HOME





Cleonymus Of Sparta
Cleonymus () was a member of the Spartan royal family of the Agiad dynasty. Biography Cleonymus was the second son of Cleomenes II and a pretender to the Spartan throne. He did not succeed his father (died 309/308 BC), allegedly because he was violent and tyrannical. His nephew Areus I became the new king instead. Hence, he nursed a grudge against his fellow Spartans. In 303 BC the city of Tarentum in Magna Graecia (southern Italy) was at war with both the Lucanians and the Romans. Unable to successfully fight off their opponents, the Tarentines reached out to their mother city, Sparta, for assistance. The Spartans sent Cleonymus and 5,000 mercenaries to assist the Tarentines. There are two different accounts of his Italian expedition; one written by Diodorus Siculus and one by Livy. But the connection between the two sources is unclear. The historian Thomas Lenschau supposes that they describe two different campaigns by Cleonymus: the one described by Diodorus Siculus may h ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Agiad Dynasty
The Agiad dynasty (, ''Agiádai'') was one of the two royal families of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. They ruled jointly along with the Eurypontid dynasty, possibly from the 8th century BC onwards, being the senior of the two houses. The hypothetical founder of the dynasty was Agis I, possibly the first king of Sparta at the end of the 10th century BC, who subsequently gave his name to the dynasty. The two lines, who maintained an enduring rivalry, were, according to tradition, respectively descended from the twins Eurysthenes and Procles, both descendants of Heracles. The most famous member of the Agiad dynasty was Leonidas I, known for his heroic death at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The last Agiad king was Agesipolis III, deposed by the Eurypontid Lycurgus in 215 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 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Brenta River
The Brenta is an Italian river that runs from Trentino to the Adriatic Sea just south of the Venetian lagoon in the Veneto region, in the north-east of Italy. During the Roman era, it was called Medoacus (Ancient Greek: ''Mediochos'', ''Μηδειοχος'') and near Padua it divided in two branches, Medoacus Maior (Greater Medoacus) and Medoacus Minor (Lesser Medoacus). The river changed its course in the early Middle Ages, and its former bed through Padua was occupied by the Bacchiglione. It is long and was first channelled in the 16th century when a long canal was built from the village of Stra to the Adriatic Sea, bypassing the Venetian lagoon. A branch of the Brenta, named '' Naviglio del Brenta'', was left to connect directly Venice and Padua (which was a kind of second capital of the Venice Republic). It runs through Stra, Fiesso d'Artico, Dolo, Mira, Oriago and Malcontenta to Fusina (which is part of the comune of Venice). Starting in the 16th century, many ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

3rd-century BC Spartans
The 3rd century was the period from AD 201 (represented by the Roman numerals CCI) to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian incursions, political upheavals, civil wars, and the split of the Roman Empire through the Gallic Empire in the west and the Palmyrene Empire in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by Emperor Aurelian and the stabilization period under Emperor Diocletian due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning of Late Antiquity. While in North Africa, Roman rule continued with growing Christian influence, particularly in the region of Carthage. In Persia, the Parthian Empire was s ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

