CLEOMENES

1. After Agis' death his brother Archidamus at once fled, so that Leonidas was too late to arrest him. But he did forcibly remove Agis' wife (who had a newborn infant) ¹ from her home and marry her to his son Cleomenes: he was not quite of a suitable age to marry, but Leonidas did not want the woman to be given to anyone else. For Agiatis was heiress to the substantial property of her father Gylippus, as well as being much more beautiful and lovelier than other Greek women, and of equable temperament. The story is that she therefore pleaded hard against being forced, but that once married to Cleomenes, while continuing to detest Leonidas, she did make the young man a good, loving wife. For his part, as soon as he married her he fell in love with her, and in a sense sympathized with his wife's devotion to Agis and her remembrance of him. Consequently he often asked about what had happened, and paid careful attention when she explained Agis' purpose and policy.

Cleomenes, too, was ambitious and idealistic in addition to being as well endowed as Agis with self-discipline and restraint. But he did not possess Agis' exceptional discretion and mildness. Instead his character contained an active and forceful element, and an extremely strong impulse to aim for any worthwhile goal. He regarded it as excellent to dominate willing followers, yet honourable also to overcome disobedient ones and force them into a better path.

2. He was certainly not satisfied with the state of affairs in the city, where the citizens had been lulled by inactivity and indulgence, and the king let all business slide so long as no one disturbed him in his desire to live a life of leisure and luxury in affluent circumstances. Public affairs were disregarded as everyone amassed profits for themselves privately. As for training, self-discipline on the part of the young, stamina and equality, it was unsafe so much as to mention these now that Agis and his family were dead.

While still a youth Cleomenes is also said to have taken part in philosophical discussions at the time when Sphaerus from Olbia² visited Sparta and devoted a good deal of attention to both the young men and the ephebes. Sphaerus had become one of the leading followers of Zeno of Citium, and apparently he was delighted by the manliness of Cleomenes' character and tried to fire his ambition. There is a story that when the Leonidas of ancient times was asked his impression of Tyrtaeus’³ quality as a poet, he replied: ‘A good one for firing the spirits of the young.’ For the poems filled them with such excitement that they stopped caring for themselves in battle. But where great and passionate characters are concerned, Stoic doctrine has an element that is unstable and hazardous; it is rather when combined with a profound and mild temperament that it particularly develops towards its intrinsic worth.

3. On Leonidas' death Cleomenes succeeded to the throne and saw how thoroughly enervated the citizens were by then.⁴ Among the rich there was neglect of public affairs in favour of their private pleasures and gains, while ordinary people, because of the wretched state of their domestic affairs, had lost their enthusiasm for campaigning and their motivation for the traditional system of education.⁵ He was, however, king merely in name, and all power belonged to the ephors. Thus he at once developed the idea of changing and overturning this current state of affairs; and since he had a friend Xenares, who had been his lover (such love Spartans call ‘inspiration’), he began to test him with questions about Agis – what sort of king he had been, what means he had adopted, and what associates he had had in embarking on the course he took. To begin with Xenares was willing enough to recall those circumstances, and he would relate and explain how each developed. But once it became clear that Cleomenes' emotions were being roused as he listened to him, and that he was tremendously stirred by Agis' reforms and wished to hear the same account of them repeatedly, Xenares reprimanded him furiously for his unhealthy attitude, and eventually he stopped talking to him and visiting him. However, he did not tell anyone the reason for their disagreement, but just said that Cleomenes was aware of it.

With Xenares thus obstructive Cleomenes reckoned that others too would have the same reaction, and began to lay his plans on his own. With the idea that he would stand a better chance of altering the current state of affairs in time of war rather than of peace, he engineered a clash between the city and the Achaeans, who themselves supplied grounds for complaints anyway. For Aratus, who exercised the strongest influence among the Achaeans, had a longstanding desire to draw the Peloponnesians into a single federation. On the many occasions he had been general, and in his long political career, this was his goal, founded upon the conviction that by such means alone would they withstand their external foes. Practically all the rest had joined him, and only the Spartans, Eleans and such Arcadians as were influenced by the Spartans held aloof. Thus from the moment of Leonidas' death Aratus started to provoke the Arcadians and inflicted particular damage on those who shared a common border with the Achaeans, thereby testing the Spartans and Cleomenes, whom he despised as young and inexperienced.⁶

4. As a result the ephors first sent Cleomenes to seize the Athenaeum near Belbina. This spot is one of the gateways to Laconia, and at that time was disputed with the Megalopolitans. Once Cleomenes had seized and fortified it Aratus raised no complaint, but made a night foray to attack the people of Tegea and Orchomenus. Yet when the courage of the local traitors failed them, Aratus withdrew, reckoning that he had not been noticed. But Cleomenes wrote to him in an ironic vein making a friendly enquiry about the goal of his nocturnal march. Aratus wrote back that, having heard of Cleomenes' plan to fortify Belbina, he had come down to stop it. Cleomenes then sent a second note stating he had been convinced this was the case: ‘But,’ he said, ‘if it's all the same to you, write and tell me why you brought along those torches and ladders.’ When Aratus laughed at the joke and asked what sort of person the youngster was, Damocrates the Spartan exile replied: ‘If you aim to make any move against the Spartans, your best course is to act quickly before this young cub grows his claws.’

Next, when Cleomenes at the head of a few horsemen and 300 infantry set up camp in Arcadia, the ephors ordered him to pull back, because they feared a war. But once he had pulled back, and Aratus took Caphyae, then the ephors sent Cleomenes out again.⁷After he had seized Methydrium and devastated the territory of Argos, an Achaean force of 20,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry commanded by Aristomachus moved against him. Cleomenes met it near Pallantium and was willing to give battle, but Aratus was frightened of such daring and did not allow his general to take the risk. Instead he moved off⁸ with the Achaeans cursing him, while the Spartans – who did not even number 5,000 – mocked him and despised him. So Cleomenes' spirits were much raised and he became more confident in his attitude towards the citizens. He also reminded them of the remark made by one of their ancient kings that the pointed question Spartans ask about their enemies is not how many of them there are, but where they are.

5. Then, when the Eleans were being attacked by the Achaeans, Cleomenes gave them help. He fell upon the Achaeans near Mount Lycaeum when they were already withdrawing, routed their entire army, and struck panic into it. He slaughtered great numbers and also took many alive, which even gave rise to a rumour throughout Greece that Aratus was dead. But Aratus exploited his opportunity superbly by making a completely unexpected advance against Mantinea immediately after this rout, ⁹ thus capturing and holding it. The Spartans' morale by contrast was extremely low and they stood out against further campaigning by Cleomenes. So he moved quickly to recall Agis' brother, Archidamus, from Messene as the man who should rightfully be his fellow king from the other royal house.¹⁰ His thinking was that the ephors' authority would lose its edge more if the kingship became equally balanced and whole again. But those who had murdered Agis earlier found out about this and were frightened of being punished once Archidamus was restored. So while they did welcome him when he slipped secretly into the city, and did co-operate in his return, they then killed him at once – either against Cleomenes' wishes, as Phylarchus believes, or after his friends had prevailed upon him and he had delivered Archidamus to them. Certainly the blame fell mostly on them since it seemed that they had forced Cleomenes' hand.¹¹

