Machanidas (Ancient Greek:Μαχανίδας) was atyrant ofLacedaemon near the end of the 3rd century BC. He was defeated and slain byPhilopoemen.
Machanidas was in a band ofTarentine mercenaries, perhaps a leader, in the pay of theSpartan government. The history of Lacedaemon at this period is obscure. The means by which he obtained the tyranny are unknown. He was probably at first associated withPelops, son and successor ofLycurgus on the double throne of Sparta. He either eclipsed or expelled Lycurgus.Livy refers to Machanidas as "the tyrant of the Lacedaemonians".[1] Like his predecessor, Machanidas had no hereditary or other justification for taking the crown. However, unlike Lycurgus he respected neither theephors nor the laws, and ruled by the swords of his followers.Argos and theAchaean League found him a restless and relentless neighbor, whom they could not resist without the aid ofMacedonia.Rome in the 11th year of theSecond Punic War, was anxious to detainPhilip V and employed him as an ally.
Towards the close of theAetolian War, in 207 BC, while the Greek states were negotiating the terms of peace, and theEleans were making preparations for the nextOlympic festival, Machanidas projected an inroad into the sacred territory of Elis. The design was frustrated by the timely arrival of the king ofMacedon in thePeloponnesus, and Machanidas withdrew to Sparta.
In 207 BC, after eight months of preparation,Philopoemen, captain-general of the cavalry of the Achaean league, delivered Greece from Machanidas. The Achaean and Lacedaemonian armies met betweenMantineia andTegea. In theBattle of Mantinea theTarentine mercenaries of Machanidas routed and chased from the field the Tarentine mercenaries of Philopoemen. The Tarentines pursued them into defeat. The Achaeans became entrenched behind a deep ditch. Machanidas was killed by Philopoemen while jumping his horse over the ditch. The Achaeans set up a statue of brass atDelphi, representing Philopoemen giving the death-wound to Machanidas.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Machanidas".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.