SPARTA / LACONIA

Sparta / Laconia (Lacedaemon) (Mycenaeans) :

Laconia (or Lacedaemon ) was the name of the wider city state which was centred on the city of Sparta, although the name of Sparta has since superseded that of Laconia to encompass both city and state. Sparta's capital seems not to have been important before circa 1000 BC, despite legendary emphasis to the contrary. The nearby remains of sites at Amyclae (a Minoan ruin a few miles to the south of Sparta), and Therapne (Therapnae) seem to be more important, and the latter was probably the Achaean (Mycenaean) capital of Laconia.

There are few remaining signs of Ancient Sparta. The Spartans set little store on fine buildings and high defensive walls, being far more proud of the fact that their kingdom was protected by men who could fight and defeat any opponent, or die in the attempt.

Laconia (Sparta) :

Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete and founder of the kingdom/city state, legendarily named the city of Sparta after his wife, the daughter of Eurotas. However, it does seem more likely that the early Mycenaean kingdom was centred at Laconia's Therapne at this time.

According to legend, the Mycenaean Greek hero, Heracles, took part in the Trojan War alongside Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and his allies. After Troy was conquered and sacked, Heracles enjoyed a number of adventures, including establishing a new Mycenaean ruling house in Maeonia. One of his companions is credited with refounding the port settlement of Sinope on the Black Sea coast. Despite apparently not ruling in Sparta himself, his descendants seemed to rule until the Dorian invasion.

(Additional information from The Iliad, Homer (Translated by E V Rieu, Penguin Books, 1963).)

Lacedaemon : First king of Sparta. Probably a Mycenaean.

Tyndareus

Hippocoon : Brother. Usurper.

Hippocoon overthrows Tyndareus, a definite mistake, as the latter also claims Herakles as a brother. Heracles reinstates Tyndareus and kills Hippocoon and his four sons before going on to have various adventures, not least of which is participation in the Trojan War. One of his companions, Autolycus, goes on to found the colony of Sinope before joining Jason of Iolkos and his Argonauts. Herakles also subsequently marries Omphale, the Atyad queen of Maeonia, and goes on to kick-start the Heraclid dynasty which later rules there.

fl c.1200 BC :

Tyndareus : Restored by Heracles.

fl c.1200 BC :

Heracles / Herakles : Brother of Tyndareus. Later in Maeonia.

The brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus shelter with Tyndareus following the usurpation of the Mycenaean throne. They marry the king's daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen respectively (the young Helen had been raped by Theseus of Athens when the old king became enraptured by her beauty). Agamemnon wins Helen for his brother in ritual games and with his great wealth, ensuring a double alliance between the two most-powerful Mycenaean states. Both of Tyndareus' sons pre-decease him, so Menelaus becomes his heir.

fl 1193 - 1183 BC :

Menelaus : Brother of Agamemnon of Mycenae.

fl 1193 - 1183 BC :

Helen of Sparta : Dau of Tyndareus, wife of Menelaus (& Paris & Deiphobus).

c.1193 - 1183 BC :

Following the abduction of Helen by Paris of Troy, Agamemnon of Mycenae and his brother gather their supporters together and sail off to the Trojan War. Menelaus returns with Helen despite her marrying another Trojan after the death of Paris, and she is re-installed as his queen. According to non-Homeric sources, after Menelaus' death his illegitimate son Megapenthes sends Helen into exile.

Megapenthes : Son. Ruled?

Hyllus : Son of Heracles and Deianeira or Melite.

Cleodaeus : Son.

c.1100 BC :

The Dorian invasion from the north takes place between about 1200-1140 BC, with the Mycenaean city states north of Sparta falling between those dates, and with domination being achieved by about 1140 BC. Greece enters a Dark Age lasting about four hundred years.

The traditional view of the invasion of the Peloponnese says that approximately eighty years after the Trojan War (in other words, by the end of the century), a group of Dorians joins up with Aetolians to cross the Corinthian Gulf and invade from the north-west. The Aetolians settle in Elis, and the Dorians divide into two forces, one of which invades and later subdues Messenia, while the other, led by Aristodemus (or his twin sons Eurysthenes and Procles), gains Sparta. They make this the Dorian capital of Laconia.

In reality the conquest may be a matter of inroads made over a number of years, and the dates ascribed to the sons of Aristodemus put them about a century and-a-half away from the invasion, so perhaps it is ascribed to them to fill a gap in later knowledge of the event.

Aristomachus : Son. Great-grandson of Heracles, but possibly Dorian.

Temenus : Son. King of Argos. Legendary father of Caranus of Macedonia.

Greek myth paints Caranus as the son of Temenus, king of Argos, who in turn is the son of Aristomachus, the Dorian conqueror of Laconia (although given dating discrepancies between Caranus and Aristomachus, it is more likely that he claims descent from the latter rather than being his actual son). It is Caranus who takes his followers north to aid the king of the Orestae and ends up founding the Macedonian kingdom.

c.960 BC :

Aristodemus : Son of Aristomachus. Also king of Mycenae.

Aristodemus is instrumental in launching the final attack on Mycenae, which would suggest from his additional title that it is occupied for a time by him, although legend has him being killed before his forces arrive there. Additionally, the two ruling houses of Sparta are created by Aristodemus in the late tenth century BC. A candidate from each house will share the throne. The idea is that if one of the warlike kings die in battle, the state will not be left leaderless, instead being able to respond immediately to the threat. Classical Sparta is born.

Sparta :

c.950 - c.192 BC :

The Doric Spartans practised a unique form of dual kingship, with a candidate from each house sharing the throne. The idea behind this was that if one of the warlike kings died in battle, the state would not be left leaderless, instead being able to respond immediately to the threat. The two ruling houses were created by the descendants of the twin sons of Aristodemus in the late tenth century BC, although there is little external evidence for the Spartan kings before around the middle of the sixth century BC.

Numbering was carried down through both houses and not in isolation, although re-used names in general tended to remain within their own house. Kings of the House of Agaid are shown in the centre-left column. Kings of the House of Eurypontidae are in the centre-right column. Some differences in ruler's names and dates are shown on some lists of the kings of Sparta.

(Additional information from The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), and from External Link: Encyclopaedia Iranica.)

215 BC :

Lycurgus ends the joint kingship by deposing Agesipolis III and not replacing him with another Agid king. From this point onwards, the House of Eurypontidae rules Sparta alone with a series of cruel and rapacious kings.

215 - 210 BC :

Lycurgus

210 - 207 BC :

Machanidas : Guardian of Pelops. A tyrant.

210 - 206 BC :

Pelops : The last king from the two houses. Opposed Machanidas.

206 - 192 BC :

Nabis : Usurper. Assassinated.

192 BC :

Nabis claims to be a descendant of Demaratus (c.515-491 BC), the Spartan king who had been exiled and who then sided with the Persians to be awarded a satrapy in Pergamum. He tries to restore Spartan power in the region, but an army is dispatched by the Achaean League to force Sparta to join, bringing the kingdom to an end.

192 - ? BC :

Laconicus : Of royal blood, but relationship unknown. Last king of Sparta.

146 BC :

The Achaean League is dissolved by Rome and Greece is annexed to the Roman province of Macedonia.

AD 395 :

Greece becomes the central segment of the Eastern Roman empire. It remains so until the Byzantine empire's final conquest in 1453 by the Ottoman empire. Only in the twentieth century does an independent Greek kingdom rise out of two millennia of Turkic occupation or Romanised empire.

Source :

https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsEurope/GreeceSparta.htm#
Kings%20of%20Laconia