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Leonidas
Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was son of King Anaxandridas II. He succeeded his half-brother King Cleomenes I to the throne in c. 489 BC. His co-ruler was King Leotychidas. He was succeeded by his son, King Pleistarchus. Leonidas had a notable participation in the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Second Greco-Persian War, where he led the allied Greek forces to a last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC) while attempting to defend the pass from the invading Persian army; he died at the battle and entered myth as the leader of the 300 Spartans. While the Greeks lost this battle, they were able to expel the Persian invaders in the following year. Life According to Herodotus, Leonidas' mother was not only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label= Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the second Persian invasion of Greece and the wider Greco-Persian Wars. The engagement at Thermopylae occurred simultaneously with the Battle of Artemisium: between July and September 480 BC. The second Persian invasion under Xerxes I was a delayed response to the failure of the first Persian invasion, which had been initiated by Darius I and ended in 490 BC by an Athenian-led Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon. By 480 BC, a decade after the Persian defeat at Marathon, Xerxes had amassed a massive land and naval force, and subsequently set out to conquer all of Greece. In response, the Athenian politician and general Themistocles proposed that th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gorgo, Queen Of Sparta
Gorgo (; el, Γοργώ ; fl. 480 BC) was a Spartan woman and wife to King Leonidas I (r. 489–480 BC). She was the daughter and the only known child of Cleomenes I, Leonidas' half-brother and King of Sparta (r. 520–490 BC). Gorgo was also the mother of King Pleistarchus, her only son with King Leonidas I. She is notably one of the few female historical figures actually named by Herodotus, and is depicted in sources as intelligent and wise. Her birth date is uncertain, but based on Herodotus' dating, it is most likely to have been between 518 and 508 BC. Early life and education According to Herodotus, Gorgo was the only child of King Cleomenes I of Sparta. The earliest anecdote of her life that he provides in '' The Histories'' comes when Aristagoras, seeking allies after the Ionian revolt, came to Sparta to try to convince Cleomenes to invade the Persian Empire. He cited the "disgrace" suffered by the Ionians in Anatolia and weaved further tales of the wealth and resou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agiad
The Agiad dynasty was one of the two royal families of Sparta, a powerful city-state of Ancient Greece. The Agiads were seniors to the other royal house, the Eurypontids, with whom they had an enduring rivalry. Their hypothetical founder was Agis I, possibly the first king of Sparta at the end of the 10th century, who gave his name to the dynasty. The last Agiad king was Agesipolis III, deposed by the Eurypontid Lycurgus in 215 BC. Their most famous member was probably Leonidas I, known for his heroic death at the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. History In order to explain the peculiarity of the Spartan two kings, the Spartans elaborated a legend saying that Aristodemos—the first king of Sparta—had twins, Eurysthenes and Prokles. Since the Spartans did not know who was born first, they opted for a diarchy, a college of two kings with the same power; Eurysthenes being the first Agiad, Prokles the first Eurypontid.Hard, ''Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology'', p. 291. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleomenes I
Cleomenes I (; Greek Κλεομένης; died c. 490 BC) was Agiad King of Sparta from c. 524 to c. 490 BC. One of the most important Spartan kings, Cleomenes was instrumental in organising the Greek resistance against the Persian Empire of Darius, as well as shaping the geopolitical balance of Classical Greece. Herodotus' account Most of the life of Cleomenes is known through the ''Histories'' of Herodotus, an Athenian historian of the second half of the 5th century. He is one the most important characters of books 5 and 6, covering the decades before the Persian Wars. Herodotus' account however contains many mistakes, especially on the chronology of several major events, and is also very biased against Cleomenes. It seems that Herodotus got his information on Cleomenes from his opponents: the descendants of his half-brothers Leonidas and Cleombrotus, as well as those of Demaratus, the other Spartan king who was deposed by Cleomenes in 491. Herodotus for instance states that C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonidas (statue)
''Leonidas'' is a sculpture of a hoplite made of Parian marble in 480–470 BC and unearthed in 1926. The sculpture was dubbed "Leonidas" by a local Greek workman after its discovery, in reference to Spartan king Leonidas I. It was found southwest of peribolos of the sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos on the Acropolis of Sparta. The sculpture is housed in the Archaeological Museum of Sparta, which acquired it from the British School at Athens in 1926. The sculpture features a Corinthian helmet with ram-shaped cheek pieces. While most of the plume is a restoration, fragments of a leg, foot, shield and helmet were also found nearby. The sculpture was part of a group, probably affixed to the sanctuary pediment. According to several scholars, it formed part of the memorial on the Spartan acropolis to honor Leonidas on his reburial. Paul Cartledge, however, argued it would have represented a mythical hero or a god rather than the historical person of Leonidas. One estimation dates the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') 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 on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece. Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars, in rivalry with the rising naval power of Athens. Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), from which it emerged victorious after the Battle of Aegospotami. The decisive Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended the Spartan hegemony, although the city-state maintained its political independence until its forced integration into the Achaean League in 192 BC. The city neverth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Persian Invasion Of Greece
