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Xenophon · Agesilaus §2.16-2.23

Campaigns Across Greece and Expedition After Leuctra

Passage 7 of 18 · Greek

Summary

Following the truce after the Battle of Coroneia, Agesilaus launches successful campaigns against Argos, Peiraeum in Corinthian territory, Acarnania, and Phlius, while insisting on the repatriation of exiles. Even after the Lacedaemonian defeat at Leuctra, he leads a solo Lacedaemonian expedition to avenge his friends in Tegea.

§2.16καὶ οἱ μὲν ταῦτʼ ἐποίουν· οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι ἔπεμψαν κήρυκα, ὑποσπόνδους τοὺς νεκροὺς αἰτοῦντες θάψαι.
And they did these things; while the Thebans sent a herald, asking to bury their dead under a truce.
καὶ οὕτως δὴ αἵ τε σπονδαὶ γίγνονται καὶ ὁ Ἀγησίλαος οἴκαδε ἀπεχώρει, ἑλόμενος ἀντὶ τοῦ μέγιστος εἶναι ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ οἴκοι τὰ νόμιμα μὲν ἄρχειν, τὰ νόμιμα δὲ ἄρχεσθαι. §2.17ἐκ δὲ τούτου κατανοήσας τοὺς Ἀργείους τὰ μὲν οἴκοι καρπουμένους, Κόρινθον δὲ προσειληφότας, ἡδομένους δὲ τῷ πολέμῳ, στρατεύει ἐπʼ αὐτούς·
Thus indeed the truce was made, and Agesilaus returned home, having chosen, instead of being the greatest man in Asia, to rule at home in accordance with the laws, and to be ruled in accordance with the laws. After this, observing that the Argives were enjoying their own revenues at home, had annexed Corinth, and were taking pleasure in the war, he marched against them.
καὶ δῃώσας πᾶσαν αὐτῶν τὴν χώραν εὐθὺς ἐκεῖθεν ὑπερβαλὼν κατὰ τὰ στενὰ εἰς Κόρινθον αἱρεῖ τὰ ἐπὶ τὸ Λέχαιον τείνοντα τείχη·
And having ravaged all their territory, straightway crossing from there through the passes into Corinth, he captured the walls extending to Lechaeum.
καὶ ἀναπετάσας τῆς Πελοποννήσου τὰς πύλας οὕτως οἴκαδε ἀπελθὼν εἰς τὰ Ὑακίνθια ὅπου ἐτάχθη ὑπὸ τοῦ χοροποιοῦ τὸν παιᾶνα τῷ θεῷ συνεπετέλει. §2.18ἐκ τούτου δὲ αἰσθανόμενος τοὺς Κορινθίους πάντα μὲν τὰ κτήνη ἐν τῷ Πειραίῳ σῳζομένους, πᾶν δὲ τὸ Πείραιον σπείροντας καὶ καρπουμένους, μέγιστον δὲ ἡγησάμενος ὅτι Βοιωτοὶ ταύτῃ ἐκ Κρεύσιος ὁρμώμενοι εὐπετῶς τοῖς Κορινθίοις παρεγίγνοντο, στρατεύει ἐπὶ τὸ Πείραιον.
And having flung open the gates of the Peloponnese, and having thus gone home, he joined in performing the paean to the deity at the Hyacinthia, in the place where he was assigned by the chorus-leader. After this, perceiving that the Corinthians were keeping all their cattle safe in Peiraeum, and were sowing and harvesting the whole of Peiraeum, and thinking it of the greatest importance that the Boeotians, starting from Creusis, could easily come to the aid of the Corinthians by this route, he marched against Peiraeum.
ἰδὼν δὲ ὑπὸ πολλῶν φυλαττόμενον, ὡς ἐνδιδομένης τῆς πόλεως ἐξ ἀρίστου μετεστρατοπεδεύσατο πρὸς τὸ ἄστυ· §2.19αἰσθόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ νύκτα βεβοηθηκότας ἐκ τοῦ Πειραίου εἰς τὴν πόλιν πασσυδίᾳ, ὑποστρέψας ἅμα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ αἱρεῖ τὸ Πείραιον, ἔρημον εὑρὼν φυλακῆς, καὶ τά τε ἄλλα τὰ ἐνόντα λαμβάνει καὶ τὰ τείχη ἃ ἐνετετείχιστο. §2.20ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσας οἴκαδε ἀπεχώρησε.
But seeing that it was guarded by many, on the pretense that the city was being betrayed to him, he moved his camp toward the town after breakfast. But having perceived that under cover of night they had hastened from Peiraeum to the city with all their force, he turned back at daybreak and captured Peiraeum, finding it empty of guards; and he took both all the other things that were in it and the walls that had been built there. Having done these things, he returned home.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα προθύμων ὄντων τῶν Ἀχαιῶν εἰς τὴν συμμαχίαν καὶ δεομένων συστρατεύειν αὐτοῖς εἰς Ἀκαρνανίαν καὶ ἐπιθεμένων ἐν στενοῖς τῶν Ἀκαρνάνων καταλαβὼν τὰ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν μάχην συνάπτει καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποκτείνας αὐτῶν τρόπαιον ἐστήσατο, καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἔληξε πρὶν Ἀχαιοῖς μὲν φίλους ἐποίησεν Ἀκαρνᾶνας καὶ Αἰτωλοὺς καὶ Ἀργείους, ἑαυτῷ δὲ καὶ συμμάχους. §2.21ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰρήνης ἐπιθυμήσαντες οἱ πολέμιοι ἐπρεσβεύοντο, Ἀγησίλαος ἀντεῖπε τῇ εἰρήνῃ, ἕως τοὺς διὰ Λακεδαιμονίους φυγόντας Κορινθίων καὶ Θηβαίων ἠνάγκασε τὰς πόλεις οἴκαδε καταδέξασθαι.
