Agesilaus

Agesilaus was the younger son of Archidamus, one of the two kings of Sparta. His mother was called Eupolia. After Archidamus died, Agesilaus' older brother, Agis, succeeded him as one of the kings. Because Agesilaus was not expected to become king, he went through the same austere training as other Spartan boys.

Agis would normally have been succeeded by his son, Leotychidas. However, there was some doubt about whether Leotychidas was actually Agis' son since Agis himself only acknowledged him on his deathbed (399 B.C.).

According to gossip, the Athenian general Alcibiades, who had been in Sparta at the right time, was Leotychidas' biological father. The controversy was complicated by an oracle that a lame kingship would be disastrous for Sparta, and Agesilaus was lame.

Agesilaus did have the support, however, of Lysander, the Spartan general who had defeated Athens (404), thus putting an end to a long drawn-out war and establishing Sparta as the undisputed leading city-state of Greece. Lysander argued that the lame kingship in the oracle referred to Leotychidas' illegitimacy rather than Agesilaus' lameness. This argument was accepted by the Spartans, and so Agesilaus became king.

Soon after his accession, Agesilaus was persuaded by Lysander to undertake an expedition to Asia (now Western Turkey), where the Persians were trying to re-assert their authority (396). The Spartan expedition set sail from Aulis -- the same departure point as Agamemnon had used in his expedition against Troy. When Agesilaus wanted to perform a sacrifice to the gods before leaving, the Boeotians disrupted the ceremony, throwing the sacrificial victim's thighs off the altar, on the grounds that only they were permitted to sacrifice there. Agesilaus never forgave the Thebans.

When Agesilaus reached Ephesus, he found that Lysander was highly regarded by some and greatly feared by others. Agesilaus himself, the king, was very casually treated in comparison despite his nominal superiority. He at once set about making his superior position a reality by turning down all requests and plans he knew Lysander had a hand in and favouring anyone who Lysander was against. Relations between the two deteriorated until Lysander's death in Boeotia the next year.

Although Tissaphernes, the satrap of Persia, seemed to be willing to assist the Spartans, and promised to detach the Greek cities of Asia from the Persian empire, this was just a ruse while he built up his forces. Agesilaus replied with another ruse, pretending that he was going to attack Caria, until Tissaphernes gathered his troops there, at which point Agesilaus' real target, Phrygia, became apparent.

Forced to withdraw from Phrygia with a great deal of booty because of his lack of cavalry, Agesilaus returned to Ephesus and set about forming a cavalry force during the winter, when campaigning usually stopped. The next year (395), he gave out that he was planning an attack on Lydia. Tissaphernes was afraid of another trap, and again collected his troops in Caria. Unfortunately, this time Agesilaus had been telling the truth. After marching from Caria, Tissaphernes was defeated by Agesilaus near Sardis, and then executed on the Persian king's orders.

Agesilaus then received a commission from Sparta to take over command of the fleet as well. He appointed Pisander, his brother-in-law as admiral and planned to march against Pharnabazus, satrap of Phrygia. In an attempt to get rid of Agesilaus, Pharnabazus had been encouraging the Greek cities to launch an joint attack against Sparta. Lysander was unable to bring Pharnabazus to a pitched battle, and started moving inland against the Persian royal cities of Ecbatana and Susa. (394).