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[German version] (Ξενάρης; Xenárēs). Spartiate, probably identical to the son of Cnidis who, as harmost ( Harmostaí [2]) in Heraclea [1] Trachinia in the winter of 420/19 BC, fell in battle against the Aenianes, the Dolopes and other tribes in that territory (Thuc. 5,51,2). As éphoros in 421/20 BC, X. and his colleague in office Cleobulus [3] rejected the alliance between Sparta and Athens concluded after the Peace of Nicias [1]. After unofficial negotiations with the Boeotians and the Corinthians, the two managed to conclude a special a…

[German version] (Λαβώτας; Labṓtas). Legendary Spartan king of the house of the Agiads. During his (fictional) reign (traditionally 1025/4-989/8 BC), Sparta is said to have fought against Argus for the first time (Apollod. FGrH 244 F 62; Hdt. 1,65; 7,204; Plut. Mor. 224c; Paus. 3,2,3f.). Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum)

(Κλέαρχος; Kléarchos). [German version] [1] Bronze sculptor from Rhegion Bronze sculptor from Rhegion. Because of his statue of Zeus Hypatus in Sparta, a   sphyrelaton according to the description, C. was wrongly considered the inventor of bronze statues by Pausanias. According to tradition he was a student of  Dipoenus and Scyllis or of  Daedalus as well as the teacher of  Pythagoras and, therefore, was active in the 2nd half of the 6th cent. BC. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Overbeck No. 332f., 491 P. Romanelli, in: EAA 4, 365f. J. Papadopoulos, Xoana e sphyrelata, 1980, 82 F…

[German version] Spartan olympic champion; died in 403 BC during a skirmish in Piraeus against resistance fighters who freed Athens from the rule of the ‘Thirty’ ( Triakonta) (Xen. Hell. 2,4,33). Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum)

(Ζευξίδαμος/ Zeuxídamos). [German version] [1] King of Sparta, c. 700 BC Was considered a Spartan king of the house of the Eurypontids and a son of Archidamus, is supposed to have been the successor to his grandfather Theopompus [1] towards the end of the 8th cent. BC, but is not mentioned in Hdt. 8,131, appearing only in Pausanias' list of Spartan kings (3,7,6; 4,15,3) into which he was probably inserted only in the 4th cent. BC [1. 97; 2. 344 f.]. Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) [German version] [2] Son of Leotychidas [2] II Eurypontid, son of the Spartan king Leotychidas [2] II (…

(πόλις, πτόλις/ pólis, ptólis; pl. πόλεις/ póleis; 'city state'). [German version] I. Topographical background and early development Depending on the particular context, p olis may have topographical, personal or legal-political connotations: a) a fortified settlement on a height, Homeric pólis akrḗ or akrotátē (Hom. Il. 6,88; 20,52), synonymous with the Acropolis in Athens until the late 5th cent. (Thuc. 2,15,3-6); b) an urban settlement; c) an urban settlement including environs, 'state territory'; d) municipal community, community of polîtai (see below II.). In the sense …

(Μέλανθος/ Mélanthos). [German version] [1] From Messenia, descendant of Neleus of Pylos M. of Messenia, descendant of Neleus of Pylus (Hdt. 1,147; 5,65), son of Andropompus and Henoche (Paus. 1,3,3; 19,5; 2,187ff.; 7,1,9), father of Codrus (ibid. 8,18,7). Expelled from Messenia, he went to Attica (Eleusis), where he fought a duel on behalf of the king Thymoetes with Xanthus, the king of Boeotia. With the aid of Dionysus Melanaigis and by his own cunning he gained the victory. Dionysus received a sanctuary in reward, and M. became king of Athens. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] P…

