of Persia, but if Artaxerxes
should take away his satrapy he would come over to the Spartans.
Therewith Agesilaus shook hands with him, and said, "How much rather I
would have so gallant a man for my friend than my enemy?" The young son
of the satrap was even more taken with the Spartan, and, waiting behind
his father, ran up to the king, and, according to the Persian offer of
friendship, said, "I make you my guest," at the same time giving him a
javelin. Agesilaus looked about for anything fine enough to offer the
young Persian in return, and seeing that a youth in his train had a horse
with handsome trappings, asked for them, and made a gift of them to his
new friend. The friendship stood the youth in good stead, for when he
was afterwards driven from home by his brethren, Agesilaus welcomed him
in Laconia, and was very kind to him. The war, however, still continued,
and Agesilaus gained such successes that the Persians saw their best hope
lay in getting him recalled to Greece; so they sent money in secret to
the Athenians and their old allies to incite them to revolt, and so
strong an army was brought together that the Spartans sent in haste to
recall Agesilaus. The summons came just as he was mustering all the
Greek warriors in Asia Minor for an advance into the heart of the empire,
and he was much disappointed; but he laughed, and, as Persian coins were
stamped with the figure of a horseman drawing the bow, he said he had
been defeated by 10,000 Persian archers.

He marched home by the way of the Hellespont, but before he was past
Thrace a great battle had been fought close to Corinth, in which the
Spartans had been victorious and made a great slaughter of the allies.
But he only thought of them as Greeks, not as enemies, and exclaimed, "O
Greece, how many brave men hast thou lost, who might have conquered all
Persia!" The Thebans had joined the allies against Sparta, and the
Ephors sent orders to Agesilaus to punish them on his way southwards.
This he did in the battle of Coronea, in which he was very badly wounded,
but, after the victory was over, he would not be taken to his tent till
he had been carried round the field to see that every slain Spartan was
carried away in his armour and not left to the plunderers.

He then returned to Sparta, where the citizens were delighted to see that
he had not been spoiled by Persian luxury, but lived as plainly as ever,
and would not let his family dress differently