Kings of ancient Sparta. Kings of Sparta
Sparta was ruled by the following authorities: 1) two kings, 2) a council of elders - gerusia, 3) a popular assembly - apella and 4) ephors.
Sparta was the epitome of a slave-owning aristocracy. The People's Assembly was convened here rarely and did not play a decisive role in political life countries. Power belonged to the kings, who occupied the throne hereditarily, to a small group of representatives of noble families who were members of the gerousia for life, and to the five ephors, who, however, were elected by the people's assembly, but in the absence of proper voting during their election, and ruled without proper control, giving an account of their activities only to their successors. Royal power. At the head of the Spartan state were two kings, whose power undoubtedly originated from the power of the tribal leaders of the Homeric era. Double royal power arose, probably, as a result of the unification of two tribes, each of which retained its own leader.
The goal of the ruling elite of Spartan society was to ensure their actual influence on the course of state life, preventing the formation of strong sole power.
The actual leadership of the state belonged not to the kings, but to the ephors, into whose hands the powers that once belonged to the kings gradually passed. The constant enmity of the two royal families among themselves significantly contributed to the weakening of the role and importance of royal power in Sparta.
The king who set out on a campaign had the power of a military leader to a large extent. All orders came from him, and all matters were reported to him. During the campaign, he acquired the right of life and death in relation to citizens. But on the campaign, the king was under the supervision of two ephors, who accompanied him to supervise him. The king also had supreme priestly power. In all appropriate cases, kings made sacrifices on behalf of the state, for which the required number of sacrificial animals was provided at their disposal. Judicial power also once belonged to the kings in full. Later, the king's judicial functions were limited to the consideration of cases
about the inheritance of daughters, about adoption and about public roads. These were precisely matters that affected the interests of the entire community as a whole or could violate the interests of the clan or tribe as a whole. Naturally, in these matters the king retained his judicial power as the successor of the former tribal leader.
Every month, the ephors and kings swore an oath to each other, and the kings swore that they would reign according to established laws, and the ephors swore on behalf of the state that if the king kept his oath, the state would unshakably maintain royal power. Regardless of this, every 8 years the ephors performed star divination, and if the divination turned out to be unfavorable for the king, the ephors initiated legal proceedings against the king and had the right to deprive him of power.
Fees were established in favor of the kings various kinds. The perieks paid them fees from the plots of land that belonged to the kings; they also gave the kings part of the sacrificial animals and gave them piglets from each litter of pigs. The kings also received a significant portion of military spoils.
The kings were surrounded with honor. They were given places of honor in public games. Everyone had to stand in front of them. However, the ephors continued to sit in their chairs in the presence of the kings. The kings were buried very solemnly, with various ceremonies, and general mourning was established for 10 days after the funeral. Gerusia. Another body of state power in Sparta was the council of elders - gerousia (in the Laconian dialect - gerokhiya). Undoubtedly, gerusia originates from the tribal organization, from the council of tribal elders, but in a class society this body no longer consisted of the leaders of tribal democracy, but of the most prominent representatives of the ruling class.
The number of members of the gerusia is 28. Both kings were also members of the gerusia and had the right to vote in this council. Thus, together with the kings, the number of members of the gerousia reached 30.
Members of the gerusia (geronts) were usually elected from among representatives of noble families. Only citizens who had reached the age of 60 and were already free from the obligation to bear responsibility could be elected. military service. The election took place in the people's assembly, and the method of conducting elections was extremely primitive. They were elected by shouting, and the candidate who was shouted louder than the others was considered elected. This method undoubtedly opened up the widest field for abuse on the part of those who managed the elections. The gerons were elected for life and were irresponsible.
The competence of the gerusia was as follows. Gerusia subjected preliminary discussions to cases that were to be considered in the national assembly. Under the kings Polydorus and Theopompus, Gerusia received the right to reject decisions of popular assemblies that were undesirable to it, and to impose a kind of veto on these decisions. Plutarch reports: “Kings Polydorus and Theopompus added the following to the previous retra: “If the people go astray straight path, let the gerons and kings withdraw from the assembly.” The gerons had the right to make speeches and proposals at the national assembly, and proposals made on behalf of the gerousia usually predetermined the resolutions of the assembly. The Gerons also participated in negotiations with other states.
Gerusia was also a judicial institution. She handled criminal cases, including cases of state crimes. It was the court for trials against kings. The gerusia did not consider cases of property disputes; they were under the jurisdiction of the ephors.
The convening of gerousia was initially the right of the kings; later (V-IV centuries BC) this right passed to the ephors. It is unclear who convened the geronts in those cases when they acted as a judicial panel, that is, when they acted independently, without ephors and without kings.
The importance of gerusia steadily declined with the increasing role of the ephors. Already during the Peloponnesian War such important issues, like issues of war and peace, were resolved apart from gerousia. People's Assembly. An undoubted relic of the tribal system was also the people's assembly - the appella. However, unlike Athens, the popular assembly never played any significant role in Sparta.
All full-fledged citizens who had reached the age of 30 participated in the national assembly, that is, only the Spartans, and, moreover, only those who retained their allotments and the political rights associated with their possession. Neither helots nor perieks took part in the national assembly. The people's assembly was initially convened by the kings, later by the ephors. The meeting was chaired by the same persons who convened it. Only officials and ambassadors of other countries made speeches and proposals at public meetings. However, in some cases, other persons could also receive the floor at a public meeting. For example, Alcibiades, who was neither a citizen of Sparta nor an ambassador of Athens, was given the opportunity to speak at the Spartan popular assembly.
Ordinary participants in the meeting had the right to participate in voting on proposals made by the geronts, ephors or kings. At a later time the practice seems to have changed, and speeches were also given by individual members of the assembly. Voting was done by shouting. If the results seemed doubtful, the vote was checked by the divergence of members of the assembly in different directions.
The meeting was convened no more than once a month. When emergency circumstances required immediate decision-making by the people's assembly, in addition to the regular meeting, emergency ones were convened, in which not all citizens took part, but only those who were present in the city. This is the so-called small national assembly (mikra apella). It is assumed that the small national assembly consisted of representatives of the most noble and influential families of Sparta.
The competence of the national assembly included, first of all, the election of officials - ephors, geronts, in all likelihood, also the heads of the army and navy (garmost, navarkh), etc.
In case of war, the people's assembly decided which of the two kings should go on a campaign. It also made decisions in the event of disputes regarding the succession to the throne. Further, the people's assembly, as can be seen from the above, participated in legislation and administration, sanctioning or rejecting the proposals of senior officials. The People's Assembly also decided on issues of war and peace, alliances with other states, elected ambassadors, etc. Here, in the People's Assembly, the affairs of the Peloponnesian League were discussed. In this case, other cities of the union sent their ambassadors to the people's assembly of Sparta. Finally, the national assembly accepted new citizens, and also had the right to deprive individual Spartans of the right of citizenship.
The People's Assembly also acted as a judicial body in cases where the question of deposing an official for his crimes was raised. However, the prosecution was not initiated by individual private individuals, but only by one of the highest officials, and the role of the people's assembly in the trial of the case was reduced to sanctioning or rejecting the prosecutor's proposal. Ephors. The ephors occupied a completely exceptional position in the Spartan state. Initially these were substitutes
attorneys for kings in civil courts, exercising civil jurisdiction in their stead. Subsequently, the power of the ephors, gradually expanding, acquired very extensive dimensions, so that even the royal power bowed before it.
Sources report that the position of ephors was not established simultaneously with other authorities, but later, under Theopompus and Polydorus. Probably this position arose not as a voluntary act of the kings, but as a result of a struggle that led, among other things, to the murder of Polydorus, one of the two kings.
Strengthening the power of the ephors, who from judges in civil cases turned into all-powerful leaders of the Spartan state, was the work of the Spartan nobility, who, fearing the strengthening of royal power and not relying on the willingness of the kings who hereditarily occupied the throne to always follow its instructions, preferred to transfer power to their direct proteges, giving them dictatorial powers.
When exactly the strengthening of the power of the ephors occurred is impossible to determine due to the lack of information in the sources. It is assumed that the first changes in their position are associated with the abolition of the right of kings to appoint ephors and with the establishment of their election, but the time of this reform is unknown. In the second half of the 5th century. The ephors, undoubtedly, had already reached the apogee of their power, and in the V-IV centuries. they undoubtedly represent governing body Spartan state.
