Agis III.

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Agis III. ( Greek  Ἆγις ; † 331 or 330 BC near Megalopolis ) from the house of the Eurypontids was since 338 BC. King of Sparta . He sparked an uprising in Greece against the rule of Alexander the Great and fell in battle against the Macedonian general Antipater .

Life

Agis III. was the eldest son of the Spartan king Archidamos III. On the same day that the Macedonians under Philip II secured their supremacy over Greece with their victory in the Battle of Chaeronea (August 2, 338 BC), Archidamos III, who was fighting in Italy at that time, fell. in a battle near Manduria near Taranto , whereupon Agis III. became the new ruler of Sparta. In the autumn of 338 BC Philip II initiated the establishment of the Corinthian League , which represented an alliance between Macedonia and most of the Greek states, with Philip II playing the role of an authorized federal leader (hegemon). This measure strengthened Philip II's hegemony over Greece. However, especially Agis III, who mourned the lost leadership position of Sparta in the Peloponnese and therefore strongly disapproved of the now Macedonian influence, refused to join the league. After Philip II in the summer of 336 BC When he was assassinated, his son and successor Alexander the Great renewed the Corinthian Covenant. Sparta stayed away from this again, which Alexander accepted. Officially, membership was based on a voluntary basis. An uprising instigated by Sparta was quickly put down (336/335 BC).

The absence of Alexander on his campaign in the Middle East wanted Agis III. to try again. In order to be able to realize his plans with a better chance of success, he sought contact with the Persian King Dareios III. record. Shortly before the Battle of Issus (November 333 BC) Euthykles traveled on a diplomatic mission to the Persian ruler, which also included envoys from Athens and other Greek poles . After the Macedonian victory at Issus, the ambassadors fell into the hands of Alexander, who treated them gently and also released Euthykles after a long time.

Agis III. met at the end of 333 BC With the commanders of the Persian fleet stationed at the Cycladic island of Siphnos , Pharnabazos and Autophradates , from whom he asked for support through subsidies . During their meeting, however, they learned of the outcome of the battle at Issus. Agis III. received 30 talents silver and 10 triremes from Autophradates , which he had sent to his younger brother Agesilaos through Hippias to Tainaron , a cape on the southern tip of the Peloponnese. According to his brother's wish, Agesilaos was to go to Crete as quickly as possible to secure this island for Sparta. The Spartan king himself stayed briefly on the Cyclades and then went to Autophradates in Halicarnassus , but there is no record of the steps he took there. In any case, he received reinforcement from Greek mercenaries who worked for Dareios III. fought and escaped from the battle of Issus. That the number of these mercenaries was 8,000, as is traditional, cannot be true, since so many had been able to flee in total, but 4,000 of them had sailed to Egypt .

332 BC Agis III. in Crete and brought many of the island cities on his side. Alexander the Great sent from Tire in the spring of 331 BC. A fleet under the command of Amphoteros , a brother of Krateros , to Crete to fight the Spartans and Persians; Nothing is known about the outcome of the company.

The efforts of Sparta against the Macedonian hegemony finally led to a military confrontation later disparagingly but unjustifiably called " mouse war " by Alexander the great . During the year 331 BC Organized Agis III. an anti-Macedonian alliance and brought several states of the Peloponnese to the apostasy of Alexander. While the governor of Macedonia and Greece, Antipater , was confronted with a revolt in Thrace , the Macedonian strategist Korrhagos was defeated in a battle that could not be precisely located by an army under Agis' leadership. Now the Eleans and most of the Achaeans (with the exception of Pellenes ) and Arcadians (with the exception of Megalopolis ) took the side of Sparta. In Athens , Demosthenes advised restraint, but a popular resolution supported by Lycurgus passed through to terminate the alliance with Macedonia and to give Sparta military support. The speaker Demades was supposed to implement the appropriate measures, but he deliberately delayed this and waited for the decisive argument in this conflict.

As Agis III. and his allies besieged Megalopolis, Antipater moved in the second half of 331 BC. BC or at the beginning of the year 330 BC BC with an army of 40,000 soldiers to help the beleaguered Arcadian city. The anti-Macedonian allies suffered a complete defeat in the battle of Megalopolis . Agis III. suffered a fatal wound during the fight. According to Diodorus , he was attacked while he was being transported back to Sparta, encouraged the soldiers accompanying him to flee and died while defending himself by throwing a spear. His compatriots lost 5,300 people, the Macedonians around 3,500.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Plutarch , Agis 3, 3; Pausanias 3, 10, 4.
  2. ↑ Diodorus 16, 63, 2; 16, 88, 3f.
  3. ↑ Diodor 16, 89, 1ff .; Justin 9: 5, 1-7; among others
  4. ↑ Arrian , Anabasis 1, 1, 2 and 1, 7, 4.
  5. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 1, 1, 1f .; Diodorus 17, 4, 9; Plutarch , Alexander 14, 1; Justin 11, 2, 5.
  6. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 1, 1, 2.
  7. ↑ Diodorus 17: 3, 5; see. Justin 11, 2, 7.
  8. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 2, 15, 2ff.
  9. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 2, 13, 5f.
  10. ↑ Diodorus 17, 48, 1; Curtius Rufus 4, 1, 39.
  11. ↑ Demandt, Alexander the Great , p. 524, note 56.
  12. ^ Curtius Rufus 4, 8, 15; see. Arrian 3, 6, 3.
  13. ↑ Plutarch, Agesilaos 15, 6 (myomachia).
  14. ^ Aeschines 3:165.
  15. ↑ Demandt, Alexander the Great , p. 198.
  16. ↑ Curtius Rufus 6, 1, 1-16; Diodorus 17, 63, 1-4; 17, 73, 5; Justin 12, 1, 9ff.
  17. ^ Curtius Rufus 6, 1, 3ff .; 6, 1, 13ff .; Diodorus 17, 63, 4; Plutarch, Agis 3, 3; Justin 12, 1, 10f.
  18. ↑ Diodorus 17, 63, 4.
  19. ↑ So Diodor 17, 63, 3. Curtius Rufus (6, 1, 16) also puts the number of fallen Spartans at 5,300, those of the Macedonians at 1,000.
predecessor Office successor
Archidamos III. King of Sparta
338–331 / 330 BC Chr. 		Eudamidas I.
personal data
SURNAME Agis III.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἆγις (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Sparta
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 331 BC BC or 330 BC Chr.