900 G R E 
differences with tlie moft impartial juftice. Difdaining 
the cruel example of his predecefTors, he impofed not 
anyj arbitrary exactions on the peaceful citizens and 
hufbandnien; and, left the maintenance of his troops 
fliOuld prove burdenfome to the aliies and lubjetfs ot 
Sparta, he fixed his winter-quarters in Bithynia, where 
the valour of Xenophon and his followers had lately 
fpread the terror of the Grecian name. 
Biarly in the fpring, commiffioners were fent from 
Sparta, to infpCdt the affairs of Afia, and to re-appoint, 
for another year, the authority of Dercyllidas, provided 
their oblervations and inquiries confirmed the very fa¬ 
vourable accounts that had been given of his adminii- 
tration. Dercyllidas had fcarcely refumed the com¬ 
mand, wlten tile combined forces of Pharnabazus and 
Tift'apliernes appeared in the neighbourhood of Ephe- 
fiis. Tlie general colledfed his wliole ftrength in order 
to give them battle; the European I'oldiers difplayed a 
noble ardour for adtion ; but tlie inhabitants of the 
Afiatic coaft, who had flocked to his ftandard, were 
intimidated by the fight of an enemy whofe numbers 
far exceeded their own. This panic might have proved 
fatal, had not the troops of Tiftaphernes felt the fame 
terror which they tliemfqlves infpired. They re¬ 
collected the bravery of the ten thoufand who accom¬ 
panied Cyrus ; they perceived that the forces with 
whom they now had to contend exceeded that number; 
but they did not refledt; that the army of Dercyllidas 
was I'welled by the degenerate Greeks of .(Eolis and 
Ionia, whole minds had been enfeebled and degraded 
by a long feries of oppreflion. The cowardice of the 
Perlians engaged Tiffapliernes, much againft the incli¬ 
nation of Pharnabazus, to propofe a conference; the 
cowardice of the lonians engaged Dercyllidas to accept 
■the propofal. Hoftilities were thus fufpended ; mu¬ 
tual hoftages were given ; overtures of peace were 
made ; and meflengers were difpatched for inftrudtions 
to the Spartan council, and to the court of Perfia, 
The defign of Tiftaphernes, liowever, was only to 
gain time by amuling tlie enemy. The molt lolemn en¬ 
gagements had long loft their pow'er over his perfidious 
mind. He treacheroully w'atched an opportunity to re¬ 
new the war, waiting with impatience for reinforce¬ 
ments from the Eaft, and elpecially for the equipment 
of a fleet, which Artaxerxes was preparing in the ports 
of Phoenicia. Thefe fecret preparations were commu¬ 
nicated to Sparta by the diligence of Herodas. The 
Spartan I'enate were alarmed w ith the danger, indignant 
at the treachery of Tiftaphernes, and difpleafed with 
the too eafy credulity of their general. But the death 
of Agis had given them, in the perfon of their firft ma- 
gillrate, a commander who equalled Dercyllidas in me¬ 
rit, and who far furpalTed him in renown. 
The memorable expedition againft the Eleans was 
the kill exploit of the long and warlike reign of Agis. 
On his death-bed he acknowledged for iiis fon Leoty- 
•chides, wliofe legitimacy the levity or the guilt of his 
mother l imea had expoled to juft fufpicion. But this 
late avowal of a fuccefl'or, whom lie had fo long dif- 
owned, did not fatisfy the parti fans of Agelilaus, who 
was the brother of Agis on the lide of his father Archi- 
■damus, but younger by many years, being born of a 
dirterent mother, and, except Leotychides, the neareft 
•heir to the tlirone. Under a diminutive and ignoble 
form, Agefilaus concealed a vigorous and fervid mind, 
a manly elevation of character, a generous and noble 
foul. I liele high qualities, adorned by the milder vir¬ 
tues of niodefty, candour, and condelcenfion, ealily at¬ 
tracted the notice, and merited the efteem, of the firft 
ranks in Sparta ; and of none more than Lyl'ander, who, 
as his ow n perlbnal hopes of grandeur were blalted, con¬ 
fined his ambition to the aggrandil'ement of his friend. 
