Anaxandridas II
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Anaxandridas II (Anaxandridas, Greek Αναξανδρίδας) was a king of Sparta between 560 to 525 BC. Anaxandridas was of the Agid (or Agiad) dynasty. The father of Anaxandridas was Leon.
Anaxandridas had 4, children: Leonidas I, Cleombrotus (regent), Dorieus, all by his first wife; and Cleomenes I, the last of whom was his child by a daughter of Prinetades. Of these, Cleomenes I was apparently his eldest-born son and thus his successor.
His most notable achievement was saving Sikion from the tyrant Aeschynus in the middle of the 6th century BC, which he accomplished with the aid of the ephor Chilon.
[edit] Anaxandridas's two marriages and four sons
According to Herodotus's Histories Bk 5 (5.4), Anaxandridas II was long married without children, and was advised by the elders to remarry (i.e. take a second wife) which he did. His second wife gave birth to the future Cleomenes I who was thus his eldest son. However, his first wife became pregnant, and eventually gave birth to three sons, including Leonidas I.[1] This version is however not supported by other sources, which imply that Cleomenes was either born by the king's first marriage or by a non-marital alliance.
According to Herodotus, the fact that his first wife became pregnant only after the king had already remarried led to the family of the second wife spreading rumors about the first wife claiming a false pregnancy out of envy. If this was true, the rumors alone along with the fact that the children of the first wife were passed over in favor of their elder half-brother would have led to considerable intra-family tensions. One of the younger sons Dorieus vehemently protested the accession of his half-brother and was pacified by being given command of expeditions overseas.[2]
Two of his sons became Agiad kings of Sparta.
[edit] Sources
- Dorieus in Sicily from Herodotus's Histories 5.42-5.48. The prince was killed in Sicily.
| Preceded by Leon |
Anaxandridas II 560–525 BC |
Succeeded by Cleomenes I |
