Spartan king

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'', coming from two separate lines. According to tradition, the two lines, the Agiads (, ) and Eurypontids (, ), 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.Cartledge, Paul, ''The Spartans'', Vintage Books, 2003.

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.Pindar and the cult of heroes. By Bruno Currie Page 245 . 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

Ancient Greeks named males after their fathers, producing a patronymic with the infix ''-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

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

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

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

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.

:''Years with no dates (only "''c.''") are unknown''

Agiad dynasty

The dynasty was named after its second king, Agis.

Eurypontid dynasty

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:

''According to Herodotus, VIII: 131''

''According to Pausanias, III, 7: 5-6''

Sole kings

The Achaean League annexed Sparta in 192 BC.

Notes and references

;Notes

;References

Bibliography

* Paul Cartledge, ''Sparta and Lakonia, A Regional History 1300–362 BC'', London, Routledge, 2002 (originally published in 1979).
* The Cyclopædia, Volume 20. By Abraham Rees. Pag
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

Livius


by Jona Lendering

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Kings Of Sparta
Rulers of Sparta
Sparta, Kings
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