small town within the territory of Megalopolis, named Leuktra.[10] The
Achæans under Aratus promptly came up, and a battle was fought under the
walls of the town, in which part of the army of Kleomenes was defeated.
Aratus however refused to follow up his advantage, and kept the main
body of the Achæans motionless behind the bed of a torrent. Enraged at
his inaction, Lydiades of Megalopolis charged at the head of the cavalry
under his own command, but got entangled in the pursuit of the enemy in
ground which was cut up by walls and watercourses. Seeing him thrown
into disorder, Kleomenes sent his Tarentine and Cretan troops to attack
him, by whom Lydiades, fighting bravely, was overpowered and slain. The
Lacedæmonians now recovered their spirits, and with loud shouts attacked
the Achæans and completely defeated them. Many were slain, and their
corpses were given up to the enemy for burial, with the exception of
that of Lydiades, which Kleomenes ordered to be brought to himself. He
then attired it in a purple robe, placed a garland upon its head, and
sent it to the city of Megalopolis. This was that Lydiades who had been
despot of Megalopolis, but who abdicated his throne, restored liberty to
his countrymen, and brought the city to join the Achæan league.
VII. After this victory Kleomenes became inspired with fresh confidence,
and was convinced that if he only were allowed undisputed management he
would easily conquer the Achæans. He explained to his step-father
Megistonous that the time had at length come for the abolition of the
Ephors, the redistribution of property, and the establishment of
equality among the citizens, after which Sparta might again aspire to
recover her ancient ascendancy in Greece. Megistonous agreed, and
communicated his intentions to two or three of his friends. It chanced
that at this time one of the Ephors who was sleeping in the temple of
Pasiphæ dreamed an extraordinary dream, that in the place where the
Ephors sat for the dispatch of business he saw four chairs removed, and
one alone remaining, while as he wondered he heard a voice from the
shrine say "This is best for Sparta." When the Ephor related this dream
to Kleomenes, he was at first much alarmed, and feared that the man had
conceived some suspicion of his designs, but finding that he was really
in earnest recovered his confidence. Taking with him all those citizens
whom he suspected to be opposed to his enterprise, he captured Heræa and
Alsæa, cities belonging to the Achæan league, revictualled Orchomenus,
and threatened Mantinea. By long marches and counter-marches he so
wearied the Lacedæmonians that at last at their own request he left the
greater part of them in Arcadia, while he with the mercenaries returned
to Sparta. During his homeward march he revealed his intentions to
those whom he considered to be most devoted to his person, and regulated
his march so as to be able to fall upon the Ephors while they were at
their evening meal.
VIII. When he drew near to the city, he sent Eurykleidas into the
dining-room of the Ephors, on the pretence of bringing a message from
the army. After Eurykleidas followed Phoebis and Therukion, two of the
foster-brothers of Kleomenes, called _mothakes_[11] by the
Lacedæmonians, with a few soldiers. While Eurykleidas was parleying with
the Ephors, these men rushed in with drawn swords and cut them down. The
president, Agylæus, fell at the first blow and appeared to be dead, but
contrived to crawl out of the building unobserved into a small temple,
sacred to Fear, the door of which was usually closed, but which then
chanced to be open. In this he took refuge and shut the door. The other
four were slain, and some few persons, not more than ten, who came to
assist them. No one who remained quiet was put to death, nor was any one
prevented from leaving the city. Even Agylæus, when he came out of his
sanctuary on the following day, was not molested.
IX. The Lacedæmonians have temples dedicated not only to Fear, but to
Death, and Laughter, and the like. They honour Fear, not as a malevolent
divinity to be shunned, but because they think that the constitutions of
states are mainly upheld by Fear. For this reason, Aristotle tells us
that the Ephors, when they enter upon their office, issue a proclamation
ordering the citizens to shave the moustache and obey the laws, that the
laws might not be hard upon them. The injunction about shaving the
moustache is inserted, I imagine, in order to accustom the young to
obedience even in the most trivial matters. It seems to me that the
ancient Spartans did not regard bravery as consisting in the absence of
fear, but in the fear of shame and dread of dishonour; for those who
fear the laws most are the bravest in battle; and those who most fear
disgrace care least for their own personal safety. The poet was right
who said
"Where there is fear, is reverence too;"
and Homer makes Helen call Priam
"My father-in-law dear,
Whom most of all I reverence and fear;"
while he speaks of the Greek army as obeying
"Its chiefs commands in silence and with fear."
