Agésilauus

Agésilauus, king of Sparta (397–360 B.C.), was elevated to the throne chiefly by the exertions of Lysander. He was one of the most brilliant soldiers of antiquity. Being called upon by the Ionians to assist them against Artaxerxes, he commenced a splendid campaign in Asia; but was compelled by the Corinthian war, in which several of the Grecian states were allied against Sparta, to leave his conquest over the Persians incomplete, and return to Greece. At Coronæa (394 B.C.), he gained a victory over the allied forces, and in 378 the war was concluded by a treaty of peace in favour of Sparta. Afterwards, in the Theban war, though hard pressed by Pelopidas and Epaminondas, and defeated at Mantinea (362), he bravely and ably defended his country. He fought a campaign in Egypt, and returning, he died in his 84th year.