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AGIS

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 377 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AGIS , the name of four Spartan See also:

kings: (I) Son of Eurysthenes, founder of the royal See also:house of the Agiadae (See also:Pausanias 2.1). His See also:genealogy was traced through See also:Aristodemus, Aristomachus, Cleodaeus and Hyllus to Heracles (See also:Herodotus vii. 204), and he belongs rather to See also:mythology than to See also:history. Tradition ascribed to him the See also:capture of the maritime See also:town of Helos, which resisted his See also:attempt to curtail its guaranteed rights, and the institution of the class of See also:serfs called See also:Helots (q.v.). See also:Ephorus ap. See also:Strabo, viii. p. 365. (2) Son of Archidamus II., Eurypontid, commonly called Agis I. He succeeded his See also:father, probably in 427 B.C., and from his first invasion of See also:Attica in 425 down to the See also:close of the Peloponnesian See also:war was the See also:chief See also:leader of the Spartan operations on See also:land. After the conclusion of the See also:peace of See also:Nicias (421 B.C.) he marched against the Argives in See also:defence of See also:Epidaurus, and after skilful manceuvring surrounded the Argive See also:army, and seemed to have victory within his grasp when he unaccountably concluded a four months' truce and withdrew his forces. The Spartans were indignant, and when the Argives and their See also:allies, in flagrant disregard of the truce, took Arcadian See also:Orchomenus and prepared to See also:march on See also:Tegea, their fury knew no See also:bounds, and Agis escaped having his house razed and a See also:fine of See also:Ioo,000 drachmae imposed only by promising to atone for his See also:error by a See also:signal victory. This promise he brilliantly fulfilled by routing the forces of the Argive confederacy at the See also:battle of Mantinea (418), the moral effect of which was out of all proportion to the losses inflicted on the enemy.

In the See also:

winter 417–416 a further expedition to See also:Argos resulted in the destruction of the See also:half-finished See also:Long Walls and the capture of Hysiae. In 413, on the See also:suggestion of See also:Alcibiades, he fortified See also:Decelea in Attica, where he remained directing operations until, after the battle of See also:Aegospotami (405), he took the leading See also:part in the See also:blockade of See also:Athens, which was ended in See also:spring 404 by the surrender of the See also:city. Subsequently he invaded and ravaged See also:Elis, forcing the Eleans to acknowledge the freedom of their See also:perioeci and to allow Spartans to take part in the Olympic See also:games and sacrifices. He See also:fell See also:ill on his return from See also:Delphi, where he had gone to dedicate a tithe of the spoils, and, probably in 401, died at See also:Sparta, where he was buried with unparalleled solemnity and pomp. Thuc. iii. 89, iv. 2. 6, v., vii. 19. 27, viii.; See also:Xenophon, Hellenica, i. I, H. 2.

3, Ill. 2. 3; Diodorus xii. 35, xiii. 72, 73, 107; Pausanias iii. 8. 3-8; See also:

Plutarch, See also:Lysander ix. 14. 22, Alcibiades 23-25, See also:Lycurgus I2, A gesilaus i. 3, de Tranquill. Anim.6. (See PELOPONNESIAN WAR.) (3) Son of Archidamus III., of the Eurypontid See also:line, commonly called Agis II.

He succeeded his father in 338 B.C., on the very See also:

day of the battle of Chaeronea. During See also:Alexander's See also:Asiatic See also:campaign he revolted against See also:Macedonia (333 B.C.) and, with the aid of See also:Persian See also:money and See also:ships and a force of 8000 See also:Greek mercenaries, gained considerable successes in See also:Crete. In the Peloponnese he routed a force under Corragus and, although Athens held aloof, he was joined by Elis, See also:Achaea (except Pellene) and See also:Arcadia, with the exception of See also:Megalopolis, which the allies besieged. See also:Antipater marched rapidly to its See also:relief at the See also:head of a large army, and the allied force was defeated after a desperate struggle (331) and Agis was slain. Pausanias iii. to. 5; Diodorus xvii. 48, 62, 63; See also:Justin xii. I; See also:Quintus See also:Curtius iv. 1, 39, vi. I ; See also:Arrian, See also:Anabasis, ii. 13. (4) Son of Eudamidas II., of the Eurypontid See also:family, commonly called Agis III.

He succeeded his father probably in 245 B.C., in his twentieth See also:

year. At this See also:time the See also:state had been brought to the brink of ruin by the growth of avarice and luxury; there was a glaring inequality in the See also:distribution of land and See also:wealth, and the number of full citizens had sunk to 700, of whom about See also:loo practically monopolized the land. Though reared in the height of luxury he at once determined to restore the traditional institutions of Lycurgus, with the aid of Lysander, a descendant of the See also:victor of Aegospotami, and Mandrocleidas, a See also:man of noted prudence and courage; even his See also:mother, the wealthy Agesistrata, threw herself heartily into the cause. A powerful but not disinterested ally was found in the See also:king's See also:uncle, Agesilaus, who hoped to rid himself of his debts without losing his vast estates. Lysander as See also:ephor proposed on behalf of Agis that all debts should be cancelled and that See also:Laconia should be divided into 19,500 lots, of which 4500 should be given to Spartiates, whose number was to be recruited from the best of the perioeci and foreigners, and the remaining 15,000 to perioeci who could See also:bear arms. The Agiad king See also:Leonidas having prevailed on the See also:council to reject this measure, though by a See also:majority of only one, was deposed in favour of his son-in-See also:law Cleombrotus, who assisted Agis in bearing down opposition by the See also:threat of force. The abolition of debts was carried into effect, but the land distribution was put qff by Agesilaus on various pretexts. At this point See also:Aratus appealed to Sparta to help the See also:Achaeans in repelling an expected Aetolian attack, and Agis was sent to the See also:Isthmus at the head of an army. In his See also:absence the open violence and See also:extortion of Agesilaus, combined with the popular disappointment at the failure of the agrarian See also:scheme, brought about the restoration of Leonidas and the deposition of Cleombrotus, who took See also:refuge at the See also:temple of See also:Apollo at Taenarum and escaped See also:death only at the entreaty of his wife, Leonidas's daughter Chilonis. On his return Agis fled to the temple of Athene Chalcioecus at Sparta, but soon afterwards he was treacherously induced to leave his See also:asylum and, after a mockery of a trial, was strangled in See also:prison, his mother and grandmother sharing the same See also:fate (241). Though too weak and See also:good-natured to See also:cope with the problem which confronted him, Agis was characterized by a sincerity of purpose and a blend of youthful modesty with royal dignity, which render him perhaps the most attractive figure in the whole of Spartan history. See Plutarch's See also:biography.

Pausanias' accounts (ii. 8. 5, vii. 7. 3, viii. to. 5-8, 27. 13) of his attack on Megalopolis, his seizure of Pellene and his death at Mantinea fighting against the Arcadians, Achaeans and Sicyonians are without See also:

foundation (J. C. F. Manso, Sparta, iii. 2. 123-127).

See also Manso, op. cit. iii. 1. 276-302; B. Niese, Geschichte der griechischen and makedonischen Staaten, ii. 299-303. (M. N.

End of Article: AGIS

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