6. Nevertheless, having once made up his mind to bring about an instant reform of the state, he bribed the ephors to vote him an expedition. He conciliated many others too with the help of his mother Cratesicleia, who unstintingly joined in contributing to his cause and was equally enthusiastic about it. There is a story that even though she had no desire to remarry, all the same for her son's sake she did take as husband a citizen whose reputation and influence were outstanding. After leading out his expedition Cleomenes took a place in the territory of Megalopolis called Leuctra; and once an Achaean relief force commanded by Aratus appeared promptly to oppose him, he was defeated along with some part of his army which he had marshalled right under the town walls.¹² But then Aratus refused to allow the Achaeans to cross a particular deep ravine, and instead ended his pursuit there. Lydiadas the Megalopolitan was incensed at this, however, and spurred on the cavalrymen round him: but when extending the chase into an area cluttered with vines, ditches and walls he charged ahead, got his men scattered among these obstacles, and ended up in difficulties. Cleomenes spotted this and sent in his Tarentines and Cretans¹³ against him, and Lydiadas fell to them after putting up a stiff resistance. The Spartans were encouraged at this, fell upon the Achaeans with a roar, and routed the entire army. Cleomenes gave back under truce the many who were killed – all except Lydiadas, whose body he ordered to be brought to him. He then dressed it in a purple robe, placed a crown on it and sent it off to the gates of Megalopolis. This was the Lydiadas who had abdicated as tyrant, restored the citizens their freedom, and brought the city over to the Achaeans.

7. Following this Cleomenes now felt very self-assured, and was confident that provided he might keep personal control of affairs in the way he desired while waging war on the Achaeans, then he would easily beat them. He began explaining to his mother's husband Megistonous that they needed to be rid of the ephors and to make all their property common for the citizens' benefit: then once Sparta had regained equality, they would rouse her and guide her forward to assume the leadership of Greece. After Megistonous was won over, he brought in two or three of his friends as well. Then, as it happened, around that date one of the ephors had an astonishing dream as he slept in the sanctuary of Pasiphaë.¹⁴ For he had the impression that there was only one seat in position in the spot where the ephors customarily sit to conduct their business, and that the other four had been removed; as he marvelled at this there issued a voice from the sanctuary, declaring that this was better for Sparta. When the ephor gave Cleomenes a full account of this vision, he was initially very perturbed because he had a certain suspicion that he was being tested; but once convinced that the account was not fabricated he felt encouraged. And taking along such citizens as he suspected would be especially opposed to his policy, he captured Heraea and Asea cities ranged on the Achaean side), brought in food for the people of Orchomenus, pitched camp near Mantinea, and by long marches¹⁵ up and down altogether wore out the Spartans. Then after leaving the majority of them behind in Arcadia at their own request, he proceeded to Sparta himself at the head of his mercenaries. On the journey he also communicated his plan to those he trusted as being particularly loyal to him, and proceeded at a gentle pace so that he might attack the ephors as they were having dinner.

8. When he was close to the city he first sent Eurycleidas to the ephors' mess on the pretence that he had come from the army with some message from the king; Therycion and Phoebis, two of those brought up with Cleomenes (men termed mothakes), ¹⁶followed behind with a few soldiers. Then, while Eurycleidas was still talking to the ephors, these dashed in with daggers drawn and stabbed them. The first ephor, Agylaeus, collapsed under the blow and gave the impression of being dead, but quietly rallied and dragged himself out of the room. Quite unnoticed he crept towards a little building which was a shrine of Fear normally always kept closed, but by chance it happened to be open at that moment. So he hauled himself inside and shut the door. The other four ephors were killed along with at least ten of those who came to their rescue. But people who kept quiet were not killed, nor was anyone who tried to leave the city obstructed. Even Agylaeus was spared when he emerged from the temple the next day.

9. Spartans have shrines not just of Fear, but also of Death and Laughter and other such emotions. They honour Fear, not as something harmful, like the supernatural powers that they seek to ward off, but because in their opinion the state is held together above all by Fear. It was for this reason, too, that the ephors on entering office used to issue a proclamation to the citizens (as Aristotle says) to shave their moustaches and pay attention to the laws so that these might not be irksome to them. They cited moustaches, I suppose, so as to get the young men used to complying over even the most trivial things. Moreover (in my view) the men of old seemed to regard courage not as fearlessness, but as fear of censure and terror of disgrace. For the men who are the most cowardly before the law are the boldest in front of the enemy: those who are particularly nervous of gaining a bad reputation have the least fear of suffering. Thus it has been well said¹⁷ too that:

‘Where there is fear, there is also a sense of respect.’

And Homer says:

‘I respect you, dear father-in-law, and dread you.’

And:

‘In silence, in fear of their leaders.’¹⁸

In fact the most normal pattern is for the majority to respect those whom they fear too. This was also why it was that the Spartans established Fear next to the ephors' mess, once they had invested that magistracy with virtually absolute authority.

10. So when day broke Cleomenes proscribed eighty citizens who were required to leave, and he removed the ephors' seats – except for one in which he intended to sit himself and handle business. Calling an assembly, he spoke in defence of what had been done. Lycurgus, he said, had associated the Elders with the kings, and for a long period the city had been administered in this way and needed no other form of government. But later, when the war against the Messenians became prolonged, and the kings were not free to attend personally to their judicial work because of their campaigning, they picked some of their friends and left them for the citizens as their replacements. These men were called ‘ephors’, and at first they did continue to be just the kings' assistants, but gradually they diverted authority to themselves and so, before others realized it, they developed a magistracy¹⁹ in its own right. There is proof of that in the practice still current whereby when the ephors send for the king, he refuses the first time and the second, but at their third summons he rises and goes to them.²⁰ Asteropus, the first ephor to have given the magistracy notable strength and scope, had lived many generations later. So long as the ephors' behaviour had been moderate, he said, it had been better to tolerate them. But now they had become insufferable as they used their usurped authority to break up the traditional form of government – chasing out some kings, putting others to death without trial, and uttering threats against people who yearned to see Sparta return to its loveliest, most divine condition.

Certainly, were it possible not to resort to murder in order to get rid of Sparta's imported pests – luxury, extravagance, debts, loans, and the even older evils of poverty and wealth – then he would reckon himself the most fortunate king of all if he had cured his country painlessly, like a doctor. But now for acting under compulsion he could claim forgiveness from Lycurgus who, while neither king nor magistrate but a private individual, in his attempt to act as a king advanced into the agora armed, so that he terrified King Charillus²¹ into taking refuge at an altar. However, as a sound and patriotic person Charillus was quick to associate himself with the measures being taken by Lycurgus and approved the reform of the constitution. All the same, Lycurgus' actions testified to the difficulty of effecting constitutional change without resorting to violence and terror. In his own case, Cleomenes said, he had employed such means with the utmost restraint, in removing those who were standing in the way of Sparta's salvation. For everyone else, he went on, all the land would be made public property, debtors freed of their obligations, and a selection and assessment of foreigners held, with the intention that the strongest of them should become Spartiates and give armed protection to the city. Then we should no longer be forced by a lack of defenders to look on as Laconia is treated as an item of plunder by Aetolians and Illyrians!²²

11. Next he handed over his own property to the state first, followed by his father-in-law Megistonous and each of his friends as well, and then by all the rest of the citizens, and thus the land was divided up. He even assigned a lot to each of those whom he had driven into exile, and promised that he would recall them all home once there was peace and quiet. He made up citizen numbers with the most eligible of the perioeci, raising 4,000 hoplites and training them to use a sarissa gripped by both hands instead of a spear, and to carry their shield by means of an arm-strap²³ rather than with a handle. He then turned to the young men's training and to the so-called agoge, where he was helped in most aspects of his work by Sphaerus, who was there in person. As they quickly restored the proper arrangement of both physical training and messes, there were a few people who had to be forced to co-operate, but the majority willingly took up the famous, economical Spartan way of life. All the same, so as to soften the image of his absolute rule Cleomenes did appoint his brother Eucleidas as his fellow king. And this was the only time it happened that the Spartiates had two kings from the one house.

