Apega of Sparta ( grc, Ἀπῆγα) (fl. 3rd–2nd century BC) was a Queen of Sparta. Born in

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

, she married

Nabis Nabis ( grc-gre, Νάβις) was the last king of independent Sparta. He was probably a member of the Heracleidae, and he ruled from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the eponymous " War against Nab ...

, who later became the tyrant of Sparta. Ancient sources describe her as being as tyrannical as her husband, and even acting as his effective co-tyrant. The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

(203–120 BC, author of '' The Histories''), described Apega as ruling Sparta like a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

queen, similar to

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

and Arsinoe, because she "received men at

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

alongside her husband." Polybius also mentioned that she knew the art of dishonouring men by humiliating women belonging to the families of male citizens. Both Nabis and Apega brought suffering and violence to their subjects by stealing their wealth and valuables.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

writes of how she acted as Nabis' right-hand in plundering towns; when describing Nabis' actions in Argos, he writes, "He had despoiled the men and now he sent his wife there to despoil the women."Livy, 32.40 One of Nabis' well-known

torture devices Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts carr ...

, the

Apega of Nabis The Apega of Nabis, also known as the Iron Apega, was described by Polybius as an ancient torture device similar to the iron maiden. It was invented by Nabis, a king who ruled Sparta as a tyrant from 207 to 192 BC. Device description The ...

, was modelled after her.

References

Sources

*Livy's ''

Ab Urbe Condita Libri The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The work ...

'' *Polybius' '' Histories'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Apega of Sparta 3rd-century BC Spartans 2nd-century BC Spartans Ancient Spartan women Ancient Spartan queens consort Ancient Argives