Yet in his talk Agesilaus
always set a high value upon justice, calling it the first of all
virtues; for he argued that courage would be useless without justice;
while if all men were just, there would be no need of courage. When he
was informed, "The pleasure of the great king is so-and-so," he was
wont to answer, "How can he be greater than I, unless he be
juster?"--thus truly pointing out that justice is the real measure of
the greatness of kings. When the king of Persia sent him a letter
during the peace, offering to become his guest[186] and friend, he
refused to open it, saying that he was satisfied with the friendship
existing between the two states, and that while that lasted he
required no private bond of union with the king of Persia. However, in
his actions he was far from carrying out these professions, but was
frequently led into unjust acts by his ambition. In this instance he
not only shielded Phoebidas from punishment for what he had done at
Thebes, but persuaded Sparta to adopt his crime as its own, and
continue to hold the Kadmeia, appointing as the chiefs of the garrison
Archias and Leontidas,[187] by whose means Phoebidas made his way into
the citadel.
XXIV. This at once gave rise to a suspicion that Phoebidas was merely
an agent, and that the whole plot originated with Agesilaus himself,
and subsequent events confirmed this view; for as soon as the Thebans
drove out the garrison and set free their city, Agesilaus made war
upon them to avenge the murder of Archias and Leontidas, who had been
nominally polemarchs, but in reality despots of Thebes.
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