Anaxandridas II
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Anaxandridas II (, meaning "descendant of Anaxander") was an Agiad
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, ...
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 ...
from 560 BC to 524 BC, father of
Leonidas I Leonidas I (; , ''Leōnídas''; born ; died 11 August 480 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. He was the son of king Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty, a Spartan royal house which claimed descent fro ...
and grandfather of
Pleistarchus Pleistarchus ( ; died 458 BC) was the List of kings of Sparta, 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 Gorgo, Queen of Sparta, Queen Gorgo. His grandpar ...
. Under the leadership of the
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 ''éph ...
Chilon, in office during the middle of the 6th century, Sparta ended its streak of violent conquests, such as in
Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...
, and adopted a pro-Achaea policy based on diplomacy. Anaxandridas was succeeded by
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 Da ...
.


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 Croesus ( ; ; Latin: ; reigned: ) was the Monarch, king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his Siege of Sardis (547 BC), defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. According to Herodotus, he reigned 14 years. Croesus was ...
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 previous Spartan kings had gone against them, had, under Anaxandridas II and the Spartan Eurypontid king Ariston, been decided in the Spartans' favour. Anaxandridas II and Ariston also had main carriage of the suppression of the tyrannies, and with it the establishment of
Spartan hegemony Spartan hegemony refers to the period of dominance by Sparta in Greek affairs from 404 to 371 BC. Even before this period the polis of Sparta was the greatest Spartan army, military land power of classical Ancient Greece, Greek antiquity and govern ...
. Under the leadership of the
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 ''éph ...
Chilon, in office during the middle of the 6th century, Sparta ended its streak of violent conquests, such as in
Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...
, and adopted a pro-Achaea policy based on diplomacy. Chilon claimed for Sparta the inheritance of the Achaean kings, who ruled 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 ...
before the arrival of the
Dorians The Dorians (; , , singular , ) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Greeks, Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost alw ...
(the invaders who had founded classical Sparta). Consistent with this policy, the legendary Achaean king
Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...
started to be worshipped c. 550 BC in
Amyclae Amyclae or Amyklai () was a city of ancient Laconia, situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas, 20 stadia south of Sparta, in a district remarkable for the abundance of its trees and its fertility. Amyclae was one of the most celebr ...
(one of the villages of Sparta). The bones of
Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...
and Tisamenus, Agamemnon's son and grandson, were taken from Tegea and Helike following advice from a
Delphic oracle Pythia (; ) was the title of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness. The Pythia w ...
, then buried in Sparta. With these appropriations of Achaean heroes, Sparta convinced the non-Dorian Peloponnesian cities to join its alliance, which later became known as the
Peloponnesian League The Peloponnesian League () was an alliance of ancient Greek city-states, dominated by Sparta and centred on the Peloponnese, which lasted from c. 550 to 366 BC. It is known mainly for being one of the two rivals in the Peloponnesian War (431–4 ...
. The alliance aimed at containing Argos, Sparta's main Dorian rival in the Peloponnese. It nevertheless seems that Anaxandridas was opposed to the pro-Achaean policy of Chilon. The king was indeed forced by the ephors to marry a second wife after his first wife did not give him a son. Chilon's influence behind this decision can be detected, because the king's second wife was one of Chilon's relations. The second marriage rapidly produced a son, the future king
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 Da ...
, but then Anaxandridas returned to his first wife, and she then bore him three children: Dorieus, Leonidas, and Cleombrotus.Forrest, ''History of Sparta'', p. 83. The name of Dorieus ("the Dorian") is significant, it likely shows that Anaxandridas rebuffed Chilon's pro-Achaean policy by recalling his Dorian origins. During his reign Cleomenes rejected his Dorian identity and instead claimed to be an Achaean, but was frequently opposed by his half-brothers. Anaxandridas died in 524 and was succeeded by his son Cleomenes I.Harvey, "The Length of the Reigns of Kleomenes", pp. 356, 357.


References


Bibliography

* Paul Cartledge, ''Sparta and Lakonia, A Regional History 1300–362 BC'', London, Routledge, 2002 (originally published in 1979). * W. G. Forrest, ''A History of Sparta'', New York, Norton, 1986. * David Harvey,
The Length of the Reigns of Kleomenes
, '' Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', Bd. 58, H. 3 (2009), pp. 356–357. * G. L. Huxley, ''Early Sparta'', London, Faber & Faber, 1962. * Mait Kõiv, ''Ancient Tradition and Early Greek History, The Origins of States in Early-Archaic Sparta'', Argos and Corinth, Tallinn, Avita, 2003. {{authority control 6th-century BC monarchs 6th-century BC Spartans Agiad kings of Sparta Year of birth unknown 520s BC deaths