 | Agis |  |
SCENE THE THIRD.
Anpharus, Agis amidst Guards, Leonidas, People, Ephori, Senators.An.
Ephori, Spartans, king, he, whom I drag
Before the true tribunal of my country,
Is Agis of Eudamidas. Erewhile
He, with Leonidas, o'er Sparta reign'd;
Him afterwards he banish'd from the throne,
And a new colleague to himself assumed,
Cleombrotus. It seem'd to you expedient
To reinstate Leonidas, who thence
Resumed the sceptre from Cleombrotus.
Then to the sacred limits of th'asylum
This Agis fled; wherefore, himself will tell you.
While there immured, no longer was he king,
The throne he had abandon'd: yet not thence
Became he private; he had not laid down
His dignity, nor was it taken from him.
Not guiltless, since he fled to an asylum;
Not guilty, since he never was accused.
The gods of Sparta have delivered him
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Th'asylum which he chose has been prophaned.
Hence I accuse him now before you all
Of changed, betray'd, and violated laws;
Of stratagems despotically used
Against Leonidas, and the ephori;
Of arbitrary views, as instruments
To whose success the bribed rebellious dregs
Of Spartan profligates, he strove to gain.
And, lastly, to concentrate in one charge
All his offences, I accuse him to you
Of having violated and betray'd
The delegated majesty of Sparta.
Agis.
Truly a solemn and imposing pomp
Is this: but why in such an exigence
Is not collected Sparta here convened?
Why, as th'accused are always wont to be,
Am I not to the forum led?—'Tis true
I see the ephori, a king is here,
And I behold a shadow of the senate.
But yet, as far as I can cast my eyes,
I see no citizens, except a few,
Powerful, and mingled with arm'd satellites.
The majesty of universal Sparta
May this indeed be deem'd? I, not alone,
Would have all Sparta, but all Greece collected,
To hear me vindicate my innocence.
Now since within your bosom there does dwell
Such plenary conviction of my guilt,
Say wherefore is it that you wrest from me,
With such a great proportion of my hearers,
At the same time such great part of my shame?
Le.
Far as the place permits, thou seest here
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To bring thee from the confines of the prison
Would implicate too much, as thou know'st well,
The ephori's stern dignity; too much,
If thou be'st innocent, thy innocence.
Sparta heard thee, defending thy retreat,
Erewhile adduce, that thus thou would'st remove
All pretext of disturbance, all pretence
For sanguinary measures, from the people:
Would'st thou amid that people's violence,
And turbulent vociferation, go,
A quiet and free judgment to obtain?
Agis.
A quiet judgment, and for you the safest,
Would it have been at once to have dispatch'd
The executioner where I'm imprison'd:
But far less quiet will this process prove
Than you desire. Terror prompts not my words;
No; of my destiny already sure,
The forum and this place to me are one.
I, without hearing it, my sentence know:
But I indeed shall never thence receive
A deeper injury, than that which I
Long in my heart have fix'd to have from you.—
Judges, spectators, whosoe'er you be,
I now forewarn you all, that I, condemn'd,
And slain, within these walls, shall not by death,
As fain I would do, peace restore to you:
Nor you, by dragging me to death, for this
Remain in safety.—I await my doom
Undaunted. Be the accusations heard ...
An.
I, in the name of th'ephori, address thee;
Listen to me; Agis, didst thou not drive,
Unheard by thee, Leonidas to exile?
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He, to the seat of judgment duly summon'd,
Chose rather to escape.
Le.
Summon'd I was,
I cannot contradict, but to confront
A virulent tumultuary rabble.—
Can this be judgment, this? ..
Agis.
As much as this,
At least. To thee was flight allow'd: and thence
Thou never wert imprison'd. Heretofore
Means of escape solicited my choice,
But to the prison willingly I went,
And willingly in judgment I appear:
Whate'er that judgment is, I fear it not.
I wish'd it, and exult in its conclusion;
And in thus making myself heard exult.
An.
Didst thou not violate thy country's laws?
Agis.
The sacred institutes of great Lycurgus,
In their primæval purity, I wish'd
To re-establish: they were ne'er repeal'd,
But for a long time had been unobserved.
To such a just and generous design
Leonidas opposed: first artfully,
Then counteracted my designs by force;
But both were ineffectual: thus subdued
More by his own shame than the force of others,
He, as the lesser evil, on himself
Exile imposed. Let him himself confess,
If injury to me he can impute,
Or life and safety. Sparta with one voice,
At his departure, all his actions blamed,
All mine applauded. Greedy creditors
Were then abolish'd; wealth was equalized;
With luxury, the vices in her train,
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And lo! primæval liberty and virtue
At once resumed their sway. Dare any here
Deny th'assertion?—Of my short-lived reign,
After the flight of your Leonidas,
Behold the crimes.
An.
Dar'st thou perchance deny,
That by the bait of such professions caught,
A speedy desolation overwhelm'd
The cheated citizens? The fields, though promised,
Never divided; wealthy men impoverish'd;
The poor dissatisfied; and both oppress'd.
