Akrotatos (son of Cleomenes)

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Akrotatos was the eldest son of the Spartan king Cleomenes II , who came from the house of the Agiads . His younger brother was Cleonymus .

331 BC BC the Macedonian Antipater defeated the Spartan Agis III. Later they wanted to restore the honor of the fighters who had fled in this war. Only Akrotatos rejected this decision and fell out of favor with many Spartans. He was even killed and beaten.

316/315 BC Chr. Had Agathocles of Syracuse eliminated many of his opponents. Many who had escaped from Syracuse had fled to Agrigento . Now the refugees convinced the Agrigenes to take action against Agathocles. As a general one wanted an outsider and therefore sent envoys to Sparta. This offer came in handy for Akrotatos and set off with a few ships. He got caught in a storm and landed on the Albanian coast near the city of Apollonia , which was just besieged by Glaukias . Akrotatos convinced Glaukias to make an agreement with the Apollonians and break off the siege. Then he went to Taranto and persuaded the inhabitants to send 20 reinforcements to Agrigento. When Akrotatos arrived in the city, he took over the command. But instead of moving against Agathocles, he was only enjoying himself. After he had also murdered Sosistratos , the chief of the Syracusans, he was expelled and went back to Sparta.

Akrotatos fell in battle on Crete . His grandmother Gyrtias was very pleased about this , as she found it more desirable to fall in war than to die as a coward in old age. Since he died before his father, he could not take over his rule. For this reason, there were throne disputes between Areus , son of Akrotatos, and his uncle Kleonymus when Cleomenes II died.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Diodor , Bibliothéke historiké , 19, 70-71.
  2. Jump up ↑ Plutarch , Spartan Sisters
  3. ^ Pausanias , Journeys in Greece , 1, 13, 3; 3, 6, 2; 6, 12, 5.
  4. ↑ Plutarch, Agis , 3.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Akrotatos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Acrotatus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spartan politician
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 4th century BC Chr.