ossess Syria or win her as an ally, if she desired to be
protected against all chance of sudden invasion. Nephorites and his
successors, therefore, formed alliances beyond the isthmus, and even on
the other side of the Mediterranean, with Cyprus, Caria, and Greece, in
one case to purchase support, and in another to re-establish the ancient
supremacy exercised by the Theban Pharaohs.*

* This is, at any rate, the idea given of him by Egyptian
tradition in the time of the Ptolemies, as results from a
passage in the _Demotic Rhapsody_, where his reign is
mentioned.

Every revolt against the Persians, every quarrel among the satraps,
helped forward their cause, since they compelled the great king to
suspend his attacks against Egypt altogether or to prosecute them at
wide intervals: the Egyptians therefore fomented such quarrels, or even,
at need, provoked them, and played their game so well that for a long
time they had to oppose only a fraction of the Persian forces. Like the
Saite Pharaohs before them, they were aware how little reliance could
be placed on native troops, and they recruited their armies at great
expense from the European Greeks. This occurred at the time when
mercenary forces were taking the place of native levies throughout
Hellas, and war was developing into a lucrative trade for those who
understood how to conduct it: adventurers, greedy for booty, flocked
to the standards of the generals who enjoyed the best reputation for
kindness or ability, and the generals themselves sold their services
to the highest bidder. The Persian kings took large advantage of this
arrangement to procure troops: the Pharaohs imitated their example, and
in the years which followed, the most experienced captains, Iphicrates,
Chabrias, and Timotheus, passed from one camp to another, as often
against the will as with the consent of their fatherland. The power of
Sparta was at her zenith when Nephorites ascended the throne, and she
was just preparing for her expedition to Phrygia. The Pharaoh concluded
an alliance with the Lacedomonians, and in 396 B.C. sent to Agesilaus
a fleet laden with arms, corn, and supplies, which, however, was
intercepted by Conon, who was at that moment cruising in the direction
of Rhodes in command of the Persian squadron. This misadventure and the
abrupt retreat of the Spartans from Asia Minor cooled the good will of
the Egyptian king towards his allies. Thinking that they had aba