The Project Gutenberg eBook of Plutarch's Lives, Translated from the Greek by Aubrey Stewart and George Long.

“Where there is fear, is reverence too;”

and Homer makes Helen call Priam

“My father-in-law dear,

Whom most of all I reverence and fear;”

while he speaks of the Greek army as obeying

“Its chiefs commands in silence and with fear.”

Human nature, indeed, leads most men to reverence those whom they fear; and this is why the Lacedæmonians placed the temple of Fear close to the dining-hall of the Ephors, because they invested that office with almost royal authority.

X. On the following morning Kleomenes published a list containing the names of eighty citizens, whom he required to leave the country, and removed the chairs of the Ephors, except one, which he intended to occupy himself. He now convoked an assembly, and made a speech justifying his recent acts. In the time of Lykurgus, he said, the kings and the senate shared between them the supreme authority in the State; and for a long time the government was carried on in this manner without any alteration being required, until, during the long wars with Messene, as the kings had no leisure to attend to public affairs, they chose some of their friends to sit as judges in their stead, and these persons acted at first merely as the servants of the kings, but gradually got all power into their own hands, and thus insensibly established a new power in the State. A proof of the truth of this is to be found in the custom which still prevails, that when the Ephors send for the king, he refuses to attend at the first and second summons, but rises and goes to them at the third. Asteropus, who first consolidated the power of the Ephors, and raised it to the highest point, flourished in comparatively recent times, many generations after the original establishment of the office. If, he went on to say, the Ephors would have behaved with moderation, it would have been better to allow them to remain in existence; but when they began to use their ill-gotten power to destroy the constitution of Sparta, when they banished one king, put another to death without trial, and kept down by terror all those who wished for the introduction of the noblest and most admirable reforms, they could no longer be borne. Had he been able without shedding a drop of blood to drive out of Lacedæmon all those foreign pests of luxury, extravagance, debt, money-lending, and those two more ancient evils, poverty and riches, he should have accounted himself the most fortunate of kings, because, like a skilful physician, he had painlessly performed so important an operation upon his country: as it was, the use of force was sanctioned by the example of Lykurgus, who, though only a private man, appeared in arms in the market-place, and so terrified King Charilaus, that he fled for refuge to the altar of Athena. He, however, being an honest and patriotic man, soon joined Lykurgus, and acquiesced in the reforms which he introduced, while the acts of Lykurgus prove that it is hard to effect a revolution without armed force, of which he declared that he had made a most sparing use, and had only put out of the way those who were opposed to the best interests of Lacedæmon. He announced to the rest of the citizens that the land should be divided among them, that they should be relieved from all their debts, and that all resident aliens should be submitted to an examination, in order that the best of them might be selected to become full citizens of Sparta, and help to defend the city from falling a prey to Ætolians and Illyrians for want of men to defend her.

XI. After this he himself first threw his inheritance into the common stock, and his example was followed by his father-in-law Megistonous, his friends, and the rest of the citizens. The land was now divided, and one lot was assigned to each of those whom he had banished, all of whom he said it was his intention to bring back as soon as order was restored. He recruited the numbers of the citizens by the admission of the most eligible of the Periœki to the franchise, and organised them into a body of four thousand heavy armed infantry, whom he taught to use the sarissa, or Macedonian pike which was grasped with both hands, instead of the spear, and to sling their shields by a strap instead of using a handle. He next turned his attention to the education and discipline of the youth, in which task he was assisted by Sphærus. The gymnasia and the common meals were soon re-established, and the citizens, for the most part willingly, resumed their simple Laconian habits of living. Kleomenes, fearing to be called a despot, appointed his own brother, Eukleidas, as his colleague. Then for the first time were two kings of the same family seen at once in Sparta.

XII. As Kleomenes perceived that Aratus and the Achæans thought that while Sparta was passing through so perilous a crisis her troops were not likely to leave the country, he thought that it would be both a spirited and a useful act to display the enthusiasm of his army to the enemy. He invaded the territory of Megalopolis, carried off a large booty, and laid waste a large extent of country. Finding a company of players on their road from Messene, he took them prisoners, caused a theatre to be erected in the enemy’s country, and offered them forty minæ for a performance for one day, at which he himself attended as a spectator, not that he cared for the performance, but because he wished to mock at his enemies, and to show by this studied insult the enormous superiority of which he was conscious. At this period his was the only army, Greek or foreign, which was not attended by actors, jugglers, dancing-girls, and singers; but he kept it free from all licentiousness and buffoonery, as the younger men were nearly always being practised in martial exercises, while the elders acted as their instructors; and when they were at leisure they amused themselves with witty retorts and sententious Laconian pleasantries. The great value of this kind of discipline is described at greater length in the life of Lykurgus.