12. When he realized that the Achaeans and Aratus – because of the instability of his own situation caused by the revolution – did not imagine he would advance out of Lacedaemon or leave the city in a precarious state amidst such great upheaval, it struck him as not at all an ignoble or valueless thing to demonstrate his army's enthusiasm to its enemies. So he invaded the territory of Megalopolis, ²⁴ amassed substantial spoils and caused widespread devastation of the countryside. Finally after capturing some professional actors who were on their way from Messene, erecting a theatre in enemy territory and sponsoring a competition worth forty minas, ²⁵ he spent a day sitting and watching – not because he was eager for a spectacle, but in order to ridicule his enemies and to prove by this show of contempt just how much he surpassed them in strength. Normally, of course, the Spartans alone among Greek and royal armies were not accompanied by mimes, conjurors, dancing girls, or harpists, but were entirely free of licentiousness, buffoonery, and general festivity. The young men were mostly engaged in training, and the older ones in instructing them. Whenever they did have spare time, their entertainment consisted of their usual witticisms and of swapping neat Laconic remarks. I have described the value of this kind of entertainment in my Life of Lycurgus.

13. Cleomenes personally set an example to everyone by his own economical, plain lifestyle: it had nothing about it that was vulgar, or superior to ordinary people, so that it served as a public model of restraint – something which gave him a certain advantage in the affairs of Greece. For in their encounters with other kings men were not so much taken aback at all their wealth and extravagance, as disgusted by their arrogance and self-importance, together with the offensive, tactless manner in which they treated those whom they encountered. In contrast those who approached Cleomenes – who really was a king in fact as in title – did not see him surrounded by any purple robes or cloaks, or by the paraphernalia of couches and litters; nor did he make the conduct of affairs difficult and slow with a swarm of messengers and doorkeepers, or by means of secretaries. Instead he came out simply dressed to respond to greetings, and talked at leisure in an affable, considerate way to those who made him requests, so that they were entranced and bowled over, and declared that he alone was descended from Heracles.

As to his meals, the standard daily pattern was for them to be served in a room with three couches, which was distinctly cramped and Spartan. However, if he was entertaining envoys or men with whom he had ties of hospitality, two extra couches were brought in, while the servants brightened up the dinner a bit, not with any rich dishes or desserts, but by offering more generous portions and a more mellow wine. In fact Cleomenes criticized one of his friends when he heard that in acting as host to foreigners the man had served them black broth and barley bread, as would normally be done in the messes. Cleomenes said that there was no need to act in too rigidly Spartan a fashion on these occasions and in front of foreigners. After the table had been removed a tripod was brought in holding a bronze mixing-bowl filled with wine, together with two silver bowls with a capacity of two cotylae, ²⁶ and just a few silver cups – from which anyone drank who wished to, though nobody was required to take a cup. There were no recitations, nor were they missed, since by his own conversation Cleomenes made the party an instructive occasion. He would ask questions about some topics and expound others with an enthusiasm which was by no means unattractive, as he spoke with a charming and smooth good humour. As to the way in which other kings would pursue men, lure them with money and presents, and corrupt them, Cleomenes considered this clumsy and wrong. He felt that the best and most regal way for him to win the trust and loyalty of those he dealt with was to mix with them and talk to them in a pleasant fashion, since there is no difference between a friend and a mercenary except that the former is kept by the way he is treated and addressed, and the latter by money.

14. The Mantineans, then, were the first to appeal to him. And when he crept into the city by night, they expelled the Achaean garrison with his help, and then put themselves at his disposal. He restored them both their laws and their constitution, and on the same day marched off to Tegea. A little later he made a detour through Arcadia and descended upon Pharae in Achaea, with the aim of either provoking a battle with the Achaeans or discrediting Aratus for having run away and abandoned the area²⁷ to him. Though Hyperbatas was general at the time, Aratus in fact exercised complete authority among the Achaeans. The Achaeans came out in full force and pitched camp at Dymae, ²⁸ near the Hecatombaeum. When Cleomenes came up, it did not strike him as a good plan to place his camp between the hostile city of Dymae and the Achaean army. So he took the risk of challenging the Achaeans and forcing them to engage. He won a pitched battle by routing their phalanx: many of them were killed in the fighting, while many survivors were taken prisoner. Cleomenes then made an assault on Lasium, ²⁹ expelled its Achaean garrison and handed the city to the Eleans.

15. With the Achaeans thus crushed, Aratus (whose regular practice it had been to serve as general in alternate years) now declined the office and stuck to his refusal despite appeals and pleas: not an admirable action – when things were in a very stormy state, so to speak, abandoning the tiller to someone else and relinquishing his own authority.³⁰ Cleomenes at first seemed to make only modest requests of the Achaeans' ambassadors, but when they kept sending others he began to demand that the leadership be handed to him.³¹ He promised that he would not dispute any other issue with the Achaeans, but would restore to them both his prisoners and their strongholds. The Achaeans were willing to accept peace on these terms and they invited Cleomenes to Lerna, where they planned to hold their assembly. Cleomenes, however, after making a forced march and taking a drink of water too soon, brought up a quantity of blood and lost his voice. As a result, while he did restore to the Achaeans the most distinguished of his prisoners, he put off his conference with them and returned to Sparta.

16. This ruined the situation of Greece at a stage when she still had the capacity in one way or another to recover from her current difficulties and to escape Macedonian arrogance and greed. For in the first place Aratus attempted to constrain the Achaeans and block their policy – either because he distrusted Cleomenes and was frightened of him, or because he envied his unexpected success and considered it dreadful that, after occupying the leading position for thirty-three years, ³² his own reputation and at the same time his power should be destroyed by a young man born long after him, who would now take over the control of a cause which he had himself advanced and guided for such a long time. But when the Achaeans in their amazement at Cleomenes' daring paid no attention to Aratus, and instead regarded it as a fair claim on the part of the Spartans to restore the Peloponnese to its traditional organization, he resorted to a step which would be discreditable for any Greek, but was most dishonourable for such a great one and most unworthy of his past activities and policies: he invited Antigonus into Greece and filled the Peloponnese with Macedonians, ³³ whom he himself, as a youngster, had expelled from the Peloponnese! It was he who had liberated Acrocorinth, ³⁴ and had become an object of suspicion on the part of all the kings with whom he had had differences. Indeed it was about this very same Antigonus that he made any number of rude remarks in the Memoirs he has left! Moreover he says himself that he incurred substantial injuries and risks on the Athenians' behalf in order to free their city from a garrison and from Macedonians.³⁵ But then he brought them armed into his country, into his own household, and right into its women's quarters!³⁶ In his estimation the descendant of Heracles, the reigning king of the Spartiates, the man who was guiding the traditional constitution, like a melody out of tune, back again to the famous, wise, Doric laws and lifestyle of Lycurgus, was not fit to be termed leader of Sicyonians and Tritaeans.³⁷ Aratus shunned the barley-bread, the rough cloak, and – most frightful of all his charges against Cleomenes – his confiscations from the rich and his subventions to the poor. He grovelled himself, and Achaea with him, to a diadem, a purple robe, and decrees of Macedonians and satraps. And in order not to give the impression of carrying out instructions from Cleomenes, at festivals in honour of Antigonus he garlanded himself, made sacrifices and sang paeans all in honour of a man wasted by consumption. Now while it is with no wish to accuse Aratus that I write this (since in many respects he was a true Greek and a great man), yet I do so with a feeling of pity for the weakness of human nature when it cannot produce a faultless excellence even in characters so notable and so distinguished for virtue.