That eloquence and addieis, which would have been 
ineffectual if employed for himfelf, fucceeded in behalf 
!pf another 3 and by the influence and intrigues of Ly- 
E C E. 
fander, Agefilaus was declared fuccelTor to the vacant 
throne ; and thus became commander in chief of the 
Greek forces in Afia. 
In the interval of thefe fucceftive honours, he ap¬ 
proved his attentive vigilance in the fervice of the re¬ 
public, of which the fafety,_ and even the exifte'nce, 
was endangered by a daring and bloody confpiracy. A 
youth named Cinadon, diftinguiflied above iiis compa¬ 
nions by extraordinary ftrength and agility, was not Icfs 
confpicuous for undaunted courage and ambition. De- 
feended of an obfeure family, Cinadon felt and regret, 
ted tlie mortifying partiality of the government under 
which he lived. His pride was deeply wounded with 
the-refletlion, that whatever abilfties his youtli might 
proniife, and Iiis manhood mature, the unfortunate cir- 
cumftances of his birth muft forever exclude him from 
the principal dignities of the ftate, wliich circulated 
among a few Spartan families, without the poflibility of 
being extended beyond that very limited fpliere. The 
warmth of his charafter, and the iinjietuo/ity of Iiis paf- 
fions, prompted him to feek revenge ; nor was his head¬ 
long ferocity alarmed by the means, however atrocious, 
tliat muft lead to this favourite end. He communicated 
the horrid defign to men of his own and of an inferior 
condition, exaggerating their cruel oppretfion under a 
ftern ariftocracy, which he contrafted with the mild 
equality of the neighbouring communities ; aft'erting, 
that even the fubjedds of a monarchy enjoyed greater 
equality and liberty tlian the members of the Spartan 
republic, fince tlie former all equally participated in 
thofe preferments and honours, to which not only the 
flaves, the Helots, and freedmen, but tlie whole body of 
the Lacedaemonian people, were forbidden to afpire ; 
nor did he forget to encourage them all w’ith the cer¬ 
tain profpedd of fuccefs, by contrafting their own ftrength 
and imnibers with tlm weaknefs of an enemy, who 
might be taken unarmed, and cut off by furprife. 
The time for adtion approached, and the author of 
the confpiracy commanded his alTociates to be ready at 
a certain call. Agefilaus, meanwhile, performed the 
accu domed vows and facrifices for the fafety of the re¬ 
public ; foon after which one of the confpirators de¬ 
nounced Cinadon to tlie magiftrates, as guilty of a trea- 
lonable defign, of which he had promifed to become aa 
accomplice. He told them, that Cinadon liaving con- 
du6fed him to the great fquare of tlie city, which being 
deftiiied for the public afl'embly, was the ufual place of 
rendezvous, defired him to count the number of Spar¬ 
tans whom he faw in that fpacioiis refort. That lie 
counted the king, tlie ephori, the fenators, and about 
forty others, and then afked Cinadon, for what purpofc 
he had required him to take that trouble ? Becaufe, re¬ 
plied the confpirator, I reckon the Spartans to be ene¬ 
mies, and all the reft, whofe great numbers you behold 
in the market-place, to be friends. Nor does this pro. 
portion apply to Sparta only ; in the farms and villages 
adjacent to the city, we ihall in each houfe and family 
have one enemy, the mafter, but all the fervants will 
be our friends. Cinadon then acquainted him with the 
object and caufe of the confpiracy, which had been 
formed by men of probity and fortitude, and which was 
foon to be communicated to the (laves, peafants, and 
the whole body of Lacedaemonian people, whofe aninio- 
(ity againft the Spartans was too violent to be con¬ 
cealed. That the greateft part of the confpirators, be¬ 
ing trained for war, liad arms in their hands ; that the 
(hops of the armourers, the tools of thofe artificers who 
wrought in metal, wood, and (lone, and even the inftru- 
ments of agriculture, might furnilh fuch weapons to 
tlie reft. This alarming intelligence roufed tlie aiSti- 
vity of the Spartan magiftrates. It would have been 
imprudent to feize Cinadon in the capital, as they were 
unacquainted with the number of his all'ociates. On 
pretence of the public fervice, tliey contrived to fend 
him to Aiilon (for in fimilar expeditions they had often 
employed 