Human nature, indeed, leads most men to reverence those whom they fear;
and this is why the Lacedæmonians placed the temple of Fear close to the
dining-hall of the Ephors, because they invested that office with almost
royal authority.
X. On the following morning Kleomenes published a list containing the
names of eighty citizens, whom he required to leave the country, and
removed the chairs of the Ephors, except one, which he intended to
occupy himself. He now convoked an assembly, and made a speech
justifying his recent acts. In the time of Lykurgus, he said, the kings
and the senate shared between them the supreme authority in the State;
and for a long time the government was carried on in this manner without
any alteration being required, until, during the long wars with Messene,
as the kings had no leisure to attend to public affairs, they chose some
of their friends to sit as judges in their stead, and these persons
acted at first merely as the servants of the kings, but gradually got
all power into their own hands, and thus insensibly established a new
power in the State. A proof of the truth of this is to be found in the
custom which still prevails, that when the Ephors send for the king, he
refuses to attend at the first and second summons, but rises and goes to
them at the third. Asteropus, who first consolidated the power of the
Ephors, and raised it to the highest point, flourished in comparatively
recent times, many generations after the original establishment of the
office. If, he went on to say, the Ephors would have behaved with
moderation, it would have been better to allow them to remain in
existence; but when they began to use their ill-gotten power to destroy
the constitution of Sparta, when they banished one king, put another to
death without trial, and kept down by terror all those who wished for
the introduction of the noblest and most admirable reforms, they could
no longer be borne. Had he been able without shedding a drop of blood to
drive out of Lacedæmon all those foreign pests of luxury, extravagance,
debt, money-lending, and those two more ancient evils, poverty and
riches, he should have accounted himself the most fortunate of kings,
because, like a skilful physician, he had painlessly performed so
important an operation upon his country: as it was, the use of force was
sanctioned by the example of Lykurgus, who, though only a private man,
appeared in arms in the market-place, and so terrified King Charilaus,
that he fled for refuge to the altar of Athena. He, however, being an
honest and patriotic man, soon joined Lykurgus, and acquiesced in the
reforms which he introduced, while the acts of Lykurgus prove that it is
hard to effect a revolution without armed force, of which he declared
that he had made a most sparing use, and had only put out of the way
those who were opposed to the best interests of Lacedæmon. He announced
to the rest of the citizens that the land should be divided among them,
that they should be relieved from all their debts, and that all resident
aliens should be submitted to an examination, in order that the best of
them might be selected to become full citizens of Sparta, and help to
defend the city from falling a prey to Ætolians and Illyrians for want
of men to defend her.
XI. After this he himself first threw his inheritance into the common
stock, and his example was followed by his father-in-law Megistonous,
his friends, and the rest of the citizens. The land was now divided, and
one lot was assigned to each of those whom he had banished, all of whom
he said it was his intention to bring back as soon as order was
restored. He recruited the numbers of the citizens by the admission of
the most eligible of the Perioeki to the franchise, and organised them
into a body of four thousand heavy armed infantry, whom he taught to use
the sarissa, or Macedonian pike which was grasped with both hands,
instead of the spear, and to sling their shields by a strap instead of
using a handle. He next turned his attention to the education and
discipline of the youth, in which task he was assisted by Sphærus. The
gymnasia and the common meals were soon re-established, and the
citizens, for the most part willingly, resumed their simple Laconian
habits of living. Kleomenes, fearing to be called a despot, appointed
his own brother, Eukleidas, as his colleague. Then for the first time
were two kings of the same family seen at once in Sparta.