17. When the Achaeans had arrived³⁸ at Argos once more for the conference and Cleomenes had come down from Tegea, people were very optimistic that there would be peace. But Aratus had by now reached agreement with Antigonus on the most important points, and he was frightened that Cleomenes would attain all his objectives by winning over the people or by forcing their hand. So he demanded that he should either accept 300 hostages and approach the Achaeans alone, or should come with his forces to the gymnasium called the Cyllarabium outside the city³⁹ for the discussions. When Cleomenes heard this, he declared that he was being wronged, since he ought to have been informed of this openly before, rather than facing suspicion and expulsion now, when he had come right to their doorstep. He wrote the Achaeans a letter about this, which mostly consisted of accusations of Aratus; and Aratus in turn maligned him at length to the people. Next Cleomenes quickly struck camp and sent a herald to declare war on the Achaeans – not to Argos, but to Aegium⁴⁰ (as Aratus mentions), so as to anticipate their preparations.

The Achaeans were now in turmoil and their cities were on the verge of insurrection. The people in them were hoping for division of land and cancellation of debts; in many places the leading citizens were resentful at Aratus, while some were furious with him for inviting Macedonians to the Peloponnese. So, feeling encouraged by these circumstances, Cleomenes invaded Achaea, and first captured Pellene in a sudden assault and expelled its Achaean garrison; after that he won Pheneus and Penteleium⁴¹ over to his side. The Achaeans became afraid that some treachery was developing at Corinth and Sicyon, so they dispatched their cavalry and mercenaries from Argos to keep those cities under surveillance, while they went down to Argos themselves for the Nemean Games.⁴²Cleomenes' expectation was that by making a surprise attack on the city when it was crammed with a crowd of festival-goers and spectators, he would cause even greater shock – and such was in fact the case. He moved his army up to the walls at night and seized the rugged, inaccessible area near the Aspis⁴³ above the theatre. This so terrified the population that not a man considered resistance, but instead they accepted a garrison, handed over twenty citizens as hostages, and became allies of the Spartans under Cleomenes' command.

18. This gave a tremendous boost to his reputation and authority. For despite their many efforts the ancient Spartan kings had not been able to win over Argos securely, while Pyrrhus, ⁴⁴ that most resourceful of generals, had forced an entry, yet did not hold the city; instead he was killed, and a substantial part of his army died with him. Thus there was astonishment at Cleomenes' swiftness and acumen. Those who previously had laughed at his claims to be imitating Solon⁴⁵ and Lycurgus with his cancellation of debts and equalization of property were by now totally convinced that he was responsible for the change in the Spartiates' conduct. For previously they were in such a depressed condition and so incapable of helping themselves that when the Aetolians raided Laconia they took away 50,000 slaves (this was the occasion⁴⁶ when one of the older Spartiates is said to have remarked that the enemy did Laconia a service by relieving it of a burden). Just a short time had passed, and they had only just resumed their traditional customs and had got back into the way of the famous agoge, yet already – as if Lycurgus were there in person and conducting their policy – they were offering ample proof of their valour and discipline as they had regained the Peloponnese and were winning back the leadership of Greece for Sparta.

19. Immediately after the capture of Argos, Cleonae and Phlius came over to Cleomenes. At the time Aratus happened to be at Corinth conducting an investigation of people alleged to be supporters of the Spartans. But when the news of these developments assailed him, he was thrown into a panic and imagined that the city was gravitating towards Cleomenes and wanted to be rid of the Achaeans. So while summoning the citizens to the council building, he stole away to the gate unnoticed. His horse was brought there, he mounted, and fled to Sicyon. According to Aratus, the Corinthians were so eager to reach Cleomenes at Argos that all their horses were exhausted, while Cleomenes criticized the Corinthians for not arresting Aratus, but letting him escape. All the same Cleomenes did send Megistonous to him with a request that he hand over Acrocorinth (since it had an Achaean garrison), and with the offer of a large sum of money. He replied, however, that he was not in control of events, but rather he was controlled by events. This is what Aratus has recorded.

But Cleomenes emerged from Argos, brought the people of Troezen, Epidaurus and Hermione over to his side, and arrived at Corinth.⁴⁷ Since the Achaeans refused to abandon the citadel, Cleomenes blockaded it. At the same time he summoned Aratus' friends and agents and gave them instructions to take over his house and his property, and to protect and manage these. Then once again he sent off Tritymallus the Messenian to him with a proposal that Acrocorinth should be jointly garrisoned by the Achaeans and Spartans, and with a private assurance to Aratus that he would pay him double the allowance he was getting from King Ptolemy. But Aratus was unresponsive, and instead sent off his son to Antigonus along with the other hostages, and also persuaded the Achaeans to vote for surrendering Acrocorinth to Antigonus. Cleomenes therefore invaded the territory of Sicyon and devastated it, and in addition accepted the gift of Aratus' property when the Corinthians voted it to him.

20. When Antigonus was crossing Geraneia with his considerable force, Cleomenes thought that the real need was to be on guard with stockades and walls in the Oneian hills rather than at the Isthmus, and that it was better to wear out the Macedonians by a war of position rather than to engage their experienced phalanx head-on. Following through with this plan he did indeed put Antigonus in difficulties, since the latter did not have sufficient supplies made ready in advance, nor was it simple to force a way through with Cleomenes dug in. After Antigonus failed in an attempt to slip through Lechaeum at night and lost some of his soldiers, Cleomenes was thoroughly encouraged and his men, excited by the victory, went off to their meal. Antigonus by contrast was discouraged because necessity limited him to plans which would be difficult to carry out. For he was considering shifting camp to the headland of Heraeum and from there ferrying his army over to Sicyon by ship – something that would take a long time and an extraordinary amount of preparation. But then towards evening some men who were friends of Aratus came to him by sea from Argos, inviting him there because the Argives were ready to revolt from Cleomenes. The instigator of the rebellion⁴⁸ was Aristoteles, who had no trouble persuading the people since they were irritated that Cleomenes had not effected the cancellation of debts which they had hoped for. So Aratus took 1,500 soldiers from Antigonus and sailed round to Epidaurus. Aristoteles did not wait for him, but at the head of the citizens attacked the garrison on the acropolis, and was reinforced by Timoxenus who came up with the Achaeans from Sicyon.

