Nepos: LIBER DE EXCELLENTIBUS DVCIBUS EXTERARVM GENTIVM

[1] AGESILAUS the Lacedaemonian has been extolled both by the other writers and, in exceptional degree, by Xenophon the Socratic; for he consorted with him in the closest familiarity.

2 Hic primum de regno cum Leotychide, fratris filio, habuit contentionem. Mos erat enim a maioribus Lacedaemoniis traditus, ut duos haberent semper reges, nomine magis quam imperio, ex duabus familiis Procli et Eurysthenis, qui principes ex progenie Herculis Spartae reges fuerunt.

2 He first had a contention about the kingship with Leotychidas, his brother’s son. For it was a custom handed down by the Lacedaemonian ancestors that they should always have two kings, more in name than in command, from the two families of Proclus and Eurysthenes, who, princes from the progeny of Hercules, were kings at Sparta.

3 Horum ex altera in alterius familiae locum fieri non licebat. Ita utraque suum retinebat ordinem. Primum ratio habebatur, qui maximus natu esset ex liberis eius, qui regnans decessisset; sin is virilem sexum non reliquisset, tum deligebatur, qui proximus esset propinquitate.

3 Of these, it was not permitted that someone from the one family be placed into the place of the other family. Thus each retained its own order. First, consideration was had for him who was the eldest by birth among the children of him who, while reigning, had deceased; but if he had left no male issue, then he was chosen who was nearest in propinquity.

4 Mortuus erat Agis rex, frater Agesilai. Filium reliquerat Leotychidem, quem ille natum non agnorat; eundem moriens suum esse dixerat. Is de honore regni cum Agesilao, patruo suo, contendit neque id, quod petivit, consecutus est.

4 King Agis, brother of Agesilaus, had died. He had left a son, Leotychides, whom he had not acknowledged as born; the same, when dying, he had said was his own. He contended about the honor of the kingship with Agesilaus, his paternal uncle, and did not obtain that which he sought.

5 Nam Lysandro suffragante, homine, ut ostendimus supra, factioso et his temporibus potente, Agesilaus antelatus est.

5 For, with Lysander giving his suffrage—a man, as we showed above, factious and in these times powerful—Agesilaus was preferred.

[2] Hic simulatque imperii potitus est, persuasit Lacedaemoniis, ut exercitus emitterent in Asiam bellumque regi facerent, docens satius esse in Asia quam in Europa dimicari. Namque fama exierat Artaxerxen comparare classis pedestrisque exercitus, quos in Graeciam mitteret.

[2] As soon as he had gotten possession of the command, he persuaded the Lacedaemonians to dispatch armies into Asia and to make war upon the king, showing that it was better for the fighting to be done in Asia than in Europe. For indeed a report had gone out that Artaxerxes was preparing fleets and land armies, which he would send into Greece.

2 Data potestate tanta celeritate usus est, ut prius in Asiam cum copiis pervenerit, quam regii satrapae eum scirent profectum. Quo factum est, ut omnis imparatos imprudentesque offenderet.

2 With authority granted, he made use of such celerity that he reached Asia with his forces before the royal satraps knew that he had set out. Whereby it came about that he encountered them all unprepared and unwary.

3 Id ut cognovit Tissaphernes, qui summum imperium tum inter praefectos habebat regios, indutias a Lacone petivit, simulans se dare operam, ut Lacedaemoniis cum rege conveniret, re autem vera ad copias comparandas, easque impetravit trimenstris.

3 When Tissaphernes learned this, who at that time held the supreme command among the royal prefects, he sought a truce from the Laconian, pretending that he was applying himself to bring it about that the Lacedaemonians should come to terms with the king, but in truth for the purpose of assembling forces; and he obtained a three-month truce.

4 Iuravit autem uterque se sine dolo indutias conservaturum. In qua pactione summa fide mansit Agesilaus; contra ea Tissaphernes nihil aliud quam bellum comparavit.

4 Moreover, each swore that he would preserve the armistice without guile. In which pact Agesilaus remained with the utmost fidelity; contrariwise, Tissaphernes prepared nothing other than war.

