Death of Cleomenes
He therefore waited for the time at which the king left
note
Alexandria for Canopus, and then spread a
report among his guards that he was going to
be released by the king; and on this pretext
entertained his own attendants at a banquet,
and sent out some flesh of the sacrificial victims,
some garlands, and some wine to his guards.
the latter indulged in these good things unsuspiciously, and
became completely drunk; whereupon Cleomenes walked out
about noon, accompanied by his friends and servants armed
with daggers, without being noticed by his guard. As the
party advanced they met Ptolemy in the street, who had been
left by the king in charge of the city; and overawing his
attendants by the audacity of his proceeding, dragged Ptolemy
himself from his chariot and put him in a place of security,
while they loudly called upon the crowds of citizens to assert
their freedom. But every one was unprepared for the movement, and therefore no one obeyed their summons or joined
them; and they accordingly turned their steps to the citadel,
with the intention of bursting open the doors and obtaining
the help of the prisoners confined there. But the commanders
of the citadel were on the alert, and learning what was going
to take place had secured the entrance gate: having therefore
failed in this design they killed themselves like brave men and
Spartans.
Such was the end of Cleomenes: a man of brilliant social
qualities, with a natural aptitude for affairs, and, in a word,
endued with all the qualifications of a general and a king.
