Draft:Cleomenes l

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Cleomenes the First

Cleomenes the First was one of Spartans two kings close to the end of the Archaic period. He led the Spartans into battle against Argos, one of Sparta's worst enemies. Cleomenes the First did not just fight wars to fight wars and get loot, but also to interfere with other cities politics like when he overthrew the Athenian tyrant. Since he used his military power to change politics in other city states, his actions had an impact on Greek history and if he lost or just did not fight there would have been a different outcome for each decision the Greek leaders made. Cleomenes the First went to a lot of wars since he ruled for thirty years, 520 - 490 BC. This essay is not a biography, but an essay about the ripple effects of his actions on the battlefield.He first became king during the Agaid dynasty after his father died, and that is when history began to change. His first major battle as king was to get Athens under the influence of Sparta  and politics, to overthrow the Athenian tyrant ,Hippias, in 510 BC. This would be just an ordinary battle, but after the tyrant ,Hippias, the Athenians converted to democracy. That democracy was the first democracy and paved the way for all the other democratic governments in the future and also inspired the US government system by their triumphs and errors. If Cleomenes the first did not overthrow the tyrant the US government would be different and all other democratic governments in the modern day. Then three years later he attempted to invade Athens again, to overthrow the father of democracy, Cleisthens, because he supported the leader of the oligarchs, Isagoras, and to try to change Athens to have an oligarchy like Sparta, but that failed because of the poor coordination with other leaders like his co - king. Also Cleomenes created an army to invade Athens but the Corinthians sided with the other Spartan king so Cleomenes did not get the chance to take over Athens probably for better good of modern life. Cleomenes the first from his victory and his failure in Athens both formed the modern day concept of democracy. Also if he beat Athens the second time the probability of  Sparta ruling over Athens would go up, since Sparta could not fight in the battle of Marathon they would likely not allow Athens to fight in the battle of Marathon since it was a religious festival, with out the Athenians the Persians would likely sack Athens and maybe Sparta and conquer Greece, kill the royal blood lines in the polis. Without royal blood Alexander the Great would never be born, so the Persians might not have feel to Macedon. Since military campaigns were common is Persia could have conquered Rome before they rose to power and conquer all of Europe and maybe the rest of the world since the Romans fell because their leaders became corrupt, but since Persian schools taught how to be good leaders the Persians might have not fallen from the spot as dominate Empire of Europe, Asia and Africa (Oxford encyclopedaia.com). In 499 BC, the Ionian revolt broke out but Cleomenes did not participate in the fighting. Five years later in 494 BC was the battle of Sepeia against Argos which were the Spartans biggest enemy mainly because of control of the Peloponnese peninsula in which both Argos, and Sparta were located. Cleomenes the first tricked the army of Argos by giving signs that were not correct and tricking them to think they were doing something else and surprisingly attacked them. Argos’ army withered after the defeat and the Persian wars that came up would be different if Argos had an army. He led the Spartans to become the dominant force in the Peloponnese peninsula. He burned the sacred grove after destroying his opponents. This action caused his reputation of being a ruthless yet effective king, since he dominated the Peloponnese peninsula and destroyed a lot. Later on in his life he had disputes with his co - king, and it was said that he went mad towards the end of his life. ( Brittanica.com and Heritage history.com) Then, in 491, things started to fall apart beginning with his want to punish the Greek polis of Aegina for joining the Persians when their heralds requested earth and water. Cleomenes thought of this as a Greek polis betraying another Greek polis for an Empire in Asia Minor so he wanted to invade them since Spartans were war hungry. But his co- king Demaratus once again will not agree with Cleomenes the First, so the annoyed Cleomenes went to consult the oracle at Delphi where it is said the priest and priestess there will tell you the will of the gods. When Cleomenes arrived at Delphi he was so annoyed with Demaratus that he bribed the priest or priestess at Delphi to being a oracle that would lead to Demaratus to be taken off the throne because it was the will of the gods. Eventually, people found out so Cleomenes fled to Thessaly. When the Spartans found him they put him in a jail cell where they would later figure out what to do with him. In 490 BC Cleomenes the first died mysteriously, in jail, after being accused of bribery and corruption. His death could have been suicide as many believe or it could have been a coup to gain power and the new king could have declared that he was corrupt and taking bribes after his death. Also the new king could have also stated that it was suicide so that they would not think that it was a coup but I’m not going to dig deeper in conspiracy theories. With his death the throne was past on to his son. ( Brittanica.com and Heritage history.com) His death could have affected the Persian wars if he joined Persia so that they would be the dominant city state in Greece. Another outcome is that he would lead the Spartans to lose against Persia and Persia could have won the war and then we would not have democracy or the Roman Empire might have not existed and that would cause a huge ripple affect that would affect us in the modern day. But most likely he would stay neutral since in the nine years he was ruling during to Persian wars he did not participate, and without the help of a military dominate Greek such as Sparta the Greeks would have lost if Cleomenes the first stayed alive longer. All in all the life of Great Cleomenes the first was a special one and deeply impacted Greek history and the entire history of democracy. If Cleomenes the first chose to side with Persia or stayed alive through the Persian wars and stayed neutral most likely the Greeks would have lost and Xerxes, the Persian king at the time, being the king he was would most definitely level the rebellious Greek city states and wipe out any history of those city states existing so we would never know about Athens or other city states, and The Iliad, The Odyssey, Histories, by Herodotus, and many other form of literature and history. Cleomenes the first, as spartan king, left Argos crumbled, formed democracy from the war he won and the war he did not, and if he still lived for ten more years the Americas might never have been discovered by European sailors, or could have been found much earlier, but under a different government. Since Cleomenes the first ruled roughly two and a half thousand years ago, the ripple affects of his decisions and actions when he was the controversial, yet beneficial king of Sparta, will grow as society advances to the near and the far future.