5 Id etsi sentiebat Laco, tamen ius iurandum servabat multumque in eo se consequi dicebat, quod Tissaphernes periurio suo et homines suis rebus abalienaret et deos sibi iratos redderet; se autem conservata religione confirmare exercitum, cum animadverteret deum numen facere secum hominesque sibi conciliare amiciores, quod iis studere consuessent, quos conservare fidem viderent.

5 Although the Spartan perceived this, nevertheless he kept the oath and said that he was achieving much thereby, because Tissaphernes by his perjury both alienated men from his own interests and made the gods angry against him; whereas he himself, with the religious obligation preserved, was confirming the army, since he observed the divine numen to be acting with him and was conciliating men to himself as more friendly, because they were accustomed to favor those whom they saw keep faith.

[3] Postquam indutiarum praeteriit dies, barbarus non dubitans, quod ipsius erant plurima domicilia in Caria et ea regio his temporibus multo putabatur locupletissima, eo potissimum hostis impetum facturos, omnis suas copias eo contraxerat.

[3] After the day of the truce had passed, the barbarian, not doubting that—since very many of his domiciles were in Caria and that region in these times was considered by far the most opulent—the enemy would make their attack especially there, had concentrated all his forces thither.

2 At Agesilaus in Phrygiam se convertit eamque prius depopulatus est, quam Tissaphernes usquam se moveret. Magna praeda militibus locupletatis Ephesum hiematum exercitum reduxit atque ibi officinis armorum institutis magna industria bellum apparavit. Et quo studiosius armarentur insigniusque ornarentur, praemia proposuit, quibus donarentur, quorum egregia in ea re fuisset industria.

2 But Agesilaus turned toward Phrygia and laid it waste before Tissaphernes moved anywhere. With the soldiers enriched by great booty, he led the army back to Ephesus to winter, and there, workshops of arms having been established, he prepared for war with great industry. And in order that they might be armed more zealously and adorned more conspicuously, he proposed prizes to be bestowed upon those whose industry in that matter should be distinguished.

3 Fecit idem in exercitationum generibus, ut, qui ceteris praestitissent, eos magnis afficeret muneribus. His igitur rebus effecit, ut et ornatissimum et exercitatissimum haberet exercitum.

3 He did the same in the kinds of exercises, so that those who had excelled the rest he would honor with great gifts. By these measures therefore he effected that he had an army both most splendidly equipped and most thoroughly exercised.

4 Huic cum tempus esset visum copias extrahere ex hibernaculis, vidit, si, quo esset iter facturus, palam pronuntiasset, hostis non credituros aliasque regiones praesidiis occupaturos neque dubitaturos aliud eum facturum, ac pronuntiasset.

4 When it seemed to him time to extract the forces from the winter quarters, he saw that, if he had publicly proclaimed the route he was going to take, the enemy would not believe it and would occupy other regions with garrisons, nor would they doubt that he would do something other than what he had announced.

5 Itaque cum ille Sardis iturum se dixisset, Tissaphernes eandem Cariam defendendam putavit. In quo cum eum opinio fefellisset victumque se vidisset consilio, sero suis praesidio profectus est. Nam cum illo venisset, iam Agesilaus multis locis expugnatis magna erat praeda potitus.

5 Therefore, when he had said that he would go to Sardis, Tissaphernes thought that that same Caria had to be defended. In this, since his expectation had deceived him and he saw himself conquered in counsel, he set out late to be a protection to his own. For when he had come there, already Agesilaus, many places having been stormed, had gotten possession of great booty.

6 Laco autem cum videret hostis equitatu superare, numquam in campo sui fecit potestatem et iis locis manum conseruit, quibus plus pedestres copiae valerent. Pepulit ergo, quotienscumque congressus est, multo maiores adversariorum copias et sic in Asia versatus est, ut omnium opinione victor duceretur.

6 The Laconian, however, when he saw that the enemy surpassed in cavalry, never afforded them a chance in the open field, and he joined battle in those places where infantry forces had the greater strength. He therefore drove back, whenever he engaged, much larger forces of the adversaries, and thus he conducted himself in Asia, so that by the opinion of all he was deemed the victor.

[4] Hic cum iam animo meditaretur proficisci in Persas et ipsum regem adoriri, nuntius ei domo venit ephororum missu, bellum Athenienses et Boeotos indixisse Lacedaemoniis; quare venire ne dubitaret.

