Demaratus

Demaratus () was a co-king of Sparta from 515 until 491 BC. He succeeded his father Ariston as king.

In 491 Demaratus and his co-king Cleomenes I became bitter rivals. Cleomenes plotted to have his kinsman Leotychides replace Demaratus as king.James Romm; Herodotus, Histories (Indanapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2014), p. 328 Cleomenes bribed the Oracle of Delphi to say that Demaratus was not actually the son of Ariston.Sara Forsdyke, Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), p. 297 Demaratus lost his kingship. But he still held a position as a magistrate in Sparta. After being ridiculed by the king over no longer being a king himself, Demaratus went into exile. He went to Darius I of Persia who gave him cities to rule over. Demaratus later went with king Xerxes I on his invasion of Greece in 480 BC. He warned Xerxes not to underestimate the Spartans before the Battle of Thermopylae.

 References 

Category:Kings of Sparta
Category:490s BC deaths