There were five ephors. They were elected annually at a national assembly from among all citizens. The exact method of election is unknown, but judging by the fact that Aristotle calls the elections “children’s”, it can be assumed that something similar to the “elections” of the geronts took place here. The ephors formed a single board and made their decisions by majority vote. At the head of the college of ephors was the first ephor, after whom the year was named.
The rights of the ephors were, as said, very extensive, and the absence of written laws in Sparta could only contribute to the expansion of the scope of their power and opened up scope for arbitrariness in its implementation. The ephors convened both the gerousia and the national assembly and directed the activities of these bodies. They convened the gerusia and the national assembly in addition to the kings, and sometimes against their will. Foreign relations were entirely in the hands of the ephors; they negotiated with foreign ambassadors and raised the issue of war and peace before the national assembly. In the event of a declaration of war, they supervised the mobilization of troops, and they also gave the order to go on a campaign. Two of the ephors, as stated above, followed the kings on the campaign and supervised them there.
The internal administration of the country was also in the hands of the ephors. They had extensive police power, which was due to a system of strict supervision of morals and discipline carried out by the ephors. This supervision even extended to kings. Any violation of discipline and established morals was punished very severely. Upon taking office, the ephors turned to the citizens with the demand to shave their mustaches and obey the law, that is, to follow in everything the harsh discipline of the camp that was established in Sparta. The ephors themselves, however, did not consider this discipline obligatory for themselves. It is characteristic that the ephors had their own separate common meal, so the modest table of the rest of the Spartans was not obligatory for them.
The ephors supervised all officials and checked their reports annually. They could remove any person from office and bring them to trial. They could judge and punish private individuals themselves, while officials were judged by the gerousia or the people's assembly, but with the direct supervision of the process by the ephors. The ephors could also remove kings from office and put them on trial: even the kings were not free from the control of the ephors. Civil jurisdiction was in the hands of the ephors, and in civil cases the ephors acted not as a panel, but as individual judges.
In their activities, the ephors gave an account to their successors after the expiration of the one-year period for which they were elected.
In ancient Sparta there was not one king, but two. They ruled simultaneously and belonged to two different dynasties. According to Greek mythology, the two Spartan royal families were related to each other and were both descended from Hercules. One of the two royal dynasties of Sparta was considered the older, the second – the younger. The younger line of kings, according to legend, came from Euripontus, the son of Heraclides Proclus, and the eldest from Agis, the son of Eurysthenes, who was a descendant of the son of Hercules, Gill.
Relations between the two dynasties of Spartan kings were not always friendly. According to vague, semi-legendary information, at the dawn of the history of Sparta, the older dynasty of the Agiads (Agids) claimed to dominate the younger (Euripontids, Proklids) and put it in a subordinate position. The outraged Eurypontids rebelled against the Agiads and received support from part of the Dorian aristocracy.
Genus Heraclides. Scheme. Two dynasties of Spartan kings - in the lower right corner
Many scholars believe that there was no real relationship between the dynasties of the Spartan kings. The Agiades were most likely an ancient Achaean family that lived in the Peloponnese before the Dorian invasion. After a long struggle with the Dorians, the Eurypontids, the native leaders of Agiada reconciled with them under the condition of sharing royal power. The names of the Heraclidean relatives, whom legend calls the ancestors of two royal families, were apparently invented later in order to explain why Sparta had not one king, but two. The struggle between the two dynasties weakened the royal power and increased the governmental importance of the aristocracy; Such has always been the influence of such civil strife.
Only people who did not have any physical disabilities could be priests. Spartan kings were priests, and physical defects disqualified a candidate for monarchical rank from receiving kingship. Due to the priestly character of the kings and their descent from Hercules, they were given high honors both during their lifetime and after their death. The kings of Sparta were stewards of all public sacrifices, chairmen of all holidays and games. At public dinners they received double portions. Everyone except the ephors had to stand before the king. When a king died, the entire population of the Spartan state had to perform mourning rituals. Horse messengers were sent throughout the state to announce the death of the king. Mourners walked around the city of Sparta, sang lamentations and beat copper basins; both men and women wore mourning clothes. All citizens gathered in Sparta for the funeral; deputations of perieci and helots came from all parts of Laconia; everyone had to express sadness by groans and other signs of grief. After the burial of the king, all public affairs ceased for ten days.
In war, the Spartan kings were commanders in chief and had the right to execute by death. Polemarchs and other military leaders formed their military council. During the campaign, the Spartan king had a detachment of bodyguards, consisting of one hundred brave, selected young people. The state provided support for the kings and their retinue during the campaign. They received a significant share of war booty. The governmental and judicial power of the kings of Sparta was limited; It was precisely these rights that were the subject of the supervision of the ephors, to the extent that they were not directly taken away from them and transferred to the ephors. But the kings received and sent ambassadors; lower administrative chiefs were appointed by them and reported to them. In some legal cases, the Spartan kings remained supreme judges; in particular, in all cases of inheritance and family rights.
After the Spartan conquests in the Peloponnese, the kings probably inherited vast lands; but if this was so, then later most of them became the property of the state. However, the kings still had significant family estates and large incomes. Plots of state lands were provided for their use; these properties were cultivated by helots. In many localities of the Spartan region (Laconica), the perieki paid taxes to the kings.
In Sparta there was a royal house, large, but old and simple; it was maintained at the expense of the state; whether each of the two kings had such a house, or whether they both lived in one, remains unclear to us. The kings had a military retinue; it was called frura. In war, the king's tent stood among the tents of the Fur; In Sparta, the kings lived surrounded by the dwellings of the Frouri. The king was succeeded by his son, who was the eldest of those born after he received the king's dignity. Only the son of a Spartan woman could inherit the throne; the king was forbidden to marry a foreigner. If the Spartan king had no sons or only those who could not take the throne, then the closest relative would inherit. If a king's son succeeded his father while still a minor, the closest relative would rule until he came of age.
What was the name and who was the head of Sparta??? and got the best answer
Answer from Yergey M.r[guru]
Spartan kings are one of the highest and oldest bodies of the Spartan state. Two kings (diarchy) from two different royal houses (Agiada and Euripontida) ruled simultaneously. Both kings had equal powers, and each of them had the right to make decisions without the consent of his colleague in the royal position, which made it impossible to concentrate power in one hand.
The usual naming of Spartan kings in narrative sources is basileus. However, in the text of the “Great Retra” (which is generally recognized as an authentic ancient document that had constitutional significance for early Sparta), the kings are called by the title of archageta.
Why two kings?
Version one, etiological. King Aristodemus had two twin sons - Eurysthenes and Proclus. After the death of Aristodemus, both of them were proclaimed kings of Laconia. From them came two dynasties of Spartan kings - the Agis, named after the son of Eurysthenes, and the Euripontids, named after the grandson of Proclus.
Version two, “historical”. The diarchy arose after the arrival of the Dorians as a result of the mixing of two communities - Dorian and Achaean.
Agida
Eurysthenes - XI century BC e.
Agis I - XI century BC e.
Ehestratus - 10th century BC e.
Labota
Doriss
Agesilaus I - 9th century BC e.
Archelaus
Telecles - 8th century BC e.
Alkamen
Polydor
Euricrates (or Euricrates I)
Anaxander
Eurycratides (or Eurycrates II)
Leo - 6th century BC e.
Anaxandrides 560-520 BC e.
Cleomenes I - 520-491 BC e.
Leonidas I - 491-480 BC e. - king of the Spartans. As Xerxes advanced on Greece, Leonidas led 300 Spartans and 7,000 other Greeks to Thermopylae in the summer of 480 with the intention of defending the pass as long as possible. The Persians tried unsuccessfully to take it for two days, but the traitor Ephialtes led a detachment at night along a mountain path, bypassing the position of L. Then, sending most of of his army into the country, L. himself, in order to cover the retreat, rushed towards the Persians and delayed their advance until he himself and all his soldiers lay down on the battlefield.
Plistarchus - 480-459 BC e.
Plystoanact - 459-409 BC e.
Pausanias - 409-395 BC e.
Agesipolis I - 395-380 BC e.
Cleombrotus - 380-371 BC e.
Agesipolis II - 371-370 BC e.
Cleomenes II - 370-309 BC e.
Areus I - 309-265 BC e.
Acrotatus - 265-262 BC e.
