275 SECTION 11.-AGESILAUS GOES TO ASIA. LYSANDER FALLS OUT WITH HIM. AGESILAUS had scarcely ascended the throne, when accounts came from Asia, that the king of Persia was fitting out a great fleet with intent to deprive the Lacedæmonians of their empire at sea. The letters of Conon, seconded by the remonstrances of Pharnabasus, who had in concert represented to Artaxerxes the power of Sparta as formidable, had made a strong impression upon that prince. From that time he had it seriously in contemplation to humble that proud republic, by raising up its rival, and by that means re-establish the ancient balance between them, which alone could assure his safety, by keeping them perpetually employed against each other, and thereby prevented from uniting their forces against him.* Lysander, who desired to be sent into Asia, in order to re-establish his dependants and friends in the government of the cities, from which Sparta had removed them, strongly disposed Agesilaus to take upon himself the charge of the war, and to prevent the barbarian king, by attacking him remote from Greece, before he should have finished his preparations. The republic having made this proposal to him, he could not refuse it, and charged himself with the expedition against Artaxerxes, upon condition that thirty Spartan captains should be granted him, to assist him and compose his council, with two thousand new citizens, to be chosen out of the helots who had lately been made freemen, and six thousand troops of the allies; which was immediately resolved. Lysander was placed at the head of the thirty Spartans, not only on account of his great reputation, and the authority he had acquired, but for the particular friendship between him and Agesilaus, who was indebted to him for the throne, as well as the honour which had been lately conferred upon him, of being elected generalissimo. The glorious return of the Greeks who had followed Cyrus, and whom the whole power of Persia was not able to prevent from retreating into their own country, had inspired all Greece with a wonderful confidence in their forces, and a supreme contempt for the barbarians. In this disposition of the people, the Lacedæmonians conceived it would reproach them to neglect so favourable a conjuncture for delivering the Greeks in Asia from their subjection to those barbarians, and for putting an end to the outrages and violences with which they were continually oppressing them. They had already attempted this by their generals, Thimbron and Dercyllidas; but all their endeavours having hitherto proved ineffectual, they referred the conduct of this war to the care of Agesilaus. He promised them either to conclude a glorious peace with the Persians, or to employ them so effectually as should leave them neither leisure or inclination to carry the war into Greece. The king had great views, and thought of nothing less than attacking Artaxerxes in Persia itself. When he arrived at Ephesus, Tissaphernes sent to demand for what purpose he had come into Asia, and why he had taken up arms. He replied, that he came to aid the Greeks who inhabited there, and to re-establish them in their ancient liberty. The satrap, who was not yet prepared, preferred art to force, and assured him, that his master would give the Grecian cities of Asia their liberty, provided he committed no acts of hostility till the return of the couriers. Agesilaus agreed; and the truce was sworn to on both sides. Tissaphernes, who laid no great stress upon an oath, took advantage of this delay to assemble troops on all sides. The Lacedæmonian general was apprised of it, but kept his word; being convinced, that in affairs of state, the breach of faith can have but a very short and precarious success; whereas a reputation established upon inviolable fidelity in the observance of engagements, which the perfidy itself of other contracting parties has not power to alter, will establish a credit and confidence equally useful and glorious. In fact, Xenophon re A. M. 3608. Ant. J. C. 396. Xenoph. Hist. Græc. 1. iii. p. 495, 496. Idem, de Agesil. p. 652 Plut. in Agesil. p. 598. In Lysand. p. 446. 276 marks, that this religious observation of treaties gained him the universal esteem and opinion of the cities; while the different conduct of Tissaphernes entirely lost him their favour.* Agesilaus employed this interval in acquiring an exact knowledge of the state of the cities, and in making suitable regulations. He found great disorder every where, their government being neither democratical, as under the Athenians, nor aristocratical, as Lysander had established it. The people of the country had no communication with Agesilaus, nor had ever known him; for which reason they paid no respect to him, conceiving that he had the title of general for form's sake only, and that the whole power was really vested in Lysander. As no governor had ever done so much good to his friends, or harm to his enemies, as Lysander, it is not to be wondered at, that he was so much beloved by the one, and feared by the other. All therefore were eager to pay their homage to him, were every day in crowds at his door, and made his train very numerous when he went abroad; while Agesilaus remained