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Cleomenes III was one of the two kings of
Sparta from 235 to 222. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his
father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state.
From 229 to 222, Cleomenes waged war against the Achaean League under
Aratus of Sicyon. After being defeated by the
Achaeans in the Battle of Sellasia in 222,
he fled to Ptolemaic Egypt. After a failed revolt in 219, he committed suicide.
Early life:
Cleomenes was born in Sparta to the future Agiad king Leonidas II and his wife
Cratesicleia. The exact year of Cleomenes' birth is unknown but historian Peter
Green puts it between 265 and 260. Around 242, Leonidas was exiled from Sparta
and forced to seek refuge in the temple of Athena after opposing the reforms of
the Eurypontid King, Agis IV. Cleomenes' brother-in-law, Cleombrotus, who was a
supporter of Agis, became king. Meanwhile, having started his reforms Agis went
on a campaign near the Isthmus of Corinth, which presented Leonidas with an
opportunity to regain his throne. He quickly disposed of Cleombrotus, and went
after Agis who had gone to find sanctuary. After holding out for quite some
time, Agis was arrested and executed, along with other family members.
Following the execution of Agis, Cleomenes, who was around eighteen at the
time, was forced by his father to marry Agis' widow, Agiatis, who was a wealthy
heiress. According to legend, Cleomenes was hunting when his father sent him a
message telling him to return immediately to Sparta. When he returned to the
city, he saw that it was being decorated for a wedding and when he asked his
father who was getting married, his father replied that he, Cleomenes, was. It
was reported that Cleomenes was doubtful about the marriage because his father
had had Agiatis' husband executed. Nevertheless, the marriage went ahead.
Early years:
Cleomenes ascended the throne of Sparta in 235, following the death of his
father. Cleomenes had been inspired by Agis and followed through on his
reforms. Meanwhile, the Achaean League under the command of Aratus of Sicyon
was trying to unite all of the Peloponnese. Upon hearing of Leonidas' death,
Aratus began attacking the cities of Arcadia, which bordered Achaea. Plutarch
says that Aratus made these moves to discover Sparta's inclinations. In 229 the
cities of Tegea, Mantinea, Caphyae and Orchomenus, who were allied with the
Aetolian League, joined Sparta. Historians Polybius and Sir William Smith claim
that Cleomenes seized these cities by treachery; however the translator of
Plutarch on Sparta, Richard Talbert, claims he did so at their own request.
Later that year, the ephors sent Cleomenes to seize Athenaeum, a fort on the
Spartan border with Megalopolis which was being disputed by both cities.
Cleomenes seized the fort and improved its fortifications. Meanwhile, the
Achaean League summoned a meeting of its assembly and declared war against
Sparta. In retaliation for fortifying Athenaeum, Aratus carried out a night
attack on Tegea and Orchomenus but when his supporters inside those cities
failed to help, he retreated, hoping to remain undetected. Cleomenes discovered
the attempted night attack and sent a message to Aratus asking the purpose of
the expedition. Aratus replied that he had come to stop Cleomenes from
fortifying Athenaeum. Cleomenes response was, "if it's all the same to
you, write and tell me why you brought along those torches and ladders."
Cleomenean War:
Main article: Cleomenean War
"Upon this, Cleomenes wrote to him, in a familiar way, desiring to know,
"Whether he marched the night before." Aratus answered, "That,
understanding his design to fortify Belbina, the intent of his last motion was
to prevent that measure." Cleomenes humorously replied, "I am
satisfied with the account of your march; but should be glad to know where
those torches and ladders were marching." The conversation between
Cleomenes and Aratus according to Plutarch. Cleomenes advanced into Arcadia
before being called back by the ephors. When Aratus captured Caphyae, the
ephors sent him out again. He ravaged the territory of Argos with an army of
5,000 men before being confronted by the new strategos of the Achaean League,
Aristomachos of Argos and his army consisting of 20,000 infantry and 1,000
cavalry at Pallantium. Aratus, who accompanied Aristomachos as an adviser,
urged him to retreat.
Smith agrees with Aratus' assessment that 20,000 Achaeans were no match for
5,000 Spartans. This success greatly encouraged Cleomenes, and when he heard
that Aratus was attacking Sparta's ally, Elis, he set off to confront them. The
Spartan army fell upon the Achaean army near Mount Lycaeum and routed it.
Aratus took advantage of a rumour saying that he had been killed in the battle
and seized Mantinea. Aratus' victory at Mantinea reduced the Spartans' desire
for war and they began to oppose Cleomenes' war effort. Meanwhile, the
Eurypontid King of Sparta, Eudamidas III, who was the son of Agis IV and
Agiatis, died. Cleomenes recalled his uncle, who had fled after Agis' execution
to Messene, to assume the throne. However, as soon as he returned to Sparta he
was assassinated. Cleomenes' part in the assassination is unknown, with
Polybius claiming that he ordered it, but Plutarch disagreeing. Having bribed
the ephors to allow him to continue campaigning, Cleomenes advanced into the
territory of Megalopolis and started to besiege the village of Leuctra. As
Cleomenes was besieging the village, an Achaean army under the command of
Aratus attacked the Spartans. In the initial attack, the Spartans were
repelled. However, Lydiadas of Megalopolis, the cavalry commander, disobeyed
Aratus' order not to pursue the Spartans. When the cavalry scattered while
trying to cross some difficult terrain, Cleomenes' skirmishers managed to
defeat them. Encouraged by this counter-attack, the Spartans charged the main
body of the Achaean army and routed them. Confident of his strong position,
Cleomenes began plotting against the ephors. After gaining the support of his
stepfather, he embarked with him on a whirlwind military expedition against his
opponents, and when they requested to stay in Arcadia due to exhaustion he
returned to Sparta to carry out his reform plans. When he reached the city, he
sent some of his loyal followers to kill the ephors. Four of the ephors were
killed, while the fifth, Agylaeus, managed to escape and seek sanctuary in a
temple. Having removed the ephors, Cleomenes began to implement his reforms.
