Agesilaus II (; ; 445/4 – 360/59 BC) was king of Sparta from 400 to 360 BC. Generally considered the most important king in the history of Sparta, Agesilaus was the main actor during the period of Spartan hegemony that followed the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). Although brave in combat, Agesilaus lacked the diplomatic skills to preserve Sparta's position, especially against the rising power of Thebes, which reduced Sparta to a secondary power after its victory at Leuctra in 371 BC.
Despite the traditional secrecy fostered by the Spartiates, the reign of Agesilaus is particularly well-known thanks to the works of his friend Xenophon, who wrote a large history of Greece (the Hellenica) covering the years 411 to 362 BC, therefore extensively dealing with Agesilaus's rule. Xenophon furthermore composed a panegyric biography of his friend, perhaps to clean his memory from the criticisms voiced against him. Another historical tradition—much more hostile to Agesilaus than Xenophon's writings—has been preserved in the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia, and later continued by Diodorus of Sicily. Moreover, Plutarch wrote a biography of Agesilaus in his Parallel Lives, which contains many elements deliberately omitted by Xenophon.
Early life
Youth Agesilaus's father was King Archidamos II (r. 469–427), who belonged to the Eurypontid dynasty, one of the two royal families of Sparta. Archidamos already had a son from a first marriage with Lampito (his own step-aunt) named Agis.Shipley, Commentary on Agesilaos, p. 58, spells her Lampido.Hamilton, Agesilaus, pp. 12, 13. After the death of Lampito, Archidamos remarried in the early 440s with Eupolia, daughter of Melesippidas, whose name indicates an aristocratic status.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 21, 22. Lampito was probably 40 years younger than Archidamos.Shipley, Commentary on Agesilaos, p. 58, translates the name of Eupolia as "well-foaled". The dates of Agesilaus's birth, death, and reign are disputed. The only secured information is that he was 84 at his death. The majority opinion is to date his birth to 445/4,Cawkwell, "Agesilaus and Sparta", p. 63 (note 8).Shipley, Commentary on Agesilaos, p. 58.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 8.Powell et al., A Companion to Sparta, pp. 16, 375, 382, 430, 454, 457, 465, 559; although François Ruzé uses the later date p. 326. but a minority of scholars move it a bit later, c.442.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. xvii.Pascual, "La datación de la ascensión", p. 43. Most of the other dates of Agesilaus are similarly disputed, with the minority moving them about two years later than the majority. Agesilaus also had a sister named Kyniska (the first woman in ancient history to achieve an Olympic victory).Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 145, is unsure whether Kyniska was Agesilaos's full sister.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 13. The name Agesilaus was rare and harks back to Agesilaus I, one of the earliest kings of Sparta.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 22, 23.
Agesilaus was born with a limp. It is often said that in Sparta deformed babies were thrown into a chasm, meaning that Agesilaus's disability should have cost him his life. It is possible that he received some leniency from the tribal elders who examined male infants, or that at the time of his birth, only the most severely impaired babies were killed due to a demographic decline.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 22. However, it is more likely that the Spartans did not really have any specific policy that encouraged infanticide.Sneed, "Disability and Infanticide in Ancient Greece", pp. 749–751, suggests that Spartans did not kill deformed infants.
Starting at the age of 7, Agesilaus had to go through the rigorous education system of Sparta, called the agoge.Xenophon, Hellenica, iii. 3.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 23. Despite his disability, he brilliantly completed the training,Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 14. which massively enhanced his prestige, especially after he became king.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 24-27. Indeed, as heirs-apparent were exempted of the agoge, few Spartan kings had gone through the same training as the citizens;Shipley, Commentary on Agesilaos, p. 62. another notable exception was Leonidas, the embodiment of the "hero-king".Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 24. Between 433 and 428, Agesilaus also became the younger lover of Lysander, an aristocrat from the circle of Archidamos, whose family had some influence in Libya.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 28, 29.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 19.
Spartan prince Little is known of Agesilaus's adult life before his reign, principally because Xenophon—his friend and main biographer—only wrote about his reign.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 10. Due to his special status, Agesilaus likely became a member of the Krypteia, an elite corps of young Spartans going undercover in Spartan territory to kill some helots deemed dangerous.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 30–32. Once he turned 20 and became a full citizen, Agesilaus was elected to a common mess, presumably that of his elder half-brother Agis II, who had become king in 427, of which Lysander was perhaps a member.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 32, 33.
Agesilaus probably served during the Peloponnesian War (431–404) against Athens, likely at the Battle of Mantinea in 418.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 21. Agesilaus married Kleora at some point between 408 and 400.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 147. Despite the influence she apparently had on her husband, she is mostly unknown. Her father was Aristomenidas, an influential noble with connections in Thebes.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 146, 147.
Thanks to three treaties signed with Persia in 412–411, Sparta received funding from the Persians, which it used to build a fleet that ultimately defeated Athens.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 186–189. This fleet was essentially led by Lysander, whose success gave him an enormous influence in the Greek cities of Asia as well as in Sparta, where he even schemed to become king.Hamilton, Sparta's Bitter Victories, pp. 27, 76, 88–98.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 94–99. In 403 the two kings, Agis and Pausanias, acted together to relieve him from his command.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 23–25.