almost alone. Such a conduct could not fail of offending a general and king, extremely sensible and delicate in what regarded his authority; though otherwise not jealous of any one's merit, but, on the contrary, much inclined to distinguish it with his favour. He did not dissemble his disgust. He paid no regard to Lysander's recommendations, and ceased to employ him himself. Lysander presently perceived this alteration in regard to him. He discontinued his applications for his friends to the king, desired them not to visit him any more, nor attach themselves to him, but to address themselves directly to the king, and to cultivate the favour of those who in the present times had power to serve and advance their creatures. The greater part of them ceased to importune him with their affairs, but did not refrain from paying their respect to him. On the contrary, they were only more assiduous than ever about his person, attended him in throngs when he took the air abroad, and regularly assisted at all his exercises. Lysander, naturally vain, and long accustomed to the homage and submission that attended absolute power, did not take sufficient care to remove the busy crowd from his person, that continually made their addresses to him with more application than ever. This ridiculous affectation of authority and grandeur grew still more and more offensive to Agesilaus, and seemed intended to insult him. He resented it so highly, that, having given the most considerable commands and best governments to inferior officers, he appointed Lysander commissary of the stores, and distributor of provisions; and afterwards, to insult and deride the lonians, he told them," that they might now go and consult his master butcher." of 66 66 Lysander thought it then incumbent upon him to speak, and to come to an explanation with him. Their conversation was brief and laconic. Certainly, my lord," said Lysander, "you very well know how to depress your friends." "Yes, when they would set themselves above me; but when they are studious my dignity, I know also how to let them share in it.” But perhaps, my lord," replied Lysander, "I have been injured by false reports; and things 1 never did have been imputed to me. I must beg, therefore, if it be only upon account of the strangers, who have all of them their eyes upon us, that you would give me an employment in your army, wherein you shall think me least capable of displeasing, and best qualified for serving you effectually.". In consequence of this conversation, Agesilaus conferred on him the lieutenancy of the Hellespont; in which employment he retained all his resentment, without however, neglecting any part of his duty, or of what conduced to the success of affairs. Some short time after, he returned to Sparta, without any marks of honour or distinction, extremely incensed against Agesilaus, and with the hope of making him perfectly sensible of it. It must be allowed that Lysander's conduct, as we have here represented it, denotes a vanity and narrowness of mind on his side, very unworthy of his repu Xenoph. p. 496, et 652. † A. M. 3609. Ant. J. C. 395. Plut. in Agesil. p. 599, 600. In Lysand. p. 447, 277 tation. Perhaps Agesilaus carried his sensibility and delicacy too far in point of honour, and he was a little too severe upon a friend and benefactor, who might have been reclaimed to his duty by secret reproofs, attended with openness of heart and expressions of kindness. But however great Lysander's merit, and however considerable the services he had rendered Agesilaus might be, still they could not give him a right even to an equality with his king and general, far less to the superiority he affected, which in some measure tended to make the other insignificant. He should have remembered, that it is never allowable for an inferior to forget himself, and to exceed the bounds of a just subordination. Upon his return to Sparta, he had it seriously in mind to execute a project which he had many years revolved within himself. At Sparta there were only two families, or rather branches, of the posterity of Hercules, who had a right to the throne. When Lysander had attained to that degree of power which his great actions had acquired him, he began to feel pain at beholding a city, whose glory had been so much augmented by his exploits, under the government of princes, to whom he yielded neither in valour nor birth; for he was descended, as well as themselves, from Hercules. He therefore sought means to deprive those two houses of the sole succession to the crown, and to extend that right to all the other branches of the Heraclides, and even, according to some, to all the natives of Sparta; flattering himself, that if his design succeeded, no Spartan could be capable of disputing that honour with him, and that he should have the preference to all others.