Chilonis ( el, Χιλονίς) was a

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n princess, daughter of Leotychidas, wife of Cleonymus, then Acrotatus, with whom she had

Areus II Areus II ( grc, Ἀρεύς Β΄) was Agiad King of Sparta from 262 to 254 BC. He never reigned as he was still a child when he died. He was succeeded by his cousin Leonidas II, who had served as regent. Life Areus was the son of Acrotatus ...

. She is known from

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

's "Life of Pyrrhus".

Biography

Her much older husband Cleonymus, a son of

Cleomenes II Cleomenes II ( grc-gre, Κλεομένης; 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 ...

, 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 I ( grc-gre, Ἀρεύς; c. 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 an Hellenistic period, Hellenistic kingdom and to recover its former pre-eminence i ...

. Areus was away with his army in

Gortyn Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna ( el, Γόρτυν, , or , ) is a municipality, and an archaeological site, on the Mediterranean island of Crete away from the island's capital, Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka. Gortyn ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

(272 BC) when Cleonymus attacked his homeland with the help of

Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus (; grc-gre, Πύρρος ; 319/318–272 BC) was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period.Plutarch. ''Parallel Lives'',Pyrrhus... He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he becam ...

. 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 and Cleonymus decisively. Chilonis and Acrotatus had a child, who later ruled as

, Agiad King of Sparta.

Notes

References

*Plutarch, ''

Parallel Lives Plutarch's ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', commonly called ''Parallel Lives'' or ''Plutarch's Lives'', is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably writt ...

'', ''Pyrrhus'' *Smith, William "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities edited",Little, Brown Co, 1870 *Sarah B. Pomeroy, Spartan Women, Oxford University Press, 2002 Spartan princesses Spartan women in ancient warfare 3rd-century BC Spartans 3rd-century BC Greek women {{Greece-royal-stub