Agis   

occasion of a quarrel with his son, proposed a decree, that all men
should have liberty to dispose of their land by gift in their lifetime,
or by their last will and testament. This being promoted by him to
satisfy a passion of revenge, and through covetousness consented to
by others, and thus enacted for a law, was the ruin of the best state
of the commonwealth. For the rich men without scruple drew the estate
into their own hands, excluding the rightful heirs from their succession;
and all the wealth being centered upon the few, the generality were
poor and miserable. Honorable pursuits, for which there was no longer
leisure, were neglected; the state was filled with sordid business,
and with hatred and envy of the rich. There did not remain above seven
hundred of the old Spartan families, of which, perhaps, one hundred
might have estate in land, the rest were destitute alike of wealth
and of honour, were tardy and unperforming in the defence of their
country against its enemies abroad, and eagerly watched the opportunity
for change and revolution at home.
Agis, therefore, believing it a glorious action, as in truth it was,
to equalize and repeople the state, began to sound the inclinations
of the citizens. He found the young men disposed beyond his expectation;
they were eager to enter with him upon the contest in the cause of
virtue, and to fling aside, for freedom's sake, their old manner of
life, as readily as the wrestler does his garment. But the old men,
habituated and more confirmed in their vices, were most of them as
alarmed at the very name of Lycurgus, as a fugitive slave to be brought
back before his offended master. These men could not endure to hear
Agis continually deploring the present state of Sparta, and wishing
she might be restored to her ancient glory. But on the other side,
Lysander, the son of Libys, Mandroclidas, the son of Ecphanes, together
with Agesilaus, not only approved his design, but assisted and confirmed
him in it. Lysander had a great authority and credit with the people;
Mandroclidas was esteemed the ablest Greek of his time to manage an
affair and put it in train, and, joined with skill and cunning, had
a great degree of boldness. Agesilaus was the king's uncle, by the
mother's side; an eloquent man, but covetous and voluptuous, who was
not moved by considerations of public good, but rather seemed to be
persuaded in it by his son Hippomedon, whose courage and signal actions
in war had gained him a high esteem and great influence among the
young men of Sparta, though indeed the true motive was, that he had
many debts, and hoped by this means to be freed from them.
As soon as Agis had prevailed with his uncle, he endeavoured by his
mediation to gain his mother also, who had many friends and followers,
and a number of persons in her debt in the city, and took a considerable
part in public affairs. At the first proposal she was very averse,
and strongly advised her son not to engage in so difficult and so
unprofitable an enterprise. But Agesilaus endeavoured to possess her,
that the thing was not so difficult as she imagined, and that it might,
in all likelihood, redound to the advantage of her family; while the
king, her son, besought her not for money's sake to decline assisting
his hopes of glory. He told her he could not pretend to equal other
kings in riches, the very followers and menials of the satraps and
stewards of Seleucus or Ptolemy abounding more in wealth than all
the Spartan kings put together; but if by contempt of wealth and pleasure,
by simplicity and magnanimity, he could surpass their luxury and abundance;
if he could restore their former equality to the Spartans, then he
should be a great king indeed. In conclusion, the mother and the grandmother
also were so taken, so carried away with the inspiration, as it were,
of the young man's noble and generous ambition, that they not only
consented, but were ready on all occasions to spur him on to a perseverance,
and not only sent to speak on his behalf with the men with whom they
had an interest, but addressed the other women also, knowing well
that the Lacedaemonian wives had always a great power with their husbands,
who used to impart to them their state affairs with greater freedom
than the women would communicate with the men in the private business
of their families. Which was indeed one of the greatest obstacles