After this, since the Achaeans were eager for the alliance and begged him to join them in a campaign into Acarnania, and since the Acarnanians attacked them in the passes, he occupied the heights above them, joined battle, and having killed many of them, set up a trophy; and he did not stop until he made the Acarnanians, Aetolians, and Argives friends to the Achaeans, and allies to himself. When the enemy, desiring peace, sent embassies, Agesilaus opposed the peace until he forced the cities to receive back home those of the Corinthians and Thebans who had been exiled because of the Lacedaemonians.
ὕστερον δʼ αὖ καὶ Φλειασίων τοὺς διὰ Λακεδαιμονίους φυγόντας κατήγαγεν, αὐτὸς στρατευσάμενος ἐπὶ Φλειοῦντα.
Later, moreover, he also restored those of the Phliasians who had been exiled because of the Lacedaemonians, by campaigning in person against Phlius.
εἰ δέ τις ἄλλῃ πῃ ταῦτα μέμφεται, ἀλλʼ οὖν φιλεταιρίᾳ γε πραχθέντα φανερά ἐστι. §2.22καὶ γὰρ ἐπεὶ τοὺς ἐν Θήβαις τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων κατέκανον οἱ ἐναντίοι, βοηθῶν αὖ τούτοις στρατεύει ἐπὶ τὰς Θήβας.
And if anyone blames these acts in any other respect, at least it is clear that they were done out of loyalty to his friends. For indeed, when the opponents slaughtered the Lacedaemonian partisans in Thebes, he marched against Thebes again to aid them.
εὑρὼν δὲ ἀποτεταφρευμένα καὶ ἀπεσταυρωμένα ἅπαντα, ὑπερβὰς τὰς Κυνὸς κεφαλὰς ἐδῄου τὴν χώραν μέχρι τοῦ ἄστεως, παρέχων καὶ ἐν πεδίῳ καὶ ἀνὰ τὰ ὄρη μάχεσθαι Θηβαίοις, εἰ βούλοιντο.
Finding everything blocked by trenches and palisades, he crossed Cynoscephalae and ravaged the territory up to the town, offering the Thebans battle both in the plain and on the mountains, if they wished.
ἐστράτευσε δὲ καὶ τῷ ἐπιόντι ἔτει πάλιν ἐπὶ Θήβας· καὶ ὑπερβὰς τὰ κατὰ Σκῶλον σταυρώματα καὶ τάφρους ἐδῄωσε τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς Βοιωτίας. §2.23τὰ μὲν δὴ μέχρι τούτου κοινῇ αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ πόλις ηὐτύχει· ὅσα γε μὴν μετὰ τοῦτο σφάλματα ἐγένοντο οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι ὡς Ἀγησιλάου ἡγουμένου ἐπράχθη.
And in the following year he marched again against Thebes; and having crossed the palisades and trenches near Scolus, he ravaged the rest of Boeotia. Up to this point, indeed, both he himself and the city prospered together; but as for whatever setbacks occurred after this, no one could say that they were done under the leadership of Agesilaus.
ἐπεὶ δʼ αὖ τῆς ἐν Λεύκτροις συμφορᾶς γεγενημένης κατακαίνουσι τοὺς ἐν Τεγέᾳ φίλους καὶ ξένους αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀντίπαλοι σὺν Μαντινεῦσι, συνεστηκότων ἤδη Βοιωτῶν τε πάντων καὶ Ἀρκάδων καὶ Ἠλείων, στρατεύει σὺν μόνῃ τῇ Λακεδαιμονίων δυνάμει, πολλῶν νομιζόντων οὐδʼ ἂν ἐξελθεῖν Λακεδαιμονίους πολλοῦ χρόνου ἐκ τῆς αὑτῶν.
When, on the other hand, after the disaster at Leuctra had occurred, his opponents along with the Mantineans slaughtered his friends and guest-friends in Tegea, and when all the Boeotians, Arcadians, and Eleans had already united, he marched with the Lacedaemonian force alone, though many thought that the Lacedaemonians would not even go out of their own land for a long time.
δῃώσας δὲ τὴν χώραν τῶν κατακανόντων τοὺς φίλους οὕτως αὖ οἴκαδε ἀπεχώρησεν.
And having ravaged the territory of those who had slaughtered his friends, he returned home once more in this manner.