(Ἀγησίπολις; Agēsípolis). [German version] [1] I., Spartan king (395-380 BC) A. I, Agiad, son of the Spartan king Pausanias and older brother of Cleombrotus I, became king when his father had to go into exile after the battle at Haliartus 395 BC (Diod. Sic. 14,89; Paus. 3,5,7). First under the guardianship of his relative Aristodemus [3] (Xen. Hell. 4,2,9), he achieved already in 388/87 successes against the Argives (Xen. Hell. 4,7,2-7) and forced the polis of Mantinea under specious pretences to dioikismos into four villages in 385/84 (Xen. Hell. 5,2,3-7; Paus. 8,8,7-9). Af…

[German version] (Μέγιλλος/ Mégillos). Spartan, one of three members of a legation which negotiated the release of prisoners of war in Athens in 408/7 BC (Androtion FGrH 324 F 44; [1. 50; 2. 395]). He was probably identical with a homonymous member of a legation sent by Agesilaus [2] II to Tissaphernes in 396 (Xen. Hell. 3,4,6), and with an interlocutor in Plato (Epin. passim and Leg. 642b), described there as a guest of the Athenians. Peloponnesian War Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) Bibliography 1 D. J. Mosley, Envoys and Diplomacy in Ancient Greece, 1973 2 B. Bleckmann, Athens Weg in die…

[German version] (Ἑριππίδας; Herippídas). A Spartiate, who after 400 BC belonged to the inner circle of Sparta's political leaders [1. 154]; in 399, he suppressed an uprising in Heraclea Trachinia (Diod. Sic. 14,38,4-5) [2. 120f., 154]. 395 saw him as an influential adviser to Agesilaus [2] during the latter's campaign in Asia Minor, when he also commanded the Cyreans, who in 394 were once again under his command at Coronea (Xen. Hell. 3,4,20; 4,1,11-14; 20-28; 4,3,15). Following the death of the nauarchos Podanemus, he temporarily assumed command of the navy in the Corint…

[German version] (τιμοῦχος/ timoûchos). Holder of an honour, honorary position or office (formed from τιμὴν ἔχειν, timḕn échein, 'to have/hold honour'); first recorded in the form τιμάοχος as an epithet of deities in the 7th cent. BC (Hom. Hymnos to Demeter 268 f.; Hom. Hymnos to Aphrodite 31 f.); as office holders timoûchoi are recorded almost only in communities of the Ionic dialect groups, e.g. in the early 5th cent. BC in Teos (Syll.3 37/8; ML 30), where they had to pronounce curse formulas against enemies of the polis at the Anthesteria and at festivals for …

[German version] (Τελευτίας/ Teleutías). Spartiate, step-brother of Agesilaus [2] II (Xen. Hell.  4,4,19; Plut. Agesilaos 21,1), commander of Spartan fleets several times between 392 and 381 BC, nauarchos in 387/6 (Xen. Hell. 5,1,13). In 392 he conquered ships and destroyed wharves in Lechaeum (Xen. Hell. 4,4,19; Plut. Agesilaos 21,1-3); in 390 he took over the fleet of the naúarchos Ecdicus in Cnidus, captured ten Athenian triremes and supported Sparta's partisans in Rhodes [1. 84-86]. He surrendered his fleet to the nauarchos Hierax in Aegina in 389 …

[German version] (Τίμαια/ Tímaia). Spartan, wife of Agis [2] II, in 415 BC supposedly seduced by Alcibiades [3] who thus fathered her son Leotychidas [3], yet this is doubtful [1. 67 f.]. Agis only recognised Leotychidas as his son on his death-bed, in order to enable him to succeed to the throne. Lysander [1], however, saw to the election of Agesilaus [2] II (Duris FGrH 76 F 69; Xen. Hell.  3,3,1-4; Paus. 3,8,8-10; Plut. Agesilaus 3; Plut. Alcibiades 23,7-9; Plut. Lysander 22,6-13; Plut.  Mor. 467 f.). Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) Bibliography 1 W. M. Ellis, Alcibiades, 1989.