Areus II - 264-254 BC e.
Leonidas II - 254-243 BC e.
Cleombrotus II - 243-241 BC e.
Leonidas II (secondary) - 241-235 BC. e.
Cleomenes III - 235-221 BC e.
Euclid (co-ruler of Cleomenes III)
Agesipolis III - 219-215 BC e.
Euripontids
Proclus - XI century BC e.
Soy
Eurypontus - 10th century BC e.
Prytanide
Eunom
Polydectes - 9th century BC e.
Harilai
Nikander - VIII century BC e.
Theopompus
Zauxidas - 7th century BC e.
Anaxidam
Archidamus I
Agasicles - beginning 6th century BC e.
Ariston - ok. 550-515 BC e.
Demarat - ok. 515-491 BC e.
Leutychides 491-469 BC e.
Archidamus II - 469-427 BC e.
Agis II - 427-399 BC e.
Agesilaus II - 399-360 BC e.
Archidamus III - 360-338 BC e.
Agis III - 338-331 BC e.
Eudamides I - 331 - approx. 305 BC e.
Archidamus IV - ca. 305-275 BC e.
Eudamides II - ca. 275-244 BC e.
Agis IV - ca. 244-241 BC e.
Eudamides III - ca. 241 - approx. 228 BC e.
Archidamus V - 228-227 BC e.
Euclid - 227-221 BC e.
Lycurgus - 219 - approx. 212 BC e.
Mahanid (usurper) - 212-206 BC. e.
Pelops - ok. 212 - approx. 200 BC e.
Nabis (usurper) - until 195-192 BC. e.
The history of Sparta should begin with the Dorian migration. Of course, it is impossible to reconstruct in detail the process of migration of the Dorians to the Peloponnese. IN modern science Sometimes even the very possibility of such relocation is disputed, but more often the disputes are around its nature. Contrary to ancient tradition, for which the resettlement of the Dorians was undoubtedly a military campaign, a theory is put forward according to which the Dorians appeared in the Peloponnese a century after the death of the Mycenaean civilization and occupied lands that had long been empty. In this theory, the moment of conquest is completely absent. There was only a “slow infiltration” of individual Dorian tribes to new lands. This theory is based solely on archaeological data. The fact is that the Mycenaean palaces perished in the late 13th - early 12th centuries. BC, and the oldest early geometric pottery of the Dorians dates back to the 11th century. BC
There is another, according to which the Dorians are either mercenaries in the service of the Mycenaean rulers, or the lower strata of Mycenaean society, who seized power as a result of a violent coup.
These examples illustrate the danger of denying the ancient literary tradition and absolutization of archaeological data. Of course, it is completely impossible to reconstruct the early history of Sparta in detail, with names and exact dates.
During the classical period, Greece had two leading cities - Athens and Sparta. Both of these states, each in their own way, made a huge contribution to the formation and development ancient civilization. In our study we will focus on the institution of royal power in Sparta and the status of kings.
1. Prerequisites for the creation of Lacedaemon
In the Laconian region lived Leleg, who was its first king. Leleg had two sons, Miletus and the younger Polykaon. After the death of Miletus, his son Eurotas assumed power. Since he had no male offspring, he left the kingdom to Lacedaemon, whose mother was Taygeta, from whose name the mountain took its name, and whose father was Zeus himself.
Lacedaemon was married to Sparta, daughter of Eurotas. As soon as he received power, then, first of all, he gave his name to the entire country and the entire population, and then built a city and named it after his wife; and to this day this city is called Sparta. Amycles, son of Lacedaemon, wishing in turn to leave some kind of memory for himself, founded in Laconia small town. Of his two sons, Hyakinthos, the youngest and very handsome, died before his father; the grave of Hyakinthos is in Amykla, under the statue of Apollo. After the death of Amycles, power passed to the eldest of his sons, Argal, and then, after the death of Argal, to Kinorta. Kinorta had a son, Ebal. Ebal took Gorgophon, the daughter of Perseus, from Argos as his wife and had a son by her, Tyndareus. Hippocoon entered into a dispute with him over the kingdom and demanded power for himself under the pretext of seniority. Having united with Icarius and those who rebelled with him, he turned out to be much stronger than Tyndareus and, as the Lacedaemonians say, forced Tyndareus to flee Pellanus in fear. The Messenians have a tradition regarding him that Tyndareus fled to Messenia and came to Aphareus, and Aphareus, the son of Periers, was the brother of Tyndareus on his mother - that, according to them, he settled in Messenia, in Thalamae, and that when he lived here all his children were born. Tyndareus later returned to Laconia with the assistance of Hercules and regained power. Tyndareus was succeeded by his sons; then Menelaus, son of Atreus, son-in-law of Tyndareus, reigned here, and after him Orestes, husband of Hermione, daughter of Menelaus. When the Heraclides returned to the reign of Tisamen, son of Orestes, the cities of Messene and Argos fell to the share of the first, Temen.
In Lacedaemon, twins were born to Aristodemus, and two royal families were formed. Aristodemus himself, in Delphi before the Dorians invaded the Peloponnese.
The sons of Aristodemus were called Proclus and Eurysthenes; being twins, they were nevertheless worst enemies to each other. But no matter how far their mutual hatred went, it did not prevent them from jointly helping Fer, the son of Autesion, their guardian and brother of their mother Argea, to establish and take possession of the colony. Fera sent the same colony to the island, which was then called Callista (the Most Beautiful), hoping that the descendants of Membliar would voluntarily cede royal power to him.
2. Agid Dynasty
Eurysthenes is the legendary king of Laconia from the Heraclid family, who ruled in the 11th century. before the Nativity of Christ. He was the ancestor of the royal family of Agids. When the boys grew up, the Lacedaemonians proclaimed them both kings. The brothers divided Laconica into six parts and founded cities. The Heraclids made Sparta their capital; they sent kings to the remaining parts, allowing them, due to the sparse population of the country, to receive all foreigners who wanted them. The neighboring tribes were subordinate to the Spartans, but had equal rights, both in terms of citizenship rights and in the sense of holding government positions. They were called helots
Eurysthenes, the eldest son of Aristodemus, had a son Agis; from him the family of Eurysthenes is called Agids.
During the reign of Echestratus, son of Agis, in Sparta, the Lacedaemonians forced all the adults capable of bearing arms of the inhabitants of Cynurea to move out, accusing them of the fact that they, although related to the Argives, allowed the robbers from Cynuria to devastate Argolis, and they themselves openly raided this land.
A few years later, Labot, son of Echestratus, took power over Sparta. As a child, Labota had Lycurgus as his guardian, who made laws. During this war, nothing worth mentioning was done on either side; who then reigned from this house, Dorissa, son of Labot, and Agesilaus, son of Dorissa, both suffered death after a short reign.
Agesilaus I is the legendary king of Laconia (IX century BC) from the Agid family. Under Agesilaus, the laws of Lycurgus were adopted.
Agesilaus had a son, Archelaus. Archelaus - king of the Lacedaemonians from the Agid family, who ruled in the 9th century. before the Nativity of Christ. Under Archelaus, the Lacedaemonians subdued by force of arms one of the neighboring cities, Aegina, and enslaved its inhabitants, suspecting that the Aegineans sympathized with the Arcadians.
The son of Archelaus was Telecles: under him the Lacedaemonians took three district cities, having won a victory over them in the war, namely Amycles, Faris and Geranfres, which then still belonged to the Achaeans.
After the death of Telecles, Alkamenes, son of Telecles, assumed power; under him, the Lacedaemonians sent one of the most noble people of Sparta, Charmides, son of Euthys, to Crete in order to stop civil strife among the Cretans and convince them to leave those small cities that were located relatively far from the sea or were weak in one way or another, and instead, build common cities in places convenient for sea communications. Under him, they destroyed the seaside city of Gelos - it was owned by the Achaeans - and defeated the Argives in battle, who helped the inhabitants of Gelos (helots).
After Alkamen's death, Alkamen's son, Polydorus, assumed royal power. He reigned in the 8th century. before the Nativity of Christ. Under him, the Lacedaemonians sent to found two colonies: one in Italy, in Croton, the other in the region of the Locrians, those near Cape Zephyria.
It was under him that the First Messenian War began. At this time, the Lacedaemonians were commanded mainly by Theopompus, son of Nicander, a king from another royal family. When the war with Messenia was brought to an end, Polydorus was killed by Polemarchus. Polydorus was very popular in Sparta and was especially loved by the people, since he did not allow himself to act violently or rudely towards anyone, and when performing court, he observed justice and showed leniency towards people
During the reign of Eurycrates, son of Polydorus, the Messenians patiently endured their situation, remaining subjects of the Lacedaemonians; and there were no new actions against them on the part of the Argive people.
But under Anaxander, son of Eurycrates, the Messenians rebelled against the Lacedaemonians. For some time they, waging war, held out against the Lacedaemonians, but then, being defeated, they, by agreement, withdrew from the Peloponnese; the same part of their population that remained in this land became slaves of the Lacedaemonians, except those who occupied their coastal cities.
Anaxander's son was Eurycrates, and Eurycrates - this was the second king with this name - had a son Leo. Leo ruled in the first half. VI century before the Nativity of Christ. During their reign, the Lacedaemonians suffered quite a few defeats in the war with the Tegeates. But under Anaxandrid, the son of Leo, they turned out to be victorious in the war over the Tegeates.
Anaxandrides, son of Leontes, alone of all the Lacedaemonians had two wives at the same time and lived in two houses at the same time. When Anaxandrides died, the Lacedaemonians, although Doria was superior to Cleomenes both in reason and in military affairs, nevertheless, against their will, removed him from the kingship and gave power to Cleomenes on the basis of the laws of seniority. Then Doria - he did not want to obey Cleomenes while remaining in Lacedaemon - was sent to found a new colony.
Cleomenes I - king of the Lacedaemonians from the Agid family, who reigned from 520 to 491. BC Cleomenes was somewhat weak-minded and prone to insanity.
As soon as Cleomenes ascended the throne, he immediately invaded Argolis, gathering an army of both Lacedaemonians and allies. When the Argives came out against him with weapons in their hands, Cleomenes defeated them in battle. Cleomenes also marched twice against Athens: the first time to free the Athenians from the tyranny of the children of Pisistratus, which gained him and the Lacedaemonians great glory among all the Hellenes, and the second time for the sake of the Athenian Isagoras, in order to help him seize tyranny over Athens. But he was mistaken in his hopes. The Athenians fought for a long time for their freedom and Cleomenes devastated their country, he also ravaged the region, the so-called Orgada, dedicated to the Eleusinian goddesses.
He arrived in Aegina and ordered the arrest of influential Aeginetans who sided with the Persians and convinced their fellow citizens to give Darius, son of Hystaspes, “land and water” (as a sign of submission). When Cleomenes was in Aegina, Demaratus, a king from another royal family, began to accuse him before an assembly of Lacedaemonians.
When Cleomenes returned from Aegina, he took measures to deprive Demaratus of his royal dignity, and for this he bribed the Delphic prophetess so that she would give the Lacedaemonians such an answer as he himself had suggested to her and prompted Leotychides, a man of the royal family and from the same at home with Demaratus, enter into a dispute with him over power. Leotichides referred to the words that his father Ariston had once, through imprudence, uttered in relation to the newly born Demaratus, saying that this was not his son. Then the Lacedaemonians, as they usually did, transferred the whole matter and the dispute about Demaratus to Delphi, asking for the prophetic word of God. And the prophetess gave them a saying in the form of an answer that corresponded to Cleomenes’ plans. Thus, Demaratus was removed from the kingdom due to Cleomenes’ hatred of him, and not due to justice.
Subsequently, Cleomenes, in a fit of madness, caused his own death: grabbing a sword, he began to inflict wounds on himself and died, having chopped up and mutilated his entire body. Since Cleomenes had no male descendants, power passed to Leonidas, the (third) son of Anaxandrides, the brother of Dorieus.
Leonidas I - Spartan king from the Agid family, who ruled in 491-480. BC During the first ten years of his reign, Leonidas did not do anything remarkable, but he immortalized himself forever with the last battle of his life at Thermopylae.
At this time, Xerxes led his hordes to Hellas, Leonidas, along with three hundred Lacedaemonians, met him at Thermopylae. There were many wars between the Greeks and the barbarians, but it is easy to list those to which the valor of one man gave the greatest glory; Thus, Achilles glorified the war at Ilion, and Miltiades glorified the Battle of Marathon. The feat of duty fulfilled by Leonid surpassed all the feats of this time. That same Xerxes, who of all the kings who were among the Medes, and subsequently among the Persians, set himself the most ambitious plans and accomplished brilliant deeds. Leonidas with a handful of people whom he brought with him to Thermopylae stood so firmly on the path that Xerxes would never have seen Hellas at all and would not have burned the cities of the Athenians if the Trachinian had not led Hydarnas and Hydarnas along an impassable path going through Mount Etu. army and would not have given him the opportunity to surround the Hellenes. Only after Leonidas died in this way were the barbarians able to penetrate Hellas.
Plistarchus was a Spartan king from the Agid family who reigned from 480 to 458. BC Son of Leonidas I. As a child, Plistarchus' guardian was his cousin Pausanias. After the death of Plistarchus, the son of Pausanias Plistoanact became king.
Pleistoanax had a son, Pausanias. Pausanias - king of the Lacedaemonians from the Agid family, who reigned from 409 to 395. BC + 385 BC
Pausanias came to Attica as an enemy of Thrasybulus and the Athenians, in order to firmly strengthen the tyranny of those to whom Lysander had entrusted power. And in the battle he defeated the Athenians who occupied Piraeus, but after the battle he decided to immediately take the army home, not wanting to bring upon Sparta the most shameful of reproaches by supporting the tyranny of godless people.
When he returned from Athens after such a fruitless battle, his enemies summoned him to trial. At the trial of the Lacedaemonian king are the so-called Geronts, twenty-eight in number, the entire college of ephors, and with them the king from another royal family. The fourteen Geronts, as well as Agis, a king from another royal house, admitted that Pausanias was guilty; nevertheless, the other judges acquitted him.
A little time later, when the Lacedaemonians were gathering an army against Thebes, Lysander, arriving in Phokis, called the Phocians to a national militia; without waiting for time, he immediately moved to Boeotia and attacked the fortified town of Haliart, whose population did not want to fall away from the Thebans. But earlier, some of the Thebans and Athenians had secretly entered this city, and when they came out and lined up under the walls of the city, then (in the battle that took place) Lysander fell among the other Lacedaemonians.
Pausanias was late to this battle, gathering an army among the Tegeates and other Arcadians; when he arrived in Boeotia and learned of the defeat of those who were with Lysander, and of the death of Lysander himself, he nevertheless led an army to Thebes and intended to begin the battle. Then the Thebans came out against him and it became known that Thrasybulus was nearby, who, leading the Athenians, expected the Lacedaemonians to begin the battle, and intended, when they had already begun, to strike them in the rear. Pausanias was afraid that he would have to fight on two fronts, caught between two enemy troops, so he concluded a truce with the Thebans and took with him the corpses of those who fell under the walls of Haliart. The Lacedaemonians did not like this. When this time the citizens accused him of being slow to come to Boeotia, he did not expect to be summoned to trial, but the Tegeates received him as a petitioner for protection in their temple of Athens-Alea.
After the flight of Pausanias, his sons, Agesipolus and Cleombrotus, remained completely young and Aristodemus, who was their closest relative, took custody of them. And the victory of the Lacedaemonians at Corinth was won while he was in command of them.
When Agesipolus grew up and became king, the first of the Peloponnesians with whom he went to war were the Argives. When he led the army from the region of the Tegeates to Argolis, he met a herald whom the Argives sent to Agesipolus in order to renew the truce, according to them, established from ancient times between the various peoples of the Dorian tribe in relation to each other, but the king did not want to conclude a truce with herald and, moving forward with the army, devastated the country. Then God shook the earth, but even here Agesipolus still did not think of withdrawing his army back, despite the fact that the Lacedaemonians, more than all the Hellenes (as well as the Athenians), fear any divine signs. He had already begun to camp under the walls of Argos, but the god did not cease to shake the earth, and some of Agesipol's warriors were struck by lightning, while others were deafened by thunder. Only then, against his will, did he interrupt the campaign and retreat from Argolis.
But he immediately went on a campaign against the Olynthians. After he won the battle, took many other cities in Chalkidiki by storm and hoped to capture Olynthos itself, he suddenly fell ill and died from this disease.