XII. As Kleomenes perceived that Aratus and the Achæans thought that
while Sparta was passing through so perilous a crisis her troops were
not likely to leave the country, he thought that it would be both a
spirited and a useful act to display the enthusiasm of his army to the
enemy. He invaded the territory of Megalopolis, carried off a large
booty, and laid waste a large extent of country. Finding a company of
players on their road from Messene, he took them prisoners, caused a
theatre to be erected in the enemy's country, and offered them forty
minæ for a performance for one day, at which he himself attended as a
spectator, not that he cared for the performance, but because he wished
to mock at his enemies, and to show by this studied insult the enormous
superiority of which he was conscious. At this period his was the only
army, Greek or foreign, which was not attended by actors, jugglers,
dancing-girls, and singers; but he kept it free from all licentiousness
and buffoonery, as the younger men were nearly always being practised in
martial exercises, while the elders acted as their instructors; and when
they were at leisure they amused themselves with witty retorts and
sententious Laconian pleasantries. The great value of this kind of
discipline is described at greater length in the life of Lykurgus.
XIII. In everything Kleomenes himself acted as their teacher, and
example, offering his own simple, frugal life, so entirely free from
vulgar superfluities, as a model of sobriety for them all to copy; and
this added greatly to his influence in Greece. For when men attended
the courts of the other kings of that period they were not so much
impressed by their wealth and lavish expenditure as they were disgusted
by their arrogant, overbearing manners; but when they met Kleomenes, who
was every inch a king, and saw that he wore no purple robes, did not
lounge on couches and litters, and was not surrounded by a crowd of
messengers, doorkeepers, and secretaries, so as to be difficult of
access, but that he himself, dressed in plain clothes, came and shook
them by the hand, and conversed with them in a kindly and encouraging
tone, they were completely fascinated and charmed by him, and declared
that he alone was a true descendant of Herakles. His dinner was usually
served upon a very small Laconian table with three couches,[12] but if
he were entertaining ambassadors or foreigners two additional couches
were added, and his servants somewhat improved his dinner, not by adding
to it made-dishes and pastry, but by serving a greater abundance of food
and a more liberal allowance of wine. Indeed he blamed one of his
friends, when he heard that when entertaining foreigners at dinner he
had placed before them black broth and barley cakes: for he said that in
such matters, and when entertaining strangers, it was not well to be too
rigidly Spartan. After the table was removed a tripod was brought in
which supported a bronze bowl full of wine, two silver pateræ, that held
each about a pint, and a number of very small silver cups, from which
any one drank who wished, for Kleomenes never forced men to drink
against their will. No recitations were performed for the amusement of
the guests; for he himself would lead the conversation and entertain
them over their wine, partly by asking questions of them and partly by
relating anecdotes to them: for he well knew both how to make serious
subjects interesting, and to be pleasant and witty without giving
offence. He was of opinion that the habit of other princes, of tempting
men into their service by presents and bribes, was both clumsy and
wicked; but he thought it peculiarly befitting a king to influence and
captivate men's minds by the charm of his conversation, and was wont to
say that a friend differed only from a mercenary soldier in that a man
wins the one by the influence of his character and his conversation, and
the other by his money.
XIV. First of all the people of Mantinea made overtures to him. They
admitted him to their city by night, aided him to drive out the Achæan
garrison, and placed themselves unreservedly in his hands. He, however,
restored them to the enjoyment of their own laws and original
constitution, and marched away the same day to Tegea. Shortly afterwards
by a circuitous march through Arcadia he arrived before the Achæan city
of Pheræ, desiring either to fight a battle with the Achæans, or to make
Aratus incur the disgrace of retreating and leaving him in possession of
the country: for although Hyperbates was nominally in command, all real
power over the Achæans was in the hands of Aratus. The Achæans took the
field with their entire force, and encamped at Dymæ, near the temple
called Hekatombæon. When Kleomenes arrived here he was unwilling to
establish himself between the hostile city of Dymæ and the army of the
Achæans, and challenged them, forced them to fight, and completely
routed their phalanx. He killed many, took a large number of prisoners,
and then, marching to Langon, drove out the Achæan garrison, and
restored the city to the Eleans.
