Agides, king of Sparta, son of Pausanias, succeeded his brother Agesipolis I., and reigned from 380 to 371 b.c. He commanded the Spartan troops several times against the Thebans, and fell at the battle of Leuctra, 371 b.c. He was succeeded by his son Agesipolis.—J. T.
CLEOMEDES, a Greek astronomer who lived somewhere about the year 300 a.d.; Letronne insists that he lived after Ptolemy. The work by which he is known is entitled "Circular Theory (μετεώρων) of the Bodies Aloft." It is written with great clearness, and contains many advanced conjectures. He says, for instance, that the first stars are as large as the sun, probably larger; and that they appear small because of their vast distances. He refers the tides to some action of the moon, and distinctly enunciates the fact that this luminary rotates on its axis in the same period that it revolves around the earth. He infers that we, therefore, can never see but one and the same hemisphere of that body. He gives, also, a good explanation of eclipses. Except to the historian of astronomy, the works of Cleomedes have necessarily lost all interest. The best edition of them is that by Bake, Leyden, 1820.—J. P. N.
CLEOMENES: three kings of Sparta of the family of the Agides. Cleomenes I., son of Anaxandrides, reigned b.c. 520-491. In 510 he went with an army to the assistance of the Athenians against the Pisistratidæ, expelled Hippias, and afterwards aided Isagoras and the aristocratical party against Clisthenes. He had a colleague named Demaratus, whom, by bribing the priestess of Delphi, he succeeded in deposing. Cleomenes rendered himself infamous by his slaughter of the Argives, five thousand of whom he immolated by fire in a wood sacred to Argus. He was seized with madness in 490 and killed himself.—Cleomenes II., son of Cleombrotus, reigned in 370-309.—Cleomenes III., son of Leonidas II., reigned in 236-222. He was one of the most remarkable of the Agid sovereigns; simple in his private tastes, but energetic and imposing in his public conduct. His marriage with Agitatis, the widow of Agis IV., although entered into with reluctance by both parties, proved a fortunate event for the young prince, who found in his wife an energy of purpose and activity of mind which were of the greatest service to him in his schemes of political reform. His first object on acceding to the throne was to revive the ancient military renown of Sparta; and this he accomplished in his wars with the Achæans, whom he repeatedly defeated. He then prepared to restore the ancient constitution of Sparta, put the ephors to death, commanded a redistribution of property, and greatly augmented the number of the citizens. In these projects of reform he was interrupted by his old enemies the Achaeans, who, having called in the aid of Antigonus Doson, king of Macedonia, carried on a war of three years' duration, which terminated in the battle of Sellasia, and the total defeat of the Spartans. Cleomenes fled into Egypt and placed himself under the protection of Ptolemy Euergetes, on whose death he was imprisoned by the new king Philopator. He eventually escaped from prison and attempted to raise an insurrection, but found no followers, and in despair put an end to his own life 220 b.c.—J. S., G.
CLEOMENES, an Athenian sculptor, whose name is inscribed on the base of the celebrated statue of the Venus de Medici, was the son of Apollodorus of Athens, and flourished between 363 and 146 b.c.
CLEON, a celebrated Athenian demagogue, the son of Cleænetus, was originally a tanner. His first appearance in public life was in opposition to Pericles, whom he denounced with great violence. After the death of this great statesman in 429 b.c., Cleon became one of the most popular leaders of the democracy; and during the Peloponnesian war, was the acknowledged head of the party opposed to peace. In 427, on the capture of Mitylene, he vehemently advocated in the assembly that the whole male population of military age should be put to death, and the women and children sold as slaves. In 424 the Athenians, appointed him to take charge of certain reinforcements which they sent to reduce the island of Sphacteria, then held by the Spartans. Elated by his success in this expedition, he strenuously advocated a war policy, and induced the Athenians to undertake the recovery of Amphipolis. He was appointed to lead the expedition, it is supposed, against his will, for he had neither talents nor experience for a military command. He met with some success at the outset, but was ultimately defeated by Brasidas, the famous Spartan general, under the walls of Amphipolis, and fell in the engagement, 422 b.c. The portrait of Cleon has been drawn in most unfavourable colours, both by Thucydides and Aristophanes. But Mr. Grote has shown that much weight cannot be attached to the satire of the poet, and that the usual impartiality of the historian has been warped by the personal injury inflicted on him by Cleon.—J. T.
