Cleomenes III

King of Sparta (r. 235-219 b. c.e.)

Born: Date unknown; Sparta, Greece Died: 219 b. c.e.; Alexandria, Egypt Category: Government and politics; military

Life Cleomenes III (klee-AHM-uh-neez) was the son of Leonidas II, who ruled Sparta from 254 to 235. Leonidas and his co-monarch, Agis IV, had ascended the Spartan throne during a time of financial crisis. Agis IV attempted to institute a program of social reform in Sparta. He believed that returning to a Lycurgan form of government would help Sparta regain its former glory. He proposed land redistribution so that every freeman would share equally in the city. To reform the financial situation, Agis called for the cancellation of all debts, a measure supported by many Spartans who owed creditors and by landowners who had mortgaged their properties.

While Agis was away at war, his support diminished in Sparta. Leonidas believed part of Agis’s reform strategy included removing him from office. With Leonidas’s consent, Agis was tried and executed. Though Leonidas was banished and forced into exile, he later returned and regained the throne. In an effort to bring unity to the city, Leonidas induced Agis’s widow, Agiatis, to marry his son, Cleomenes III. Though the marriage was arranged, Cleomenes III fell in love with his wife and was swayed by her former husband’s political ideas.

When Cleomenes III ascended the throne in 235, he rededicated himself to instituting Agis IV’s social reforms and restoring a Lycurgan constitution. The people of Sparta were calling for change. Most of Sparta’s land was held by only one hundred families. Fewer and fewer people in the city, only about seven hundred men, could declare themselves full citizens. As years passed, increasing numbers of poor called for more equitable land distributions and cancellation of debts.

By conducting a few successful military skirmishes, Cleomenes III strengthened Sparta’s position in the Achaean League and earned support from the military. His reform ideas and relatively austere lifestyle gained him support from the people; however, his reforms were strongly opposed by rich landowners. The gerousia, the governing body of Sparta, refused to pass his measures. In 237, Cleomenes III staged a governmental coup and rearranged Sparta’s government. He abolished the gerousia on the grounds that Lycurgus never sanctioned its creation. In addition, Cleomenes killed or exiled many of those who opposed him. He liberated thousands of serfs by allowing them to purchase their freedom for a fee, thus increasing the treasury as well. He succeeded in canceling debts and redistributing four thousand lots of land. At the same time, Cleomenes attracted and registered thousands of new citizens.

After the liberation of the serfs, three thousand men joined Cleomenes’ phalanx ofsoldiers. He reintroduced traditional discipline into the military, preparing them to extend Sparta’s influence throughout the Peloponnese. Agis IV had strengthened Sparta’s position in the Achaean League by joining Aratus of Sicyon in a joint Peloponnesian defense against the Aeto-

Cleomenes III. (Library of Congress)

Lians. However, when Cleomenes III wanted to be named commander in chief of the Achaean forces, Aratus refused to acquiesce to his demands. Cleomenes quarreled with the Achaean League and then set out to break it up. The same Aratus who had assisted Agis IV against the Aetolians called on Antigonus III Doson of Macedonia to help the league in the impending attack from Sparta.

In the meantime, Cleomenes gained support for his cause from various Peloponnesian cities. He succeeded in taking Corinth, Hermione, Troezen, Pellene, Argos, Epidaurus, Philius, and Aratus. Commoners in these cities hoped that Cleomenes III would bring his social reforms with him and redistribute land as he had in Sparta; they surrendered without a fight.

In 222 b. c.e., Cleomenes met Doson at Sellasia in the hills of north Sparta. Doson defeated the Spartan forces and forced Cleomenes to flee to Alexandria, where he hoped to find refuge with Egyptian ruler Ptolemy III. Cleomenes, however, failed to win support among the Egyptian people. He was reportedly killed in 219 during the palace purges that surrounded the accession of Ptolemy IV.

Significance Many commoners saw Cleomenes III as liberating them from their oppressive rulers. After the death of Cleomenes, the oligarchic regime was reinstated in Sparta. Doson and his armies later occupied Sparta and revoked Cleomenes’ social reform projects.

Further Reading

Boardman, John, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray, eds. The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Forrest, W. G. A History of Sparta, 950-192 B. C. 2d ed. London: Duckworth, 1980.

Grimal, Pierre. Hellenism and the Rise of Rome. New York: Delacorte Press, 1968.

Huxley, G. L. Early Sparta. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1970.

Walbank, F. W. The Hellenistic World. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993.

Leslie A. Stricker

See also: Achaean League; Spartan Constitution. 238