Notes

  1. 2.16ἀντὶ τοῦ μέγιστος εἶναι — The preposition ἀντί is followed by the genitive of the articular infinitive, expressing substitution or preference ('instead of being...'). Since the subject of the infinitive is identical to the subject of the main clause (Agesilaus), it is not expressed in the accusative, and the predicate adjective μέγιστος remains in the nominative case (masculine singular superlative) in agreement with the main subject.
  2. 2.17τοὺς Ἀργείους τὰ μὲν οἴκοι καρπουμένους — The verb of mental perception κατανοέω takes a supplementary participle with an accusative subject (τοὺς Ἀργείους ... καρπουμένους), serving as an indirect discourse equivalent to show what Agesilaus perceived. The subsequent coordinated participles, προσειληφότας and ἡδομένους, also share this construction.
  3. 2.18ὡς ἐνδιδομένης τῆς πόλεως — A genitive absolute construction introduced by the conjunction ὡς. Here, ὡς expresses a subjective reason, pretense, or pretext ('on the pretense that the city was being betrayed'), indicating the deceptive intent of Agesilaus's maneuver to mislead the enemy.
  4. 2.20οὐ πρότερον ἔληξε πρὶν Ἀχαιοῖς μὲν φίλους ἐποίησεν — Because the main clause contains a negative expression (οὐ πρότερον), the conjunction πρίν is followed by the indicative past tense (ἐποίησεν), denoting a specific historical fact or result in the past ('he did not stop until he made...'). Note that the indicative, rather than an infinitive, is required in this negative context.
  5. 2.23οὐδʼ ἂν ἐξελθεῖν — An accusative and infinitive construction dependent on the verb of thinking νομιζόντων, where the aorist infinitive ἐξελθεῖν is paired with the particle ἄν. This represents an indirect discourse representation of a potential optative (οὐδ' ἂν ἐξέλθοιεν, 'they would not even go out') expressing a past potentiality or expectation.

Cite this passage

Xenophon, Agesilaus §2.16-2.23. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0032.tlg009.humanitext-grc2:2.16-2.23

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