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An unexpected succession
Agesilaus was a son of Archidamus II and the younger half-brother of Agis II, both Eurypontid kings. He was not originally the obvious heir. After Agis' death, the claim of Agis' son Leotychidas was challenged through allegations about his parentage. Lysander supported Agesilaus, who secured the throne around 400 BCE. The charge that Leotychidas was really Alcibiades' son belongs to a contested succession narrative, not a fact that can now be independently proved.
Ancient writers also discuss Agesilaus' physical disability and the interpretation of an oracle warning against a lame kingship. Such material reveals how bodily characteristics and religious language could become political arguments. Plutarch emphasizes that Agesilaus had undergone the upbringing of an ordinary Spartan boy because he had not expected to rule. His biography uses this experience to explain a king who supposedly combined authority with an unusual readiness to obey civic institutions.[1][3]
War in Asia and recall to Greece
In 396 BCE Agesilaus led a campaign in Asia Minor against Persian forces. His expedition claimed to defend the autonomy of Greek cities, but it also advanced Spartan leadership after Athens' defeat. Relations with Lysander deteriorated when the king rejected the older commander's expectation of influence. Personal rivalry therefore accompanied the larger military project. Campaigning required negotiation with local communities, the collection of supplies, and decisions about where Persian power could be challenged effectively.
Agesilaus won a notable success near Sardis in 395, but developments in Greece forced Sparta to recall him. The Corinthian War brought together opponents including Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos, with Persian support contributing to the conflict. Returning overland, Agesilaus fought at Coronea in 394. His battlefield achievement did not restore uncontested Spartan supremacy. The naval defeat at Cnidus in the same year sharply reduced Sparta's position in the Aegean.[2][1]
Hegemony under pressure
The King's Peace of 387/386 BCE recognized Persian authority over the Greek cities of Asia and proclaimed autonomy for other Greek communities. Sparta used enforcement of the settlement to strengthen its own position in mainland Greece. This outcome exposed a tension between earlier claims to liberate Asian Greeks and the diplomatic arrangements now accepted. Agesilaus' career cannot be understood through a simple, lifelong opposition to Persia; Spartan policy responded to changing military and political constraints.
Hostility toward Thebes became especially consequential. After a Spartan force seized the Theban citadel in 382, Agesilaus defended the advantage gained, despite controversy over the commander's initiative. Thebes later expelled the garrison and rebuilt its power. At Leuctra in 371, the Spartan army was commanded by Agesilaus' royal colleague Cleombrotus, who died in the defeat. Attributing personal command of that battle to Agesilaus confuses his broader political influence with a specific battlefield responsibility.[2][1]
Survival, service abroad, and reputation
The invasion of Laconia and liberation of Messenia in 370/369 BCE transformed the kingdom Agesilaus had inherited. He helped organize the defense of Sparta, which remained uncaptured, but could not restore its former territorial dominance. The loss of Messenian land and labor weakened the economic basis of citizen privilege. Later in his life he served abroad, including in Egypt, seeking resources and opportunities within a world of competing rulers rather than a securely Spartan-led Greece.
He died on his return from Egypt, conventionally dated to 360 or 359 BCE. Xenophon's admiration and Plutarch's later moral analysis create different emphases in the surviving portrait. Agesilaus could appear personally restrained and loyal to friends while pursuing policies with severe consequences for other communities. A balanced biography separates these judgments. His reign offers a view of Sparta's strengths and limitations across four decades, from aggressive overseas command to the difficult preservation of a diminished state.[1][2]
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
References & further reading
- Ancient textPlutarch, Life of Agesilaus ↗
Bernadotte Perrin translation, public domain. Compare this later biography with Xenophon's contemporary but admiring account.
- Ancient textXenophon, Hellenica ↗
H. G. Dakyns translation, public domain. Covers the later Peloponnesian War and Greek affairs down to 362 BCE.
- Modern scholarshipLivius: Agesilaus II ↗
Historical chronology and overview. Modern accounts differ slightly over accession and death dates.