XIII. In everything Kleomenes himself acted as their teacher, and example, offering his own simple, frugal life, so entirely free from vulgar superfluities, as a model of sobriety for them all to copy; and this added greatly to his influence in Greece. For when men attended the courts of the other kings of that period they were not so much impressed by their wealth and lavish expenditure as they were disgusted by their arrogant, overbearing manners; but when they met Kleomenes, who was every inch a king, and saw that he wore no purple robes, did not lounge on couches and litters, and was not surrounded by a crowd of messengers, doorkeepers, and secretaries, so as to be difficult of access, but that he himself, dressed in plain clothes, came and shook them by the hand, and conversed with them in a kindly and encouraging tone, they were completely fascinated and charmed by him, and declared that he alone was a true descendant of Herakles. His dinner was usually served upon a very small Laconian table with three couches,12 but if he were entertaining ambassadors or foreigners two additional couches were added, and his servants somewhat improved his dinner, not by adding to it made-dishes and pastry, but by serving a greater abundance of food and a more liberal allowance of wine. Indeed he blamed one of his friends, when he heard that when entertaining foreigners at dinner he had placed before them black broth and barley cakes: for he said that in such matters, and when entertaining strangers, it was not well to be too rigidly Spartan. After the table was removed a tripod was brought in which supported a bronze bowl full of wine, two silver pateræ, that held each about a pint, and a number of very small silver cups, from which any one drank who wished, for Kleomenes never forced men to drink against their will. No recitations were performed for the amusement of the guests; for he himself would lead the conversation and entertain them over their wine, partly by asking questions of them and partly by relating anecdotes to them: for he well knew both how to make serious subjects interesting, and to be pleasant and witty without giving offence. He was of opinion that the habit of other princes, of tempting men into their service by presents and bribes, was both clumsy and wicked; but he thought it peculiarly befitting a king to influence and captivate men’s minds by the charm of his conversation, and was wont to say that a friend differed only from a mercenary soldier in that a man wins the one by the influence of his character and his conversation, and the other by his money.

XIV. First of all the people of Mantinea made overtures to him. They admitted him to their city by night, aided him to drive out the Achæan garrison, and placed themselves unreservedly in his hands. He, however, restored them to the enjoyment of their own laws and original constitution, and marched away the same day to Tegea. Shortly afterwards by a circuitous march through Arcadia he arrived before the Achæan city of Pheræ, desiring either to fight a battle with the Achæans, or to make Aratus incur the disgrace of retreating and leaving him in possession of the country: for although Hyperbates was nominally in command, all real power over the Achæans was in the hands of Aratus. The Achæans took the field with their entire force, and encamped at Dymæ, near the temple called Hekatombæon. When Kleomenes arrived here he was unwilling to establish himself between the hostile city of Dymæ and the army of the Achæans, and challenged them, forced them to fight, and completely routed their phalanx. He killed many, took a large number of prisoners, and then, marching to Langon, drove out the Achæan garrison, and restored the city to the Eleans.

XV. As the Achæan power was now quite broken, Aratus, who was usually elected general every other year, refused to take office, and excused himself when they besought him to do so: a dishonourable act, when the times became more stormy, to desert the helm, and give up his power to another. Kleomenes at first used very moderate language to the Achæan ambassadors, but sent others ordering them to acknowledge him for their sovereign, and promising that if they did so he would do them no further hurt, and would at once restore the prisoners and fortresses which he had taken. As the Achæans were willing to accept these terms they invited Kleomenes to a conference at Lerna. It happened, however, that Kleomenes, after a long march, drank a quantity of cold water, which caused him to bring up much blood, and to lose his voice. In consequence of this, although he sent back the most distinguished of his prisoners, he was obliged to postpone the conference, and went home to Lacedæmon.