* This ambitious project of Lysander shows, that the greatest captains are often those from whom a republic has most to apprehend. Those haughty, violent spirits, accustomed to absolute power in armies, bring back with victory a daring loftiness of mind, always to be dreaded in a free state. Sparta, in giving Lysander unlimited power, and leaving it for so many years in his hands, did not sufficiently consider, that nothing is more dangerous than to confide in persons of superior merit and abilities, employments of supreme authority, which naturally exposes them to the temptation of rendering themselves independent, and absolute masters of power. Lysander was not proof against it, and practised secretly to open himself a way to the throne. The undertaking was bold, and required long preparations. He thought it impossible to succeed without first making use of the fear of the divinity, and the terrors of superstition, to amaze and subdue the citizens into a more easy disposition to receive what he wanted to have them understand; for he knew that at Sparta, as well as throughout all Greece, nothing of the least importance was determined, without the oracles being previously consulted. He tempted with great presents the priests and priestesses of Delphos, Dodona, and Ammon, though ineffectually the first time; and the latter even sent ambassadors to Sparta, to accuse him of impiety and sacrilege; but he extricated himself from that affair by his influence and address. It was necessary to set other engines at work. A woman in the kingdom of Pontus, affirming that she was with child by Apollo, had been delivered some years before of a son, to whom the name of Silenus was given; and the greatest persons of that nation had disputed the honour of nursing and educating him. Lysander embraced this circumstance for the promotion of his designs, by procuring a number of persons of sufficient note to give it an air of credibility, to circulate the report of this miraculous birth. After which, information was brought from Delphos to Sparta and industriously circulated, that the priests of the temple had in their custody some books of very ancient oracles, which they kept concealed from all the world, a knowledge of which was not permitted either to them, or any other person whatever; and that only a son of Apollo, who was to come in process of time, after having given undoubted proofs of his birth to those who had charge of the books, was to take and carry them away. Plut. in Lysand. p. 447, 448. Diod. 1. xix. p, 244, 245. All this being premised, Silenus was to present himself to the priests, and demand those oracles as the son of Apollo; and the priests, who were in the secret, as actors well prepared and fully instructed in their parts, were on their side to make the most exact and circumstantial inquiry into every thing, not without affecting great difficulty, and asking many questions for the full proof of his birth. At length, as if absolutely convinced that this Silenus was the real son of Apollo, they were to produce the books, and deliver them to him; after which, this son of Apollo was to read the prophecies contained in them, in the presence of all; and particularly that for which the whole fraud had been contrived. It imported, "that it was more expedient and advantageous for the Spartans to elect no king for the future, but the most worthy of their citizens." Lysander in consequence was to mount the tribunal, to harangue the citizens, and induce them to make this alteration. Cleon of Halicarnassus, a celebrated rhetorician, had composed a very eloquent discourse for him upon this subject, which he had committed to memory. Silenus grew up, and repaired to Greece in order to play his part; when Lysander had the mortification to see his piece miscarry, by the timidity and desertion of one of his principal actors, who broke his word, and disappeared at the very instant it was to have been performed. Though this intrigue had been carried on a great while, it was transacted with so much secrecy as to the time it was to have made its appearance, that nothing of it was known during the life of Lysander. How it came to light after his death, we shall soon relate; but must at present return to Tissaphernes. SECTION III.-EXPEDITION OF AGESILAUS IN ASIA. WHEN Tissaphernes had received the troops assigned him by the king, and drawn together all his forces, he sent to command Agesilaus to retire out of Asia, and declared war against him in case of a refusal. His officers were alarmed, not believing him in a condition to oppose the great army of the Persian king. For himself, he heard the heralds of Tissaphernes with a gay and easy countenance, and bade them tell their master, that he was under a very great obligation to him "for having made the gods, by his perjury, the enemies of Persia, and the friends of Greece." He promised himself great things from this expedition, and would have thought it an exceeding disgrace for him, that ten thousand Greeks, under the command of Xenophon, should have passed through the heart of Asia, to the Grecian sea, and defeated the king of Persia as often as he appeared against them; and that he, who commanded the Lacedæmonians, whose empire extended all over Greece by sea and land, should not execute some exploit worthy of glory and remembrance.