Kings Agis and Cleomenes, late 17th century engraving.
Reign
235–222 BC
Predecessor
Leonidas II
Successor
Agesipolis III
Born
c. 265–260 BC Sparta
Died
219 BC Alexandria
Consort
Agiatis
Issue
Unknown (at least one son)
Dynasty
Agiad
Father
Leonidas II
Mother
Cratesiclea
Silver tetradrachm depicting Kleomenes III. Reverse: statue of Artemis Ortheia brandishing a spear and holding a bow, ΛΑ(ΚΩΝΩΝ), of Laconia.
Cleomenes III (Ancient Greek: Κλεομένης) was one of the two kings of Sparta from 235 to 222 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state.
From 229 to 222 BC, Cleomenes waged war against the Achaean League under Aratus of Sicyon. After being defeated by the Achaeans in the Battle of Sellasia in 222 BC, he fled to Ptolemaic Egypt. After a failed revolt in 219 BC, he committed suicide.
committed suicide. Cleomenes was born in Sparta to the future Agiad king Leonidas II and his wife Cratesicleia. The exact year of Cleomenes' birth is unknown...
Cleomenes may refer to: one of several kings of Sparta: Cleomenes I (c. 520 – c. 490 BC) Cleomenes II (370–309 BC) CleomenesIII (236–219 BC) Cleomenes...
events, and is also very biased against Cleomenes. It seems that Herodotus got his information on Cleomenes from his opponents: the descendants of his...
229 BC, Cleomenes initiated hostilities against the Achaean League, the dominant power of the Peloponnese. In a series of campaigns, Cleomenes was successful...
the death of CleomenesIII he was elected king while still a minor, and placed under the dubious guardianship of an uncle named Cleomenes. Agesipolis was...
wife of CleomenesIII, she had previously been married to Agis IV. She had one son from Agis (Eudamidas III) and at least two sons from Cleomenes, who are...
Antigonos Doson, who decisively defeated Cleomenes in the battle of Sellasia in 222. In 235 BC, CleomenesIII (r. 235–222 BC) ascended the throne of Sparta...
citizens undertook civic and military training. CleomenesIII suffered serious defeats in 223 BC and Ptolemy III abandoned his support for him in the next year...
formed alliances with Epirus and the Achaean League. When Sparta, under CleomenesIII, attempted to establish hegemony over the whole Peloponnese, Aratus...
with only a dagger. During the Battle of Sellasia, the Spartan king CleomenesIII "called Damoteles, the commander of the Crypteia, and ordered him to...
of their relatives. The Gerousia was probably reformed by the king CleomenesIII (r.235–222), who made the gerontes elected annually. No longer elected...
Alexandria, led by CleomenesIII of Sparta, which Polybius presents as having been a serious threat to Ptolemy IV's regime. Ptolemy III had promised to restore...
241 to 235 BC. Leonidas was the son of Cleonymus and grandson of King Cleomenes II (r. 370–309) of the Agiad dynasty, one of the two royal families of...
Egypt, where he might have fled alongside CleomenesIII after his defeat at Sellasia in 222. In 225, CleomenesIII seized the city of Argos, thanks to the...
declining Spartan population, but was successfully reinvigorated by CleomenesIII in 226 BCE. It was abolished less than forty years later by Philopoemen...
in 420 BCE. CleomenesIII abolished the position of ephor in 227 BCE, and replaced them with a position called the patronomos. Cleomenes's coup resulted...
two young sons executed. Issue CleomenesIII Chilonis (wife of Cleombrotus II) Plutarco, Vite Parallele: Agide, Cleomene. Cross, Geoffrey Neale (August...
Spartans retained the traditional hoplite phalanx until the reforms of CleomenesIII when they were re-equipped with the Macedonian sarissa and trained in...
erstwhile enemy, Macedon. CleomenesIII was defeated at the Battle of Sellasia by the joint forces of the Achaean League and Antigonus III Doson, the regent of...
statement, Diodorus nevertheless tells that Cleomenes II reigned 34 years, but he confused him with his namesake Cleomenes I (r. 524–490). Despite the outstanding...
Macedonia for assistance. Antigonus III's forces fail to pierce Cleomenes' lines near Corinth, but a revolt against Cleomenes at Argos put the Spartans on the...
Constitution Great Rhetra Legislators Lycurgus Chilon Epitadeus Agis IV CleomenesIII Government List of Kings of Sparta Agiads Eurypontids Gerousia Ephorate...
also known as the Symmachy, under Antigonus III Doson that was originally formed to fight CleomenesIII of Sparta, 226 BCE The association of Greek city-states...
dwindled. Attempts at reform, notably by the Spartan kings Agis IV and CleomenesIII, failed. By the mid-4th century BC, the number of Spartiates had been...
device is Plutarch, Parallel Lives, in his work on Cleomenes 11.2. The account says CleomenesIII decided to equip a phalanx in the Macedonian manner...
this last view appeal to the words attributed by Herodotus (v. 72) to Cleomenes I: "I am no Dorian, but an Achaean"; although this is usually explained...
Alexandria, led by CleomenesIII of Sparta, which Polybius presents as having been a serious threat to Ptolemy IV's regime. Ptolemy III had promised to restore...
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