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'''Agesilaus II''', or Agesilaos II, was king of [[Sparta]], of the [[Eurypontid]] family, from [[401 BC]] till his death in [[360 BC]].
Agesilaus was born ca [[444 BC]]. He was the son of [[Archidamus II]] and Eupolia, and younger step-brother of [[Agis II]], whom he succeeded about [[401 BC]]. Agis had, indeed, a son [[Leotychides]], but he was set aside as illegitimate, current rumour representing him as the son of [[Alcibiades]]. Agesilaus' success was largely due to [[Lysander]], who hoped to find in him a willing tool for the furtherance of his political designs; in this hope, however, Lysander was disappointed, and the increasing power of Agesilaus soon led to his downfall.
In [[396 BC]] Agesilaus was sent to Asia with a force of 2000 Neodamodes (enfranchized Helots) and 6000 allies to secure the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] cities against a Persian attack. On the eve of sailing from [[Aulis]] he attempted to offer a sacrifice, as [[Agamemnon]] had done before the [[Troy|Trojan]] expedition, but the [[Thebes|Thebans]] intervened to prevent it, an insult for which he never forgave them. On his arrival at [[Ephesus]] a three months' truce was concluded with [[Tissaphernes]], the satrap of Lydia and Caria, but negotiations conducted during that time proved fruitless, and on its termination Agesilaus raided Phrygia, where he easily won immense booty since [[Tissaphernes]] had concentrated his troops in Caria. After spending the winter in organizing a cavalry force, he made a successful incursion into Lydia in the spring of [[395 BC]]. [[Tithraustes]] was thereupon sent to replace Tissaphernes, who paid with his life for his continued failure. An armistice was concluded between Tithraustes and Agesilaus, who left the southern satrapy and again invaded Phrygia, which he ravaged until the following spring. He then came to an agreement with the satrap [[Pharnabazus]] and once more turned southward.
It was said that he was planning a campaign in the interior, or even an attack on [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]] himself, when he was recalled to [[Greece]] owing to the war between Sparta and the combined forces of [[Athens]], [[Thebes]], [[Corinth]], [[Argos]] and several minor states. A rapid march through [[Thrace]] and [[Macedon]]ia brought him to [[Thessaly]], where he repulsed the Thessalian cavalry who tried to impede him. Reinforced by [[Phocis|Phocian]] and [[Orchomenus|Orchomenian]] troops and a Spartan army, he met the confederate forces at [[ChaeroneaBattle of Coronea (394 BC)|Coronea]] in [[Boeotia]], in [[394 BC]] and in a hotly contested battle was technically victorious, but the success was a barren one and he had to retire by way of [[Delphi]] to the [[Peloponnese]]. Shortly before this battle the Spartan navy, of which he had received the supreme command, was totally defeated off [[Knidos|Cnidus]] by a powerful combined Athenian and Persian fleet under [[Conon]] and [[Pharnabazus]].
Subsequently Agesilaus took a prominent part in the [[Corinthian War]], making several successful expeditions into Corinthian territory and capturing [[Lechaeum]] and [[Piraeus]]. The loss, however, of a mora, destroyed by [[Iphicrates]], neutralized these successes, and Agesilaus returned to Sparta. In [[389 BC]] he conducted a campaign in [[Acarnania]], but