21. Once Cleomenes heard of this around the second watch of the night⁴⁹ he sent for Megistonous and ordered him to save the situation at Argos at once – in some anger because Megistonous, by giving a special assurance about the Argives' loyalty to him, had stopped the expulsion of suspects. So after sending off Megistonous with 2,000 troops, Cleomenes himself kept a watch on Antigonus and maintained the Corinthians' morale by claiming that there was nothing serious going on at Argos, but just some disturbance caused by a handful of men. However, when Megistonous was killed in the fighting as he made his assault on Argos, and when the garrison only just held out and kept sending a stream of messengers to Cleomenes, he became apprehensive that the enemy might take Argos and by blocking the passes might then devastate Laconia freely and lay siege to Sparta in its undefended state. For these reasons he led his army away from Corinth, with the immediate result that he was deprived of this city, for Antigonus came in and planted a garrison. Then when he reached Argos he tried to make an assault on the walls and marshalled his forces together for this after their march. By hacking through the vaults under the Aspis he made his way up to join the men inside who were still holding out against the Achaeans. Then by bringing up ladders he did gain some areas inside the city and cleared the enemy from the lanes by ordering his Cretan archers to shoot at them. But when he saw Antigonus with his phalanx coming down from the mountains into the plain, and the cavalry in ample numbers already riding into the city, he despaired of winning it. Assembling all his men round him he brought them down safely and withdrew along the wall. Though he had made very great gains in an extremely short time and had come close to attaining control of almost the entire Peloponnese at once in a single expedition, he just as quickly lost everything again. Among those campaigning with him, some abandoned him at once, while others surrendered their cities to Antigonus a little later.

22. After his campaign had met with this outcome and he had led his army off, it was already evening when near Tegea some messengers from Sparta reached him with news of a misfortune at least equal to the one he had just experienced – the death of his wife. She was the reason why he had not been able to endure their separation even on his very successful campaigns, but used to return to Sparta often because of the love and immense esteem he felt for her. Though he was thus stricken with grief, as was natural enough for a young man on the loss of the loveliest, most modest wife, in his sorrow he in no way disgraced or abandoned his resolve and loftiness of mind. Instead he kept his voice, his clothes and his appearance just as they had normally been before, and even issued orders to his commanders and gave thought to the Tegeates' security. But when day came he went down to Sparta, and after discharging his grief at home with his mother and children, he at once turned to making plans for the welfare of the state.

Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, promised him help, but demanded that his children and his mother be handed over as hostages. For a long time he was ashamed to tell his mother this, and though he frequently went in and was on the point of broaching it, he kept quiet. As a result her suspicions were aroused and she asked his friends if there was something which he could not bring himself to tell her even though he wanted to. When Cleomenes eventually summoned up the courage to speak, she laughed loudly and said: ‘Was it this which you frequently meant to tell me but lacked the courage? Why ever don't you hurry to put me on board ship and send me off wherever you think this body of mine will be of the greatest service to Sparta, before old age disposes of it as it just sits here?’ So when everything was ready they took a land route to Taenarum with the troops in arms to escort them. Then as Cratesicleia was about to go on board ship she drew aside Cleomenes by himself into the temple of Poseidon. He was very distressed and upset, so she embraced him and kissed him and said: ‘Come now, king of the Spartans. When we emerge we want no one to see us in tears nor doing anything unworthy of Sparta. This is all that lies in our power; but our fortunes must be as heaven ordains.’

With these words she composed her features and boarded the ship, taking the little boy with her; then she quickly instructed the helmsman to set sail. When she reached Egypt she discovered that Ptolemy was admitting proposals and embassies from Antigonus, while the news about Cleomenes was that the Achaeans were inviting him to make peace, but that because of her he was afraid of ending the war without Ptolemy's approval. So she sent a message to him declaring that he should act as was fitting and advantageous for Sparta, and should not remain in constant fear of Ptolemy because of a single old woman and a little boy. Such, then, is said to have been her conduct in this predicament.

23. Once Antigonus⁵⁰ had taken Tegea and then sacked Orchomenus and Mantinea, Cleomenes was confined just to Laconia itself. After freeing those helots who paid five Attic minas, and thus accumulating 500 talents, ⁵¹ he also armed 2, 000 of them in Macedonian style to counter Antigonus' ‘White Shields’, ⁵² and began to plan a major, totally unexpected initiative. Now at this date Megalopolis in itself was not at all smaller or weaker than Sparta. It was also enjoying the assistance of the Achaeans and Antigonus, who was in position close beside it and was thought to have been called in by the Achaeans because the Megalopolitans had particularly urged it. It was this city which Cleomenes aimed to pounce on, so to speak – since there is no better word to convey the element of speed and surprise in his plan of action. He ordered his troops to draw five days' rations and led them out towards Sellasia, as if he was going to raid the area around Argos. But from there he went down into the territory of Megalopolis, halted for a meal near Rhoeteium, and then at once made for the city by the route through Helissous.⁵³ When he was not far away he despatched Panteus with two brigades of Spartans under orders to seize the section between a pair of towers, which he had discovered was the least defended part of the Megalopolitans' walls; meanwhile he followed slowly with the rest of the army. Panteus found not just that spot but also a substantial stretch of the wall to be unguarded: some of it he at once began pulling down, and some he undermined, while all the sentries he encountered he killed. Cleomenes wasted no time in linking up with him, and was in the city⁵⁴ with his army before the Megalopolitans realized it.

24. No sooner had this calamity dawned upon those in the city than some fled at once taking with them at random whatever possessions they could, while others grouped together under arms to stand up to the enemy and attack them. They did not have the strength to dislodge them, but they did give those citizens who were fleeing the opportunity to escape in safety, with the result that no more than 1,000 people were caught, whereas all the others along with their children and wives made good their escape to Messene. The majority even of those who gave assistance and fought survived. Only a few altogether were captured, among them Lysandridas and Thearidas, men of outstanding reputation and authority among the Megalopolitans. So the soldiers, as soon as they apprehended them, immediately brought them to Cleomenes.

When Lysandridas saw Cleomenes from a distance he roared out: ‘King of the Spartans, now you have the chance to take a step more noble and more kingly than your present success, and to win the highest glory as a result.’ Cleomenes had his suspicions of what he was going to ask, so he replied: ‘What do you mean, Lysandridas? After all, you are surely not about to tell me to give you back your city?’ And Lysandridas said: ‘That is certainly what I mean, and my advice to you is not to destroy a city such as this, but to fill it with friends and loyal, reliable allies by restoring their country to the Megalopolitans and becoming the saviour of so great a people.’ After a brief silence Cleomenes said: ‘While it is hard to believe this, still my wish is always to give enhancement of my reputation priority over mere advantage.’ With these words he despatched the two men to Messene accompanied by a herald, offering to hand the Megalopolitans back their city provided they became his allies and friends, and broke with the Achaeans. Despite this considerate, humane offer on Cleomenes' part, Philopoemen refused to allow the Megalopolitans to abandon their pledge to the Achaeans. Instead he accused Cleomenes of trying not so much to return the city as to gain it and its citizens; then he expelled Thearidas and Lysandridas from Messene. This was the Philopoemen who later became leader of the Achaeans and acquired the highest reputation among the Greeks – as I have recorded in a separate account of him.⁵⁵

25. Once this was relayed to Cleomenes, although so far he had carefully guarded the city against damage and looting, so that no one who stole even the smallest item might escape detection, now he became so thoroughly resentful and angry that he did ransack property and send off statues and pictures to Sparta. He demolished and ruined most of the city, including its most important areas, and then moved off home in fear of Antigonus and the Achaeans. But they took no action since they happened to be holding a council at Aegium.⁵⁶ However, when Aratus mounted the rostrum, for a long time he continued crying with his cloak held in front of his face. When those present in their astonishment urged him to speak, he said that Megalopolis had been destroyed by Cleomenes. At this the meeting at once broke up with the Achaeans astounded at the speed and magnitude of the disaster. Antigonus did attempt to go to the rescue, but when his army proved slow in emerging from its winter quarters⁵⁷ he ordered it instead to stay put, while he made his own way to Argos accompanied by just a few soldiers.

