CorrectQuote:
Originally Posted by Aenlic
A friend of princes, and a would be King.
A friend of Cyrus the Younger of Persia (whom Xenophon served in to his Anabasis) and Agesilaus of Sparta (who was Xenophon's patron in later life). After a career marked by limits on his power due to not being a King, he was said to have prepared a speech appealing to Sparta to allow people outside the 2 royal houses to compete for the Kingship, with himself in mind, but died in battle before he could deliver it. The speech was destroyed by Agesilaus as a threat to the state.
I was among the most powerful men my people have seen, yet I died poor,
He had access to probably the greatest riches any Spartan had ever seen, but kept none of it for himself. After his death, a number of suitors wooed his daughter expecting to inherit his wealth as a dowry, but withdrew when they learned it did not exist. They were charged and fined for frivolous proposal.
spurned by my protege.
When Agis died, Sparta had to choose as successor between his son Leotychidas and his brother Agesilaus. Then current was a prophecy warning against a "crippled kingship". This seemed to rule out Agesilaus, who was lame at birth and only escaped being thrown into the chasm due to his royal status (but who had since overcome his disability and passed the agoge). But Lysander interpreted it to mean a metaphorical cripple, alluding to the rumour that Leotychides' father was not King Agis, but the Athenian Alcibiades. The Ephors agreed with Lysander, and chose Agesilaus as King. However, he was not to enjoy his protege's elevation, as, irritated by foreigners' assumption that he was Lysander's puppet, Agesilaus froze Lysander out of Spartan society.
I ended the Great Rivalry through charm and through water, the exact reverse of my people's reputation.
The Great Rivalry was between Sparta, a traditionally land-based nation famous for its lack of charm and seamanship (Thucydides alludes acidly to the former), and Athens, a traditionally sea-based nation famous for its orators and admirals. Lysander used his friendship with Cyrus to provide him with money to buy any unaligned Greeks the Athenians were using as crew, and pursued other diplomatic initiatives to woo away other Athenian allies. This crippled the Athenian fleet, and combined with a traditional land campaign (suggested by Alcibiades) threatened the Athenians' food supply. This food supply from the Crimea was decisively cut when the last Athenian fleet in being was destroyed at Aegospotami (Goat's Creek), and Athens itself was forced to capitulate after a siege. This ended the Pelopponesian war in Sparta's favour, and marked the high point in Spartan power.
Another clue is that his people reached the peak of their power as a result of his campaigns, but his protege threw it all away in pursuit of a vendetta.
Agesilaus pursued a feud with Thebes after being insulted at a conference by the Theban delegate Epaminondas, the dispute resulting in Leuctra, Mantinea, the liberation of the Messenians and the subsequent collapse of Spartan power.
with the subject appearing in the lyrics of one of the best known military songs in the world.
1st verse of The British Grenadiers, probably the best known British military song, often used to represent the British military in general.
Some talk of Alexander, some talk of Hercules
Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these
But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare
With a tow-row-row, row-row-row, to the British Grenadier
More about the Spartans
http://www.channel4.com/history/micr...spartans3.html
I see that Aenlic has conceded to Hannibal99, even though he didn't choose between Callicratidas and Lysander. So it's Hannibal's turn.
