be proud to call him friend. He invited him to leave his master,
and come and live in Greece, where all noble men were free.
Pharnabazus did not accept this invitation, but renewed the war,
whereupon Agesilaus again won several important victories. When the
Persian king heard that all his soldiers could not get the better of the
Spartan king, he resolved to try the effect of bribery.
He therefore sent a messenger to Athens to promise this city and her
allies a very large sum of money provided that they would rise up in
revolt against Sparta, and thus force Agesilaus to come home.
LXXV. THE PEACE OF ANTALCIDAS.
The Athenians hated the Spartans, and were only waiting for an excuse to
make war against them: so they were only too glad to accept the bribe
which Artaxerxes offered, and were paid with ten thousand Persian coins
on which was stamped the figure of an archer.
As soon as the Spartan ephors heard that the Athenians had revolted,
they sent a message to Agesilaus to tell him to come home. The Spartan
king was about to deal a crushing blow to the Persians, but he was
forced to obey the summons. As he embarked he dryly said, "I could
easily have beaten the whole Persian army, and still ten thousand
Persian archers have forced me to give up all my plans."
The Thebans joined the Athenians in this revolt, so Agesilaus was very
indignant against them too. He energetically prepared for war, and met
the combined Athenian and Theban forces at Coronea, where he defeated
them completely.
The Athenians, in the mean while, had made their alliance with the
Persians, and used the money which they had received to strengthen their
ramparts, as you have seen, and to finish the Long Walls, which had been
ruined by the Spartans ten years before.
All the Greek states were soon in arms, siding with the Athenians or
with the Spartans; and the contest continued until everybody was weary
of fighting. There was, besides, much jealousy among the people
themselves, and even the laurels of Agesilaus were envied.
The person who was most opposed to him was the Spartan An-tal'ci-das,
who, fearing that further warfare would only result in increasing
Agesilaus' popularity and glory, now began to advise peace. As the
Greeks were tired of the long struggle, they sent Antalcidas to Asia to
try to make a treaty with the Persians.
Without thinking of anything but his hatred of Agesilaus, Antalcidas
consented to all that the P
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