Pleistoanax

Pleistoanax ( Greek Πλειστοάναξ, Πλειστώναξ Pleistoánax, Pleistṓnax , German 'ruler over many'  ; * around 470 BC; † 408 BC ) was an ancient Spartan king from the house of the Agiads .

First reign

He was the son of Pausanias , the famous general during the Persian Wars, and was born in 458 BC. Successor of King Pleistarchus . Because of Pleistoanax's youth, his uncle Nicomedes initially exercised the reign. This led 457 BC. The Lacedaemonians against the Phoker and defeated them. 445 BC When Pericles led a campaign against Euboea , Pleistoanax invaded Attica and devastated the country. Because of his youth, the ephors had chosen Kleandridas to accompany him . When they stopped the expedition, they were accused of being bribed by Pericles. Kleandridas was sentenced to death and Pleistoanax received a priceless sentence. Therefore he went into exile in Arcadia . For nineteen years he lived in the sanctuary of Zeus on the Lycaion . Meanwhile his young son Pausanias became king.

Second reign

Due to a Delphic oracle , Pleistoanax returned during the Peloponnesian War in 426 BC. Back to Sparta and took over the royal dignity again. His opponents claimed that Pleistoanax's brother Aristocles had moved the priestess to make this prophecy. Every step he took was followed closely and every defeat in the conflict with Athens was exploited by his adversaries. This fact moved him in 421 BC. Chr. To a peace with Athens, the so-called Peace of Nicias . After his death in 408 BC His son Pausania became heir to the throne.

predecessor	Office	successor
Pleistarchus (King)	King of Sparta 458–445 BC Chr.	Pausanias
Pausanias	King of Sparta 426–408 BC Chr.	Pausanias

swell

• Diodor , Bibliothéke historiké , 13, 75
• Pausanias , traveling in Greece , 1, 13, 1; 3, 5, 1.
• Plutarch , Perikles , 22. (Eng.)
• Plutarch, Nikias , 28. (Eng.)
• Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica (Eng.)
• Thucydides , History of the Peloponnesian War , 1, 107; 1, 114; 2, 21; 3, 26; 5, 16; 5, 19; 5, 24; 5, 33; 5, 75.

literature

• Gerhard Dobesch : Pleistoanax. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, column 925.