XVI. This mischance ruined Greece, which even now might have recovered herself, and avoided falling into the hands of the insolent and rapacious Macedonians. For Aratus, either because he distrusted and feared Kleomenes, or else because he grudged him his success, and thought that after he had for thirty-three years been chief of the Achæans, it was not to be endured that a young man should overthrow him, and enter into the fruit of his labours, at first tried to oppose the Achæans when they offered to come to terms with the Lacedæmonians; but as they would not listen to him, because they were cowed by the boldness of Kleomenes, and also admitted the justice of the Lacedæmonian claim to be the leading state in Peloponnesus, as their ancestral right, he adopted a course which was a disgraceful one for any Greek, but especially so for him, and one which was most unworthy of his former political life. He determined to invite Antigonus into Greece, and to fill the Pelopennesus with those very Macedonians whom he himself when a lad had chased out of the country by his capture of the Acro-Corinthus, although he was regarded with suspicion by all the kings, and was at variance with them all, and though he had already accused this very Antigonus himself of every conceivable crime in his “Memoirs,” which are still extant. Yet he himself has stated that he suffered much, and risked much to free Athens from a Macedonian garrison; though now he led these very men with arms in their hands into his own native country, and up to his own paternal hearth. He thought that Kleomenes, a descendant of Herakles, a king of Sparta, who had restored the simple ancient Dorian constitution of Lykurgus, as one tightens the relaxed strings of a lyre, to bring it into tune, was unworthy to be accounted the ruler of Sikyon and Tritæa; and in his eagerness to avoid the rough Spartan cloak, and the Spartan barley bread, and that with which he especially charged Kleomenes, the destruction of wealth and the encouragement of poverty, threw himself and all Achæa with him, into the arms of the Macedonians, with all their diadems and their purple robes and their habits of oriental despotism. That he might avoid acting under the orders of Kleomenes, he was content to offer sacrifice at festivals in honour of Antigonus, and himself to place a garland upon his head, and to lead the pæan in praise of a man wasted and emaciated by consumption. And this I write, not from any desire to depreciate Aratus, for in many respects he proved himself a truly great and patriotic man, but rather out of pity for the weakness of human nature, which will not allow even the most eminent persons to present us with the spectacle of an entirely unblemished virtue.

XVII. When the Achæans again assembled at Argos to hold a conference there, and Kleomenes started to go thither from Tegea, men’s minds were full of hope that peace would be finally established. But Aratus, who had already settled the main points of his treaty with Antigonus, and feared that Kleomenes would either by persuasion or force bring the assembly over to his views, sent to him demanding either that he should take three hundred hostages for his safety and come to the conference alone, or else meet them with his army outside the walls at the gymnasium called the Kyllarabium. Kleomenes on hearing this said that he had not been properly treated; for Aratus ought to have warned him of this at once, not have waited till he was almost at the gates of Argos and then expressed suspicions of his honesty of purpose and driven him away. He sent a letter to the assembled Achæans, containing bitter invectives against Aratus, and as Aratus replied by maligning him in a public oration, he broke up his camp and sent a herald with a declaration of war, not to Argos, according to Aratus, but to Ægium, in order to take the Achæans by surprise. The Achæan cities were all ripe for revolt, as the populace hoped for a redistribution of the land and cancelling of debts if they joined the Spartans, while the leading men were all jealous of the power and influence of Aratus, and some of them hated him as the traitor who was bringing the Macedonians into Peloponnesus. Relying upon the prevalence of this feeling Kleomenes invaded Achaia, took Pellene by surprise, and drove out the garrison and the Achæan inhabitants. Soon afterwards he captured the cities of Pheneus and Penteleum.

The Achæans of Corinth and Sikyon now began to fear that his partisans were plotting to deliver up those cities to him, and in consequence sent their cavalry and foreign mercenaries away from Argos to guard those towns, while they themselves proceeded to Argos to hold the Nemean festival there. Kleomenes, rightly judging that his appearance at a time when the city was full of a disorderly crowd of people who were come to attend the feasts and games would produce great confusion, marched up to the walls by night, seized the place called the ‘Shield,’ which is just above the theatre, and is very difficult of access, and so terrified the citizens that no one attempted to offer any resistance. They willingly agreed to admit a Spartan garrison, to give twenty of their chief men as hostages for their loyalty, and to become the allies of the Lacedæmonians, acknowledging their supremacy.

XVIII. This exploit added not a little to the reputation and power of Kleomenes. None of the ancient kings of Sparta could ever make themselves masters of Argos, although they often attempted to do so; and even that most brilliant general King Pyrrhus, though he forced his way into the city, could not take it, but perished, and with him a great part of his army. For these reasons, the skill and audacity of Kleomenes were the more admired: and those who had before ridiculed his attempts to bring back the days of Solon and Lykurgus by the cancelling of debts and redistribution of land, now became entirely convinced that these measures had been the cause of the revival of Sparta. The Spartans before this had been so feeble and helpless, that the Aetolians invaded Laconia and carried off a booty of fifty thousand slaves, on which occasion it is said that an old Spartan observed that the enemy had greatly benefited Laconia by relieving it from its burdens. Yet a short time after this, by the restoration of their former constitution, and by re-establishing the ancient system of training, they made as magnificent a display of discipline and valour as if Lykurgus himself were alive and at the head of affairs, for they gained for Sparta the first place in Greece, and won the whole of Peloponnesus by the sword.