[4] When he was now contemplating in mind to set out against the Persians and to assail the king himself, a messenger came to him from home at the sending of the ephors, that the Athenians and the Boeotians had declared war on the Lacedaemonians; wherefore he should not hesitate to come.

2 In hoc non minus eius pietas suspicienda est quam virtus bellica: qui cum victori praeesset exercitui maximamque haberet fiduciam regni Persarum potiundi, tanta modestia dicto audiens fuit iussis absentium magistratuum, ut si privatus in comitio esset Spartae. Cuius exemplum utinam imperatores nostri sequi voluissent!

2 In this, his piety is no less to be admired than his martial virtue: though he was in command of a victorious army and had the greatest confidence of obtaining the kingdom of the Persians, with such modesty he was obedient to the orders of magistrates who were absent, as if he were a private citizen in the assembly at Sparta. Would that our generals had wished to follow his example!

3 Sed illuc redeamus. Agesilaus opulentissimo regno praeposuit bonam existimationem multoque gloriosius duxit, si institutis patriae paruisset, quam si bello superasset Asiam.

3 But let us return thither. Agesilaus preferred good repute to the most opulent kingdom, and deemed it much more glorious to have obeyed the institutions of his fatherland than to have overcome Asia in war.

4 Hac igitur mente Hellespontum copias traiecit tantaque usus est celeritate, ut quod iter Xerxes anno vertente confecerat, hic transierit XXX diebus.

4 Therefore, with this mindset he transported his forces across the Hellespont, and employed such celerity that the journey which Xerxes had completed as the year was turning, this man crossed in 30 days.

5 Cum iam haud ita longe abesset a Peloponneso, obsistere ei conati sunt Athenienses et Boeotii ceterique eorum socii apud Coroneam; quos omnes gravi proelio vicit.

5 When he was now not so far distant from the Peloponnese, the Athenians and Boeotians and the rest of their allies tried to oppose him at Coronea; all of whom he defeated in a grave battle.

6 Huius victoriae vel maxima fuit laus, quod, cum plerique ex fuga se in templum Minervae coniecissent quaerereturque ab eo, quid his vellet fieri, etsi aliquot vulnera acceperat eo proelio et iratus videbatur omnibus, qui adversus arma tulerant, tamen antetulit irae religionem et eos vetuit violari.

6 The greatest praise of this victory was that, when very many, in flight, had thrown themselves into the temple of Minerva and it was being asked of him what he wished to be done with these, although he had received several wounds in that battle and seemed angered at all who had borne arms against him, nevertheless he preferred religion to wrath and forbade them to be violated.

7 Neque vero hoc solum in Graecia fecit, ut templa deorum sancta haberet, sed etiam apud barbaros summa religione omnia simulacra arasque conservavit.

7 Nor indeed did he do this only in Greece—to hold the temples of the gods sacred—but even among the barbarians he preserved all the simulacra and altars with the utmost religious reverence.

8 Itaque praedicabat mirari se, non sacrilegorum numero haberi, qui supplicibus eorum nocuissent, aut non gravioribus poenis affici, qui religionem minuerent, quam qui fana spoliarent.

8 And so he used to proclaim that he marveled that those who had harmed their suppliants were not reckoned in the number of sacrilegious persons, or that those who diminished religion were not afflicted with heavier penalties than those who despoiled the fanes.

[5] Post hoc proelium collatum omne bellum est circa Corinthum ideoque Corinthium est appellatum.

[5] After this battle was joined, the whole war was conducted around Corinth, and therefore it was called the Corinthian War.

2 Hic cum una pugna decem milia hostium Agesilao duce cecidissent eoque facto opes adversariorum debilitatae viderentur, tantum afuit ab insolentia gloriae, ut commiseratus sit fortunam Graeciae, quod tam multi a se victi vitio adversariorum concidissent: namque illa multitudine, si sana mens esset Graeciae, supplicium Persas dare potuisse.

2 Here, when in one battle ten thousand of the enemy had fallen under Agesilaus as commander, and with that done the resources of the adversaries seemed debilitated, he was so far from the insolence of glory that he commiserated the fortune of Greece, because so many, conquered by himself, had fallen by the fault of his adversaries: for with that multitude, if Greece had a sane mind, the Persians could have been made to pay the penalty.

