(d. 360 B.C.E.) King of Sparta in Greece Agesilaus was critically involved in Egyptian affairs in the reign of TEOS (r. 365–360 B.C.E.) of the Thirtieth Dynasty. The son of Archidamus and half brother of Agis II, Agesilaus was a great military commander and a master of the siege. He had a varied military career, campaigning throughout his reign despite ill health. He was eventually humiliated militarily and forced to add to state revenues by hiring out as a mercenary for other rulers, such as Teos.
The Egyptians, involved in a campaign against Palestine, asked Agesilaus to aid in invasion plans. The Spartans sailed to Palestine to join the Egyptians there. Teos was beginning a series of expansion campaigns, hoping to take Syria and oppose PERSIA on all fronts. Having the veteran Spartans in his service promised success. Agesilaus, however, found Teos to be militarily naive and quarrelsome. The two argued about troop placements, making the veteran Spartan warrior uneasy at the thought of continuing the alliance. When he received word that Teos was taxing the temples of Egypt to pay for his military adventures, Agesilaus realized that the Egyptian ruler would be short-lived on the throne. The Spartans decided to abandon Teos, an act that greatly handicapped the Egyptians and made the campaign extremely doubtful.
Agesilaus returned to SPARTA. There he received the Egyptian delegates of NECTANEBO II (r. 360–343 B.C.E.), who was a nephew of Teos. Agesilaus agreed that Teos would not remain on the throne because of his ill-advised policies and his unfit temperament. In order to hold on to their power, Teos’s relatives proposed to depose him. Agesilaus agreed to the overthrow and aided Nectanebo’s cause, standing at his side at his coronation. Agesilaus died at the age of 84 while journeying home to Sparta from the coronation.