The reforms:
After having removed the ephors, who obstructed his political will, Cleomenes
used the character of Lycurgus the lawgiver, which allow him to legitimize the
violence, and he began his reforms. He first handed over all his land to the
state; he was soon followed in this by his stepfather and his friends and the
rest of the citizens. He divided up all the land and gave an equal lot to every
citizen, a unique achievement. The land was pooled and redistributed in equal
portion to some 4,000 citizens (although the first Agis plan projected 4,500
citizens). These citizens were half old citizens who had been exiled, and half
new citizens who for the most part were mercenaries who fought with the Spartan
army. There were also Perioeci granted land for their dedication to Sparta.
Those 4,000 citizens enhanced the body of Spartan citizens, which had suffered
from oliganthropia. For the first time the amount of produce the Helots had to
surrender to each klaros-holder was specified in absolute quantities rather
than as a proportion of the annual yield. Cleomenes trained 4,000 Hoplites and
restored the ancient Spartan military and social discipline. The citizens'
children were required to pass through an agoge, and the adult citizens had to
practise again the old austere diaita centred upon communal living within the
framework of the military-minded masses.
More significantly, Cleomenes decreed that his new army should follow the model
of the Macedonian army, a century after the bitter defeat of the Athenians and
Thebans to the Macedonians at Chaeronea. This was characterised by the use of
the Macedonian sarissa, a five-meter pike, which performed well over the next
two campaigning seasons. Cleomenes completed his reforms by placing his
brother, Eucleidas, in charge, making him the first Agiad king on the
Eurypontid throne.
Macedonian intervention:
In 226, the citizens of Mantinea appealed to Cleomenes to expel the Achaean
garrison from the city. One night, he and his troops crept into the city and
removed the Achaean garrison before marching off to nearby Tegea. From Tegea,
the Spartans advanced into Achaea, where Cleomenes hoped to force the League to
face him in a pitched battle. Cleomenes advanced with his army to Dyme and was
met by the entire Achaean army. In the battle, the Spartans routed the Achaean
phalanx, killing many of the Achaeans and capturing others. Following this
victory, Cleomenes captured the city of Lasium and presented it to the Elians.
The oligarchies opposed the Cleomenian reforms. With Cleomenes' quick victories
this opposition increased throughout all the Peloponnese. Cleomenes took
Corinth and other strategic places. The Cleomenian reforms, although they were
not intended to be applied to the defeated populations, was a significant
factor behind the campaign successes of the Spartan king. Indeed, some of the
Achaean population wanted to be debt-free and were willing to share their lands
for more equity. In reality, Cleomenes did not care that much about the
defeated population and chose to negotiate with the oligarchies even if the
enmity between Aratus and Cleomenes was too great to enable them to come to an
agreement. After this diplomatic failure,
Aratus chose to negotiate with Antigonus III Doson, King of Macedonia, who
decided to go to war against Sparta. Despite numerous attempts to break through
the defensive line and reach Lechaeum in the Corinth Isthmus, Antigonus' forces
failed and suffered considerable losses. At that time Argos rebelled and
Cleomenes had to send 2,000 men to deal with the situation. With this lack of
men, Cleomenes abandoned the Isthmus and retreated to Mantinea. At this point,
Cleomenes could not avoid retreating and letting the Macedonian army advance
through Arcadia. Knowing that Cleomenes had received the money to pay for his
mercenaries from Ptolemy, Antigonus, according to Peter Green, seems to have
ceded some territory in Asia Minor to Ptolemy in return for Ptolemy withdrawing
his financial support of Sparta. After that, Cleomenes entered Megalopolis and
destroyed it as well as raided the territory of Argos. The damage caused by
those raids was not so much a factor of military domination for Cleomenes but
rather a break in the unavoidable defeats of the Spartan army, which could not
face the Macedonian army in pitched battle.
In 222, at the Battle of Sellasia the
Spartans were defeated during which the Macedonian cavalry overcame the Spartan
cavalry. The Spartan phalanx was overwhelmed by the deeper ranks of the
Macedonian phalanx and almost destroyed, and only a few Spartans escaped from
the battle, with Cleomenes at their side.
Defeat and exile:
Cleomenes returned to Sparta, advised the citizens to submit to Antigonus, and
fled to Alexandria to his ally Ptolemy Euergetes of Egypt, hoping for
assistance in regaining his throne. However, when Ptolemy died, his son and
successor, Ptolemy Philopator neglected Cleomenes and eventually put him under
house arrest. Together with his friends, he escaped his house arrest in 219 and
tried to incite a revolt. When he received no support from the population of
Alexandria, he avoided capture by committing suicide. Thus died the man who
nearly conquered all of the Peloponnese and is described by William Smith as
"the last truly great man of Sparta, and, excepting perhaps Philopoemen,
of all Greece."
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