After the death of Agesipolis, who died childless, power passed to Cleombrotus and under his command the Lacedaemonians fought the Boeotians at Leuctra. Cleombrotus, who was himself a brave warrior, fell at the very beginning of the battle. Usually, during great defeats, the will of fate is first of all expressed in the fact that it takes away the leader, just as from the Athenians, at the beginning of the battle of Delium, it took away their commander, Hippocrates, the son of Arifron, and subsequently in Thessaly (another Athenian military leader) Leosthenes. Cleombrotus's eldest son Agesipolus did not do anything glorious worthy of memory; after his death, power passed to his younger brother. He had two sons - Akrotat, and after him Kleonymus; death befell Acrotatus before (his father) Cleomenes himself.
When Cleomenes later died, Cleonymus, the son of Cleomenes, and Areus, the son of Akrotatus, came into dispute over royal power. Then the Geronts decided that, by virtue of hereditary rights, royal power should belong to Ares, the son of Akrotatus, and not to Cleonymus. Kleonymus, removed from royal power, was filled with great anger, and the ephors could not soften his soul and reconcile him with Sparta either with gifts or by placing him at the head of the army. In the end, he dared to commit many criminal and treacherous things towards his homeland and even invited home country Pyrrhus, son of Aeacides.
When Ares, the son of Akrotatus, reigned in Sparta, Antigonus, the son of Demetrius, marched against Athens with a foot army and a fleet. Patroclus arrived from Egypt with his army and fleet to help the Athenians, and the Lacedaemonians also acted as a national militia, entrusting the main command to King Ares. But Antigonus surrounded Athens with such a tight ring that there was no way for the forces allied with the Athenians to enter the city. Then Patroclus, sending envoys, began to encourage the Lacedaemonians and Ares to start a battle against Antigonus, saying that if they started, then he would attack the Macedonians from the rear; before this attack occurs, it is somehow inconvenient for them, the Egyptians and sailors, to attack the infantry. And indeed, the Lacedaemonians sought, despite the danger, to help the Athenians, both because of their disposition towards them and out of a thirst for military glory, dreaming of some kind of feat that would be memorable for future times. But Ares withdrew his army under the pretext that he had run out of all food. He believed that it was necessary to preserve the bravery of soldiers for his own interests, and not squander it so unwisely for strangers. With the Athenians, who offered strong resistance for a very long time, Antigonus made peace on the condition that he would bring a garrison to them and place it on the (hill) Museia. Over time, Antigonus himself voluntarily withdrew this garrison (from Athens). Ares had a son, Akrotat, and he had a son, Ares, who died of illness while still an eight-year-old boy.
Since the only representative of the male generation from the house of Eurysthenes was Leonidas, the son of Cleonymus, already a very old man, the Lacedaemonians transferred power to him. Leonidas's strongest opponent turned out to be Lysander, a descendant of Lysander, the son of Aristocritus. He won over to his side Cleombrotus, who was married to the daughter of Leonidas; Having come to an agreement with him, he began to level against Leonidas, among many other accusations, that he, while still a child, swore an oath to his father Kleonymus to contribute to the death of Sparta. Thus, indeed, Leonidas was deprived of royal dignity and Cleombrotus received this honor instead. If Leonidas had succumbed to a feeling of anger and, like Demaratus, the son of Ariston, had retired to the Macedonian king or to Egypt, then even if the Spartans (repenting) had changed their decision, this would have been of no benefit to him. He, expelled from the country by the citizens after his conviction, went to Arcadia, and a few years later the Lacedaemonians called him back from there and again elected him king.
Cleomenes (c. 262-219 BC) was the eldest son of King Leonidas, who killed the noble Agis. After the execution of Agis, King Leonidas forcibly gave his widow Agiatis in marriage to Cleomenes in order to take possession of her property. Cleomenes received good education. His mentor and friend was the famous scientist Spheres Boristhenes, who had a great influence on Spartan youth. Spherus taught that the king is only the first citizen, only a servant of the people and therefore must devote himself entirely to their good. With all the fervor of his youth, Cleomenes embraced these democratic ideas and watched with indignation everything that happened in Sparta after the death of Agis. Cleomenes understood that the reforms would be successful only if they managed to destroy the main support of the rich - the council of elders (gerusia) and the ephorate. And for this it was necessary to create an army not from mercenaries, but from citizens vitally interested in the redistribution of land and property of the rich. The revival of the military power of Sparta was also connected with this.
After the death of Cleomenes, the movement of the poor in Sparta continued. Other national leaders appeared, calling themselves tyrants, who continued the work of Cleomenes. The struggle continued with varying success until a new power, Rome, intervened in the affairs of Greece. Having subjugated Sparta and other Greek states, the Roman conquerors established their dominance there for a long time.
From the family of Eurysthenes, from the so-called Agids, Cleomenes, son of Leonidas, was the last king in Sparta.
3. Eurypontid Dynasty
Proclus is the legendary king of Laconia. ruled in the 11th century. BC Son of Aristodemus. The ancestor of the royal family of Eurypontids. Proclus gave his son the name Soon. Eurypontus, the son of Soon, glorified himself so much that this clan received the name Eurypontids from him, and before him they were called Proclids.
The son of Eurypontus was Prytanides. Under Prytanidas, enmity began between the Lacedaemonians and the Argives, but even before this feud they waged war with the Cynurians. Over the next generations, during the reigns of Eunom, son of Prytanides, and Polydectes, son of Eunom, Sparta lived in peace.
But Charillus, the son of Polydectes, first devastated the land of Argos and then, a few years later, under his command, the Spartans invaded the region of Tegea, when the Lacedaemonians hoped to defeat Tegea and subjugate it to their power, separating the Tegean plain from the Argolis; in this they relied on ambiguous prophecy.
After the death of Kharill, the son of Kharill, Nikander, assumed power. During the reign of Nikander, the Messenians killed Telecles, a king from another royal family, in the temple of Artemis-Limnada (Virgin of the Waters). Nikander also invaded Argolis with a large army and caused much devastation in the country. The inhabitants of Asina, who took part in this campaign together with the Lacedaemonians, soon experienced retribution from the Argives, who subjected their homeland to complete devastation, and they themselves were expelled.
When Theopompus, the son of Nikiander, still reigned in Sparta, a dispute began between the Lacedaemonians and the Argives over the so-called Thyreatid plain. Theopompus himself did not take part in this matter due to old age, but even more due to grief, since fate kidnapped Archidamus, the son of Theopompus, while his father was still alive. But Archidamus did not die childless; he left behind his son Zeuxidamus. Then the son of Zeuxidamus, Anaxidam, took power.
Under him, the Messenians had to leave the Peloponnese, having been defeated for the second time in the war by the Spartans. The son of Anaxidam was Archidamus, and the son of Archidamus was Agasicles; they were both destined to spend their entire lives in peace, and they did not wage any wars.
Ariston, the son of Agasicles, took as his wife the one who was the ugliest of the girls of Lacedaemon, but by the grace of Helen she became the most beautiful of all women. Just seven months after Ariston married her, her son Demaratus was born. Ariston was sitting together with the ephors in the council when a slave came to him with the news that he had a son; Ariston said that by the count of months he could not be his son. Subsequently, he himself repented of these words, but when Demaratus was already reigning and had already glorified Sparta with his glorious exploits, by the way, having freed the Athenians from the Pisistratids together with Cleomenes, Ariston’s unreasonable phrase and Cleomenes’ hatred made him an ordinary citizen (depriving him of the throne). He retired to Persia to King Darius, and for a long time afterward, as they say, his descendants continued to live in Asia.
Having become king instead of Demaratus, Leotichides participated together with the Athenians and the Athenian leader Xanthippus, son of Arifron, in the battle of Mycale, and after that he went to Thessaly, against the Alevads. And although it was easy for him to conquer all of Thessaly, since he always remained the winner, he allowed himself to be bribed by the Alevads. Brought to trial in Lacedaemon, he voluntarily, without waiting for the trial, fled to Tegea and appeared there as a petitioner for protection in the temple of Athena Alea. Leotichides' son, Zeuxidas, died of illness during Leotichides's lifetime, when he was not yet an exile.
