to the breeding of dogs
and horses in large numbers for the chase and warfare, he persuaded
his sister Cynisca to rear chariot horses, (9) and thus by her
victory (10) showed that to keep a stud of that sort, however much it
might be a mark of wealth, was hardly a proof of manly virtue. And
surely in the following opinion we may discern plainly the generosity
of him who entertained it. To win victories over private persons in a
chariot race does not add one tittle to a man's renown. He, rather,
who holds his city dear beyond all things else, who has himself sunk
deep into the heart of her affections, who has obtained to himself all
over the world a host of friends and those the noblest, who can outdo
his country and comrades alike in the race of kindliness, and his
antagonists in vengeance--such a man may, in a true sense, be said to
bear away the palm of victory in conquests noble and magnificent;
living and in death to him belongs transcendent fame.

(9) I.e. "for the games."

(10) I.e. "at Olympia." Cynisca, according to Pausanias (iii. 8), was
the first woman who won a prize at Olympia. See also Plut. "Ages."
xx. (Clough, iv. p. 23).

X

It is as possessiong qualities such as these that I praise Agesilaus.
And in these matters he was not like a man who chances upon a treasure
and thereby becomes wealthier, albeit none the more skilful in
economy; nor yet like him who, when a plague has fallen upon an enemy,
wrests a victory, whereby he may add to his reputation for success,
but not for strategy. Rather was his example that of one who in each
emergency will take the lead; at a crisis where toil is needful, by
endurance; or in the battle-lists of bravery by prowess; or when the
function of the counsellor is uppermost, by the soundness of his
judgment. Of such a man I say, he has obtained by warrant indefeasible
the title peerless.

And if, as a means towards good workmanship, we count among the noble
inventions of mankind the rule and the plummet, (1) no less happily
shall we, who desire to attain a manly excellence, find in the virtue
of Agesilaus a pattern and example. He was God-fearing, he was just in
all his dealings, sound of soul and self-controlled. How then shall we
who imitate him become his opposite, unholy, unjust, tyrannical,
licentious? And, truth to say, this man prided himself, not so much on
being a king over others as on ruling himself, (2) not so much on
leading his citizen