Sthenelaidas ( Gr. ) 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 who held the office of

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 ''ép ...

in 432 BC, during which he played a critical role in starting the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

against

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Life

Sthenelaidas was either elected

for the year 433/432—perhaps as eponymous ephor—or in 432/431, when the eponymous was Aenesias. The majority of modern scholars incline for the latter date. In late 432, Sthenelaidas presided over a session of the ekklesia, during which the issue of war against

was debated. The king

Archidamus II Archidamus II ( grc-gre, Ἀρχίδαμος ; died 427/6 BC) was a king of Sparta who reigned from approximately 469/8 BC to 427/6 BC. His father was Zeuxidamus (called Cyniscos by many Spartans). Zeuxidamus married and had a son, Archid ...

wanted to temporise, saying that Sparta was not ready for war, but Sthenelaidas made an aggressive speech calling for war immediately. The events are developed in details by

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

in a famous passage of his '' History of the Peloponnesian War'', where he invented a series of speeches summarising the position of each protagonist. Thucydides wrote a long speech for Archidamus, implicitly compared to Pericles for his statesman's qualities, but makes Sthenelaidas pronounce a few

laconic A laconic phrase or laconism is a concision, concise or wikt:terse, terse statement, especially a wikt:blunt, blunt and wikt:elliptical, elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose anci ...

sentences insisting on the need for Sparta to rapidly support its allies against Athens. A first vote took place on whether Athens had broken peace, but its result where inconclusive, because the Spartans voted by shouting. Sthenelaidas then used a trick: he asked for a division. As most of the Spartans were afraid to appear weak by favouring peace, they moved to the group in favour of the war. Sthenelaidas therefore won the vote by a large majority. Sparta then sent an embassy to the

Pythia Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), 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 i ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

to obtain

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

's support for a war against Athens. A congress of 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 (431–404 BC ...

was subsequently called and formally declared war.

Ernst Badian Ernst Badian (8 August 1925 – 1 February 2011) was an Austrian-born classical scholar who served as a professor at Harvard University from 1971 to 1998. Early life and education Badian was born in Vienna in 1925 and in 1938 fled the Nazis wit ...

has nevertheless suggested that Thucydides distorted the events. Sthenelaidas' motion put to vote was not for or against war, but on whether Athens had broken the Thirty Years' Peace, which had been concluded in 445 between Athens and Sparta. The motion is likely authentic as Athenian ambassadors present in Sparta this day reported it to their city, from where Thucydides learnt about it, but it contradicts Sthenelaidas' invented speech, which called for immediate war. Badian adds that the motion did not make war inevitable, as several Spartan embassies to Athens are recorded the following year. Sthenelaidas is the first known Spartan outside the royal families to play a decisive role in shaping Sparta's foreign policy since Hetoimaridas, geronte in 475, and

Chilon Chilon of Sparta ( grc, Χείλων) (fl. 6th century BC) was a Spartan and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Life Chilon was the son of Damagetus, and lived towards the beginning of the 6th century BC. Herodotus speaks of him as contemporary ...

, ephor in c.556. He was the father of the Spartan general

Alcamenes Alcamenes ( grc, Ἀλκαμένης) was an ancient Greek sculptor of Lemnos and Athens, who flourished in the 2nd half of the 5th century BC. He was a younger contemporary of Phidias and noted for the delicacy and finish of his works, among w ...

, who probably inherited his hawkish stance against Athens.Ste. Croix, ''Origins of the Peloponnesian War'', p. 145.

References

Bibliography

, ''From Plataea to Potidaea, Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia'', Baltimore/London, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. * Cinzia Bearzot & Franca Landucci Gattinoni (editors), ''Contro le "leggi immutabili" : gli Spartani fra tradizione e innovazione, Contributi di storia antica 2'', Milano, V & P università, 2004. * Giovanni Parmeggiani, "How Sparta and Its Allies Went to War: Votes and Diplomacy in 432–1 B. C.", ''Historia'', 67, 2018/2, pp. 244–255. * Françoise Ruzé & Jacqueline Christien, ''Sparte, Histoire, mythe, géographie'', Malakoff, Armand Colin, 2017. * G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, ''The Origins of the Peloponnesian War'', London, Duckworth, 1972. {{ISBN, 0-7156-0640-9 5th-century BC Spartans Spartans of the Peloponnesian War Ephors