχθη τοῖς πολίταις, καὶ Μανδροκλείδας καὶ Ἀγησίλαος ἐδέοντο μὴ διʼ ὀλίγους ἐντρυφῶντας αὐτοῖς περιιδεῖν ἐρριμμένον τὸ ἀξίωμα τῆς Σπάρτης, ἀλλὰ τῶν τε προτέρων χρησμῶν μνημονεῦσαι, τὴν φιλοχρημοσύνην ὡς ὀλέθριον τῇ Σπάρτῃ φυλάττεσθαι διακελευομένων, καὶ τῶν ἔναγχος ἐκ Πασιφάας κεκομισμένων αὐτοῖς.
The rhetra was introduced in the senate, and the senators were divided in opinion. Lysander therefore called together a general assembly and discussed the matter himself with the citizens, and Mandrocleidas and Agesilaüs begged them not to suffer the insolent opposition of a few to blind them to the prostration of Sparta’s dignity, but to call to mind the earlier oracles which bade them beware of the love of riches as a fatal thing for Sparta, as well as the oracles which had lately been brought to them from Pasiphaë.
ἱερὸν δὲ Πασιφάας καὶ μαντεῖον ἦν ἐν Θαλάμαις τιμώμενον, ἥν τινὲς μὲν ἱστοροῦσι τῶν Ἀτλαντίδων μίαν οὖσαν ἐκ Διὸς τὸν Ἄμμωνα τεκεῖν, τινὲς δὲ Κασάνδραν τὴν Πριάμου τελευτήσασαν ἐνταῦθα καὶ διὰ τὸ πᾶσι φαίνειν τὰ μαντεῖα Πασιφάαν προσαγορευθεῖσαν. ὁ δὲ Φύλαρχος Ἀμύκλα θυγατέρα, Δάφνην τοὔνομά, φησιν ὑποφεύγουσαν Ἀπόλλωνα βουλόμενον αὐτῇ μιγῆναι, καὶ μεταβαλοῦσαν εἰς τὸ φυτόν, ἐν τιμῇ τοῦ θεοῦ γενέσθαι καὶ μαντικὴν λαβεῖν δύναμιν.
Now there was a temple of Pasiphaë at Thalamae, and her oracle there was held in honour. Some say that Pasiphaë was one of the daughters of Atlas, and the mother of Ammon by Zeus, and some that Cassandra the daughter of Priam died at Thalamae, and was called Pasiphaë because she declared her oracles to all. Phylarchus, however, says that she was a daughter of Amyclas, Daphne by name, and that, fleeing the embraces of Apollo, she was changed into the tree of like name, after which she was honoured by the god with the gift of prophetic power.
ἔφασαν οὖν καὶ τὰ παρὰ ταύτης μαντεῖα προστάττειν τοῖς Σπαρτιάταις ἴσους γενέσθαι πάντας καθʼ ὃν ὁ Λυκοῦργος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔταξε νόμον. ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἆγις εἰς μέσον παρελθὼν καὶ βραχέα διαλεχθεὶς ἔφη συμβολὰς διδόναι τῇ πολιτείᾳ μεγίστας ἣν καθίστησι· τὴν γὰρ αὑτοῦ πρῶτον οὐσίαν εἰς μέσον τιθέναι, πολλὴν μὲν οὖσαν ἐν τοῖς γεωργουμένοις καὶ νεμομένοις, ἄνευ δὲ τούτων ἑξακόσια τάλαντα νομίσματος ἔχουσαν τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ τὰς μητέρας ποιεῖν καὶ τοὺς φίλους καὶ οἰκείους, πλουσιωτάτους ὄντας Σπαρτιατῶν.
Be this as it may, it was now said that the oracles brought from this goddess ordained that all Spartans should be on an equality according to the original law made by Lycurgus. And finally, King Agis came forward and after a brief discourse said that he offered very large contributions to the constitutions which he was trying to establish; for in the first place he put into the common stock his own estate, which included extensive tillage and pasture, and apart from this six hundred talents in money; and, besides, his mother and his grandmother did likewise, together with their relatives and friends, and they were the wealthiest among the Spartans.
ὁ μὲν οὖν δῆμος ἐξεπλάγη τὴν μεγαλοψυχίαν τοῦ νεανίσκου, καὶ περιχαρὴς ἦν ὡς διʼ ἐτῶν ὁμοῦ τι διακοσίων πεφηνότος ἀξίου τῆς Σπάρτης βασιλέως· ὁ δὲ Λεωνίδας τότε δὴ μάλιστα πρὸς τοὐναντίον ἐφιλονείκησε. λογιζόμενος γάρ ὅτι ταὐτὰ μὲν ἀναγκασθήσεται ποιεῖν, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ χάριν ἕξει παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις, ἀλλὰ πάντων ὁμοίως ἃ κέκτηνται κατατιθεμένων μόνῳ τῷ ἀρξαμένῳ προσθήσουσι τὴν τιμήν, ἠρώτα τὸν Ἆγιν εἰ δίκαιον ἄνδρα καὶ σπουδαῖον ἡγεῖται γεγονέναι Λυκοῦργον.
