| Anaxandridas II | |
|---|---|
| King of Sparta | |
| Reign | c. 560 BC – 524 BC |
| Predecessor | Leon of Sparta |
| Successor | Cleomenes I |
| Died | c. 524 BC |
| Issue | Cleomenes I Dorieus Leonidas I Cleombrotus |
| Dynasty | Agiad |
| Father | Leon of Sparta |
Anaxandridas II (Ancient Greek:Ἀναξανδρίδας, meaning "descendant of Anaxander") was anAgiadking ofSparta fromc. 560 BC to 524 BC, father ofLeonidas I and grandfather ofPleistarchus. Under the leadership of theephorChilon, in office during the middle of the 6th century, Sparta ended its streak of violent conquests, such as inMessenia, and adopted a pro-Achaea policy based on diplomacy. Anaxandridas was succeeded byCleomenes I.
Anaxandridas was the son ofLeon, who reigned during the first half of the 6th century, between 590 and 560 BC.[1][2] He belonged to the Agiads, one of the two royal dynasties of Sparta (the other being theEurypontids).
In c. 560 BC, Anaxandridas II, the new Agiad king of the Spartans, defeated the AcadianTegeatae and compelled them to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta. By the time when the Lydian kingCroesus sent his embassy to form an alliance with "the mightiest of the Greeks" (about 554 BC), the war with Tegea, which during the reigns of previous Spartan kings had gone against them, had, under Anaxandridas II and the Spartan Eurypontid kingAriston, been decided in the Spartans' favour. Anaxandridas II and Ariston also had main carriage of the suppression of the tyrannies, and with it the establishment ofSpartan hegemony.
Under the leadership of theephorChilon, in office during the middle of the 6th century, Sparta ended its streak of violent conquests, such as inMessenia, and adopted a pro-Achaea policy based on diplomacy.[3][4][5] Chilon claimed for Sparta the inheritance of theAchaean kings, who ruled thePeloponnese before the arrival of theDorians (the invaders who had founded classical Sparta).[6] Consistent with this policy, the legendary Achaean kingAgamemnon started to be worshipped c. 550 BC inAmyclae (one of the villages of Sparta).[7][8] The bones ofOrestes andTisamenus, Agamemnon's son and grandson, were taken fromTegea andHelike following advice from aDelphic oracle, then buried in Sparta.[9] With these appropriations of Achaean heroes, Sparta convinced the non-Dorian Peloponnesian cities to join its alliance, which later became known as thePeloponnesian League. The alliance aimed at containingArgos, Sparta's main Dorian rival in the Peloponnese.[10]
It nevertheless seems that Anaxandridas was opposed to the pro-Achaean policy of Chilon. The king was indeed forced by the ephors to marry a second wife after his first wife did not give him a son. Chilon's influence behind this decision can be detected, because the king's second wife was one of Chilon's relations.[11] The second marriage rapidly produced a son, the future kingCleomenes I, but then Anaxandridas returned to his first wife, and she then bore him three children:Dorieus,Leonidas, andCleombrotus.[12] The name of Dorieus ("the Dorian") is significant, it likely shows that Anaxandridas rebuffed Chilon's pro-Achaean policy by recalling his Dorian origins.[12] During his reign Cleomenes rejected his Dorian identity and instead claimed to be an Achaean, but was frequently opposed by his half-brothers.[13]
Anaxandridas died in 524 and was succeeded by his son Cleomenes I.[14]
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Sparta 560 - 524 BC | Succeeded by |