XIX. The submission of Argos to Kleomenes was soon followed by that of Phlius and Kleonæ. During these events Aratus was at Corinth, busily engaged in searching for the partisans of the Lacedæmonians. When the news of the fall of these cities reached Corinth, as he observed that the city of Corinth was eager to join Kleomenes and leave the Achæan league, he summoned the citizens to meet in the public assembly, and himself made his way unperceived to the gate. He had already sent his horse thither, and mounting, fled to Sikyon. The Corinthians now hurried to Argos to surrender their city to Kleomenes; in such haste, writes Aratus in his ‘Memoirs,’ that they foundered all their horses. Kleomenes reproached them for allowing Aratus to escape, but shortly afterwards sent Megistonous to him, asking him to hand over the citadel of Corinth, which was in possession of an Achæan garrison, and offering him a large sum of money. He answered that the course of affairs was not in his power, but that he was rather in theirs. These particulars we have extracted from Aratus’s own writings. Kleomenes now marched from Argos to Corinth, receiving on the way the submission of Trœzene, Epidaurus, and Hermione. As the garrison refused to surrender the citadel, he built a rampart round it, and sending for the friends and representatives of Aratus, bade them take charge of his house and property during his absence. He now sent the Messenian Tritymallus to Aratus, with instructions to propose to him that the garrison of Acro-Corinthus should be composed partly of Spartan and partly of Achæan troops, while he himself privately offered him double the amount of the pension which he received from King Ptolemy of Egypt. However, as Aratus refused to listen to his overtures, but sent his own son with the other hostages to Antigonus, and persuaded the Achæans to pass a decree to hand over the Acro-Corinthus to Antigonus, Kleomenes invaded the territory of Sikyon and laid it waste, and also took the property of Aratus when it was publicly presented to him by the people of Corinth.

XX. When Antigonus crossed the Geranean mountains with a large force, Kleomenes did not think it necessary to guard the isthmus, but determined to fortify the mountains called Onea, and by holding that strong position, to protract the war and wear out the Macedonian force, rather than fight a pitched battle with their phalanx. By this line of policy he reduced Antigonus to great straits; for he had made no preparations for feeding his troops for more than a short time, and yet to force his way in over the isthmus was a difficult operation while Kleomenes barred the way. An attempt which he made to steal through by Lechæum13 at night was repulsed with considerable loss; so that Kleomenes and his friends, elated by their victory, supped merrily together, while Antigonus was at his wit’s end to know what to do. He even began to meditate marching to the promontory of Heræum, and conveying his forces over the Corinthian gulf to Sikyon, an operation which would have required much time and many ships. However, late in the evening there arrived certain friends of Aratus by sea from Argos, inviting him to come thither, as the Argives intended to revolt from Kleomenes. The prime mover in this revolt was one Aristoteles, who easily prevailed upon the people to rise, because they were disappointed with Kleomenes, who had not cancelled all their debts as they hoped he would. Aratus now took fifteen hundred of Antigonus’s soldiers and proceeded by sea to Epidaurus. Aristoteles however did not wait for his arrival, but led the citizens to attack the garrison in the citadel, assisted by Timoxenus with a body of Achæans from Sikyon.

XXI. Intelligence of this movement reached Kleomenes about the second watch of the night. He at once sent for Megistonous, and angrily ordered him at once to go to the assistance of the garrison of Argos; for it was he who had so confidently assured Kleomenes of the loyalty of the Argives, and had dissuaded him from banishing those whom he suspected from the city. Having detached Megistonous with two thousand men on this service, he himself turned his attention to Antigonus, and pacified the people of Corinth by assuring them that nothing had happened at Argos except a slight disturbance which would be easily suppressed. However, as Megistonous was killed while forcing his way into the city, and the garrison were hard pressed, and kept sending messengers to Kleomenes begging for assistance, he, fearing that if the enemy gained Argos they might cut him off from Laconia, and sack the defenceless city of Sparta, withdrew his army from Corinth. He lost this city at once, for Antigonus instantly entered it and placed a garrison in it. He now proceeded to assault the city wall of Argos, and concentrated his troops for this purpose. He broke through the vaults supporting the part of the city called the ‘Shield,’ forced his way in, and joined his garrison, who were still holding out against the Achæans. He now, by the use of scaling ladders, captured some of the strong places in the city, and cleared the streets of the enemy by means of his Cretan archers. When however he saw Antigonus marching down from the mountains to the plain with his phalanx in battle array, and saw the Macedonian cavalry pouring along towards the city, he despaired of success, and collecting all his troops into one mass, led them safely out of the city. He had in a wonderfully short time effected great things, and had all but made himself master of the whole of Peloponnesus: but now he lost it all as quickly as he had won it, for some of his allies at once deserted him, and many shortly afterwards surrendered their cities to Antigonus.

XXII. As Kleomenes was marching into the city of Tegea at nightfall, on his return from this disastrous campaign, he was met by messengers bearing the news of a still greater calamity, the death of his wife Agiatis, of whom he was so fond that even when in the full tide of success he never would remain continuously with his army, but used constantly to return to Sparta to see her. He was terribly grieved and cast down, as one would expect a young man to be on losing so beautiful and excellent a wife, yet he did not allow his noble spirit to be crushed by his sorrow, but without showing any outward signs of grief in his voice or countenance, continued to give his orders to his officers, and to take measures for placing Tegea in a posture of defence. At daybreak next morning he returned to Lacedæmon, and after lamenting his misfortune with his mother and his children, began to consider by what policy he might save his country.

Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, now offered him assistance on the condition of receiving his mother and children as hostages. For a long time he shrank from mentioning this proposal to his mother, and often conversed with her without having the courage to allude to it, until she suspected that he had something on his mind, and inquired of his friends whether there was not some subject about which he hesitated to speak to her. At last Kleomenes brought himself to mention Ptolemy’s proposal to her. On hearing it, she laughed loudly, and said, “This, then, is that which you have so long been fearing to tell me. Pray place me and the children on board ship as soon as possible, and send us to any place where this body of mine may be useful to Sparta, before it be uselessly consumed by old age at home.”

When all was prepared for her voyage, Kratesiklea proceeded to Tænarus escorted by Kleomenes with all his troops under arms. Before embarking she retired alone with him into the temple of Poseidon, where, after embracing him as he sorrowed at her departure, she said, “Now, king of the Lacedæmonians, take care when we come out that no one sees us weeping or doing anything unworthy of Sparta. This lies in our own power; but good or evil fortune befalls us according to the will of Heaven.”

Saying thus, she fixed her eyes upon the ship, walked swiftly to it carrying the child, and bade the pilot start at once. When she reached Egypt, as she heard that Ptolemy had received an embassy from Antigonus, and was told that although the Achæans wished to come to terms with him, he had feared on her account to make peace with them without consulting Ptolemy, she wrote to him bidding him act worthily of Sparta, and consult her interests, and not fear to displease Ptolemy because of what he might do to an old woman and an infant. So great a spirit is she said to have shown in her misfortunes.

XXIII. Antigonus now advanced, took Tegea, and allowed his troops to plunder Orchomenus and Mantinea. Kleomenes, who was confined to the territory of Lacedæmon, proceeded to emancipate all helots who could pay a sum of five Attic minæ for their freedom, by which means he raised a sum of five hundred talents. He also organised a special corps of two thousand men, armed after the Macedonian fashion, with which he hoped to be able to meet the Leukaspids,14 or white-shielded troops of Antigonus, and proceeded to attempt a wonderful and surprising feat of arms.

The city of Megalopolis at that time was itself quite as large and as powerful as Sparta, and had close at hand the army of the Achæans, and that of Antigonus himself, whom the people of Megalopolis had been especially eager to invite into Peloponnesus. This city Kleomenes determined to pounce upon: (no other word expresses the speed with which he surprised it). He ordered his troops to provision themselves for five days, and led them to Sellasia, as though he intended to invade Argolis. From Sellasia he marched into the territory of Megalopolis, halted at Rhœteum for supper, and thence proceeded along the road by Helikus straight towards Megalopolis. When he was close to it he detached Panteus with two regiments to attack a part of the wall lying between two towers, which he had heard was often left unguarded, while he moved slowly forward with the main body. Panteus not only found that spot, but a great extent of the city wall unguarded. While he was engaged in throwing down the wall and killing those who attempted to defend it, Kleomenes came up, and was within the city with his army before the people of Megalopolis knew of his arrival.

XXIV. When at last the inhabitants discovered the extent of their misfortune, some snatched up what they could and fled at once, while others got under arms and endeavoured to drive out the enemy. In this they could not succeed, but they enabled the fugitives to escape unmolested, so that no more than a thousand souls remained in the city, as all the rest got safe with their wives and children to Messene. Of those who offered resistance but a few were slain, and a very small number were taken prisoners, amongst whom were Lysandridas and Thearidas, the two most important persons in Megalopolis. On this account the soldiers who took them brought them at once to Kleomenes. Lysandridas, as soon as he saw Kleomenes at a distance, called out loudly to him, “King of the Lacedæmonians, now you have an opportunity to add to your glory by a deed even more noble and more worthy of a king than that which you have achieved!” Kleomenes, suspecting what he meant, asked, “What do you mean, Lysandridas? do you bid me give you back your city?” “That is what I bid you to do,” answered Lysandridas; “and I advise you not to ruin so great a city, but to fill it with friends and trusty allies, by restoring it to the people of Megalopolis, and becoming their saviour.” To this Kleomenes, after a short silence, replied, “It is hard to believe this; but let us ever prefer honour to profit.” Saying this he sent his prisoners to Messene, and a herald with them, who offered to restore the city to the people of Megalopolis, on the condition that they should desert the Achæans and become the friends and allies of the Spartans. However, Philopimen would not allow his countrymen to break their faith with the Achæans and accept this wise and generous offer. He declared that Kleomenes did not intend to give them back their city, but wanted to get possession of them as well as of their city, and with violent abuse drove Thearidas and Lysandridas out of the Messenian country. This was that Philopœmen who afterwards became the general of the Achæans and won great distinction, as will be found in the life of him which I have written.

XXV. When this answer was brought back to Kleomenes, who had hitherto carefully kept the city unharmed, and had not allowed any one to appropriate the most trifling article, he became furious with disappointment. He plundered the city, sent all the statues and pictures to Sparta, utterly destroyed all the best part of the city, and returned home, for he feared Antigonus and the Achæans. They, however, did not offer to attack him: for they were engaged in holding a conference at Ægium. Here Aratus ascended the tribune, and for a long time wept with his face hidden in his gown. At last, as the others in wonder bade him tell them the cause of his grief, he said that Megalopolis had been ruined by Kleomenes. On hearing this the assembly at once broke up. The Achæans were terror-stricken at the suddenness and importance of the blow, and Antigonus determined to proceed to the assistance of the people of Megalopolis, but as it took a long time to assemble his troops from their winter-quarters, he ordered them to stay where they were, and himself with a small force marched to Argos. Kleomenes now engaged in a second enterprise, which appeared completely insane, but which is said by the historian Polybius to show consummate generalship. As he knew that all the Macedonian troops were scattered over the country in winter-quarters, and that Antigonus with a few mercenary troops was spending the winter at Argos with his friends, he invaded the Argive territory, thinking that either he should shame Antigonus into a battle, and beat him, or else that if he did not dare to fight, the Argives would be disgusted with him. And so it fell out. The Argives, seeing their country spoiled by Kleomenes, were greatly enraged, and gathering together before the house in which Antigonus was lodging, excitedly called upon him either to fight or to resign his post as commander-in-chief in favour of a better man. But Antigonus, like a prudent general as he was, thought it more disgraceful to run foolish risks and incur unnecessary danger than to hear himself called hard names by the mob, and refused to leave the city, but stood constant in his original policy. Kleomenes, after marching up to the gates of Argos, ostentatiously ravaged the country, and returned home unmolested.

XXVI. Shortly afterwards, hearing that Antigonus had again advanced to Tegea, intending to invade Laconia by that route, Kleomenes quickly assembled his army, marched by a different road, avoiding Antigonus, and at daybreak appeared near the city of Argos, where he ravaged the plain country, not reaping the corn, as invaders usually do, with sickles and swords, but beating down with great clubs, so that his soldiers in sheer sport as they marched along were able to destroy the whole crop without trouble. When they reached the gymnasium of Kyllarabis some of the officers proposed to set it on fire; but Kleomenes forbade it, saying that even in destroying Megalopolis he had been guided by anger rather than by honour. Antigonus at first retired directly towards Argos, but afterwards occupied all the passes by which the Lacedæmonians could retreat. Kleomenes affected to set him at defiance, and sent a herald to Argos to demand the keys of the temple of Hera (between Argos and Mycenæ), in order that he might offer sacrifice there before retiring. After insulting the Argives by this ironical request, he offered sacrifice outside the temple, for the doors remained locked, and led away his army to Phlius. From thence he marched to Mount Oligyrtus, where he defeated the Macedonian troops who guarded the pass, and returned home by way of Orchomenus, having inspired his countrymen with hope and confidence, and having proved to his enemies that he was a consummate general, capable of conducting the most important operations. It was indeed no small feat for him, with only the resources of one small state at his disposal, to make war against the power of Macedonia and all the cities of the Peloponnesus, with Antigonus for their paymaster, and not only to prevent the enemy’s setting foot in Laconia, but to lay waste their country, and take such large and important cities from them.

XXVII. However, he who first called money the sinews of war must have had this war in his mind. So also Demades, when the Athenians wished to man a fleet at a time when they had no money, observed that they must make bread before they could make a voyage. Archidamus, too, who was king of Sparta at the opening of the Peloponnesian war, when his allies asked him to fix the limit of their several contributions, answered that the consumption of war is unlimited. For just as trained athletes in time overpower their antagonist in spite of his strength and skill, so Antigonus, having vast resources to draw upon, wearied out and overpowered Kleomenes, who had the greatest difficulty in paying his mercenary troops and feeding his countrymen. In other respects the long duration of the contest was in Kleomenes’s favour, as Antigonus had troubles at home which made the contest a more equal one. The barbarians, in his absence, always overran and plundered the outskirts of the kingdom of Macedonia, and at this period an army of Illyrians had invaded the country from the north, against whose depredations the Macedonians besought Antigonus to return and protect them. The letter calling upon him to return was very nearly delivered to him before the decisive battle of the war; and had he received it, he would no doubt have returned home at once and taken a long farewell of the Achæans. However, fortune, who delights to show that the most important events are decided by the merest trifles, caused the embassy with the letters for the recall of Antigonus to reach him just after the battle of Sellasia, in which Kleomenes lost his army and his country. This makes the misfortune of Kleomenes yet more pitiable; for if he had avoided a battle for two days longer, he never need have fought at all, as the Macedonians would have retreated, and left him to make what terms he pleased with the Achæans: whereas, as has been explained, his want of money forced him to fight, and that too when, according to Polybius, he had only twenty thousand men to oppose to thirty thousand.

XXVIII. In the battle he acted like a great general, and the Spartans fought with desperate courage, while the mercenary troops also behaved well; but he was overpowered by the Macedonian armament and by the irresistible weight of their phalanx. The historian Phylarchus says that Kleomenes was ruined by treachery, for Antigonus sent his Illyrians and Akarnanians to make a flank march and attack one of the enemy’s wings, which was commanded by Eukleidas, the brother of Kleomenes, and there placed the rest of his army in battle array. Kleomenes, who was watching the enemy from an eminence, could not see the Illyrian and Akarnanian troops, and suspected some manœuvre of the kind. He sent for Damoteles, the chief of the Spartan secret-service,15 and ordered him to explore the ground on both flanks, and see that no attack was meditated in that direction. As Damoteles, who is said to have been bribed by Antigonus, answered that all was well on the flanks, and that he had better give his entire attention to the enemy in front, Kleomenes believed him, and at once charged the army of Antigonus. The furious attack of the Spartans drove back the Macedonian phalanx, and Kleomenes forced it to retreat before him for a distance of about five stadia. Then, as he found that his brother Eukleidas on the other wing was surrounded by the enemy, he halted, and looking towards him, said, “You are gone, my dearest brother; you have fought bravely, and are a noble model to the Spartan youth, a noble theme for Spartan maidens’ songs.” Then, as the entire division under Eukleidas was cut to pieces, and the victors attacked his own men, who were thrown into confusion and could no longer stand their ground, he escaped from the field as best he could. It is said that many of the mercenaries were slain, and that of the Lacedæmonians, who were six thousand in all, only two hundred remained alive.

XXIX. Kleomenes, when he reached Sparta, advised the citizens whom he met to submit to Antigonus, and declared that he himself, whether he lived or died, would do what was best for Sparta. As he saw the women running up to those who had accompanied him in his flight, taking their arms from them and offering them drink, he retired into his own house, where his mistress, a girl of a good family of Megalopolis, whom he had taken to live with him after his wife’s death, came up to him as usual, and wished to attend upon him on his return from the wars. But he would neither drink, although excessively thirsty, nor sit down, weary though he was, but in his armour as he was took hold of one of the columns with his hand, leaned his face upon his elbow, and after resting a short time in this posture while he revolved in his mind every kind of plan, proceeded with his friends to Grythium. Here they embarked on a ship which had been prepared in case of such a disaster, and sailed away.

XXX. After the battle Antigonus advanced upon Sparta, and made himself master of the city. He treated the Lacedæmonians with kindness, and offered no kind of insult to their glorious city, but permitted them to retain their laws and constitution, sacrificed to the gods, and on the third day withdrew, as he had learned that a terrible war was raging in Macedonia, and that his kingdom was being ravaged by the barbarians. His health was already affected by a disease, which ended in consumption. However, he bore up against it, and was able to die gloriously after having recovered his kingdom, won a great victory over the barbarians, and killed a great number of them. Phylarchus tells us that he ruptured his lungs by shouting in the battle itself, and this seems the most probable account, but the common report at the time was that while shouting aloud after the victory, “O happy day!” he brought up a vast quantity of blood and fell sick of a fever, of which he died. Such was the fate of Antigonus.

XXXI. Kleomenes sailed from Kythera to another island, named Ægialea. As he was about to cross over from this place to Cyrene, one of his friends named Therykion, a brilliant warrior and a man of lofty, unbending spirit, said to him in private, “My king, we have lost the opportunity of falling by the noblest of deaths in the battle, although we publicly declared that Antigonus should never enter Sparta unless he first passed over the dead body of the king. However, the course which is next to this in honour is still open to us. Why should we recklessly embark on this voyage merely in order to exchange our misfortunes at home for others in a distant country? If it be not disgraceful for the sons of Herakles to submit to the successors of Philip and Alexander, we shall save ourselves a long voyage by delivering ourselves up to Antigonus, who is probably as much better than Ptolemy as the Macedonians are better than the Egyptians. If, on the other hand, we scorn to become the subjects of our conqueror, why should we become subject to one who has not conquered us, and so prove ourselves inferior to two men instead of one, by becoming the courtiers of Ptolemy as well as fleeing before Antigonus? Is it on account of your mother that we are going to Egypt? If so, you will indeed make a glorious appearance before her, and you will be much to be envied when she shows her son to the ladies of Ptolemy’s court, an exile instead of a king. While we are still masters of our own swords, and are still in sight of Laconia, let us put ourselves beyond the reach of further misfortunes, and make amends to those who died for Sparta at Sellasia, rather than settle ourselves in Egypt, and inquire whom Antigonus has been pleased to appoint satrap of Lacedæmon?”16

To these remarks of Therykion Kleomenes answered, “Wretch, do you think that by suicide, the easiest way out of all difficulties, and one which is within every man’s reach, you will gain a reputation for bravery, and will not rather be flying before the enemy more disgracefully than at Sellasia? More powerful men than ourselves have ere now been defeated, either by their own evil fortune or by the excessive numbers of their enemy: but the man who refuses to bear fatigue and misery, and the scorn of men, is conquered by his own cowardice. A self-inflicted death ought to be an honourable action, not a dishonourable means of escape from the necessity for action. It is disgraceful either to live or to die for oneself alone: yet this is the course which you recommend, namely, that I should fly from my present misery without ever again performing any useful or honourable action. I think that it is both your duty and mine, not to despair of our country: for when all hope fails us, we can easily find means to die.” To this Therykion made no answer, but as soon as he had an opportunity left Kleomenes, sought a retired spot upon the beach, and killed himself.

XXXII. Kleomenes sailed from Ægialea to Libya, where he was received with royal honours and conducted to Alexandria. At his first interview Ptolemy17 treated him with mere ordinary politeness, but when by converation with him he discovered his great abilities, and in the familiar intercourse of daily life observed the noble Spartan simplicity of his habits, and saw with how proud and unbroken a spirit he bore his misfortunes, he thought him a much more trustworthy friend than any of the venal throng of courtiers by whom he was surrounded. Ptolemy felt real regret at having neglected so great a man, and allowed Antigonus to gain so much glory and power at his expense. He showed Kleomenes great kindness and honour, and encouraged him by promising that he would place a fleet and a sum of money at his disposal, which would enable him to return to Greece and recover his throne. He settled upon him a yearly allowance of twenty-four talents, the most part of which he and his friends, who still retained their simple Spartan habits, distributed in charity among the Greek refugees who had found an asylum in Egypt.

XXXIII. The elder Ptolemy died before he could accomplish his promise of attempting to restore Kleomenes to his throne; and amidst the drunken licence of the court of his successor, the affairs of Kleomenes were entirely neglected. The young king18 was so given up to wine and women, that his soberest moments were spent in organising religious ceremonies in the palace, and in carrying a kettledrum in honour of the mother of the gods. The whole of the public business of the kingdom was managed by Agathoklea, the king’s mistress, her mother, and the brothel-keeper Œnanthes. Yet even here it seems that the assistance of Kleomenes was needed, for the king, fearing his brother Magas, who through his mother had great influence with the army, attached himself in a special manner to Kleomenes, and made him a member of his own secret council, desiring to make use of him to kill his brother. Kleomenes, although every one in the court bade him do this, refused, saying that it would rather be his duty, if it were possible, to raise up more brothers for the king, to strengthen and confirm his throne. When Sosibius, the most powerful of the king’s favourites, said that the mercenary troops were not to be depended upon while Magas was alive, Kleomenes answered that he might be quite easy on that score, for more than three thousand of the mercenaries were Peloponnesians, and at the slightest sign from him would seize their arms and rally round him. This speech was thought at the time to be a great proof of the loyalty of Kleomenes, and gave the courtiers a great idea of his power; but afterwards, as Ptolemy’s weakness of character produced cowardice, and after the manner of empty-headed men he began to think it safest to suspect every one, these words made the courtiers fear Kleomenes, as having a dangerous power over the mercenaries; and many of them were wont to say, “This man moves among us like a lion among a flock of sheep.” Indeed the demeanour of Kleomenes in the Egyptian palace, as he calmly and quietly watched the course of events, naturally suggested this simile.

XXXIV. Kleomenes gave up asking for a fleet and an army; but hearing that Antigonus was dead, and that the Achæans were involved in a war with the Ætolians, while his presence was imperatively demanded at home, as all Peloponnesus seemed to be going to ruin, he desired to be sent home alone with his friends. However, he could persuade no one to accede to this request, as the king thought of nothing but his concubines and his revels, and Sosibius, upon whom devolved the whole conduct of affairs, although he knew that Kleomenes would be dangerous and hard to manage if kept in Egypt against his will, yet feared to set at large so daring and enterprising a man, who had gained a thorough insight into the utter rottenness of the Ptolemaic dynasty. For Kleomenes could not be bribed into remaining quiet, but as the bull19 sacred to Apis, although he is abundantly fed and supplied with every luxury, yet longs to frisk and range about as nature intended, so he cared for none of their effeminate pleasures,