75 AD
AGIS
264-241 B.C.
by Plutarch
translated by John Dryden
AGIS
THE fable of Ixion, who, embracing a cloud instead of Juno, begot
the Centaurs, has been ingeniously enough supposed to have been
invented to represent to us ambitious men, whose minds, doting on
glory, which is a mere image of virtue, produce nothing that is
genuine or uniform, but only, as might be expected of such a
conjunction, misshapen and unnatural actions. Running after their
emulations and passions, and carried away by the impulses of the
moment, they may say with the herdsmen in the tragedy of Sophocles
"We follow these, though born their rightful lords,
And they command us, though they speak no words."
For this is indeed the true condition of men in public life, who, to
gain the vain title of being the people's leaders and governors, are
content to make themselves the slaves and followers of all the
people's humours and caprices. For as the lookout men at the prow, though they see what is ahead before the men at the helm, yet
constantly look back to the pilots there, and obey the orders they
give; so these men, steered, as I may say, by popular
applause, though
they bear the name of governors, are in reality the mere
underlings of
the multitude. The man who is completely wise and virtuous
has no need
at all of glory, except so far as it disposes and eases his way to
action by the greater trust that it procures him. A young man, I
grant, may be permitted, while yet eager for distinction, to pride
himself a little in his good deeds; for (as Theophrastus says) his
virtues, which are yet tender and, as it were, in the blade,
cherished
and supported by praises, grow stronger, and take the deeper
root. But
when this passion is exorbitant, it is dangerous in all men, and in
those who govern a commonwealth, utterly destructive. For in the
possession of large power and authority, it transports men
to a degree
of madness; so that now they no more think what is good,
glorious, but
will have those actions only esteemed good that are glorious. As
Phocion, therefore, answered King Antipater, who sought his
approbation of some unworthy action, "I cannot be your flatterer,
and your friend," so these men should answer the people, "I cannot
govern and obey you." For it may happen to the commonwealth,
as to the
serpent in the fable, whose tail, rising in rebellion against the
head, complained, as of a great grievance, that it was always forced
to follow, and required that it should be permitted by turns to lead
the way. And taking the command accordingly, it soon
inflicted, by its
senseless courses, mischiefs in abundance upon itself, while the
head was torn and lacerated with following, contrary to nature, a
guide that was deaf and blind. And such we see to have been
the lot of
many, who, submitting to be guided by the inclinations of an
uninformed and unreasoning multitude, could neither stop, nor
recover themselves out of the confusion.
This is what has occurred to us to say of that glory which depends
on the voice of large numbers, considering the sad effects of it in
the misfortunes of Caius and Tiberius Gracchus, men of noble nature,
and whose generous natural dispositions were improved by the best of
educations, and who came to the administration of affairs with the
most laudable intentions; yet they were ruined, I cannot say by an
immoderate desire of glory, but by a more excusable fear of
disgrace. For being excessively beloved and favoured by the people,
they thought it a discredit to them not to make full repayment,
endeavouring by new public acts to outdo the honours they had
received, and again, because of these new kindnesses, incurring yet
further distinctions; till the people and they, mutually
inflamed, and
vying thus with each other in honours and benefits, brought things
at last to such a pass that they might say that to engage so far was
indeed a folly, but to retreat would now be a shame.
This the reader will easily gather from the story. I will now
compare with them two Lacedaemonian popular leaders, the kings Agis
and Cleomenes. For they, being desirous also to raise the people,
and to restore the noble and just form of government, now long
fallen into disuse, incurred the hatred of the rich and powerful,
who could not endure to be deprived of the selfish enjoyment to
which they were accustomed. These were not indeed brothers by
nature, as the two Romans, but they had a kind of brotherly
resemblance in their actions and designs, which took a rise from
such beginnings and occasions as I am now about to relate.
When the love of gold and silver had once gained
admittance into the
Lacedaemonian commonwealth, it was quickly followed by avarice and
baseness of spirit in the pursuit of it, and by luxury, effeminacy,
and prodigality in the use. Then Sparta fell from almost all her
former virtue and repute, and so continued till the days of Agis and
Leonidas, who both together were kings of the Lacedaemonians.
Agis was of the royal family of Eurypon, son of Eudamidas, and the
sixth in descent from Agesilaus, who made the expedition into Asia,
and was the greatest man of his time in Greece. Agesilaus left
behind him a son called Archidamus, the same who was slain at
Mandonium, in Italy, by the Messapians, and who was then succeeded
by his eldest son Agis. He being killed by Antipater near
Megalopolis,
and leaving no issue, was succeeded by his brother Eudamidas; he by
a son called Archidamus; and Archidamus by another Eudamidas, the
father of this Agis of whom we now treat.
Leonidas, son of Cleonymus, was of the other royal house of the
Agiadae, and the eighth in descent from Pausanias, who defeated
Mardonius in the battle of Plataea. Pausanias was succeeded by a son
called Plistoanax; and he by another Pausanias who was banished, and
lived as a private man at Tegea, while his eldest son, Agesipolis,
reigned in his place. He, dying without issue, was succeeded by a
younger brother, called Cleombrotus, who left two sons; the elder
was Agesipolis, who reigned but a short time, and died without
issue; the younger, who then became king, was called Cleomenes, and
had also two sons, Acrotatus and Cleonymus. The first died before
his father, but left a son called Areus, who succeeded, and being
slain at Corinth, left the kingdom to his son Acrotatus. This
Acrotatus was defeated, and slain near Megalopolis, in a battle
against the tyrant Aristodemus; he left his wife big with child, and
on her being delivered of a son, Leonidas, son of the above-named
Cleonymus, was made his guardian, and as the young king died before
becoming a man, he succeeded in the kingdom.
Leonidas was a king not particularly suitable to his people. For
though there were at that time at Sparta a general decline
in manners,
yet a greater revolt from the old habits appeared in him than in
others. For having lived a long time among the great lords of
Persia, and been a follower of King Seleucus, he unadvisedly thought
to imitate, among Greek institutions and in a lawful government, the
pride and assumption usual in those courts. Agis, on the contrary,
in fineness of nature and elevation of mind, not only far excelled
Leonidas, but in a manner all the kings that had reigned since the
great Agesilaus. For though he had been bred very tenderly, in
abundance and even in luxury, by his mother Agesistrata and his
grandmother Archidamia, who were the wealthiest of the
Lacedaemonians,
yet, before the age of twenty, he renounced all indulgence in
pleasures. Withdrawing himself as far as possible from the gaiety
and ornament which seemed becoming to the grace of his
person, he made
it his pride to appear in the coarse Spartan coat. In his meals, his
bathings, and in all his exercises, he followed the old Laconian
usage, and was often heard to say, he had no desire for the place of
king, if he did not hope by means of that authority to restore their
ancient laws and discipline.
The Lacedaemonians might date the beginning of their
corruption from
their conquest of Athens, and the influx of gold and silver
among them
that thence ensued. Yet, nevertheless, the number of houses which
Lycurgus appointed being still maintained, and the law remaining in
force by which every one was obliged to leave his lot or portion of
land entirely to his son, a kind of order and equality was thereby
preserved, which still in some degree sustained the state amidst its
errors in other respects. But one Epitadeus happening to be ephor, a
man of great influence, and of a willful, violent spirit, ...
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