Reign
Accession to the throne (400–398 BC) Agis II died while returning from Delphi between 400 and 398. After his funeral, Agesilaus contested the claim of Leotychidas, the son of Agis II, using the widespread belief in Sparta that Leotychidas was an illegitimate son of Alcibiades—a famous Athenian statesman and nephew of Pericles, who had gone into exile in Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, and then seduced the queen. The rumours were strengthened by the fact that even Agis only recognised Leotychidas as his son on his deathbed.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 110.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 26.
Diopeithes, a supporter of Leotychidas, however quoted an old oracle telling that a Spartan king could not be lame, thus refuting Agesilaus's claim, but Lysander cunningly returned the objection by saying that the oracle had to be understood figuratively. The lameness warned against by the oracle would therefore refer to the doubt on Leotychidas's paternity, and this reasoning won the argument.Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 110–113.Hamilton, Agesilaus, pp. 26, 27. The role of Lysander in the accession of Agesilaus has been debated among historians, principally because Plutarch makes him the main instigator of the plot, while Xenophon downplays Lysander's influence.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 112, gives more credence to Plutarch.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 28, favours Plutarch's version. Lysander doubtless supported Agesilaus's accession because he hoped that the new king would in return help him to regain the importance that he lost in 403.Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 233.
Conspiracy of Cinadon (399 BC) The Conspiracy of Cinadon took place during the first year of Agesilaus's reign, in the summer of 399.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 164. Cinadon was a hypomeion, a Spartan who had lost his citizen status, presumably because he could not afford the price of the collective mess—one of the main reasons for the dwindling number of Spartan citizens in the Classical Era, called oliganthropia.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 165.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 70.Gish, "Spartan Justice", pp. 353, 354. It is probable that the vast influx of wealth coming to the city after its victory against Athens in 404 triggered inflation in Sparta, which impoverished many citizens with a fixed income, like Cinadon, and caused their downgrade.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 83. Therefore, the purpose of the plot was likely to restore the status of these disfranchised citizens.Gish, "Spartan Justice", p. 356. However, the plot was uncovered and Cinadon and its leaders executed—probably with the active participation of Agesilaus,Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 235. but no further action was taken to solve the social crisis at the origin of the conspiracy. The failure of Agesilaus to acknowledge the critical problem suffered by Sparta at the time has been criticised by modern historians.Hamilton, Agesilaus, pp. 84, 85.Gish, "Spartan Justice", p. 357 (note 40).
Invasion of Asia Minor (396–394 BC) According to the treaties signed in 412 and 411 between Sparta and the Persian Empire, the latter became the overlord of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor.Hamilton, Sparta's Bitter Victories, p. 27.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 87. In 401, these cities and Sparta supported the bid of Cyrus the Younger (the Persian Emperor's younger son and a good friend of Lysander) against his elder brother, the new emperor Artaxerxes II, who nevertheless defeated Cyrus at Cunaxa.Hamilton, Sparta's Bitter Victories, pp. 104–107. As a result, Sparta remained at war with Artaxerxes, and supported the Greek cities of Asia, which fought against Tissaphernes, the satrap of Lydia and Caria.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 88. In 397 Lysander engineered a large expedition in Asia headed by Agesilaus, likely to recover the influence he had over the Asian cities at the end of the Peloponnesian War.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 191.Hamilton, Agesilaus, pp. 90, 91. Lysander had placed partisans in the cities taken from the Athenian Empire, but was forced to abandon them in order to respect the treaties with Persia, which were enforced in 404. In order to win the approval of the Spartan assembly, Lysander built an army with only 30 Spartiates (full Spartan citizens), so the risk would be limited; the bulk of the army consisted of 2,000 neodamodes (freed helots) and 6,000 Greek allies.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 213.Hamilton, Agesilaus, pp. 92, 93. In addition, Agesilaus obtained the support of the oracles of Zeus at Olympia and Apollo at Delphi.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 93.
The sacrifice at Aulis (396 BC) Lysander and Agesilaus had intended the expedition to be a Panhellenic enterprise,Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 192. but Athens, Corinth, and especially Thebes, refused to participate.Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 212.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 94. In Spring 396, Agesilaus came to Aulis (in Boeotian territory) to sacrifice on the place where Agamemnon had done so just before his departure to Troy at the head of the Greek army in the Iliad, thus giving a grandiose aspect to the expedition. However he did not inform the Boeotians and brought his own seer to perform the sacrifice, instead of the local one. Learning this, the Boeotians prevented him from sacrificing and further humiliated him by casting away the victim; they perhaps intended to provoke a confrontation, as the relations between Sparta and Thebes had become execrable. Agesilaus then left to Asia, but Thebes remained hateful to him for the rest of his life.Hamilton, Agesilaus, p. 95.
Campaign in Asia (396–394 BC)