Archidamus III (died 338 BC) ( ) was the son of

Agesilaus II Agesilaus II (; ; 445/4 – 360/59 BC) was king of Sparta from 400 to 360 BC. Generally considered the most important king in the history of Sparta, Agesilaus was the main actor during the period of Spartan hegemony that followed the Peloponn ...

and

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

from 360 to 338 BC.

Biography

While still a prince, he was the eispnílas (, inspirer, or pederastic lover) of Cleonymus, son of

Sphodrias Sphodrias () (d. 371 BC) was a Spartan general during the Spartan Hegemony over Greece. As governor of Thespiai in 378 BC, he made an unsuccessful attack against Athens without any order from Sparta. He was put on trial for this act, but unexpecte ...

. He interceded with his own father to spare his aḯtas's (, hearer, or pederastic beloved) father's life in a legal matter, an action which further intensified friction between Athens and Sparta. He later led the Spartan forces both before and during his rule. Archidamus headed the force sent to aid the Spartan army after its defeat by the

Thebans Thebes ( ; , ''Thíva'' ; , ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Boeotia and a major center for the area along with Livadeia and ...

at the

Battle of Leuctra The Battle of Leuctra (, ) was fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebes (Greece), Thebans, and the History of Sparta, Spartans along with their allies amidst the post–Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the ...

in 371 BC, and was commander later during the fighting in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. Four years later he captured Caryae, ravaged the territory of the Parrhasii and defeated the Arcadians,

Argives Argos (; ; ) is a city and former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the oldest in Europe. It is the largest city in Argolis and a major center in the same pr ...

and

Messenians Messenia () was an ancient district of the southwestern Peloponnese, more or less overlapping the modern Messenia region of Greece. To the north it had a border with Elis along the Neda river. From there the border with Arcadia ran along the to ...

in the "tearless battle", so called because the victory did not cost the Spartans a single life. However, he was in turn defeated by the Arcadians in 364 BC at Cromnus. In 362 BC, he showed great courage in the defense of Sparta against the Theban commander

Epaminondas Epaminondas (; ; 419/411–362 BC) was a Greeks, Greek general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek polis, city-state of Thebes, Greece, Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a pre ...

. As king, Archidamus supported the Phocians against Thebes in the Sacred War of 355–346. In 346 BC, he went to Crete to help Lyttos in their struggle against Knossos in the

Foreign War The Foreign War (, ''Xenikos Polemos'') was fought between the forces of Knossos with the help of mercenaries under the ousted Phocian leader Phalaikos and the forces of Lyttos who received help from the Spartans (who were founders of their ci ...

. In 343 BC, the Spartan colony Tarentum asked for Sparta's help in the war against the Italic populations, notably the

Lucanians The Lucanians () were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke the Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so is their d ...

and the

Messapians The Messapians were an Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, ...

. In 342 BC, Archidamus arrived in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with a fleet and a mercenary army and fought against the barbarians, but in 338 BC he was defeated and killed under the walls of the Messapian city of

Manduria Manduria is a city and ''comune'' of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 32,000 inhabitants (2013), it is located east of Taranto. Etymology The name ''Manduria'' is thought to derive from a Proto-Indo-European stem ''*mond- ...

. He was succeeded by his son

Agis III Agis III (Ancient Greek, Greek: , died 331 BC) was the eldest son of Archidamus III, and the 21st Eurypontid king of Sparta between 338 and 331 BC. He tried to lead a revolt against Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonian hegemony over Greece, but ...

, and was also the father of

Eudamidas I Eudamidas I (Greek: Εὐδαμίδας) was Spartan king between 331 and 300 BC. He succeeded his brother Agis III, who died at the battle of Megalopolis against Macedonia. Eudamidas' reign was therefore peaceful as Sparta recovered from this d ...

and another son named Agesilaus.

References

4th-century BC Spartans Ancient Greek generals Ancient Greeks killed in battle Eurypontid kings of Sparta Year of birth unknown 338 BC deaths 4th-century BC Greek monarchs {{AncientGreece-royal-stub