Cleonymus ( grc, Κλεώνυμος) was a member of the Spartan royal family of the

Agiads 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 ha ...

Biography

Cleonymus was the second 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 ...

and a pretender to the Spartan throne. He did not succeed his father (died 309/308 BC), allegedly because he was violent and tyrannic. His nephew

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 ...

became new king instead. Hence, he nursed a grudge against his fellow Spartans. To help

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

against the Lucani, Cleonymus went as mercenary leader to southern Italy with the backing of the Spartan administration (303 BC). There are two different accounts of his Italian expedition; one written by

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

and one by

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 ...

. But the connection between the two sources is unclear. The historian Thomas Lenschau supposes that they describe two different campaigns by Cleonymus: the one described by Diodorus Siculus may have taken place in 303 BC and the one described by Livy in 302 BC. According to Diodorus Siculus, Cleonymus raised such a large army that the Lucani immediately concluded peace. Then the Spartan prince took the city of

Metaponto Metaponto is a small town of about 1,000 people in the province of Matera, Basilicata, Italy. Administratively it is a frazione of Bernalda. History The town was built by the ancient Greeks to defend Sybaris from the growth of Taranto. A 1 k ...

and sailed to the island of

Corcyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

which he quickly captured. Learning that Taranto and other cities had broken with him, he sailed back and was at first successful, but then he was defeated during a night attack. Since many of his ships were destroyed by a storm at the same time, he had to withdraw to Corcyra (303/302 BC). Probably in the next year (302 BC) Cleonymus returned to the Italian peninsula and – according to Livy – first conquered a city called Thuriae, the location of which is uncertain. But Roman armies forced him to go back to his ships. He then sailed to the north across the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

and landed on the Veneti coast. From the mouth of the Meduacus (now

Brenta River The Brenta is an Italian river that runs from Trentino to the Adriatic Sea just south of the Venetian lagoon in the Veneto region, in the north-east of Italy. During the Roman era, it was called Medoacus (Ancient Greek: ''Mediochos'', ''Μηδ� ...

) he sailed upstream to the territory of Patavium (now

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

) and raided the nearby villages. But the local tribes defeated him and he suffered great losses. Allegedly four-fifths of his ships were destroyed forcing Cleonymus to leave Patavium. It is unknown how his campaign ended. Cleonymus is next mentioned in 293 BC. By then he seems to have returned to Sparta and was then sent to

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...

to help the inhabitants against

Demetrius I Poliorcetes Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to t ...

. But when this

diadoch The Diadochi (; singular: Diadochus; from grc-gre, Διάδοχοι, Diádochoi, Successors, ) were the rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The War ...

arrived with an army, Cleonymus withdrew. As an older man Cleonymus married the beautiful Chilonis as his second wife. Chilonis was the daughter of Leotychidas, who was a member of the other Spartan royal family of the Eurypontids. However, Chilonis loved

Acrotatus II Acrotatus ( el, Ἀκρότατος; 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. He had unlawful intercourse with Chilonis, the young wife of Cleonymus, uncle of his fathe ...

, the grand-nephew of Cleonymus. Deeply offended, Cleonymus left Sparta and, in 272 BC, persuaded Pyrrhus to back his claim to the Spartan throne. Pyrrhus besieged Sparta, confident that he could take the city with ease, however, the Spartans, with even the women taking part in the defence, succeeded in beating off Pyrrhus' attacks. At this point Pyrrhus received an appeal for help from his supporters in Argos which was being attacked by

Antigonus Gonatas Antigonus II Gonatas ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Γονατᾶς, ; – 239 BC) was a Macedonian ruler who solidified the position of the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon after a long period defined by anarchy and chaos and acquired fame for h ...

and he called off the attack.Peter Green. ''Alexander to Actium'', p. 144. Cleonymus does not appear in the sources after this event.

Notes

References

* Thomas Lenschau: ''Kleonymos 3)''. In: '' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' (RE), vol. XI 1 (1921), col. 730-732.

External links

Cleonymus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleonymus Of Sparta 4th-century BC Spartans 3rd-century BC Spartans Lucania Pyrrhus of Epirus Ancient Greek mercenaries Agiad dynasty