* At first, therefore, to revenge the perfidy of Tissaphernes by a just and allowable deceit, he made feint of marching his army into Caria, the residence of that satrap; and as soon as the barbarian had caused his troops to march that way, he turned short, and fell upon Phrygia, where he took many towns, and amassed immense treasures, which he distributed among the officers and soldiers; "letting his friends see," says Plutarch, "that to break a treaty, and violate an oath, is to despise the gods themselves; and that, on the contrary, to deceive an enemy by the stratagems of war, is not only just and glorious, but a sensible delight, attended with the greatest advantages." In the spring he assembled all his forces at Ephesus; and to exercise his soldiers, he proposed prizes both for the horse and foot. This small inducement set every thing in motion. The place for exercises was constantly filled with all kinds of troops; and the city of Ephesus seemed only a palestra, and a school of war. The whole market place was filled with horses and arms, and the shops with different kinds of military equipage. Agesilaus was seen returning from the exercises, followed by a crowd of officers and soldiers, all of them crowned with wreaths, which they were proceeding to deposit in the temple of Diana, to the great admiration and delight of all the world. “For," Xenoph. Hist. Græc. 1. iii. p. 497-502- Idem, de Agesil. p. 652-856 Plut. in Agesil, p. 600. 279 says Xenophon," where piety and discipline are seen to flourish, the best hopes must be entertained." To give his soldiers new valour from a contempt for their enemies, he made use of this contrivance. He ordered the commissaries who had the charge of the booty, to strip the prisoners and expose them to sale. There were very many to purchase their clothes; but, for themselves, their bodies were so soft, white, and delicate, having been nurtured and brought up in the shade, that they were laughed at, as of neither service nor value. Agesilaus took this occasion to approach and say to his soldiers, pointing to them, "See there against whom ye fight;" and showing them their rich spoils, "and there for what you fight." When the season for taking the field returned, Agesilaus gave out that he would march into Lydia. Tissaphernes, who had not forgot the first stratagem he had used in regard to him, and was not willing to be deceived a second time, caused his troops to march immediately for Caria; not doubting that Agesilaus would, on this occasion, turn his arms in that direction; more especially as it was natural for him, being in want of cavalry to endeavour to make a rough and difficult country the seat of war, so as to render the horse of an enemy useless and unserviceable. But he deceived himself: Agesilaus entered Lydia, and approached Sardis. Tissaphernes hastened thither with his horse, with intent to relieve the place. Agesilaus, knowing that his infantry had not had time to arrive, thought proper to take advantage of so favourable an opportunity. He drew up his army in two lines; the first he formed of his squadrons, whose intervals he filled up with platoons of the light armed foot, and ordered them to begin the charge, while he followed with the second line, composed of his heavy-armed infantry. The barbarians did not sustain the first shock, but fled immediately. The Greeks pursued them, and forced their camp, where they made a great slaughter, and a still greater booty. After this battle, the troops of Agesilaus were at entire liberty to plunder and ravage the whole country of the Persians, and at the same time had the satisfaction to see that prince inflict an exemplary punishment upon Tissaphernes, who was a very wicked man, and the most dangerous enemy of the Greeks. The king had already received numerous complaints against his conduct. Upon this occasion he was accused of treason, as not having done his duty in the battle. Queen Parysatis, always actuated by her hatred and revenge against those who had any share in the death of her son Cyrus, did not a little contribute to the death of Tissaphernes, by aggravating with all her power, the charges against him; for she had been entirely restored to favour by the king her son.t As Tissaphernes had great authority in Asia, the king was afraid to attack him openly, but thought it necessary to take suitable precautions, in seizing so powerful an officer, who might have proved a dangerous enemy. He charged Tithraustes with that important commission; and gave him two letters at the same time. The first was for Tissaphernes, and contained the king's orders in regard to the war with the Greeks, with full power to act as was requisite. The second was addressed to Ariæus, governor of Larissa; by which the king commanded him to assist Tithraustes with his counsel, and all his forces, in seizing Tissaphernes. He lost no time, and sent to desire Tissaphernes to come to him, that they might confer together upon the operations of the ensuing campaign. Tissaphernes, who suspected nothing, went to him with only a guard of three hundred men. While he was in a bath, without sabre or other arms, he was seized and put into the hands of Tithraustes, who caused his head to be struck off, and sent it immediately to Persia. The king gave it to Parysatis; an agreeable present to a princess of her violent and vindictive temper. Though this conduct of Artaxerxes seems little worthy of Xenoph. p. 501, et 657. Plut. in Artax. p. 1022. In Agesil. p. 681.. |