After Leotychides left for Tegea, Archidamus, the son of Zeuxidamus, assumed power. This Archidamus caused especially much harm to the country of the Athenians, annually invading Attica with an army and with each invasion he passed through it all, devastating it with fire and sword. He also besieged and took the city of Plataea, which had always been on the side of the Athenians. But in any case, he was not the instigator of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians; on the contrary, he made every possible effort to ensure that a truce remained between them.
Sphenelaides, who generally enjoyed great influence in Lacedaemon and was at that time an ephor, turned out to be the main culprit of the war. This war shook Hellas, which had until then been strong and organized, to its very foundation, and subsequently Philip, the son of Amyntas, overthrew it, already shaken and completely in decline, and subjugated it to his power.
Dying, Archidamus left two sons. Agis was the eldest in age and therefore received power before Agesilaus. Archidamus also had a daughter named Kiniska, who devoted herself to Olympic competitions with the greatest passion and was the first of the women to keep horses for this purpose and the first of them to win the Olympic Games. After Kiniski, other women, especially from Lacedaemon, achieved victories at Olympia, but none of them deserved such fame for their victories as she did. It seems to me that there are no other people in the world who admire poetry less than the Spartans and pursue praise expressed in the form of poetic works. And in fact, apart from an epigram written by an unknown person in honor of Cyniscus, and another epigram by Simonides, who wrote it much earlier for Pausanias in order to place it on the tripod that Pausanias dedicated to Delphi, then nothing else was written by anyone a poet about the Lacedaemonian kings in memory of them.
Even during the reign of Agis, son of Archidamus, mutual quarrels began between the Lacedaemonians and the Eleans, but the Lacedaemonians were especially offended because the Eleans did not allow them to participate in the Olympic Games and to sacrifice in the Temple of Olympian Zeus. And so the Lacedaemonians sent a messenger to the Eleans demanding that autonomy be returned to the Lepreatae and those of the surrounding cities who were their subjects. The Eleans answered them that as soon as they saw the surrounding cities of Sparta free, they would not hesitate to grant freedom to their own as well; After such an answer, the Lacedaemonians, led by King Agis, invaded Elis. Their army had already reached Olympia and was already standing in front of the Alpheus River, but at that time God shook the earth, and the army had to go back. The next year Agis devastated the country and captured great booty. Xenius the Elean, a personal friend of Agis and representative (“proxenus”) of the Lacedaemonians among the Eleans, rebelled against the people’s power, becoming the head of wealthy citizens. But before Agis arrived with an army to support them, Thrasideus, who was then at the head of the Elean people, defeated Xenius and his supporters in battle and expelled them from the city. Then Agis had to lead the army back; however, he left the Spartan Lysistratus with part of the military forces, which, together with the fugitives from the Eleans and the Lepreats, were supposed to devastate the Elean region. In the third year of the war, the Lacedaemonians, together with Agis, were preparing to invade Elis again, but the Eleans and their leader Thrasidamus, driven to the extreme by devastation, agreed to renounce power over the surrounding cities, tear down the walls of their city and allow the Lacedaemonians to Olympia as to participate in the sacrifice to the Olympian- Zeus, and for holding the Olympic Games with them.
Agis also invaded Attica more than once at the head of an army; It was he who strengthened Decelea, garrisoning it, creating a constant threat to the Athenians; When the Athenian fleet was defeated at Aegospotami, Lysander, the son of Aristocritus, and Agis violated the oath in the name of the gods, which the Lacedaemonians publicly swore to the Athenians, and on their own behalf, without the consent of the entire Spartan people, they made a proposal at a meeting of the allies to “cut off the Athenians and branches and roots." Such were the especially remarkable military exploits of Agis.
Ariston's rash statement regarding his son Demaratus was repeated by Agis in relation to Leotichides; and some evil spirit inspired him to say in the presence of the ephors that he considered Leotichides not his son. But subsequently Agis was also overcome by repentance and, when he, sick, was carried home from Arcadia and when he arrived in Herea, then in front of a large crowd of witnesses, he declared that he considered Leotichides his son and with tears begged them to convey these words of his to the Lacedaemonians.
After the death of Agis, Agesilaus began to remove Leotychides from the kingdom, bringing to memory to the Lacedaemonians the words that Agis had once spoken about Leotychides. Then the Arcadians also arrived from Herea and testified in favor of Leotychides everything that they had heard from the lips of the dying Agis.
Leotichides said that the prophecy referred to Agesilaus, since Agesilaus was lame in one leg, but Agesilaus directed it at Leotichides, as the illegitimate son of Agis. The Lacedaemonians could, of course, in this case turn to Delphi for a resolution of the dispute, but they did not do this, the reason for which was Lysander, the son of Aristocritus, who used all his efforts to ensure that Agesilaus was king.
Thus, Agesilaus, son of Archidamus, became king. Under him, the Lacedaemonians decided to cross to Asia to fight with Artaxerxes, the son of Darius: the people in power, and especially Lysander, they were informed that during the war with the Athenians, it was not Artaxerxes who gave them money for the fleet, but Cyrus. Agesilaus, having received instructions to transport the army to Asia and become the head of the land army, sent messengers throughout the Peloponnese, except Argos, and to all the other Hellenes on the other side of the Isthmus, inviting them to become allies. Although the Corinthians really wanted to take part in this campaign in Asia, but since their temple of Zeus, called Olympian, suddenly burned down, they, considering this a bad omen, against their will, remained at home. The Athenians put forward the pretext that after the Peloponnesian War and the pestilence, their state had not yet restored its former prosperity, but mainly they remained calm because they learned through messengers that Conon, the son of Timothy, had gone to the court of the Persian king. Aristomenides, Agesilaus's maternal grandfather, was sent to Thebes as an ambassador; he enjoyed favor in Thebes and was one of those judges who voted that, after the capture of Plataea, the surviving Plataeans should be executed. But the Thebans also gave the same negative answer as the Athenians, saying that they would not come to the rescue.
When the Spartan and allied army had gathered and the fleet was ready to sail, Agesilaus went to Aulis to make a sacrifice to Artemis, because Agamemnon, having propitiated the goddess, set out from there on a campaign against Troy. Agesilaus believed that he was the king of a more prosperous and powerful state than King Agamemnon, and that, like Agamemnon, he was the leader of all Hellas; he flattered himself with the thought that defeating Artaxerxes and taking possession of all the riches of Persia would be more glorious feat than to destroy the dominion of Priam. When he was already making a sacrifice, the Thebans came here with weapons in their hands; they threw the already burning thighs of the sacrificial animals from the altar, and he (they) drove him out of the temple. Agesilaus was very offended that he was not allowed to complete the sacrifices; Nevertheless, he crossed into Asia and marched on Sardis.
Lydia then constituted the most important part of lower (Minor) Asia and (its capital) Sardis was distinguished by its wealth and splendor among all cities; they were the residence of the satrap of the Maritime region, just as Susa was the residence of the Persian king himself. The battle with Tissaphernes, satrap of the Ionian regions, took place on the plain of Hermus, and Agesilaus defeated both the Persian cavalry and infantry, which were then collected in greater numbers than ever, with the exception of the campaign of Xerxes and even earlier Darius, when the former led an army against the Scythians, and the other is to Athens. The Lacedaemonians, delighted with the energy and brilliance of Agesilaus's way of acting, willingly made him commander of the fleet, but he put Peisander in charge of the trireme, and Agesilaus was married to Peisander's sister, while he himself energetically continued the war on land.
When Artaxerxes learned of these battles, in which Agesilaus remained victorious, and that he continued to move forward, destroying everything in his path, he sentenced Tissaphernes to execution, although Tissaphernes had previously rendered him great services, and sent Tiphraustes, a very intelligent man, as satrap of the Maritime region and besides, he really did not like the Lacedaemonians. When he arrived at Sardis, he immediately came up with a means to force the Lacedaemonians to withdraw their army from Asia. He sent the Rhodian Timocrates to Hellas with a large sum of money, instructing him to initiate a war against the Lacedaemonians in Hellas. They bribed Cylon and Sodam from the Argives, and Androkleid, Ismenius and Amphithemis in Thebes; the Athenians, Cephalus and Epicrates, as well as those of the Corinthians who sympathized with the Argives, Polyanthus and Timolaus, took part in this. The Locrians from Amfissa opened hostilities. The Locrians had a disputed land on the border with the Phocians; When the harvest time came, the Locrians, at the instigation of the Thebans, supporters of Ismenia, reaped the grain and stole the spoils. Then the Phocians with their entire people rushed into Locris and devastated the country. In turn, the Locrians called upon their Theban allies and sacked Phocis.