4th-century BC Spartans
The 4th century was the time period from 301 CE (represented by the Roman numerals CCCI) to 400 CE (CD) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great, who became the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity. Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over the current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedeia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor. The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I. As the century progressed after his death, it became increasingly apparent that the empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus. The two-emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fel ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Realencyclopädie Der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman classical studies, topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler August Pauly. Other encyclopedias in the set include ''Pauly–Wissowa'' (1890–1978), ''Little Pauly'' (1964–1975), and ''The New Pauly'' (1996–2012). Ur-Pauly The first edition was the ("Practical Encyclopedia of the Study of Classical Ancient History in Alphabetical Order") originally compiled by August Friedrich Pauly. As the basis for the subsequent PaulyWissowa edition, it is also known as the . The first volume was published in 1839 but Pauly died in 1845 before the last was completed. Christian Waltz (18021857) and Wilhelm Siegmund Teuffel completed the 6 volume first edition in 1852. A second edition of the first volume of Pauly's encyclopedia was published by Teuffel in 1861. The revised second volume came out in 1866, wit ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Antigonus Gonatas
Antigonus II Gonatas (, ; – 239 BC) was a Macedonian Greek ruler who solidified the position of the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon after a long period defined by anarchy and chaos and acquired fame for his victory over the Gauls who had invaded the Balkans. Birth and family Antigonus Gonatas was born around 320 BC. The origin of the Hellenistic nickname Gonatas is unknown. He was descended from the Diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great) on both his father's and mother's side. His father was Demetrius Poliorcetes, himself the son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who then controlled much of Asia. His mother was Phila, the daughter of Antipater, who had controlled Macedonia and the rest of Greece since 334 BC and was recognized as regent of the empire, which in theory remained united. Cassander, Antipater's oldest son who would become King of Macedon in 305 BC, was his uncle. The year of Antigonus Gonatas' birth, however, Antipater died, leading to further struggle ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Siege Of Sparta
The siege of Sparta took place in 272 BC and was a battle fought between Epirus (ancient state), Epirus, led by King Pyrrhus of Epirus, Pyrrhus, ( 297–272 BC) and an alliance consisting of History of Sparta, Sparta, under the command of King Areus I ( 309–265 BC) and his heir Acrotatus II, Acrotatus, and Macedon. The battle was fought at Sparta and ended in a Spartan-Macedonian victory. Following his Pyrrhic War, defeat in Italy by the Roman Republic, Pyrrhus was forced to retreat back to Epirus. On his return to Epirus, he declared war against Antigonus Gonatas ( 283–239 BC), managing to take control of Macedon. In 272 BC, he was approached by a Spartan prince, Cleonymus of Sparta, Cleonymus, a claimant to the Spartan throne who had been overlooked. Pyrrhus saw this invitation as an opportunity to extend his wars of conquest to the Peloponnese and invaded Sparta. Despite the majority of the Spartan army campaigning in Crete, the remaining Spartans were able to mount a defe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pyrrhus Of Epirus
Pyrrhus ( ; ; 319/318–272 BC) was a Greeks, Greek king and wikt:statesman, statesman of the Hellenistic period.Plutarch. ''Parallel Lives'',Pyrrhus... He was king of the Molossians, of the royal Aeacidae, Aeacid house, and later he became king (John Malalas, Malalas also called him toparch) of Epirus (ancient state), Epirus. He was one of the strongest opponents of early Roman Republic, Rome, and had been regarded as one of the greatest generals of antiquity. Several of his victorious battles caused him unacceptably heavy losses, from which the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" was coined. Pyrrhus became king of Epirus in 306 BC at the age of 13, but was dethroned by Cassander four years later. He saw action during the Wars of the Diadochi and regained his throne in 297 BC with the support of Ptolemy I Soter. During the eponymous Pyrrhic War of 280–275 BC, Pyrrhus fought Rome at the behest of Taranto, Tarentum, scoring costly victories at Battle of Heraclea, Heraclea and Battle of A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Acrotatus II
Acrotatus II (; died 262 BC) was an Agiad King of Sparta from 265 to 262 BC. He was the son of Areus I, and grandson of Acrotatus I. He had unlawful intercourse with Chilonis, the young wife of Cleonymus, uncle of his father Areus. It was this, together with the disappointment of not obtaining the throne, which led Cleonymus to invite Pyrrhus to Sparta in 272. Areus was then absent in Crete, and the safety of Sparta was mainly owing to the valor of Acrotatus who successfully held off the Siege of Sparta. He succeeded his father in 265, but was killed shortly thereafter (possibly in the same year) in battle against Aristodemus the Good, the tyrant of Megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough .... Pausanias, in speaking of his death, calls him the son of Cle ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Chilonis (daughter Of Leotychidas)
Chilonis () was a Spartan princess, daughter of Leotychidas, wife of Cleonymus, then Acrotatus, with whom she had Areus II. She is known from Plutarch's "Life of Pyrrhus". Biography Her much older husband Cleonymus, a son of Cleomenes II, had not been allowed to succeed to his father's throne because of his violent and tyrannical behaviour, and had spent many years away from Sparta as a soldier of fortune. Chilonis was unfaithful to him with Acrotatus, son of the king Areus I. Areus was away with his army in Gortyn, Crete (272 BC) when Cleonymus attacked his homeland with the help of Pyrrhus of Epirus. Chilonis preferred death to a return to her husband; in Plutarch's account of the battle, she kept a rope tied around her neck ready to commit suicide in the case of defeat. With the help of their women, the Spartans, led by Acrotatus, were able to withstand the attack,Plutarch, ''Life of Pyrrhus'', 27-28. until the return of the king from Gortyn. He was able to defeat Pyrrhus ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Diadochi
The Diadochi were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River Valley. The most notable Diadochi include Ptolemy I Soter, Ptolemy, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Antigonus, Cassander, and Seleucus I Nicator, Seleucus as the last remaining at the end of the Wars of the Diadochi, Wars of the Successors, ruling in Egypt, Anatolia, Asia-Minor, Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon and Achaemenid Empire, Persia respectively, all forging dynasties lasting several centuries. Background Ancient role In ancient Greek, is a noun (substantive or adjective) formed from the verb, ''diadechesthai'', "succeed to," a compound of ''dia-'' and ''dechesthai'', "receive." The word-set descends straightforwardly from Proto-Indo-European language, Indo-European *dek-, "receive", the substantive ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Demetrius I Of Macedon
Demetrius I Poliorcetes (; , , ; ) was a Macedonian Greek nobleman and military leader who became king of Asia between 306 and 301 BC, and king of Macedon between 294 and 288 BC. A member of the Antigonid dynasty, he was the son of its founder, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, and his wife Stratonice, as well as the first member of the family to rule Macedon in Hellenistic Greece. In 307 BC, Demetrius successfully ousted Cassander's governor of Athens and after defeating Ptolemy I at the Battle of Salamis (306 BC) he gave his father the title of ''basileus'' ("king") over a land spanning from the Aegean Sea to the Middle East. He acquired the title ''Poliorcetes'' ("the besieger") after the unsuccessful siege of Rhodes in 305. While Antigonus I and Demetrius planned a revival of the Hellenic League with themselves as dual hegemons, a coalition of the diadochi; Cassander, Seleucus I, Ptolemy I, and Lysimachus defeated the two at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, in which Antigon ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]