Agesilaus II of Sparta

Statesman and military leader

Born: c. 444 b. c.e.; Sparta, Greece

Died: c. 360 b. c.e.; Cyrene, Cyrenaica (now in Libya)

Category: Military; government and politics

Life Agesilaus (uh-jehs-uh-LAY-uhs) II of Sparta was the younger son of Archidamus II, a Eurypontid king of Sparta, and his second wife, Eupolia. Because he was not expected to become king, Agesilaus underwent the rigorous Spartan system of military training, known as the agogT. However, he did become a ruler in 400 b. c.e., when the Spartan general Lysander of Sparta persuaded the Spartans that Agesilaus’s nephew, the heir-apparent, was actually the son of the Athenian Alcibiades.

Agesilaus ascended the throne at a time when Sparta and its allies dominated the Greek world following the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 b. c.e.). In 396-394 b. c.e., he campaigned successfully against the Persians in Asia Minor in support of the independence of Greek cities there. He was soon recalled home, however, to defend Sparta against an alliance of Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos. Agesilaus defeated the allies at Coronea in 394 b. c.e., and Spartan hegemony over Greece was confirmed in the King’s Peace (386 b. c.e.; also known as the Peace of Antalcidas).

Agesilaus spent the next decade and a half warding off several challenges to Sparta’s power. Although he was an inspiring battlefield leader, Agesilaus failed to prepare the Spartan army for the military innovations of the fourth century b. c.e. Using a wider and deeper phalanx and an oblique battle line, the Thebans destroyed the Spartan army, led by King Cleom-brotus (Sparta had a dual monarchy), atLeuctra(371 b. c.e.). Agesilaus was able to prevent a Theban seizure of Sparta by hard campaigning in 370-369 b. c.e., but Spartan supremacy in Greece was effectively ended. He died while leading a mercenary expedition to Egypt.

Agesilaus II of Sparta. (Library of Congress)

Influence Sparta’s inability to maintain its power was mainly caused by the fact that its institutions were unsuited to empire building and by a progressive decline in the numbers of Spartan citizens. Agesilaus contributed to his city’s decline by alienating Sparta’s allies through frequent interference in their internal affairs.

Further Reading

Cartledge, Paul. The Spartans: The World of the Warrior Heroes of Ancient Greece, from Utopia to Crisis and Collapse. Woodstock, N. Y.: Overlook Press, 2003.

Cartledge, Paul, and Antony Spawforth. Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities. 2d ed. London: Routledge, 2002.

Hamilton, Charles D. Agesilaus and the Failure of Spartan Hegemony.

Ithaca, NY.: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Plutarch. The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Books, 1973.

Shipley, D. R. A Commentary on Plutarch’s Life ofAgesilaos. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1997.

Michael S. Fitzgerald

See also: Archidamus II of Sparta; King’s Peace; Leuctra, Battle of.