3 Idem cum adversarios intra moenia compulisset et, ut Corinthum oppugnaret, multi hortarentur, negavit id suae virtuti convenire: se enim eum esse dixit, qui ad officium peccantis redire cogeret, non qui urbes nobilissimas expugnaret Graeciae.

3 The same man, when he had driven his adversaries within the walls and many were urging him to attack Corinth, denied that this befitted his virtue: for he said that he was the sort of man who would compel the offender to return to duty, not one who would storm the most noble cities of Greece.

4 `Nam si' inquit `eos exstinguere voluerimus, qui nobiscum adversus barbaros steterunt, nosmet ipsi nos expugnaverimus illis quiescentibus. Quo facto sine negotio, cum voluerint, nos oppriment'.

4 `For if' he said `we should wish to extinguish those who stood with us against the barbarians, we ourselves shall have taken ourselves by storm, with them keeping quiet. This having been done, without difficulty, whenever they wish, they will oppress us'.

[6] Interim accidit illa calamitas apud Leuctra Lacedaemoniis. Quo ne proficisceretur, cum a plerisque ad exeundum premeretur, ut si de exitu divinaret, exire noluit. Idem, cum Epaminondas Spartam oppugnaret essetque sine muris oppidum, talem se imperatorem praebuit, ut eo tempore omnibus apparuerit, nisi ille fuisset, Spartam futuram non fuisse.

[6] Meanwhile that calamity at Leuctra befell the Lacedaemonians. Therefore, although he was pressed by many to go forth, as if he were divining the outcome, he was unwilling to go out, so that he might not set out. The same man, when Epaminondas was assaulting Sparta and the town was without walls, showed himself such a commander that at that time it became apparent to all that, if he had not been, Sparta would not have been.

2 In quo quidem discrimine celeritas eius consilii saluti fuit universis. Nam cum quidam adulescentuli, hostium adventu perterriti, ad Thebanos transfugere vellent et locum extra urbem editum cepissent, Agesilaus, qui perniciosissimum fore videret, si animadversam esset quemquam ad hostis transfugere conari, cum suis eo venit atque, ut si bono animo fecissent,

2 In that very crisis the swiftness of his counsel was a salvation to all. For when certain youths, terrified at the advent of the enemy, wished to defect to the Thebans and had seized a raised place outside the city, Agesilaus, who saw that it would be most pernicious if it had been noticed that anyone was trying to defect to the enemy, came there with his own men and, as if they had done it with good intent,

3 laudavit consilium eorum, quod eum locum occupassent; id se quoque fieri debere animadvertisse. Sic adulescentis simulata laudatione recuperavit et adiunctis de suis comitibus locum tutum reliquit. Namque illi aucti numero eorum, qui expertes erant consilii, commovere se non sunt ausi eoque libentius, quod latere arbitrabantur, quae cogitaverant.

3 he praised their plan, because they had occupied that place; he observed that he too had noticed that this ought to be done. Thus by a feigned laudation of the adolescents he recovered them, and, with some of his own companions added, he left the place secure. For they, augmented by the number of those who were ignorant of the plan, did not dare to stir themselves, and all the more willingly, because they thought that what they had conceived lay hidden.

[7] Sine dubio post Leuctricam pugnam Lacedaemonii se numquam refecerunt neque pristinum imperium recuperarunt, cum interim numquam Agesilaus destitit, quibuscumque rebus posset, patriam iuvare.

[7] Without doubt, after the Leuctran battle the Lacedaemonians never restored themselves nor recovered their former imperium, while in the meantime Agesilaus never ceased to aid his fatherland by whatever means he could.

2 Nam cum praecipue Lacedaemonii indigerent pecunia, ille omnibus, qui a rege defecerant, praesidio fuit; a quibus magna donatus pecunia patriam sublevavit.

2 For when the Lacedaemonians especially were in need of money, he was a safeguard to all who had defected from the king; by whom, endowed with a great sum of money, he relieved his fatherland.

3 Atque in hoc illud in primis fuit admirabile, cum maxima munera ei ab regibus ac dynastis civitatibusque conferrentur, quod nihil umquam domum suam contulit, nihil de victu, nihil de vestitu Laconum mutavit.

