Agesilaos’ Abandoned Babies: ‘Humane’ Treatment of the Displaced?

Xenophon attributes to the Spartan king Agesilaos II a humane attitude to those who were taken captive by his army (Agesilaos 1.21-22). Modern translations and discussions of Xenophon’s claim generally assume that Agesilaos prevented children and the elderly from being abandoned and ending up as wandering refugees. A closer look at the text shows that Agesilaos’ intervention amounted to far less far than this, and the fact that he was nevertheless praised for his humanity reveals just how brutal the norms of warfare and the fate of refugees were in ancient Greece.