The people, accordingly, were filled with amazement at the magnanimity of the young man, and were delighted, feeling that after a lapse of nearly two hundred years a king had appeared who was worthy of Sparta; but Leonidas, now more than ever, strove in opposition. For he reasoned that he would be compelled to do as Agis had done, and that he would not get the same gratitude for it among the citizens, but that if all the rich alike made their property a part of the common fund, the honour for it would be given to him alone who had led the way. He therefore asked Agis if he thought that Lycurgus had shown himself a just and worthy man,
ὁμολογήσαντος δʼ ἐκείνου, ποῦ τοίνυν, ἔφη, Λυκοῦργος ἢ χρεῶν ἀποκοπὰς ἔδωκεν ἢ ξένους κατέταξεν εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν, ὃς οὐδὲ ὅλως ἐνόμιζεν ὑγιαίνειν τὴν πόλιν μὴ χρωμένην ξενηλασίαις; ὁ δὲ Ἆγις ἀπεκρίνατο μὴ θαυμάζειν τὸν Λεωνίδαν, εἰ τεθραμμένος ἐν ξένῃ καὶ πεπαιδοποιημένος ἐκ γάμων σατραπικῶν ἀγνοεῖ τὸν Λυκοῦργον, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ὀφείλειν καὶ δανείζειν ἅμα τῷ νομίσματι συνεξέβαλεν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως,
and when Agis said that he did, When, then, said Leonidas, did Lycurgus either grant abolition of debts or admit foreigners into citizenship—a man who held that the state was in no healthy way at all if it did not practise expulsion of foreigners? But Agis replied that he was not astonished to find Leonidas, who had been reared in foreign lands and had children by an oriental marriage, ignorant that Lycurgus had banished from the state debts and loans along with coined money,
τῶν δʼ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι ξένων τοὺς τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασι καὶ ταῖς διαίταις ἀσυμφύλους μᾶλλον ἐδυσχέραινε· καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνους ἤλαυνεν οὐ τοῖς σώμασι πολεμῶν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς βίους αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς τρόπους δεδιώς, μὴ συναναχρωννύμενοι τοῖς πολίταις τρυφῆς καὶ μαλακίας καὶ πλεονεξίας ἐντέκωσι ζῆλον· ἐπεὶ Τέρπανδρόν γε καὶ Θάλητα καὶ Φερεκύδην ξένους ὄντας, ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ Λυκούργῳ διετέλουν ᾄδοντες καὶ φιλοσοφοῦντες, ἐν Σπάρτῃ τιμηθῆναι διαφερόντως.
and that foreigners in the cities were held by him in less displeasure than men to whom the Spartan practices and ways of living were not congenial; these, indeed, he sought to drive away, not because he was hostile to their persons, but because he feared lest their lives and manners should contaminate the citizens, and breed in them a love of luxury, effeminacy, and greed; for certainly Terpander and Thales and Pherecydes were foreigners, and yet, because the teachings of their songs and philosophy always accorded with those of Lycurgus, they were held in surpassing honour at Sparta.
σὺ δὲ Ἐκπρέπη μὲν, ἔφησεν, ἐπαινεῖς, ὃς ἐφορεύων Φρύνιδος τοῦ μουσικοῦ σκεπάρνῳ τὰς δύο τῶν ἐννέα χορδῶν ἐξέτεμε, καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ Τιμοθέῳ πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πράξαντας, ἡμᾶς δὲ μέμφῃ τρυφὴν καὶ πολυτέλειαν καὶ ἀλαζονείαν ἐκ τῆς Σπάρτης ἀναιροῦντας, ὥσπερ οὐχὶ κἀκείνων τὸ ἐν μουσικῇ σοβαρὸν καὶ περιττὸν ὅπως ἐνταῦθα μὴ προέλθῃ φυλαττομένων, ὅπου γενομένων βίων καὶ τρόπων ἀμετρία καὶ πλημμέλεια τὴν πόλιν ἀσύμφωνον καὶ ἀνάρμοστον ἑαυτῇ πεποίηκεν.
Thou praisest Ecprepes, said Agis, who, as ephor, cut out with an adze two of the nine lute-strings of Phrynis the musician, and likewise the magistrates in the time of Timotheus, who did the same thing in their turn, but thou blamest me for trying to remove luxury, extravagance, and ostentation from Sparta, as if those magistrates also were not on the watch to prevent the pompous and superfluous in music from making such advances as our lives and manners have come to, whose excess and discord has made the city dissonant and out of tune with itself.
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