For most of its history, the
ancient Greek
city-state of
Sparta
in the
Peloponnese
was ruled by kings. Sparta was unusual among the Greek
city-states
in that it maintained its kingship past the
Archaic age
. It was even more unusual in that it had
two kings simultaneously
, who were called the
archagetai
,
[1]
[n 1]
coming from two separate
lines
. According to tradition, the two lines, the
Agiads
(
?γι?δαι
,
Agiadai
) and
Eurypontids
(
Ε?ρυποντ?δαι
,
Eurypontidai
), were respectively descended from the twins
Eurysthenes
and
Procles
, the descendants of
Heracles
, who supposedly conquered Sparta two generations after the
Trojan War
. The dynasties themselves, however, were named after the twins' grandsons, the kings Agis I and Eurypon, respectively. The Agiad line was regarded as being senior to the Eurypontid line.
[3]
Although there are lists of the earlier purported Kings of Sparta, there is little evidence for the existence of any kings before the middle of the sixth century BC or so.
Spartan kings received a recurring posthumous
hero cult
like that of the similarly Doric
kings of Cyrene
.
[4]
The kings' firstborn sons, as heirs-apparent, were the only Spartan boys expressly exempt from the
Agoge
; however, they were allowed to take part if they so wished, and this endowed them with increased prestige when they ascended the throne.
Legendary kings of Sparta
[
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]
Ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a
patronymic
with the suffix
-id-
; for example, the sons of
Atreus
were the Atreids. For royal houses, the patronymic was formed from the name of the founder or of an early significant figure of a dynasty. A ruling family might thus have a number of dynastic names; for example, Agis I named the Agiads, but he was a Heraclid and so were his descendants.
If the descent was not known or was scantily known, the Greeks made a few standard assumptions based on their cultural ideology. Agiad people were treated as a tribe, presumed to have descended from an ancestor bearing its name. He must have been a king, who founded a dynasty of his name. That mythologizing extended even to place names. They were presumed to have been named after kings and divinities. Kings often became divinities, in their religion.
Lelegids
[
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]
The Lelegid were the descendants of Lelex (a
back-formation
), ancestor of the
Leleges
, an ancient tribe inhabiting the Eurotas valley before the Greeks, who, according to the mythological descent, amalgamated with the Greeks
Lacedaemonids
[
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]
The Lacedaemonids contain Greeks from the age of legend, now treated as being the Bronze Age in Greece. In the language of mythologic descent, the kingship passed from the Leleges to the Greeks.
- Years with no dates (only "
c.
") are unknown
Atreids
[
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]
The
Atreidai
(Latin Atreidae) belong to the Late Bronze Age, or the
Mycenaean Period
. In mythology, they were the
Perseides
. As the name of
Atreus
is attested in Hittite documents, this dynasty may well be protohistoric.
- Years with no dates (only "
c.
") are unknown
Heraclids
[
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]
The Spartan kings as
Heracleidae
claimed descent from
Heracles
, who through his mother was descended from Perseus. Disallowed the Peloponnesus, Hercules embarked on a life of wandering. The Heracleidae became ascendant in the Eurotas valley with the
Dorians
who, at least in legend, entered it during an invasion called the Return of the Heracleidae; driving out the Atreids and at least some of the Mycenaean population.
Genealogical Tree of the Kings of Sparta
- Years with no dates (only "
c.
") are unknown
Agiad dynasty
[
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]
The dynasty was named after its second king, Agis.
Eurypontid dynasty
[
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]
The dynasty is named after its third king Eurypon. Not shown is
Lycurgus
, the lawgiver, a younger son of the Eurypontids, who served a brief regency either for the infant Charilaus (780?750 BC) or for Labotas (870?840 BC) the Agiad.
Currently known two lists of kings:
Sole kings
[
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]
Year
|
Tyrants
|
Other notable information
|
c. 210?207 BC
|
Machanidas
|
regent for Pelops
|
c. 206?192 BC
|
Nabis
|
first regent for Pelops, then usurper, claiming descent from the Eurypontid king Demaratus
|
c. 192 BC
|
Laconicus
|
last known king of Sparta from Heraclid dynasty
|
The
Achaean League
annexed Sparta in 192 BC.
Notes and references
[
edit
]
- Notes
- ^
Greek
:
?ρχ?γ?ται
,
archagetai
, plural of
?ρχ?γ?τη?
,
arch?get?s
,
Doric Greek
form of Attic
?ρχηγ?τη?
,
arch?get?s
, 'first/chief leader'.
[2]
- ^
A
Cadmid
of Theban descent.
- ^
According to
Apollodorus of Athens
.
- ^
Cynuria is said to have been colonized by
Cynurus
;
Cynurensian
bandits were common in the lands.
- ^
Or Labotes, Leobotes.
- ^
Agesilaus II, distinguished king of Sparta, being asked which was the greater virtue, valor or justice, replied: "Unsupported by justice, valor is good for nothing; and if all men were just, there would be no need of valor".
- ^
a
b
Or 427 ? 400 BC.
- ^
And again, after the
Carnean festival
.
- ^
Consisting of 10 Spartans.
- ^
I.e. Eucleidas's brother.
- References
- ^
Hall, Jonathan M.
(2007).
A History of the Archaic Greek World: Ca. 1200-479 BCE
. John Wiley & Sons. p. 129.
ISBN
978-0-631-22668-0
.
- ^
?ρχ?γ?τα?
,
?ρχηγ?τη?
.
Liddell, Henry George
;
Scott, Robert
;
A Greek?English Lexicon
at the
Perseus Project
.
- ^
Cartledge, Paul,
The Spartans
, Vintage Books, 2003.
- ^
Pindar and the cult of heroes. By Bruno Currie Page 245
ISBN
0-19-927724-9
.
- ^
A Classical Dictionary By John Lempriere. Pg
618
.
- ^
A Prosopography of Lacedaemonians, Part 396. By Alfred S. Bradford. Page
44
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cartledge,
Sparta and Lakonia
, p. 90.
- ^
Cartledge,
Sparta and Lakonia
, p. 92.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Paul Cartledge
,
Sparta and Lakonia, A Regional History 1300?362 BC
, London, Routledge, 2002 (originally published in 1979).
ISBN
0-415-26276-3
- The Cyclopædia, Volume 20. By Abraham Rees. Page
157
+ (List of kings of Sparta on pg.
164
).
- Sir William Smith,
A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography
: Partly Based Upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Harper & Brothers, 1851.
- Sir William Smith.
Abaeus-Dysponteus
. J. Murray, 1890.
- Sir William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology:
Earinus-Nyx
. J. Murray, 1876.
- William Smith (Ed.) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology:
Oarses-Zygia
. J. Murray, 1880.
External links
[
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]
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Lelegids
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Lacedaemonids
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Atreids
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Early Heraclids
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Heraclids
Agiad dynasty
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Heraclids
Eurypontid dynasty
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