Draft:Eurypontid dynasty

The Eurypontid dynasty was one of the two royal families of Sparta, a powerful city-state of Ancient Greece.

History
According to the legend, Aristodemos, the first king of Sparta, had twins, Eurysthenes and Prokles. Since the Spartans did not know who was born first, they opted for a diarchy, a college of two kings with the same power; Eurysthenes being the first Agiad, Prokles the first Eurypontid.

Modern scholars have long doubted the mythological story of the return of the Heraklids. They instead consider Agis I and Eurypon to be the founders of each dynasty. Moreover, the two dynasties were never linked at the start and the Eurypontids reached royal status much later that the Agiads. As a result, in order to balance the two royal lines, several names were inserted in the list of Eurypontid kings, such as Soos (meaning "stability"), Prytanis and Eunomos (said to have ruled at the same time as Lykourgos). Thus, while the Agiads might have ruled from the end of the 10th century, the Eurypontids only received the kingship in the beginning of the 8th century at the earliest.

It is probable that the two dynasties came to rule jointly under the kings Archelaos (Agiad) and Charillos (Eurypontid) in the 8th century, as a result of the synoecism that created the polis of Sparta. The city was composed of five villages (Pitana, Mesoa, Limnai, Kynosoura, Amyklai), the latter of which merged with the other four after the initial synoecism. The Agiads had their burial ground located in Pitana, while the Eurypontids were in Limnai, which suggest that the dual monarchy was created when the four villages merged. Archelaus and Charilaus are the first kings of Sparta that are considered together in ancient sources: following the oracle of Delphi, they destroyed and conquered Aigys, in the northwest of Sparta. The connection of the Spartan kings with Herakles likely dates of the same period, which also witnessed the construction of the Menelaion, a heroon to Menelaus.

The genealogies given by Herodotus and Pausanias remain highly suspect before the 5th century, as it is not conceivably believable to have 16 direct successions (from father to son) from Eurystenes and Prokles. A lot of successions must have been collateral, especially when considering that of the 26 successions that took place after 491, only 14 were from father to son. Moreover, ancient chronologies produce an average length of 40 years per reign, which is far too long and a consequence of the descent from Herakles myth. Paul Cartledge suggest an average length of 30 years per generation, thus giving a regnal date of c. 930–900 for Agis I, founder of the Agiads. These dates relate well with the archaeological evidence.

