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Demaratus (fl.510-480) was a king of Sparta
best known for serving as an advisor to Xerxes I of Persia during his invasion
of Greece in 480. His co-ruler, Cleomenes I, was firmly anti-Persian, and this
resulted in tension between the two men. Demaratus was the 15th Spartan king of
the Eurypontid dynasty. He was probably king by 510 BC when he and his fellow
monarch Cleomenes expelled Hippias, Tyrant of Athens. They were also involved
in the Spartan war with Argos. Demaratus was said to have been a very capable
ruler, and the only Spartan king to win the four horse chariot race at the
Olympics. In 508/7 BC Cleomenes assembled an alliance of Peloponnesian states
to attack Athens. His intention was to install the anti-Persian Isagoras as
tyrant in Athens. Demaratus was part of this army, but it all fell apart after
Cleomenes revealed his intentions at Eleusis. The Corinthians withdrew from the
alliance. Demaratus also withdrew from the army, causing it to collapse. In 494
BC the two kings were probably united again in the successful Spartan war with
Argos that included the crushing Spartan victory at Sepea. In 491 Darius of
Persia sent heralds around Greece to demand that the various communities submit
to Persian authority. Some refused and some accepted, but the Spartans, led by
Cleomenes, went one step further and murdered the heralds by throwing them into
a well. This went against all the rules of diplomacy. One of the communities to
submit to the Persians was the island of Aegina, seventeen miles south of
Athens. Aegina was an ally of Sparta, but Cleomenes responded to their act by
travelling to the island to try and arrest the pro-Persian leaders. Demaratus
supported Aegina in this dispute, sending them a letter in which he suggested
that Cleomenes was acting illegally, and had been bribed by Athens. Cleomenes
now decided to try and get Demaratus removed as king. There had always been
some concern about the legitimacy of his birth, and Cleomenes bribed the oracle
at Delphi to declare him illegitimate. In around 491 Demaratus was demoted to a
lower ranking public office, and was succeeded as king by Leotychides
(commander of the victorious Greek army at Mycale in 479 BC). The bribery was
eventually uncovered, and Cleomenes was also forced into exile. Soon afterwards
Demaratus was humiliated at a public celebration and decided to go into exile
in Persia. Darius welcomed him at Susa, gave him land, and welcomed him to his
court. Demaratus soon became close to Prince Xerxes, one of several of Darius's
sons. According to Herodotus Demaratus was the one who suggested to Xerxes that
he should succeed his father, despite not being the oldest son, because he was
the first to be born after Darius came to the throne. Xerxes used this argument
with his father and became heir to the throne. This may well over-play
Demaratus's influence with Xerxes, who had some experience of government before
he came to the throne. After Xerxes came to the throne he began to prepare for
an invasion of Greece. Demaratus sent a warning message to Sparta. Herodotus
provides two possible motives - first, a genuine desire to warn his countrymen,
or second a wish to gloat. Battles of the Persian Invasions of Greece Battles
of the Persian Invasions of Greece Demaratus accompanied the Persian army
during the invasion of Greece, and was often used as an advisor by Xerxes, but
his advice wasn't followed. Early in the campaign he gave general information
on the nature of the Greeks. After the battle of Thermopylae he suggested that
the Persians could defeat Sparta by sending part of the fleet to occupy the
island of Cythera off the Peloponnese and using as a base for raids. The
Spartans would be unable to help the rest of the Greeks, and could be defeated
later at leisure. Xerxes's brother Achaemenes countered this with the argument
that it would be foolish to split the fleet, which had suffered heavy losses in
storms. Demaratus's plan was ignored. During the campaign in Attica one of his
fellow pro-Persian Greeks, Dicaeus of Athens, reported a supernatural sign that
the Persians would lose. Demaratus advised him not to tell Xerxes as he would
'lose his head', suggesting that his position wasn't quite as secure as the
rest of the account suggests. In the aftermath of Xerxes's retreat back to Asia
Demaratus was given lands in the Troad. His sons Eurysthenes and Procles were
still living there some time afterwards and his descendents were encountered by
Spartan troops during the Persian-Spartan War of 400-387 BC.
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