The Phocians went to Lacedaemon with a complaint against the Thebans and pointed out what they had suffered from them. The Lacedaemonians decided to start a war against the Thebans, bringing other complaints against them, and mainly the insult that they inflicted on Agesilaus at Aulis during the sacrifice. Having learned in advance about this decision of the Lacedaemonians, the Athenians sent an embassy to Sparta with a proposal not to take up arms against Thebes, but to resolve in court the charges that were brought forward here, but the Lacedaemonians angrily sent back this embassy
Beginning with the Lacedaemonians' campaign against Boeotia, this so-called Corinthian War began to expand more and more. Due to this need, Agesilaus had to withdraw his army from Asia. When he crossed from Abydos with a fleet to Sestus and, having passed through Thrace, arrived in Thessaly, here the Thessalians, trying to please the Thebans, wanted to delay Agesilaus in his further movement; in addition, for a long time they had some kind of friendly disposition towards the Athenian state.
Having defeated their cavalry, Agesilaus passed through all of Thessaly and again, passing through Boeotia, he defeated the Thebans and the entire army of their allies at the Crown. When the Boeotians fled, some of the soldiers fled to the temple of Athena, called Itonia. Although Agesilaus was wounded in this battle, despite this, he did not violate the rights of those asking for protection.
A little later, those who had been expelled from Corinth for their favor with the Spartans staged the Isthmian Games. Frightened by the presence of Agesilaus, the rest of the inhabitants of Corinth then remained calm. But before Agesilaus had time to leave Corinth with his army and head to Sparta, the Corinthians, together with the Argives, began to celebrate the Isthmian games. Agesilaus again returned to Corinth with an army; Since the holiday of Hyakinthia was approaching, he sent the Amikleians home to perform the established festivities in honor of Apollo and Hyakinthos. On the way, the Athenians under the command of Iphicrates attacked this part of the army and killed them.
Agesilaus also went to Aetolia to help the Aetolians, who were heavily pressed by the Acarnanians, and forced the Acarnanians to stop the war, although they were already ready to capture Calydon and other Aetolian cities.
He later sailed to Egypt to help the Egyptians when they fell away from the Persian king. And in Egypt, Agesilaus performed many feats worthy of memory. He was already an old man and during this campaign he suffered the inevitable fate for everyone (death). When his corpse was brought to Sparta, the Lacedaemonians buried him, giving him greater honor than any other king.
During the reign of Archidamus, son of Agesilaus, the Phocians captured the sanctuary at Delphi. This caused them to go to war with the Thebans; To help the Phocians in this war, first of all, an army came, recruited by the Phocians themselves with the funds they received from the (captured) treasures; in addition, the Lacedaemonians and Athenians came to their aid openly, on behalf of their states; the latter remembered some ancient favor done to them by the Phocians; For their part, the Lacedaemonians presented the pretext of their friendship for the Phocians, but in fact they were rather motivated by hatred, as it seems to me, of the Thebans. Theopompus, the son of Damasistratus, says that Archidamus himself participated in the division of these treasures and that Archidamus’s wife, Deinich, receiving gifts from influential persons among the Phocians, thanks to them, persuaded Archidamus to such an alliance. Accepting gifts from sacred treasures and protecting people who robbed the most famous of the temples of divine broadcasting, I do not consider it a commendable matter, but this is what serves to the honor of Archidamus: when the Phocians decided to kill all the adult inhabitants of Delphi, sell their children and wives into slavery, and the city itself destroyed to the ground, then only the intervention of Archidamus owes the Delphians that they avoided the terrible fate that threatened them from the Phocians.
Subsequently, Archidamus crossed over to Italy to help the Tarentines in their war with the neighboring barbarians. There he was killed by barbarians, and the fact that his body was not worthy of burial “in the royal tomb” was due to the anger of Apollo.
The eldest son of Archidamus, Agis, was destined to die in battle against the Macedonians and Antipater, while his youngest son, Eudamidas, reigned among the Lacedaemonians and under him they enjoyed peace.
Next reigned Agis IV, a king from the Eurypontid family, who ruled in Laconia in 244-241. BC Son of Eudamidas II. From childhood, he was raised in luxury by his mother Agesistrata and grandmother Archidamia, the wealthiest women in Lacedaemon. But before he even reached the age of 20, he declared war on pleasures, tore off his jewelry, resolutely rejected any extravagance, was proud of his shabby cloak, dreamed of Laconian dinners, bathing and, in general, the Spartan way of life and said that he did not belong what would there be of royal power if it were not for the hope of reviving with its help ancient laws and customs.
To this end, he began to test the mood of the Spartans. The youth, contrary to Agis’s expectations, quickly responded to his words and enthusiastically devoted themselves to valor, changing their entire way of life, like their clothes, for the sake of freedom. But the elderly, who were affected much more deeply by the corruption of wealth, scolded Agis. The dissatisfaction of rich people with the reign of Agis grew.
Smart and tall spiritual qualities Agis not only surpassed the second king Leonidas, but was one of the most outstanding people of his time. He soon became a favorite of the common people of Sparta.
The first attempt at reform ended unsuccessfully, firstly, because it was impossible to return the Spartan state, which was in a state of deep decline, to the Lycurgus order; secondly, because the noble ruler Agis was devoid of the traits of a fighter and leader. He did not have an inflexible will and fortitude that did not yield to the need to use force against the rich. A different kind of ruler was needed. Such a person soon appeared in Sparta. It was King Cleomenes.
CONCLUSION
Sparta (Lakedaemon) is an ancient Greek polis in Laconia (Peloponnese), which became after the conquest in the 8th-6th centuries. BC e. southern Peloponnese in large state. According to legend, political system in Sparta was established by Lycurgus (IX-VIII centuries). The Spartiates owned equal sections of state land with helots attached to them, and they themselves were mainly engaged in military affairs. Crafts and trade were in the hands of the Perieks. Sparta is a classic example of a polis with an oligarchic government system; State affairs were decided by the gerousia, then by the college of ephors. Since ancient times, two royal dynasties ruled simultaneously in Sparta, which often competed and were at enmity with each other. The kings who traced their family back to Hercules himself enjoyed universal honor and respect. However, their power was severely limited by law. IN wartime they served as military leaders in command of the Spartan army and, in peacetime, were involved in judicial and religious affairs. Both kings were members of the council of elders (together with them it numbered thirty people) and took part in its meetings, at which almost all the main issues of public administration were decided.
Rivalry between Athens and Sparta led to the Peloponnesian War of 431-404; Having won it, Sparta established its hegemony over Greece. After defeat in the war with Thebes in 371 at Leuctra and in 362 at Mantinea, Sparta became a minor state. In 146 Sparta was subjugated by Rome, in 27 BC. e. entered the Roman province of Achaia.
Modern Sparta is a city in Greece, in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, the administrative center of the Laconia region in the valley of the river. Eurotas, founded in 1834. Nearby are the ruins of the ancient city of Sparta (remains of the acropolis with the temple of Athena, 6th century BC, sanctuaries, 7th-5th centuries BC, theater, 1st-2nd centuries. n.