And this is why the execution of Cleomenes' next exploit, even though it looked like a piece of reckless, even crazy daring, was in fact carried out with considerable advance planning, as Polybius states. For Cleomenes was aware that for their winter quarters the Macedonians were dispersed among various cities, and that Antigonus, spending the winter at Argos with friends, had only a few mercenaries with him. So he invaded the territory of Argos⁵⁸ on the reckoning that either shame would provoke Antigonus into fighting and he would defeat him, or he would not dare to fight and would thus alienate the Argives. This is indeed what happened. For once Cleomenes was ravaging the countryside and plundering everything, the Argives were extremely upset and gathered at the king's doors with loud demands that he either fight or hand the leadership over to better men. But Antigonus, as a shrewd general should, considered that taking an unreasonable risk and sacrificing his security would be the shameful course, rather than earning a bad reputation among the crowd outside. So he did not march out, but stuck by his conclusions. Cleomenes came right up to the walls with his army and then, after delivering insults and doing damage, withdrew with impunity.

26. A short time afterwards, however, when he heard that Antigonus was again advancing to Tegea with the intention of invading Laconia from there, he quickly mustered his soldiers and, by taking alternative routes, appeared in front of the city of Argos at dawn. He ravaged the plain, not slashing the grain with sickles and swords in the usual way, but beating it down with massive pieces of wood shaped like sabres which his men wielded almost playfully as they marched along, thus flattening and destroying the entire crop with no difficulty. However, when they reached the Cyllarabis and attempted to set fire to the gymnasium, Cleomenes stopped them, out of a sense that his measures at Megalopolis had been taken in anger rather than honourably. Antigonus first retreated to Argos at once, and then secured all the heights and passes with patrols. Affecting to show no concern and to feel only contempt for him, Cleomenes then sent heralds with a request to have the keys of the Heraeum,⁵⁹ so that he might sacrifice to the goddess and then leave. After thus teasing Antigonus in this ironic fashion, Cleomenes sacrificed to the goddess right next to the locked temple, and then led his army off to Phlius. From there he went on to dislodge the garrison at Olygyrtus and continued down to Orchomenus, where he not only filled the citizens with determination and courage, but even conveyed to his enemies the impression of being a born leader fitted for great things. After all, with no more than a single city as his base he battled on against the combined forces of the Macedonians, all the Peloponnesians and the king's resources. Moreover his ability not only to keep Laconia unscathed, but also to do damage to his enemies' territory and to take such great cities, suggested a man of no ordinary brilliance and greatness of mind.

27. However, my view is that the first person to describe money as ‘the sinews of any undertaking' said this with an eye to the conduct of war in particular. For on one occasion when the Athenians, despite having no money, gave orders for the launching and manning of their triremes, Demades⁶⁰ said: ‘One must knead bread before taking the forward command.’ There is also the story about the Archidamus of old, ⁶¹ around the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, when the allies were urging him to fix their contributions, saying that war does not consume set amounts. For just as those athletes who have trained properly eventually weigh down and get the better of those who are merely lithe and skilful, so too Antigonus by devoting substantial resources to the war exhausted and outmatched Cleomenes, who could only just afford to pay the mercenaries and feed the citizens in his army. Yet in other ways time was on Cleomenes' side, because developments at home demanded Antigonus' attention. For in his absence barbarians were ravaging Macedonia and overrunning it, while just at that time a great army of Illyrians had moved in from upcountry, and it was their plundering which prompted the Macedonians to recall Antigonus. As it happened, these letters very nearly reached him before the battle; and if they had, he would have left at once, abandoning the Achaeans completely. But Fortune, which determines the greatest of events by a slim margin, tipped the balance of advantage and demonstrated her influence in such a way that only just after the battle of Sellasia was over, and Cleomenes had lost his army and his city, did those summoning Antigonus appear. This in particular made Cleomenes' misfortune even more distressing. For if he had hung on for only two days and continued to avoid a battle, there would have been no need for him to fight, and after the Macedonians' departure he could have made a truce with the Achaeans on terms of his own choosing. Yet in the event, as I have explained, lack of money forced him to stake everything on an engagement⁶² in which, as Polybius says, his 20,000 men confronted 30,000.

28. In the crisis he proved himself a superb general, while the citizens responded to him energetically and even his mercenaries fought faultlessly. But what crushed him was the different style of equipment and the weight of the heavily armoured phalanx. Phylarchus claims that there was also treachery, which did particular damage to Cleomenes' cause. For Antigonus instructed his Illyrians and Acarnanians to make secret manoeuvres, and of the two enemy wings to encircle the one commanded by Cleomenes' brother Eucleidas; then he made the rest of his forces ready for battle.⁶³ From his observation-point Cleomenes noticed that the arms of the Illyrians and the Acarnanians were nowhere to be seen, and he was afraid that Antigonus might be using them for some such purpose. He called for Damoteles, who was in charge of the krypteia, ⁶⁴ and instructed him to take a look and investigate the situation at the rear and all around his battle line. The story is that Damoteles had in fact been bribed with money beforehand by Antigonus, and when he told Cleomenes not to worry about those quarters, which were in good shape, but to concentrate on his opponents in front and fight them off, he trusted him and advanced against Antigonus. The impetus of his Spartiates' charge against the phalanx forced the Macedonians to retreat for about five stades, ⁶⁵ while he followed successfully keeping up the pressure. But then, once Eucleidas and his men on the other wing had been surrounded, he came to a halt and realizing the danger they were in he cried out: ‘Dearest brother, you are gone from me! You are gone, you noble figure, a model to Spartiate youth, a theme for women's songs!’ After Eucleidas and his men had been thus slaughtered and the victorious enemy were now attacking from that direction, Cleomenes looked to his own safety, since he saw that his soldiers were in confusion and no longer had the spirit to stand firm. The accounts state that the majority of his mercenaries fell, as well as all but about 200 of the 6,000 Spartans.

29. When he reached the city he recommended those citizens who met him to accept Antigonus, though he declared that for his own part, whether it meant life or death, he would continue on whatever course might yet benefit Sparta. Once he saw the women running up to those who had fled with him, taking their weapons and offering them drink, he went into his own house. But when the young girl of free status, whom he had taken from Megalopolis and kept since his wife's death, came forward and wanted to attend to him as usual on his return from an expedition, he would neither allow himself to take a drink despite a raging thirst, nor though utterly exhausted to sit down. Instead, just as he was in full armour, he placed his hand at an angle against one of the columns, rested his face on his forearm, and for a short while relaxed his body thus while mentally ranging over every possible scheme. Then he set out for Gytheum⁶⁶ with his friends. From there they boarded ships made ready for this specific purpose, and set sail.

30. On his arrival Antigonus took control of the city and dealt humanely with the Spartans. He did not besmirch or insult Sparta's reputation, but restored both her laws and her constitution, ⁶⁷ and then after sacrificing to the gods left on the third day, once he had learned that warfare was widespread in Macedonia and that the country was being devastated by the barbarians. Moreover his disease by now had a full grip of him, having developed into acute consumption and severe catarrh. All the same he did not give up, but confronted the conflicts at home in a way that led to his meeting his death more gloriously after an overwhelming victory and a massive slaughter of the barbarians.⁶⁸ This resulted (as is plausible and vouched for personally by Phylarchus and his circle) from the shout he raised on the battlefield, which caused an internal haemorrhage. In the schools there used to be a version that after shouting for joy following his victory ‘O splendid day!’, he brought up a quantity of blood, ran a high fever, and died. This, then, was what happened to Antigonus.