The second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC) occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece (492–490 BC) at the Battle of Marathon, which ended Darius I's attempts to subjugate Greece. After Darius's death, his son Xerxes spent several years planning for the second invasion, mustering an enormous army and navy. The Athenians and Spartans led the Greek resistance. About a tenth of the Greek city-states joined the 'Allied' effort; most remained neutral or submitted to Xerxes. The invasion began in spring 480 BC, when the Persian army crossed the Hellespont and marched through Thrace and Macedon to Thessaly. The Persian advance was blocked at the pass of Thermopylae by a small Allied force under King Leonidas I of Sparta; simultaneously, the Persian fleet was blocked by an Allied fleet at the straits of Artemisium. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleistarchus
Pleistarchus ( grc-gre, Πλείσταρχος ; died c. 458 BC) was the Agiad King of Sparta from 480 to 458 BC. Biography Pleistarchus was born as a prince, likely the only son of King Leonidas I and Queen Gorgo. His grandparents were Kings Anaxandridas II and Cleomenes I. He was born from an avunculate marriage – his parents were uncle and niece. His uncle Cleombrotus was his tutor. Pleistarchus' father King Leonidas perished in 480 BC at the Battle of Thermopylae. For the early part of Pleistarchus's reign, his uncle Cleombrotus acted as regent; after Cleombrotus's death in 479 BC, Pleistarchus's cousin Pausanias was regent. It is unknown whether Pleistarchus was married. He died without an heir, and was succeeded by Pleistoanax Pleistoanax, also spelled Plistoanax, ( grc-gre, Πλειστοάναξ) was Agiad king of Sparta from 458 to 409 BC. He was the leader of the peace party in Sparta at a time of violent confrontations against Athens for the hegemony over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephor
The ephors were a board of five magistrates in ancient Sparta. They had an extensive range of judicial, religious, legislative, and military powers, and could shape Sparta's home and foreign affairs. The word "''ephors''" (Ancient Greek ''éphoroi'', plural form of ''éphoros'') comes from the Ancient Greek ''epi'', "on" or "over", and ''horaō'', "to see", i.e., "one who oversees" or "overseer". The ephors were a council of five Spartan men elected annually who swore an oath monthly on the behalf of the state. The Spartan kings, however, would swear on behalf of themselves. The ephors did not have to kneel before the Kings of Sparta, and were held in high esteem by the citizens because of the importance of their powers and because of the holy role that they earned throughout their functions. Donald Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War''. page 29. Ithaca/New York 1969, . Several other Greek city-states with a Spartan ancestry also had ephors, such as Taras or Cy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anaxandridas II
Anaxandridas II ( grc-gre, Ἀναξανδρίδας) was an Agiad king of Sparta between c. 560 BC and c. 524 BC, father of Leonidas I and grandfather of Pleistarchus. Under the leadership of the ephor Chilon, in office during the middle of the 6th century, Sparta ended its streak of violent conquests, such as in Messenia, and adopted a pro-Achaea policy based on diplomacy. Anaxandridas was succeeded by Cleomenes I. Biography Anaxandridas was the son of Leon, who reigned during the first half of the 6th century, between 590 and 560 BC. He belonged to the Agiads, one of the two royal dynasties of Sparta (the other being the Eurypontids). In c. 560 BC, Anaxandridas II, the new Agiad king of the Spartans, defeated the Acadian Tegeatae and compelled them to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta. By the time when the Lydian king Croesus sent his embassy to form an alliance with "the mightiest of the Greeks" (about 554 BC), the war with Tegea, which during the reigns of previo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleombrotus (regent)
Cleombrotus ( el, Κλεόμβροτος, ''Kleómbrotos''), regent of Sparta between 480 and 479 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty, the son of Anaxandridas II and the brother of Cleomenes I, Dorieus and of Leonidas I. When the latter died, he became the tutor of his nephew Pleistarchus, son of Leonidas, and leader of the Greek infantry at the beginning of the second phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. Cleombrotus was in command of the Spartan and Peloponnesian troops who built the wall across the Isthmus of Corinth The Isthmus of Corinth ( Greek: Ισθμός της Κορίνθου) is the narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. The word "isthmus" comes from the Ancie ... that was intended to keep the Persian army out of the Peloponnese. He died soon after returning to Sparta from the Isthmus. He was the father of Pausanias and the Spartan general Nicomedes.Thucydides I,107. N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorieus
Dorieus (died c.510 BC; grc-gre, Δωριεύς) was a Spartan prince of the Agiad dynasty who is mentioned several times in Herodotus. The second son of Anaxandridas II, he was the younger half-brother of Cleomenes I and the elder full brother of both Leonidas I and Cleombrotus. He tried to found a colony in Libya but failed. He tried again to establish a colony in western Sicily, but was killed by the Carthaginians. Family According to Herodotus, Anaxandridas II of Sparta had married his niece and was devoted to her. For a long time, the marriage was childless and Sparta's Council of the Ephors, fearing that the line of Eurysthenes would expire, asked Anaxandridas to divorce his wife and remarry. Anaxandridas refused and the Ephors then proposed that he take a second wife, even though bigamy was hitherto unknown in Sparta. Anaxandridas agreed and, shortly after his second marriage, both of his wives became pregnant. Cleomenes, who was the only child of the second wife, was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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