1. Again, among all the pleasures that prove too strong for many men, who can mention one to which Agesilaus yielded? Drunkenness, he thought, should be avoided like madness, overeating like idleness. Moreover, he received a double ration at the public meals, but instead of consuming both portions himself, he distributed both and left neither for himself, holding that the purpose of this double allowance to the king was not to provide him with a heavy meal, but to give him the opportunity of honouring whomsoever he would.
1. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ὅσαι γε ἡδοναὶ πολλῶν κρατοῦσιν ἀνθρώπων, ποίας οἶδέ τις Ἀγησίλαον ἡττηθέντα; ὃς μέθης μὲν ἀποσχέσθαι ὁμοίως ᾤετο χρῆναι καὶ λαιμαργίας, σίτων δʼ ὑπὲρ καιρὸν ὁμοίως [ὡς] καὶ ἁμαρτίας. διμοιρίαν γε μὴν λαμβάνων ἐν ταῖς θοίναις οὐχ ὅπως ἀμφοτέραις ἐχρῆτο, ἀλλὰ διαπέμπων οὐδετέραν αὑτῷ κατέλειπε, νομίζων βασιλεῖ τοῦτο διπλασιασθῆναι οὐχὶ πλησμονῆς ἕνεκα, ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἔχοι καὶ τούτῳ τιμᾶν εἴ τινα βούλοιτο.
2. As for sleep, it was not his master, but the servant of his activities; and unless he occupied the humblest bed among his comrades, he could not conceal his shame: for he thought that a ruler’s superiority over ordinary men should be shown not by weakness but by endurance.
2. οὐ μὴν ὕπνῳ γε δεσπότῃ ἀλλʼ ἀρχομένῳ ὑπὸ τῶν πράξεων ἐχρῆτο, καὶ εὐνήν γε εἰ μὴ τῶν συνόντων φαυλοτάτην ἔχοι, αἰδούμενος οὐκ ἄδηλος ἦν· ἡγεῖτο γὰρ ἄρχοντι προσήκειν οὐ μαλακίᾳ ἀλλὰ καρτερίᾳ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν περιεῖναι.
3. There were things, to be sure, of which he was not ashamed to take more than his share — for instance, the summer’s heat and the winter’s cold: and whenever his army was faced with a hard task, he toiled willingly beyond all others, believing that all such actions were an encouragement to the men. Not to labour the point, Agesilaus gloried in hard work, and showed a strong distaste for indolence.
3. τάδε μέντοι πλεονεκτῶν οὐκ ᾐσχύνετο, ἐν μὲν τῷ θέρει τοῦ ἡλίου, ἐν δὲ τῷ χειμῶνι τοῦ ψύχους· καὶ μὴν εἴ ποτε μοχθῆσαι στρατιᾷ συμβαίη, ἑκὼν ἐπόνει παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, νομίζων πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα παραμυθίαν εἶναι τοῖς στρατιώταις. ὡς δὲ συνελόντι εἰπεῖν, Ἀγησίλαος πονῶν μὲν ἠγάλλετο, ῥᾳστώνην δὲ πάμπαν οὐ προσίετο.
4. His habitual control of his affections surely deserves a tribute of admiration, if worthy of mention on no other ground. That he should keep at arms’ length those whose intimacy he did not desire may be thought only human. But he loved Megabates, the handsome son of Spithridates, with all the intensity of an ardent nature. Now it is the custom among the Persians to bestow a kiss on those whom they honour. Yet when Megabates attempted to kiss him, Agesilaus resisted his advances with all his might — an act of punctilious moderation surely!
4. περί γε μὴν ἀφροδισίων ἐγκρατείας αὐτοῦ ἆρʼ οὐχὶ εἰ μή του ἄλλου ἀλλὰ θαύματος ἕνεκα ἄξιον μνησθῆναι; τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὧν μὴ ἐπεθύμησεν ἀπέχεσθαι ἀνθρώπινον ἄν τις φαίη εἶναι· τὸ δὲ Μεγαβάτου τοῦ Σπιθριδάτου παιδὸς ἐρασθέντα ὥσπερ ἂν τοῦ καλλίστου ἡ σφοδροτάτη φύσις ἐρασθείη, ἔπειτα, ἡνίκα ἐπιχωρίου ὄντος τοῖς Πέρσαις φιλεῖν οὓς ἂν τιμῶσιν ἐπεχείρησε καὶ ὁ Μεγαβάτης φιλῆσαι τὸν Ἀγησίλαον, διαμάχεσθαι ἀνὰ κράτος τὸ μὴ φιληθῆναι, ἆρʼ οὐ τοῦτό γε ἤδη τὸ σωφρόνημα καὶ δαιμόνιον;
5. Megabates, feeling himself slighted, tried no more to kiss him, and Agesilaus approached one of his companions with a request that he would persuade Megabates to show him honour once again. Will you kiss him, asked his companion, if Megabates yields? After a deep silence, Agesilaus gave his reply: By the twin gods, no, not if I were straightway to be the fairest and strongest and fleetest man on earth! By all the gods I swear that I would rather fight that same battle over again than that everything I see should turn into gold.
5. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὥσπερ ἀτιμασθῆναι νομίσας ὁ Μεγαβάτης τοῦ λοιποῦ οὐκέτι φιλεῖν ἐπειρᾶτο, προσφέρει τινὶ λόγον τῶν ἑταίρων ὁ Ἀγησίλαος πείθειν τὸν Μεγαβάτην πάλιν τιμᾶν αὐτόν. ἐρομένου δὲ τοῦ ἑταίρου, ἢν πεισθῇ ὁ Μεγαβάτης, εἰ φιλήσει, ἐνταῦθα διασιωπήσας ὁ Ἀγησίλαος εἶπεν· οὐ τὼ σιώ, οὐδʼ εἰ μέλλοιμί γε αὐτίκα μάλα κάλλιστός τε καὶ ἰσχυρότατος καὶ τάχιστος ἀνθρώπων ἔσεσθαι· μάχεσθαί γε μέντοι πάλιν τὴν αὐτὴν μάχην ὄμνυμι πάντας θεοὺς ἦ μὴν μᾶλλον βούλεσθαι ἢ πάντα μοι ὅσα ὁρῶ χρυσᾶ γενέσθαι.
6. What opinion some hold in regard to these matters I know well enough; but for my part I am persuaded that many more men can gain the mastery over their enemies than over impulses such as these. No doubt when these things are known to few, many have a right to be sceptical: but we all know this, that the greater a man’s fame, the fiercer is the light that beats on all his actions; we know too that no one ever reported that he had seen Agesilaus do any such thing, and that no scandal based on conjecture would have gained credence; for it was not his habit, when abroad, to lodge apart in a private house, but he was always either in a temple, where conduct of this sort is, of course, impossible, or else in a public place where all men’s eyes became witnesses of his rectitude.
6. καὶ ὅ τι μὲν δὴ ὑπολαμβάνουσί τινες ταῦτα οὐκ ἀγνοῶ· ἐγὼ μέντοι δοκῶ εἰδέναι ὅτι πολὺ πλέονες τῶν πολεμίων ἢ τῶν τοιούτων δύνανται κρατεῖν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὀλίγων εἰδότων πολλοῖς ἔξεστιν ἀπιστεῖν· τὰ δὲ πάντες ἐπιστάμεθα ὅτι ἥκιστα μὲν οἱ ἐπιφανέστατοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων λανθάνουσιν ὅ τι ἂν ποιῶσιν· Ἀγησίλαον δέ τι πράξαντα [μὲν] τοιοῦτον οὔτε ἰδὼν πώποτε οὐδεὶς ἀνήγγειλεν οὔτε εἰκάζων πιστὰ ἂν ἔδοξε λέγειν.
7. If I speak this falsely against the knowledge of the Greek world, I am in no way praising my hero; but I am censuring myself. As for Courage, he seems to me to have afforded clear proofs of that by always engaging himself to fight against the strongest enemies of his state and of Greece, and by always placing himself in the forefront of the struggle.
7. καὶ γὰρ εἰς οἰκίαν μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἰδίᾳ ἐν ἀποδημίᾳ κατήγετο, ἀεὶ δὲ ⟨ἦν⟩ ἢ ἐν ἱερῷ, ἔνθα δὴ ἀδύνατον τὰ τοιαῦτα πράττειν, ἢ ἐν φανερῷ, μάρτυρας τοὺς πάντων ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς σωφροσύνης ποιούμενος. εἰ δʼ ἐγὼ ταῦτα ψεύδομαι ἀντία τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπισταμένης ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὐδὲν ἐπαινῶ, ἐμαυτὸν δὲ ψέγω. ἀνδρείας γε μὴν οὐκ ἀφανῆ τεκμήριά μοι δοκεῖ παρασχέσθαι ὑφιστάμενος μὲν ἀεὶ πολεμεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἰσχυροτάτους τῶν ἐχθρῶν τῇ τε πόλει καὶ τῇ Ἑλλάδι, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πρὸς τούτους ἀγῶσι πρῶτον [μὲν] ἑαυτὸν τάττων.