Ancient history Competition 4
Manolis strikes again! Today Manolis decided to send me an ancient history riddle. Try sinking your teeth into it!
This person’s namesake became king through the machinations of a very influential Spartan.
He himself lost his right to the throne through the machinations of another very influential Spartan.
But was he a Spartan more than he was an Athenian?
Who was he?
Leotychidas? His namesake was Leotychidas II who became king thanks to Cleomenes (the OCD calls him “one of the half-dozen most influential [Spartan kings] on record.” He lost out to Agesilaus II in 400 BCE thanks to Lysander (again according to the OCD “perhaps the first living Greek ever to receive divine worship”). Leotychidas may have been as much Athenian as Spartan as there were rumors that his father was not Agis II but Alcibiades.
Yes it is Leotychidas! Congratulations! This was a hard question and to tell you the truth a couple of hours ago I started despairing.