CLEOPATRA, the celebrated Egyptian queen, was born 69 b.c. She was the eldest daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, and from her early years was celebrated for her beauty and fascinating manners. She was seventeen at the time of her father's death, and, in accordance with his will, she ascended the throne along with Ptolemy, her younger brother. A dispute, however, soon arose between them, and Cleopatra was expelled the kingdom, and forced to take refuge in Syria. Having collected an army there, she was preparing to march into Egypt when Cæsar arrived at Alexandria in pursuit of Pompey, 47 b.c., and espousing her cause, reinstated her on the throne. The defeat and death of Ptolemy soon followed, but another brother of the same name, and still quite a child, was associated with her in the kingdom. She bore a son to Cæsar, called Cæsarion, who was afterwards put to death by Augustus; and after the departure of the great dictator from Egypt, Cleopatra followed him to Rome, and had apartments assigned her in his palace. After the assassination of Cæsar, 44 b.c. she returned to Egypt, and rendered active assistance to the triumvirate in the overthrow of Brutus and Cassius. She now obtained sole possession of the throne by poisoning her brother Ptolemy. In 41 b.c. she met Antony in Cilicia, after the battle of Philippi; and by her combined beauty and talents, obtained such a complete ascendancy over the susceptible and voluptuous Roman, that he remained ever after her devoted lover and slave. He accompanied her to Egypt, but after the death of his wife Fulvia, he quitted Cleopatra and returned to Italy, for the purpose of marrying the sister of Octavian. In the course of his expedition against Parthia, however, he landed in Syria, and finding himself so near the fascinating queen, the profligate triumvir sent for her, and publicly acknowledged her as his wife, conferring upon her the most extravagant titles and honours. In the war which followed between Augustus and Antony, Cleopatra was present at the battle of Actium, 31 b.c. Her precipitate retreat with her fleet contributed to the loss of this decisive conflict. She fled to Alexandria, where she was joined by Antony. On the approach of Augustus, perceiving that the affairs of Antony were desperate, with characteristic selfishness she attempted to gain the favour of the conqueror, by offering to sacrifice Antony. She fled to an unfinished mausoleum, in which she had collected her treasures, and caused a report of her death to be given out. Antony resolving not to survive her, threw himself upon his sword and died. Finding that all her efforts to conciliate her cold-blooded conqueror had failed, and that he had determined to carry her captive to Rome to grace his triumph, she put an end to her life, 30 b.c., either by the poison of an asp, or by a poisoned comb—most probably by the former. She died in the thirty-ninth year of her age, and with her ended the dynasty of the Ptolemies, who had occupied the throne of Egypt for three hundred years. Cleopatra was undoubtedly a woman of extraordinary beauty, talents, and accomplishments, and refined taste, but degraded by her voluptuousness.
CLEOPATRA, daughter of Antony and of the preceding, was born in 40 b.c. After the death of her parents she was carried to Rome, along with her twin brother, Alexander, and was received under the protection of Octavia, the wife of Antony. She married Juba, king of Mauretania, and by him had two children.
CLEOPHON, a celebrated Athenian demagogue of obscure origin, alleged by Aristophanes to have been a native of Thrace. He possessed great influence in Athens, and towards the latter end of the Peloponnesian war, successfully opposed the proposal to make peace with Sparta. During the siege of Athens by Lysander, 404 b.c., he was brought to trial, condemned, and put to death by the aristocratical party, on the accusation of having evaded his military duty. Cleophon was satirized both by Aristophanes, and by Plato the comic poet.—J. T.
CLEOSTRATUS, an astronomer of Tenedos, supposed to have flourished in the fifth century b.c. The division of the zodiac into signs is attributed to him.
CLERC. See Leclerc.
* CLERC, Louis, a French botanist, who published in 1835
