Plutarch's Lives, Volume 3 (of 4)

by Plutarch

Spithridatos, ever since he had revolted from Pharnabazus, had constantly accompanied Agesilaus, together with his very handsome son, named Megabates, of whom Agesilaus was greatly enamoured, and a fair daughter. Agesilaus persuaded King Kotys to marry this girl, and received from him a force of one thousand horsemen, and two thousand light troops, called peltasts. With these he returned into Phrygia, and laid waste the country of Pharnabazus, who dared not meet him in the field, and feared to trust himself in any of his fortresses, but hovered about the country, taking his valuable property with him, and keeping his place of encampment as secret as he could. The watchful Spithridates, however, at last found an opportunity to attack him, and, with Herippidas the Spartan, took his camp and all his property. On this occasion Herippidas acted with great harshness in ordering all the plunder to be given up to be sold by auction, according to Greek usage. He forced the barbarian allies to disgorge their booty, and searched for all that had been captured in so offensive a manner that Spithridates, in disgust at his conduct, at once went off to Sardis, taking with him the entire Paphlagonian force.

We are told that Agesilaus was terribly chagrined at this. He felt vexed at losing a good friend in Spithridates, and losing, too, a large force with him, while he was ashamed of the character for meanness and avarice which this miserable squabble would gain for Sparta, especially as he had always prided himself on showing a contempt for money both in politics and in private life.

XII. After this, Pharnabazus was desirous of conferring with him, and a meeting was arranged between them by a friend of both, Apollophanes of Kyzikus. Agesilaus arrived first, and sitting down upon some thick grass under the shade of a tree, awaited the coming of Pharnabazus. Presently Pharnabazus arrived, with soft rugs and curiously-wrought carpets, but on seeing Agesilaus simply seated on the ground, he felt ashamed to use them, and sat down on the ground beside him, although he was dressed in a magnificent robe of many colours. They now greeted one another, and Pharnabazus stated his case very fairly, pointing out that he had done much good service to the Lacedæmonians during their war with Athens, and yet that his province was now being laid waste by them. Seeing all the Spartans round him hanging down their heads with shame, and not knowing what to answer because they knew that what Pharnabazus said was true, Agesilaus said: "We Spartans, Pharnabazus, were formerly at peace with your king, and then we respected his territory as that of a friend. Now we are at war with him, and regard all his property as that of an enemy. Now as we see that you still wish to belong to the king, we very naturally endeavour by injuring you to injure him. But from the day on which you shall declare that you will be a friend and ally of the Greeks rather than a slave of the king of Persia, you may regard this fleet and army and all of us, as the guardians of your property, of your liberty, and of all that makes life honourable and enjoyable." In answer to this, Pharnabazus said: "If the king shall send any other general, and put me under him, I will join you. But if he places me in command, I will cheerfully obey him, and will fight you and do you all the mischief in my power."

Agesilaus was struck by the high-minded tone of this reply, and at once rose and took him by the hand, saying, "Would to God, Pharnabazus, that such a man as you might become our friend rather than our enemy."

XIII. As Pharnabazus was retiring with his friends, his son stayed behind, and running up to Agesilaus said with a smile, "Agesilaus, I make you my guest,"[178] and gave him a fine javelin which he carried in his hand.

Agesilaus gladly accepted this offer, and, delighted with the engaging manners and evident friendship of the young man, looked round for some suitable present, and seeing that the horse of his secretary Idæus was adorned with fine trappings, took them off and gave them to the boy. Agesilaus never forgot the connection thus formed between them, but in after days, when the son of Pharnabazus was impoverished and driven into exile by his brother, he welcomed him to the Peloponnese, and provided him with protection and a home. He even went so far as to employ his influence in favour of an Athenian youth to whom the son of Pharnabazus was attached. This boy had outgrown the age and size of the boy-runners in the Olympic stadium, and was consequently refused leave to compete in that race. Upon this the Persian made a special application to Agesilaus on his behalf; and Agesilaus, willing to do anything to please his protégé, with great difficulty and management induced the judges to admit the boy as a competitor. This, indeed, was the character of Agesilaus, disinterested and just in all matters except in furthering the interests of his friends, in which case he seems to have hesitated at nothing. A letter of his to Idrilus, the Karian, runs as follows: "If Nikias be innocent, acquit him; if he be guilty, acquit him for my sake; but in any case acquit him." Such was Agesilaus in most cases where his friends were concerned; although in some few instances he allowed expediency to prevail over affection, and sacrificed his personal friend to the general advantage, as, for example, once, when owing to a sudden alarm the camp was being hurriedly broken up, he left a sick friend behind in spite of his passionate entreaties, observing as he did so, that it is hard to be wise and compassionate at the same time. This anecdote has been preserved by the philosopher Hieronymus.

XIV. Agesilaus was now in the second year of his command in Asia, and had become one of the foremost men of his time, being greatly admired and esteemed for his remarkable sobriety and frugality of life. When away from his headquarters he used to pitch his tent within the precincts of the most sacred temples, thus making the gods witnesses of the most private details of his life. Among thousands of soldiers, moreover, there was scarcely one that used a worse mattress than Agesilaus. With regard to extremes of heat and cold, he seemed so constituted as to be able to enjoy whatever weather the gods might send. It was a pleasant and enjoyable spectacle for the Greek inhabitants of Asia to see their former tyrants, the deputy governors of cities and generals of provinces, who used to be so offensively proud, insolent, and profusely luxurious, now trembling before a man who walked about in a plain cloak, and altering their whole conduct in obedience to his curt Laconian sayings. Many used to quote the proverb of Timotheus, that "Ares alone is king, and Hellas fears not the power of gold."

XV. The whole of Asia Minor was now excited, and ripe for revolt. Agesilaus established order[179] in the cities on the coast by mild measures, without either banishing or putting to death any of the citizens, and next determined to advance farther, and transfer the theatre of war from the Ionic coast to the interior. He hoped thus to force the Persian king to fight for his very existence, and for his pleasant palaces at Susa and Ecbatana, and at any rate to keep him fully employed, so that from henceforth he might have no leisure or means to act as arbitrator between the Greek states in their disputes, and to corrupt their statesmen by bribes. At this crisis, however, there arrived the Spartan Epikydides. He announced that Sparta was involved in an important war with Thebes and other Greek states, and brought an imperative summons from the ephors to Agesilaus to return at once and assist his countrymen at home.

"O Greeks, that will upon yourselves impose
Such miserable, more than Persian woes."

It is pitiable to think of the malevolence and ill-will which produced this war, and arrayed the states of Greece against one another, putting a stop to such a glorious career of conquest at its very outset, exchanging a foreign for a civil war, and recalling the arms which were being used against the Persians to point them at Grecian breasts. I cannot agree with the Corinthian, Demaratus, when he says that those Greeks who did not see Alexander seated upon the throne of Darius lost one of the most delightful spectacles in the world. I think they would have been more likely to weep when they reflected that this conquest was left for Alexander and the Macedonians to effect, by those Greek generals who wasted the resources of their country in the battles of Leuktra and Koronea, Corinth and Mantinea. Still, nothing is more honourable to Agesilaus than the promptitude with which he withdrew from Asia, nor can we easily find another example of straightforward obedience and self-sacrifice in a general. Hannibal was in great difficulties and straits in Italy, and yet yielded a very unwilling obedience when summoned home to protect Carthage, while Alexander merely sneered at the news of the battle between Agis and Antipater, observing, "It appears, my friends, that while we have been conquering Darius here, there has been a battle of mice in Arcadia."