Wilt thou deny, too, that to transgress'd laws,
Such as thou deemest ours, did not succeed
Thy cruel unparticipated sway?—
A sway the more pernicious, since it made,
To cover its exorbitant designs,
A specious pretext of pretended laws.
Agis.
Whilst I for your sakes for the camp left Sparta,
Whilst to th'Etolians in arms I shew'd,
To their dismay, regenerate Spartans arm'd,
From one of th'ephori become a tyrant,
Agesilaus, in my absence, here,
To wicked purposes disgraced his power.
Am I responsible for his misdeeds?
I willingly accept their punishment,
Provided that my country reap the fruit
Of my imperfect virtues; virtues which
You cannot controvert, though full, towards me,
Of malice and uncharitable thoughts.—
The restoration of Lycurgus' laws
Has not offended you: (in this alone
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Of Agesilaus. What then remains for you,
But to kill me, and to pursue my plans?
An.
Say'st thou Agesilaus suborn'd thee
To ruin Sparta?
Agis.
To regenerate Sparta
I of my own accord address'd myself,
Because I am a Spartan.
An.
Say, dost thou
For a true king Leonidas acknowledge?
Agis.
Leonidas, a Spartan, I acknowledge,
Who in Thermopylæ, for Sparta's sake,
Fell with three hundred Spartans.
An.
Answer'st thou
In such a manner? Dost thou thus contemn
The ephori's, the senate's majesty?
Agis.
In answering thus I venerate and adore
The majesty of Sparta.
An.
Guilty then
Thou dost confess thyself?
Agis.
Deem'st thou me so,
Thou who accusest me?—Let us conclude,
Let us conclude this legislative juggling.
Thou dost accuse me; I refute the charges.
I hither came to prove to those that hate me,
That I, a citizen and king, as far
As is consistent with the conscious pride
Of innocence, spontaneously submitted
E'en to the malversation of the laws.—
Now here, whoe'er you be, hear my last words.
An.
What more is there to hear?
Agis.
Much; but express'd
In a few words.
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Thou oughtest not to speak ...
Agis.
Thou, one of the ephori, dost thou not know
The laws, or not remember them? The accused
Address their country, if they wish to do it.
Then listen to me, thou, and hold thy peace.—
And you, oh Spartans, hear.—Of many things
You're not inform'd at all, or misinform'd:
Agesilaus' deeds, the cries of Anpharus,
My silence, and Leonidas's arts,
Have all by turns deceived you. We are all
Now come to such a pitch, that to set free
Each one from error, it is requisite
That Agis perish. I, with my own hand,
Already on myself might have bestow'd
An independent and becoming death.
But this escape from life had render'd me
Guilty in your esteem. I was, and am,
Fully persuaded in my inmost heart,
That from the sentence, be it what it may,
Beneath whose weight I fall, no infamy
Can ever on myself reverberate.
Thence to permit myself hither to be
Before my foes dragg'd living, was my choice,
And here I stand. That death I do not fear,
Ye yourselves will behold. I might to you,
If so I would, yet dearly sell my life.
The terrible cries of the indignant people
Will quickly make this known to you: in short,
That I esteem at a far higher rate
My country than myself, soon will my death
Convince you.—I exhort, nay, I conjure you,
Sparta's redemption and your own to win
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That now infatuate your phantasy,
Lodged in the hands of few, injure alike
Those who possess and those who covet them;
Those lands, that wealth, since ye would not divide
Them with your fellow-citizens, from you
Shall be, and ere long, wrested by your foes.
The people, deem'd so vile, since mendicant;
The Spartan people hating you, ye rich,
Ye who are stronger even than the laws,
Numerous that people is; 'tis goaded on
By fierce necessity. This very people
May constitute at once their country's splendour,
And your salvation, if ye will reflect
That they, as well as you, are citizens
Of Sparta, children of the great Lycurgus.
If otherwise, they will annihilate
Sparta, themselves, and you. Now is the time,
Trust to my words, mature for such a change;
The Gods forbid that I should witness it;
But they decree its advent: Agis' blood
Is indispensable to hasten it;
And Agis yields that blood. Pity for you,
Not for myself, I feel. These are the words
Of one whose only object is to die;
Who to the tomb carries no other wish
Except to save his country. Far beyond
The reach of malice is the name of Agis:
It is not needful to make me illustrious
That others give effect to my designs;
Rather it lessens my renown in part
That others should succeed where I have fail'd.
Be then the punishment assign'd to me
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And the first fruit of your exhausted malice
The restoration of primæval virtue;
The re-establishment of the divine
And lofty institutions of Lycurgus,
And a true Spartan emulation raised
For freedom, arms, and patriotic love.
People.
Great is the soul of Agis: we have been,
Perchance, deceived ...
An.
Yes, ye are deceived
By these seditious falsehoods.
Agis.
Ephori,
What now remains for you to say I know.—
I of a royal citizen, at length,
The latest functions fully have accomplish'd.
I to my prison go, from whence henceforth
Nought but the name of Agis shall escape.
| Agis | |