XV. As the Achæan power was now quite broken, Aratus, who was usually
elected general every other year, refused to take office, and excused
himself when they besought him to do so: a dishonourable act, when the
times became more stormy, to desert the helm, and give up his power to
another. Kleomenes at first used very moderate language to the Achæan
ambassadors, but sent others ordering them to acknowledge him for their
sovereign, and promising that if they did so he would do them no further
hurt, and would at once restore the prisoners and fortresses which he
had taken. As the Achæans were willing to accept these terms they
invited Kleomenes to a conference at Lerna. It happened, however, that
Kleomenes, after a long march, drank a quantity of cold water, which
caused him to bring up much blood, and to lose his voice. In
consequence of this, although he sent back the most distinguished of his
prisoners, he was obliged to postpone the conference, and went home to
Lacedæmon.
XVI. This mischance ruined Greece, which even now might have recovered
herself, and avoided falling into the hands of the insolent and
rapacious Macedonians. For Aratus, either because he distrusted and
feared Kleomenes, or else because he grudged him his success, and
thought that after he had for thirty-three years been chief of the
Achæans, it was not to be endured that a young man should overthrow him,
and enter into the fruit of his labours, at first tried to oppose the
Achæans when they offered to come to terms with the Lacedæmonians; but
as they would not listen to him, because they were cowed by the boldness
of Kleomenes, and also admitted the justice of the Lacedæmonian claim to
be the leading state in Peloponnesus, as their ancestral right, he
adopted a course which was a disgraceful one for any Greek, but
especially so for him, and one which was most unworthy of his former
political life. He determined to invite Antigonus into Greece, and to
fill the Pelopennesus with those very Macedonians whom he himself when a
lad had chased out of the country by his capture of the Acro-Corinthus,
although he was regarded with suspicion by all the kings, and was at
variance with them all, and though he had already accused this very
Antigonus himself of every conceivable crime in his "Memoirs," which are
still extant. Yet he himself has stated that he suffered much, and
risked much to free Athens from a Macedonian garrison; though now he led
these very men with arms in their hands into his own native country, and
up to his own paternal hearth. He thought that Kleomenes, a descendant
of Herakles, a king of Sparta, who had restored the simple ancient
Dorian constitution of Lykurgus, as one tightens the relaxed strings of
a lyre, to bring it into tune, was unworthy to be accounted the ruler of
Sikyon and Tritæa; and in his eagerness to avoid the rough Spartan
cloak, and the Spartan barley bread, and that with which he especially
charged Kleomenes, the destruction of wealth and the encouragement of
poverty, threw himself and all Achæa with him, into the arms of the
Macedonians, with all their diadems and their purple robes and their
habits of oriental despotism. That he might avoid acting under the
orders of Kleomenes, he was content to offer sacrifice at festivals in
honour of Antigonus, and himself to place a garland upon his head, and
to lead the pæan in praise of a man wasted and emaciated by consumption.
And this I write, not from any desire to depreciate Aratus, for in many
respects he proved himself a truly great and patriotic man, but rather
out of pity for the weakness of human nature, which will not allow even
the most eminent persons to present us with the spectacle of an entirely
unblemished virtue.
XVII. When the Achæans again assembled at Argos to hold a conference
there, and Kleomenes started to go thither from Tegea, men's minds were
full of hope that peace would be finally established. But Aratus, who
had already settled the main points of his treaty with Antigonus, and
feared that Kleomenes would either by persuasion or force bring the
assembly over to his views, sent to him demanding either that he should
take three hundred hostages for his safety and come to the conference
alone, or else meet them with his army outside the walls at the
gymnasium called the Kyllarabium. Kleomenes on hearing this said that he
had not been properly treated; for Aratus ought to have warned him of
this at once, not have waited till he was almost at the gates of Argos
and then expressed suspicions of his honesty of purpose and driven him
away. He sent a letter to the assembled Achæans, containing bitter
invectives against Aratus, and as Aratus replied by maligning him in a
public oration, he broke up his camp and sent a herald with a
declaration of war, not to Argos, according to Aratus, but to Ægium, in
order to take the Achæans by surprise. The Achæan cities were all ripe
for revolt, as the populace hoped for a redistribution of the land and
cancelling of debts if they joined the Spartans, while the leading men
were all jealous of the power and influence of Aratus, and some of them
hated him as the traitor who was bringing the Macedonians into
Peloponnesus. Relying upon the prevalence of this feeling Kleomenes
invaded Achaia, took Pellene by surprise, and drove out the garrison
and the Achæan inhabitants. Soon afterwards he captured the cities of
Pheneus and Penteleum.
