Agesilaus [19]
man, as it appears to me, to prove exceptionally that though strength of body may wax old the vigour of a man's soul is exempt from eld. Of him, at any rate, it is true that he never shrank from the pursuit of great and noble objects, so long as[11] his body was able to support the vigour of his soul. Therefore his old age appeared mightier than the youth of other people. It would be hard to discover, I imagine, any one who in the prime of manhood was as formidable to his foes as Agesilaus when he had reached the limit of mortal life. Never, I suppose, was there a foeman whose removal came with a greater sense of relief to the enemy than that of Agesilaus, though a veteran when he died. Never was there a leader who inspired stouter courage in the hearts of fellow-combatants than this man with one foot planted in the grave. Never was a young man snatched from a circle of loving friends with tenderer regret than this old graybeard.
[11] Reading, {megalon kai kalon ephiemenos, eos kai to soma, k.t.l.} See Breitenbach.
The benefactor of his fatherland, absolutely to the very end; with bounteous hand, even in the arms of death, dealing out largesse[12] to the city which he loved. And so they bore him home to his eternal resting-place;[13] this hero, who, having raised to himself many a monument of his valour over the broad earth, came back to find in the land of his fathers a sepulture worthy of a king.[14]
[12] See above, ii. 31.
[13] See for this remarkable phrase, Diod. i. 51.
[14] See "Pol. Lac." xv. 9.
End
[11] Reading, {megalon kai kalon ephiemenos, eos kai to soma, k.t.l.} See Breitenbach.
The benefactor of his fatherland, absolutely to the very end; with bounteous hand, even in the arms of death, dealing out largesse[12] to the city which he loved. And so they bore him home to his eternal resting-place;[13] this hero, who, having raised to himself many a monument of his valour over the broad earth, came back to find in the land of his fathers a sepulture worthy of a king.[14]
[12] See above, ii. 31.
[13] See for this remarkable phrase, Diod. i. 51.
[14] See "Pol. Lac." xv. 9.
End