3 And herein this was above all admirable: although the greatest gifts were being conferred upon him by kings, dynasts, and cities, he never brought anything to his own house; he altered nothing in the fare, nothing in the dress of the Laconians.

4 Domo eadem fuit contentus, qua Eurysthenes, progenitor maiorum suorum, fuerat usus; quam qui intrarat, nullum signum libidinis, nullum luxuriae videre poterat, contra ea plurima patientiae atque abstinentiae: sic enim erat instructa, ut in nulla re differret cuiusvis inopis atque privati.

4 He was content with the same house which Eurysthenes, the progenitor of his line, had used; whoever entered it could see no sign of lust, none of luxury; on the contrary, very many of patience and abstinence: for thus was it furnished, that in no respect did it differ from that of any needy and private person.

[8] Atque hic tantus vir ut naturam fautricem habuerat in tribuendis animi virtutibus, sic maleficam nactus est in corpore fingendo. Nam et statura fuit humili et corpore exiguo et claudus altero pede. Quae res etiam nonnullam afferebat deformitatem, atque ignoti, faciem eins cum intuerentur, contemnebant; qui autem virtutes noverant, non poterant admirari satis.

[8] And this so great a man, just as he had nature as a patroness in bestowing the virtues of the mind, so he found her maleficent in the fashioning of his body. For he was of low stature and of an exiguous body, and lame in one foot. Which circumstance also brought some deformity; and those who were unacquainted, when they looked upon his face, contemned him; but those who knew his virtues could not admire him enough.

2 Quod ei usu venit, cum annorum LXXX subsidio Tacho in Aegyptum isset et in acta cum suis accubuisset sine ullo tecto stratumque haberet tale, ut terra tecta esset stramentis neque huc amplius quam pellis esset iniecta, eodemque comites omnes accubuissent, vestitu humili atque obsoleto, ut eorum ornatus non modo in his regem neminem significaret, sed homines non beatissimos esse suspicionem praeberet.

2 Which befell him, when at 80 years of age he had gone into Egypt to the aid of Tachos and had reclined on the shore with his men without any roof, and had bedding such that the ground was covered with straw and upon this nothing more than a hide had been thrown; and in the same place all his companions had reclined, in humble and time-worn dress, so that their attire not only signified that there was no king among them, but even gave rise to the suspicion that they were not very prosperous men.

3 Huius de adventu fama cum ad regios esset perlata, celeriter munera eo cuiusque generis sunt allata. His quaerentibus Agesilaum vix fides facta est unum esse ex iis, qui tum accubabant.

3 When the report of his arrival had been conveyed to the courtiers, gifts of every kind were quickly brought there. As they were seeking Agesilaus, scarcely could credence be given that he was one of those who were then reclining.

4 Qui cum regis verbis, quae attulerant, dedissent, ille praeter vitulinam et eiusmodi genera obsonii, quae praesens tempus desiderabat, nihil accepit; unguenta, coronas secundamque mensam servis dispertiit, cetera referri iussit.

4 When they had delivered the king’s words which they had brought, he accepted nothing except veal and such kinds of provisions as the present occasion required; the unguents, garlands, and the second course he distributed to the servants, and he ordered the rest to be carried back.

5 Quo facto eum barbari magis etiam contempserunt, quod eum ignorantia bonarum rerum illa potissimum sumpsisse arbitrabantur.

5 On this being done, the barbarians despised him even more, because they supposed that, from ignorance of good things, he had taken those things above all.

6 Hic eum ex Aegypto reverteretur, donatus a rege Nectanabide ducentis viginti talentis, quae ille muneri populo suo daret venissetque in portum, qui Menelai vocatur, iacens inter Cyrenas et Aegyptum, in morbum implicitus decessit.

6 Here, as he was returning from Egypt, having been presented by King Nectanabis with two hundred and twenty talents, which he might give as a gift to his people, and when he had come into the harbor which is called Menelaus, lying between Cyrene and Egypt, he, having been entangled in illness, departed.

7 Ibi eum amici, quo Spartam facilius perferre possent, quod mel non habebant, cera circumfuderunt atque ita domum rettulerunt.

7 There his friends, so that they might be able to carry him to Sparta more easily, since they did not have honey, poured wax around him and thus brought him home.