The Achæans of Corinth and Sikyon now began to fear that his partisans
were plotting to deliver up those cities to him, and in consequence sent
their cavalry and foreign mercenaries away from Argos to guard those
towns, while they themselves proceeded to Argos to hold the Nemean
festival there. Kleomenes, rightly judging that his appearance at a time
when the city was full of a disorderly crowd of people who were come to
attend the feasts and games would produce great confusion, marched up to
the walls by night, seized the place called the 'Shield,' which is just
above the theatre, and is very difficult of access, and so terrified the
citizens that no one attempted to offer any resistance. They willingly
agreed to admit a Spartan garrison, to give twenty of their chief men as
hostages for their loyalty, and to become the allies of the
Lacedæmonians, acknowledging their supremacy.
XVIII. This exploit added not a little to the reputation and power of
Kleomenes. None of the ancient kings of Sparta could ever make
themselves masters of Argos, although they often attempted to do so; and
even that most brilliant general King Pyrrhus, though he forced his way
into the city, could not take it, but perished, and with him a great
part of his army. For these reasons, the skill and audacity of Kleomenes
were the more admired: and those who had before ridiculed his attempts
to bring back the days of Solon and Lykurgus by the cancelling of debts
and redistribution of land, now became entirely convinced that these
measures had been the cause of the revival of Sparta. The Spartans
before this had been so feeble and helpless, that the Ætolians invaded
Laconia and carried off a booty of fifty thousand slaves, on which
occasion it is said that an old Spartan observed that the enemy had
greatly benefited Laconia by relieving it from its burdens. Yet a short
time after this, by the restoration of their former constitution, and by
re-establishing the ancient system of training, they made as magnificent
a display of discipline and valour as if Lykurgus himself were alive and
at the head of affairs, for they gained for Sparta the first place in
Greece, and won the whole of Peloponnesus by the sword.
XIX. The submission of Argos to Kleomenes was soon followed by that of
Phlius and Kleonæ. During these events Aratus was at Corinth, busily
engaged in searching for the partisans of the Lacedæmonians. When the
news of the fall of these cities reached Corinth, as he observed that
the city of Corinth was eager to join Kleomenes and leave the Achæan
league, he summoned the citizens to meet in the public assembly, and
himself made his way unperceived to the gate. He had already sent his
horse thither, and mounting, fled to Sikyon. The Corinthians now hurried
to Argos to surrender their city to Kleomenes; in such haste, writes
Aratus in his 'Memoirs,' that they foundered all their horses. Kleomenes
reproached them for allowing Aratus to escape, but shortly afterwards
sent Megistonous to him, asking him to hand over the citadel of Corinth,
which was in possession of an Achæan garrison, and offering him a large
sum of money. He answered that the course of affairs was not in his
power, but that he was rather in theirs. These particulars we have
extracted from Aratus's own writings. Kleomenes now marched from Argos
to Corinth, receiving on the way the submission of Troezene, Epidaurus,
and Hermione. As the garrison refused to surrender the citadel, he built
a rampart round it, and sending for the friends and representatives of
Aratus, bade them take charge of his house and property during his
absence. He now sent the Messenian Tritymallus to Aratus, with
instructions to propose to him that the garrison of Acro-Corinthus
should be composed partly of Spartan and partly of Achæan troops, while
he himself privately offered him double the amount of the pension which
he received from King Ptolemy of Egypt. However, as Aratus refused to
listen to his overtures, but sent his own son with the other hostages to
Antigonus, and persuaded the Achæans to pass a decree to hand over the
Acro-Corinthus to Antigonus, Kleomenes invaded the territory of Sikyon
and laid it waste, and also took the property of Aratus when it was
publicly presented to him by the people of Corinth.