Reign Period Ruler
Until 1103 BC kings of Laconia
Heracleidae
1103 - 1101 BC Aristodemus
Hagiads
1101 - 1059 BC Eurysthenes
1059 - 1058 BC Agis I
1058 - 1023 BC Ehestratus
1023 - 986 BC Labot
986 - 957 BC Doriss
957 - 913 BC Agesilaus I
913 - 853 BC Archelaus
853 - 813 BC Telekl
813 - 776 BC Alkamen
776 - late 8th century. BC Polydor
late 8th century - 685 BC Eurycrates
c.685 - 668 BC Anaxander
668 - 590 BC Eurycratides
590 - 560 BC Leontes
560 - 520 BC Anaxandrid
520 - 490 BC Cleomenes I
490 - 480 BC Leonidas I
480 - 470 BC Pausanias (regent)
480 - 459 BC Plistarchus
459 - 445 BC Plistoanakt I
445 - 426 BC Pausanias I
426 - 409 BC Plistoanakt I
409 - 395 BC Pausanias I
395 - 380 BC Agesipolid I
380 - 371 BC Cleombrotus I
371 - 370 BC Agesipolid II
370 - 309 BC Cleomenes II
309 - 265 BC Ares I
265 - 262 BC Acrotat
262 - 254 BC Ares II
254 - 243 BC Leonidas II
243 - 241 BC Cleombrotus II
241 - 235 BC Leonidas II
235 - 227 BC Cleomenes III
227 - 221 BC Euclid
219 - 215 BC Agesipolid III
Euriponidae
1101 - mid-11th century BC Proclus
2nd half of the 11th century. BC Soy
10th century BC Eurypontus
10th century BC Prytanide
10th century BC Evnom
9th century BC Polydecte
9th century BC Lycurgus I
9th century BC Harilai
late 9th century - 770 BC Nikandr
c.770 - 720 BC Theopompus
720 - early 7th century. BC Zeuxidas
1st half of 7th century BC Anaxidam
2nd half of 7th century BC Archidamus I
late 7th century - 550 BC Agasikles
550 - 515 BC Ariston
515 - 491 BC Demarat
491 - 469 BC Leontychides I
469 - 427 BC Archidamus II
427 - 399 BC Agis II
399 BC Leontychides II
399 - 360 BC Agiselaus II
360 - 338 BC Archidamus III
338 - 331 BC Agis III
331 - 305 BC Eudamides I
305 - 275 BC Archidamus IV
275 - 244 BC Eudamides II
244 - 241 BC Agis IV
241 - 228 BC Eudamides III
228 - 227 BC Archidamus IV
In 221 - 219 BC republic
219 - 212 BC Lycurgus II
212 - 200 BC Pelop
211 - 207 BC Mahanid (tyrant)
207 - 192 BC Nabis (tyrant)
192 BC Lakonik
In 192 - 146 BC. republic
From 146 BC conquered by the Roman Republic
The ancient Spartans did not share the Athenians' passion for architecture and the arts, and therefore almost nothing has been preserved in the city from the time when its star stood at its zenith. Sacredly believing that no walls would preserve the polis better than the valor of the citizens, they preferred to invest state funds in the education of youth, giving Greece a whole galaxy of famous commanders. Today many of them are half forgotten. Therefore, Grekoblog decided to devote a separate post to this topic, selecting five Spartiates whose fate was most intertwined with the glory of ancient Sparta.
Lycurgus (presumably 9th century BC)
Although many historians doubt that Lycurgus was real historical figure, the influence of this semi-legendary character on the place of Sparta in history is difficult to overestimate. Lycurgus, in fact, was the person thanks to whom - according to legend - Sparta set out on the path of development of human valor. The main achievement of Lycurgus was the compilation of a set of laws that contributed to the rapid transformation of this, very ordinary at that time, Greek polis into one of the first superpowers of the Ancient World.
What did Lycurgus do? He carried out political, economic and social reforms, each of which was an important component of the overall plan - the transformation of Sparta into a superpower. Now it is difficult to say whether this was the goal of Lycurgus, but the way the reforms organically complemented each other suggests that this is not a coincidence.
To the man who proposed to establish democracy in Sparta, Lycurgus said: “First establish democracy in your home.”
From a political point of view, Lycurgus limited the power of kings by introducing the gerousia - a council of elders - and transferring significant powers to the popular assembly. Basis economic reforms Lycurgus began the redistribution of land and the introduction of iron money into circulation instead of gold and silver. This approach made it possible to equalize the Spartans and for a long time discourage them from accumulating wealth that was not recognized in any other country. The core of social reform was new approach to the education of youth, which allowed Sparta from childhood to instill in the younger generation the values of state and social structure, as well as to pay great attention to their military training.
The reforms of Lycurgus made it possible to overcome the internal crisis of the state and open a new page in history, full of glory and military valor- a period that lasted almost 500 years.
Cleomenes I Eurysthenes (reign: 520 BC – 491 BC)
They say that all great men are a little mad, and Cleomenes I is no exception. Horrible death the king was a strange end to his valiant life.
Cleomenes I is rarely mentioned and very little is known about him. But many historians agree on one thing - the years of the reign of Cleomenes I became the zenith of the power of Sparta. If we move from abstract expressions to specific examples, then the most significant acts of Cleomenes include the defeat of Argos, the expulsion of tyrants from Athens, and the unification of the communities of the Peloponnese into an alliance where Sparta occupied a dominant position.
If Agesilaus heard someone being praised or blamed, he believed that it was no less important to know the character of those who spoke than those who were judged.
Are these events so significant that we put Cleomenes on our short list? The answer to this can only be positive. At that time, Argos and Sparta were the main states of the Peloponnese, which were already becoming crowded on the peninsula. Therefore, the victory of Cleomenes over Argos, albeit bloody, allowed Sparta to “spread its wings,” permanently discouraging its “competitor” from the desire and ability to compete with the Spartans. This, in turn, made it possible to more actively promote the line of foreign policy and form an alliance, which for the next few centuries became the main stronghold of the power of the state.
Leonidas (reigned: 491 BC – 480 BC)
Having replaced Cleomenes on the royal throne, during the first 10 years of his reign, Leonidas, if he did anything worth mentioning, history did not preserve these details. The death of the king in 480 BC looks all the more worthy. at Thermopylae, at the cost of his own life (and several hundred other Greeks) covering the retreat of the united Greek army from the superior forces of the Persians.
When someone told Leonid that he was leading too few men into battle, he replied: “Too many - because they are doomed to death.”
Two films were made about Leonid’s feat and a number of books were written, and therefore his name hardly needs a separate introduction. Let us only note that for thousands of years to come the name of the king became a symbol of Spartan and military valor, and the feat in which he played the role of “first violin” pushed into the background many, sometimes very controversial moments of Spartan history.
Lysander (452-396 BC)
The role of Lysander in Spartan history is difficult to assess unambiguously. On the one hand, he put an end to the Peloponnesian War and took Athens, which was already seriously and not unreasonably laying claim to hegemony in Hellas. This raised Sparta to unprecedented heights and for a short period, not nominally, but quite realistically, allowed it to dictate its will to most of the ancient Greek states on mainland Hellas, the Aegean islands and even in Asia Minor.
Seeing the Lacedaemonians indecisive before the walls of Corinth, Lysander noticed that a hare jumped out of the city through the ditch and exclaimed: “Are you really afraid of enemies who are so lazy that they have under. the wall is holy for hares"
On the other hand, the consequence of victories on external fronts was a significant influx of gold into Sparta, the passion for the possession of which for the first time in many centuries after Lycurgus began to erode the foundations of the social order of the Spartans. Later, it was the property stratification of the once homogeneous Spartiate society that researchers would call one of the main reasons for the decline. However, under Lysander this was still far from happening - after all, under him Sparta was the most powerful state in Greece.
Agesilaus (c. 442 - c. 358 BC)
Although after Agesilaus the Spartan land raised many valiant commanders, the king became, perhaps, the last leader of a still great state. It was under Agesilaus that Sparta lost its dominant position in Greece and almost lost its independence. After the death of Agesilaus, the Spartans still managed to win brilliant tactical victories, but exhausted by constant wars and, having lost many allies, they were no longer able to restore their former power.
When a certain doctor prescribed Agesilaus a carefully designed course of treatment, which was very difficult to carry out, the king exclaimed: “I swear by the gods, nowhere does it say that I absolutely need to live and do anything for this.”
However, the loss of Spartan hegemony in Greece cannot be blamed on Agesilaus. Sparta's reluctance to adapt to changing external conditions, the lack of a strong economy and the declining role of Lycurgus's laws in society are much more responsible for the final result. Competent internal and foreign policy The authorities could probably delay the process of decomposition of Spartan society for some more time, but it is unlikely to prevent it.
While ruling the Spartans, Agesilaus accomplished many valiant feats, demonstrating brilliant qualities as a commander and politician. Under his leadership, in particular, the Greek army landed in Asia Minor and inflicted a series of defeats on the Persians (396-394 BC). Unable to cope with Agesilaus on land, the Persians were forced to subsidize liberation movement in the states controlled by Sparta. Then internal wars would force Agesilaus to leave the Empire. The calculation turned out to be correct - needing troops to strengthen the shaky position, Sparta recalled Agesilaus back to Greece. Otherwise, who knows, the glory of defeating the Persians could well have belonged to Agesilaus, and not to Alexander the Great.
But history, as we know, does not recognize the word “would”.