(Λύσανδρος; Lýsandros). [German version] [1] Spartan fleet commander, end of the 5th cent. BC Spartiate, son of Aristocritus. Reports that the family, which traces its family tree back to Hercules and was connected to king Libys of Cyrene through hospitality (Diod. Sic. 14,13,5-6; Paus. 6,3,14), was impoverished (Plut. Lysander = Lys. 2,1) and that L. was considered a móthax (foster-brother of a citizen's boy, móthakes ) (Phylarchos FGrH 81 F 43; Ael. VH 12,43), appear to be based on deliberate defamation. L. became fleet commander ( naúarchos) of the Spartan fleet in Rhodes ( Pe…

(Ἱπποκράτης; Hippokrátēs). [German version] [1] Father of Peisistratus, from Brauron Father of  Peisistratus. H. is presumed to have come from Brauron, the later deme of Philaidai, and traced his ancestry back to Neleus (Hdt. 1,59; 5,65; Plut. Solon 10; 30). Patzek, Barbara (Wiesbaden) Bibliography Traill, PAA 538385. [German version] [2] Son of Megacles from Athens, approx. 6th cent. BC Son of the Alcmaeonid ( Alcmaeonids)  Megacles from Athens, born around 560 BC, H. was the brother of Cleisthenes, the father of  Megacles and Agariste [2] and thus th…

[German version] (Πλειστοάναξ/ Pleistoánax). Son of the Spartan regent Pausanias [1] of the house of the Agiads, king 458-408/7 BC (Diod. Sic. 13,75,1), initially under the guardianship of his uncle Nicomedes [1] (Thuc. 1,107,2; Diod. Sic. 11,79,6). In 446, P., in command of a Spartan army in fact led by his advisor Cleandridas, was to march on Attica to engage Athenian troops during the  Euboean revolt. However, after one attack he returned to the Thriasian plain, was charged in Sparta by Pericles…

[German version] (τριηραρχία; triērarchía). Obligation to equip a trireme for one year and to command the crew ( c. 200 men). Introduced in 483/2 as a military leiturgia (Liturgy I.) in place of the naukrariai , which were no longer sufficient following the naval rearmament programme of Themistocles. Later also used as a technical term for the command of other warships. Because of the great financial burden it imposed, the system was modified from 410 BC by the syntrierarchy (two trierarchoi per ship), and the load was distributed still more in 357 BC or shortly before by t…

(Νικαγόρας/ Nikagóras). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Zelia, c. 330 BC According to the Greek historian Bato of Sinope (Athenaeus 7,289b-c = FHG 4, 348 fragment 1), N. was tyrant of Zelia. He is identical with the N. mentioned by Clement of Alexandria (Protrepticus 4,48), a contemporary of Alexander [4] the Great's and possibly tyrant by the grace of Darius [3] III [1. 229]. N. fell from power after the battle on the Granicus (in this context possibly Syll.3 279,7) and the town of Zelia apologized to Alexander (Arr. Anab. 1,17,2). Dreyer, Boris (Göttingen) Bibliography 1 H.G. Lolling, Mi…

[German version] (Εὐρυπωντίδαι; Eurypōntídai). Spartan royal house, whose representatives according to Herodotus (6,51) were supposed to have less prestige than the royal house of the Agiads. In fact the E. provided important kings such as Archidamus II, Agesilaus II, Agis II, III and IV. Its eponym was the fictitious figure of Eurypon, a descendant of Heracles in the sixth (Hdt. 8,131; Str. 8,366) or seventh generation (Plut. Lycurgus 1; Paus. 3,7,1). The list of E., like that of the Agiads, is unusable historically for the period prior to the early 6th cent. BC.  Agiads Welwei, Karl-W…

[German version] (Τέλλις; Téllis). Spartiate, father of Brasidas, married to Argileonis, who commented on the death of her son (in 422 BC) with the words that he had been brave but Sparta had better men (Plut. Lycurgus 25,8-9; Plut. Mor. 190b; 219d; 240c; Diod. Sic. 12,74,3). T. swore to the Peace of Nicias (Nicias [1]) in 421 BC (Thuc. 5,19,2; 5,24,1) and was then doubtless a champion of Spartan peace policy. Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum)