Agesilaus
by Xenophon (-431–-355)
- Free to read
- 55 min read
- 11 chapters
- Reading level: 8th & 9th grade
"Agesilaus" by Xenophon is a posthumous biography written shortly after 360-359 BC. This ancient Greek encomium celebrates Agesilaus II, the Spartan king who served as Xenophon's patron. Written by someone who fought alongside his subject, the work portrays Agesilaus as a brilliant military tactician and moral exemplar. Through accounts of battles, strategic victories, and personal conduct, Xenophon explores Greek ideals of leadership, virtue, and excellence, presenting the Spartan ruler as the perfect embodiment of these values.
- Classical literature
- Greece · History · Spartan and Theban Supremacies, 404-362 B.C.
- Agesilaus II, King of Sparta
Read the opening
Chapter I
To write the praises of Agesilaus in language equalling his virtue and renown is, I know, no easy task; yet must it be essayed; since it were but an ill requital of pre-eminence, that, on the ground of his perfection, a good man should forfeit the tribute even of imperfect praise.
As touching, therefore, the excellency of his birth, what weightier, what nobler testimony can be adduced than this one fact? To the commemorative list of famous ancestry is added to-day the name (1) Agesilaus as holding this or that numerical descent from Heracles, and these ancestors no private persons, but kings sprung from the loins of kings. Nor is it open to the gainsayer to contend that they were kings indeed but of some chance city. Not so, but even as their family holds highest honour in their fatherland, so too is their city the most glorious in Hellas, whereby they hold, not primacy over the second best, but among leaders they have leadership.
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About this edition
This free edition of Agesilaus by Xenophon comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #1169, released 1998-01-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Biographies, History - Ancient, History - Royalty, History - Warfare.
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