31. Cleomenes, on the other hand, landed at another island, Aigilia, on his voyage from Cythera. While he was considering continuing on from there to Cyrene, ⁶⁹ one of his friends, by the name of Therycion, had a private talk with him. He was a man who adopted a high-minded attitude in all undertakings, and always spoke in a rather elevated and haughty tone. ‘O king,’ he said, ‘we have foregone the finest form of death, that on the battlefield. Yet everyone has heard our declaration that only when the king of the Spartiates is a corpse will Antigonus overcome him. But the form of death which ranks second in terms of glory and merit still remains open to us now. What is the destination of our aimless voyage, as we flee from troubles close by and dash far away? For if there is no disgrace in the descendants of Heracles being slaves to those of Philip and Alexander, we shall save ourselves a long voyage by surrendering to Antigonus, who in all likelihood is as superior to Ptolemy as Macedonians are to Egyptians. But if we do not think it right to be ruled by those who have beaten us in battle, why do we accept as our master a man who has not conquered us, so that we may appear inferior not to one, but to two kings, because of our flight from Antigonus and our flattery of Ptolemy? Or shall we claim that we have come to Egypt because of your mother? Yet when she shows you off to Ptolemy's wives, what a wonderful and admirable sight you would be – her son who was a king, but is now a captive and a refugee! Instead, while we still retain control of our own swords and are in sight of Laconia, shall we not free ourselves from misfortune here, and thus justify ourselves to those who lie at Sellasia for Sparta's sake, rather than lounging in Egypt inquiring who Antigonus has left as satrap of Sparta?’

Cleomenes replied as follows to this speech by Therycion: ‘Poor man, dying is the easiest of mortal actions and one which everybody may readily perform. But do you consider yourself brave in resorting to this form of escape, more shameful as it is than our earlier one? Even better men than we have yielded to their enemies before now, either tripped up by bad luck or overcome by force of numbers. The man who despairs in the face of difficulties and hardships, or of public censure and opinion, is defeated by his own feebleness. For a death that is self-inflicted ought not to be an escape from action, but an action in its own right, since it is despicable that men should live, and die, just for themselves. Yet this is what you are now inviting us to do in your eagerness to be free of our current plight, though the act is one which will have no further merit or value. But my opinion is that neither you nor I should abandon our hopes for our country. Yet whenever those hopes abandon us, then death will come very easily to such as desire it.’

Therycion made no reply to this, but at his first opportunity left Cleomenes, walked off along the seashore and committed suicide.

32. Cleomenes for his part sailed from Aigilia, reached Libya, and by making his way through the king's territory arrived in Alexandria. When they first met, he found Ptolemy's⁷⁰ attitude towards him guarded, and just routinely agreeable. Yet this was to change as he personally proved his ability and demonstrated his shrewdness, while his plain, Spartan temperament retained its independent charm in his everyday dealings; he did not disgrace his noble background at all, or seem crushed by his plight, but showed himself a more reliable character than those whose every word is designed to please and to flatter. Therefore Ptolemy came to respect him greatly and to regret that by disregarding such a fine man he had abandoned him to Antigonus, who had thereby won so much glory and at the same time power. So now Ptolemy began trying to recompense Cleomenes with distinctions and kindnesses, and kept making encouraging declarations that he would send him back to Greece with ships and money and would restore him to his kingdom. He also offered him an allowance of twenty-four talents annually. From this Cleomenes made provision for himself and those close to him on an economical, reasonable scale, but he used up most of it on charity and grants to those who had escaped to Egypt from Greece.

33. However, before he could make good his promise to send Cleomenes home, the elder Ptolemy died. At once the kingdom was plunged into such a lax, drunken state, with women wielding extensive power, that Cleomenes' concerns too were neglected. For the king⁷¹ personally suffered so much mental damage from women and liquor that whenever he was particularly sober and in full possession of his faculties he would celebrate rites at which he used a drum to assemble people in the palace. In consequence the most important matters of government were handled by his mistress Agathocleia and by her mother, the procuress Oenanthe. Nonetheless initially there did really seem to be some role for Cleomenes as well. This was because of Ptolemy's fear of his brother Magas, who was influential in military circles, thanks to his mother. So Ptolemy enlisted Cleomenes' help and made him privy to his secret councils as he plotted to do away with his brother. Despite the fact that everyone else was urging him to put this plot into effect, Cleomenes alone argued against it, saying that instead, were it possible, more brothers should be produced for the king to make his position really secure and stable. Whenever Sosibius, the most influential of the king's friends, maintained that it was impossible for them to rely on the mercenaries so long as Magas was still alive, Cleomenes would tell him to have no worries on that score since more than 3,000 of the mercenaries were Peloponnesians – men loyal to himself who at a mere nod from him would spring to his side in battle gear. At the time it was made, this claim substantially enhanced confidence in Cleomenes' loyalty as well as his reputation as a strong figure. Later, however, when Ptolemy's feebleness aggravated his apprehensions, and (as tends to happen in the absence of rational thinking) it seemed to him safest to be frightened of everything and distrustful of everybody, the claim made Cleomenes an object of fear to the courtiers because of his influence over the mercenaries. And many could be heard to remark that ‘This is a lion living among these sheep.’ That was indeed the kind of impression which he made on the king's men as he observed the course of events with a quietly suspicious air.

34. So he gave up asking for ships and an army. But then he learned that Antigonus was dead, that the Achaeans were embroiled in a war against the Aetolians, and that the situation itself expressed a longing and a call for his return, since the Peloponnese had become so confused and torn apart. So he asked to be despatched as a single individual with his friends, but the plea met with no success: the king was deaf to it since he was completely preoccupied with his women and festivities and revelry, while Sosibius, who was placed in complete control and was chief adviser, reckoned that even though Cleomenes would be an intractable and formidable figure if he remained in Egypt against his will, he might prove even more formidable if he was allowed to leave, given his daring and his grand designs and the fact that he had observed that the kingdom was ailing. Not even gifts mollified him. He was like Apis, ⁷² who spends his days in plenty and apparent luxury but whose natural inclination is to long for a life of running and jumping freely, and who plainly is irked by the way of life prescribed for him by the priests. Cleomenes likewise was displeased by being pampered, but

Continued to pine in his inmost heart,

like Achilles

As he stayed there, and went on longing for the battle-cry and fighting.⁷³

35. Such was Cleomenes' situation when there arrived in Alexandria a Messenian called Nicagoras, ⁷⁴ a man who detested him though he pretended to be his friend. Nicagoras had once sold Cleomenes a fine estate, but then because of financial straits, I imagine, and apparently other preoccupations, and wars, he had not received his money. So when Cleomenes happened to be taking a walk along the quay at the harbour and at that moment spotted him disembarking from his trading vessel, he welcomed him warmly and asked him what prompted his visit to Egypt. Nicagoras was similarly genial in his response and said that he was bringing the king some splendid war-horses. At this Cleomenes laughed and said: ‘To my mind it would have been better for you to arrive with a cargo of girls who play the sambuca and of boy prostitutes, since these currently preoccupy the king most of all.’ Nicagoras smiled at this at the time. Yet a few days later he reminded Cleomenes about the estate and asked if now at last he might be paid for it something he would not have bothered him about, he claimed, had he not incurred a considerable loss on the sale of his wares. When Cleomenes declared that he had nothing left of what he had been given, Nicagoras in his annoyance disclosed Cleomenes jibe to Sosibius. The latter, while delighted to learn of it, was at the same time casting round for a more serious charge with which to arouse the king, and so persuaded Nicagoras to write and leave behind a letter accusing Cleomenes of having planned to occupy Cyrene, if only he could obtain triremes and soldiers from him. So Nicagoras put this in writing and sailed away. Four days later Sosibius brought the letter to Ptolemy as if it had just been handed to him, and so roused the young man to make the decision that Cleomenes should be installed in a large mansion where he would be afforded the same style of living, except that he would be kept there under house arrest.

