Acrotatus () was the son of

Cleomenes II Cleomenes II (; died 309 BC) was king of Sparta from 370 to 309 BC. He was the second son of Cleombrotus I, and grandfather of Areus I, who succeeded him. Although he reigned for more than 60 years, his life is completely unknown, apar ...

, king of

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 ...

. He incurred the displeasure of an influential group of Spartan citizens by opposing the decree which was to release from infamy all who had fled from the battle in which

Antipater Antipater (; ; 400 BC319 BC) was a Macedonian general, regent and statesman under the successive kingships of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collapse of the Argead house, his son Cassander ...

defeated

Agis Agis or AGIS may refer to: People * Agis I (died 900 BC), Spartan king * Agis II (died 401 BC), Spartan king * Agis III (died 331 BC), Spartan king * Agis IV (265–241 BC), Spartan king * Agis (Paeonian) (died 358 BC), King of the Paeonians * Ag ...

in 331 BC. He was thus glad to accept the offer from the Agrigentines who had asked Sparta for assistance in 314 BC against

Agathocles Agathocles ( Greek: ) is a Greek name. The most famous person called Agathocles was Agathocles of Syracuse, the tyrant of Syracuse. The name is derived from and . Other people named Agathocles include: *Agathocles, a sophist, teacher of Damon ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. Acrotatus first sailed to southern Italy where he obtained the support of Tarentum. However, after his arrival at

Agrigentum Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golde ...

, he behaved with such cruelty and tyranny that the inhabitants rose against him and he was compelled to leave the city. Acrotatus returned to Sparta where he died before his father, Cleomenes, who died in 309 BC. Acrotatus left a son,

Areus I Areus I (; 320 or 312 – 265 BC) was Agiad King of Sparta from 309 to 265 BC. His reign is noted for his attempts to transform Sparta into a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic kingdom and to recover its former pre-eminence in Ancient Greece, Greece ...

, who succeeded Cleomenes.

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

''Agis & Cleomenes'', 3 Acrotatus' grandson,

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 t ...

, succeeded to the Spartan throne after Areus.

References

Agiad dynasty 4th-century BC Spartans {{AncientGreece-royal-stub