Members

 * Procles, legendary founder of the Eurypontids son of Aristodemus and twin brother of Eurysthenes.
 * Soos, son of Procles. Soos is a fictional king, invented in the 4th century BC in order to synchronise the Agiad and Eurypontid dynasties.
 * Eurypon, eponymous founder of the dynasty.
 * Prytanis, son of Eurypon. His name meaning "president" suggests he was invented at a later date in order to extent the ancestry of the Eurypontids and make them equals to the Agiads.
 * Eunomus, son of Prytanis. His name meaning "harmony" suggests he was invented at a later date in order to extent the ancestry of the Eurypontids and make them equals to the Agiads. His invention and that of Prytanis predate that of Soos, as they are both already found in Herodotos, who wrote in the 5th century.
 * Polydectes, Herodotus has Polydectes first and Eunomos second, while Pausanias gives the reverse order.
 * Charilaus, the first historical king of Sparta, ruling with the Agiad Archelaos.
 * Nicander,
 * Theopompus,
 * Anaxandridas I,
 * Archidamus I,
 * Anaxilaus,
 * Leotychidas I, king of Sparta from c.625 to c.600. He is omitted in Pausanias' kings list.
 * Hippocratidas, king of Sparta from c.600 to c.575. He is omitted in Pausanias' kings list.
 * Agasicles, king of Sparta from c.575 to c.560. He is omitted in Herodotus' kings list.
 * Ariston,
 * Damaratus, son of Ariston.
 * Agesilaus, cadet son of Hippocratidas, father of Menares.
 * Menares, son of Agesilaus and father of Leotichydas II.
 * Leotychidas II, son of Menares. He was put on the Eurypontid throne by Cleomenes II.
 * Eurydame,
 * Zeuxidamus, son of Leotychidas II. He is sometimes called Cyniscus/Kyniskos. He was already dead by 476, when his son Archidamus II became king.
 * Archidamus II,
 * Lampito, daughter of Leotychidas II and Eurydame. She married her nephew Archidamus II.
 * Eupolia, second wife of Archidamus II.
 * Agis II, first son of Archidamus II from his first wife Lampito, king from 427 to 400.
 * Timaia,
 * Leotychidas, son of Agis II and Timaia. His claim on the throne was successfully contested by Agesilaus II in 400, because he argued that Leotychidas was the son of Alcibiades the Athenian.
 * Agesilaus II, second son of Archidamus II from his second wife Eupolia. He is considered the most important king of Sparta, because of his longevity and the influence he had on Spartan affairs. He died in Egypt while serving as mercenary for Nectanebo II.
 * Cleora,
 * Cynisca, daughter of Archidamus II. She was the first woman to win at the Olympic Games in 396 and 392. Her mother was possibly Eupolia.
 * Archidamus III, son of Agesilaus II and Cleora. He died in battle near Tarentum in 338.
 * Deinicha, wife of Archidamus III. She was probably the daughter of a Eudamidas and niece of Phoebidas.
 * Agis III, first son of Archidamus III. He died in the battle of Megalopolis against the Macedonian general Antipater in 331.
 * Eudamidas I, son of Archidamus III. King from 331 to c. 300. He is known for his peculiar interest in philosophy.
 * Agesilaus, son of Archidamus III. He might have died at Megalopolis alongside Agis III.
 * Archidamus IV, son of Eudamidas. He is only known for his defeat against the Macedonian king Demetrius Poliorketes at Mantinea in 294.
 * Archidamia, daughter of Eudamidas I, she married her cousin Eudamidas, son of Agesilaus.
 * Eudamidas, son of Agesilaus, he married Archidamia.
 * Eudamidas II, son of Archidamus IV. He is the most obscure king of Sparta and his dates of reign are entirely hypothetical.
 * Agesistrata, wife of Eudamidas II, daughter of Archidamia and Eudamidas, mother of Agis IV. She was murdered with her son in 241.
 * Agesilaus, brother of Agesistrata and maternal uncle of Agis IV, possibly regent during the king's minority. He was also ephor in 242 and supported Agis IV's reforms. He had to go into exile with the return of Leonidas II.
 * Agis IV, son of Eudamidas II and Agesistrata, king from c.244 to 241. He is famous for his social reforms, which were however opposed by his co-king Leonidas II. As a result, he forced him into exile and placed Leonidas' son-in-law Cleombrotus II on the Agiad throne instead. He was finally murdered in 241 by his opponents.
 * Agiatis, wife of Agis IV, she remarried with the Agiad Cleomenes III after Agis' death in 241. She had one son (Eudamidas III) from Agis and at least two sons from Cleomenes.
 * Hippomedon, son of Agesilaus the ephor.
 * Eudamidas III, son of Agis IV and Agiatis, king from c.241 to c.227. Still a child when Agis IV died, his guardian was the Agiad Cleomenes III, also his father-in-law. Cleomenes reputedly murdered him.
 * Archidamus V, second son of Eudamidas II and brother of Agis IV. In exile in Messenia, he was recalled by Cleomenes III in 227 in order to become his co-king following the death of Eudamidas. Cleomenes however murdered by him soon after his return. He married to daughter of Hippomedon and had two sons with her.
 * Lycurgus,
 * Pelops,
 * Nabis, usually described as tyrant and not king.
 * Armenas, son of Nabis, he was taken hostage to Rome after the defeat of his father against Flamininus in 195.
 * Laconicus (?), perhaps a son of Lycurgus, he was raised with Nabis' sons. In 192 he was designated king by the Spartans after the assassination of Nabis, but he could not reign as Sparta was soon conquered by the Achaean League.

Eurypontids
The list of Eurypontid kings carries major discrepancies between Herodotus and Pausanias, probably because they used genealogies (list of direct ancestors) and not necessarily lists of kings. Both of them give names not present in the other's work.