But by law he was the leader of the Spartan armies.

He assumed the command--he crossed the boundaries, and the limited magistrate became at once an imperial despot! [132] No man could question--no law circumscribed his power.
He raised armies, collected money in foreign states, and condemned to death without even the formality of a trial.

Nothing, in short, curbed his authority, save his responsibility on return.

He might be a tyrant as a general; but he was to account for the tyranny when he relapsed into a king.

But this distinction was one of the wisest parts of the Spartan system; for war requires in a leader all the license of a despot; and triumph, decision, and energy can only be secured by the unfettered exercise of a single will.