1.10
This, then, was his first act in Asia. Tissaphernes had sworn the following oath to Agesilaus: If you will arrange an armistice to last until the return of the messengers whom I will send to the King, I will do my utmost to obtain independence for the Greek cities in Asia; and Agesilaus on his part had sworn to observe the armistice honestly, allowing three months for the transaction. What followed?
1.11
Tissaphernes forthwith broke his oath, and instead of arranging a peace, applied to the King for a large army in addition to that which he had before. As for Agesilaus, though well aware of this, he none the less continued to keep the armistice.
1.12
I think, therefore, that here we have his first noble achievement. By showing up Tissaphernes as a perjurer, he made him distrusted everywhere; and, contrariwise, by proving himself to be a man of his word and true to his agreements, he encouraged all, Greeks and barbarians alike, to enter into an agreement with him whenever he wished it.
1.13
The arrival of the new army emboldened Tissaphernes to send an ultimatum to Agesilaus, threatening was unless he withdrew from Asia; and the allies and the Lacedaemonians present made no concealment of their chagrin, believing that the strength of Agesilaus was weaker than the Persian king’s armament. But Agesilaus with a beaming face bade the envoys of Tissaphernes inform their master that he was profoundly grateful to him for his perjury, by which he had gained the hostility of the gods for himself and had made them allies of the Greeks.
1.14
Without a moment’s delay he gave the word to his troops to pack up in preparation for a campaign, and warned the cities that lay on the lines of march to Caria to have their markets ready stocked. He advised by letter the Greeks of Ionia, the Aeolid and the Hellespont, to send their contingents for the campaign to his headquarters at Ephesus.
