If, when more than eighty
years old, and almost crippled by honourable wounds, he had again
placed himself at the head of a glorious crusade against the Persian
on behalf of the liberties of Greece, all men would have admired his
spirit, but even then would not entirely have approved of the
undertaking; for to make an action noble, time and place must be
fitting, since it is this alone that decides whether an action be good
or bad. Agesilaus, however, cared nothing for his reputation, and
considered that no service undertaken for the good of his country
would be dishonourable or unworthy of him, but thought it much more
unworthy and dishonourable to sit uselessly waiting for death at home.
He raised a body of mercenary troops with the money furnished by
Tachos, and set sail, accompanied, as in his former expedition, by
thirty Spartan counsellors.
When he landed in Egypt, the chief generals and ministers of King
Tachos at once came to pay their court to him. The other Egyptians
also eagerly crowded to see Agesilaus, of whom they had heard so much.
When, however, they saw only a little deformed old man, in mean
attire, sitting on the grass, they began to ridicule him, and
contemptuously to allude to the proverb of the mountain in labour,
which brought forth a mouse. They were even more astonished when, of
the presents offered to him, he accepted flour, calves, and geese, but
refused to receive dried fruits, pastry, and perfumes.
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