36. This, then, was distressing enough to Cleomenes, but his outlook for the future was now made more depressing by the following incident. Ptolemy, the son of Chrysermus and a friend of the king, had maintained a consistently cordial attitude towards Cleomenes: the two had struck up something of a familiar relationship and would exchange views with frankness. So at this stage when Cleomenes asked him to visit him, he did come, and adopted a moderate tone, disarming his suspicions and taking a defensive line about the king. But as he was on his way out of the house again, having failed to notice that Cleomenes was following right behind as far as the doors, he reprimanded the guards sharply for the careless, lazy watch they were keeping on such a great monster who was so hard to confine. After hearing this with his own ears Cleomenes turned back – before Ptolemy could observe him – and informed his friends. In consequence all of them abandoned their earlier hopes and angrily resolved to take revenge for Ptolemy's unjust, outrageous treatment of them, and then to meet their deaths in a style worthy of Sparta rather than to hang around like sacrificial victims to be fattened and chopped down. In their view it was a dreadful thing that Cleomenes, after spurning any peace with Antigonus, that man of war and of action, should sit waiting until a free moment might be found by a king who was a beggarly priest of Cybele⁷⁵ and who intended to kill him just as soon as he should put down his drum and break off his ecstatic worship.

37. After they had made this decision Ptolemy happened to leave for Canopus.⁷⁶ So first they spread a rumour that Cleomenes' guard was going to be withdrawn by the king, and then in conformity with the royal custom of sending a dinner and presents to those on the point of being released from confinement, Cleomenes' friends made ready a quantity of such things for him and sent them in from outside, thereby deceiving the guards into thinking that the things had been despatched by the king. Moreover Cleomenes performed sacrifices, divided his gifts generously with his guards, put on garlands and reclined to have a feast with his friends. The story is that he put his scheme into action earlier than planned, once he realized that a servant who was one of those in the plot had been sleeping outside with a woman of whom he was enamoured. And so, in fear of being informed against, when it was midday and he saw that the guards were in a drunken sleep, he put on his tunic, loosened its seam from the right shoulder downwards, and then with drawn sword dashed out accompanied by thirteen friends in the same gear. Hippitas, who was lame, joined enthusiastically in the initial rush, but when he saw that he was slowing down their progress, he told them to kill him and not to ruin the scheme by waiting for a man who was useless. But by chance one of the Alexandrians was leading a horse past the doors, so they commandeered it and mounted Hippitas, then charged through the streets at the double, inviting the populace to claim its liberty. While it seems that people did evidently have sufficient nerve to praise and admire Cleomenes' daring, nobody had the courage to follow him and help.

At any rate three of his men did straight away assault and kill Ptolemy the son of Chrysermus as he was leaving the palace. Then when another Ptolemy, the city guard commander, drove towards them in a chariot, they turned and faced him: after scattering his servants and bodyguards, they pulled him from his chariot and killed him. They made for the citadel next, with the intention of smashing open the prison and employing the great mob of prisoners. But the warders forestalled them by smartly barricading themselves in, so that once this initiative on his part was repulsed Cleomenes found himself ranging all over the city, and wandering about with nobody joining him but rather the entire population shunning him in terror. So in these circumstances he gave up, remarking to his friends: ‘It certainly is no surprise that women take control of these men who shun liberty’; and he urged them all to die in a fashion worthy of himself and of their achievements. And first Hippitas at his own request was struck down by one of the younger men, and next each of the others calmly and fearlessly stabbed himself, except Panteus who was the first to break into Megalopolis. As a youth he had been extremely handsome and was the young man best suited to the agoge. The king had been his lover, and now gave him the order to commit suicide as soon as he saw that he himself and the others were dead. When they had all fallen, Panteus jabbed each one with his dagger to check that there was none still left alive undetected. And when he touched Cleomenes on the ankle he noticed that his face twitched; so he kissed him and then sat down beside him. And when Cleomenes had finally expired, he embraced his corpse and stabbed himself to death over it.

38. This, then, shows the kind of man Cleomenes was, and this was how he met his death after being king of Sparta for sixteen years.⁷⁷ Once the news spread through the entire city Cratesicleia, noble woman though she was, broke down at the magnitude of the catastrophe, put her arms around Cleomenes' children, and wept. But the elder of the two children broke away when no one could have expected it and threw himself head-first off the roof: and while he was seriously injured, yet still he was not killed, but was picked up screaming and complaining at his being prevented from dying. When Ptolemy was informed of all this, he gave orders that Cleomenes' body should be placed inside a leather bag and strung up, while his children, his mother and the ladies of her suite should be executed. Among the latter was Panteus' wife too, the loveliest, noblest-looking woman. These disasters struck them when they were still newly married and most deeply in love. Now though she naturally wanted to sail off at once with Panteus, her parents had not permitted it, but forcibly confined her and placed a guard on her. Yet a short while later, after procuring herself a horse and a small amount of gold, she escaped at night and galloped fast to Taenarum, where she boarded a ship bound for Egypt. Thus conveyed to her husband, she shared his life in a foreign country cheerfully and with no regrets.

It was she who now held Cratesicleia's hand as she was being conducted away by the soldiers, lifted her robe and urged her to keep her spirits up. Cratesicleia personally in no sense dreaded death, but did make just the one request that she might die before the children. However, when they reached the spot where the warders normally carried out these sentences, they slaughtered the children first in full view of Cratesicleia, and then her. The only words she uttered in the face of such agonies were: ‘Children, where have you gone to?’ Being strong and well-built, Panteus' wife hitched up her dress, and quietly and calmly attended to each of the dying women, covering them with whatever lay to hand. Finally after all the others, she made herself neat, let down her dress, and permitted no one to come close or touch her except the man deputed to carry out the execution: thus she met her end in heroic style, without having made anyone a request to tidy and cover her after she had passed away. So her discretion endured in death, and she maintained the watch over her person which she kept in her lifetime.

39. In short, during these final stages Sparta played her role through the prowess of women which was equally matched with that of the men, and she thus demonstrated that true virtue cannot be undermined by Fortune. A few days subsequently those on guard over Cleomenes' crucified body saw an enormous snake coiled about his head and shielding his face so that no carrion bird might swoop down on it. In consequence the king was gripped by superstition and fear, which in turn gave the women the opportunity to perform various purification rituals in recognition of the fact that it was a favourite of the gods, a man of superior powers, who had met his death. The Alexandrians even began to regard Cleomenes as divine, visiting the spot constantly and invoking him as a hero and a child of gods. Eventually the more learned citizens stopped them from doing this with the explanation that just as putrefying cattle produce bees, and horses produce wasps, while beetles are propagated by asses in the same state, so human bodies yield serpents once the juices around the marrow have gradually run together and coagulated. And it was their observation of this which prompted the men of old to regard the snake as the creature particularly associated with heroes.